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NETTAMER.FAQ
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Recent Changes To This Document
-------------------------------
11/26/96 General Reformat: Added section V. on Other Programs:
Added section VI. on Graphics: Enhanced the setup information:
Finding the Latest Version
--------------------------
The latest version of this FAQ will be sent out once a month to the
usenet group alt.comp.shareware.nettamer and the Net-Tamer mailing
list maintained at pittway.com.
You can also get the file by anonymous FTP at one of these sites:
Site: ?????????? (Not yet!)
Before You Write...
-------------------
Please make sure you have the latest version of this guide and have read
both this guide and all the Net-Tamer docs. before writing to Uncle Dave,
the list and/or newsgroup with questions and updates. Don't give up, if
your question isn't answered here or you just don't understand then ASK.
Net-Tamer Web Page
------------------
If you'd like to keep up with the latest updates and announcements of new
versions, check out the Net-Tamer WEB PAGE.
people.delphi.com/davidcolston
How to subscribe to the Net-Tamer Mailing List
----------------------------------------------
To subscribe to Net-Tamer list serve send a message to:
Nettamer-request@pop.ademco.com
In the body of the message include the word:
subscribe
Other Translations of This Document
-----------------------------------
Several readers have graciously volunteered to translate this text into
languages other than English. The list below shows the status of the
translation work that has been done or is in progress.
ENGLISH: this version
Please contact the author if you would like to assist in the translation
of this document into another language.
Acknowledgements
----------------
This document will continually expand and improve as a result of the many
comments, questions and answers received on the Net-Tamer Mailing List and
The alt.comp.shareware.nettamer USENET group!
As you read this version, we are busy compiling the next update. Your
input makes up the bulk of this FAQ. We thank all those who contributed
questions and those helpful Netizens who selflessly contributed
suggestions, feedback, pointers and answers!
Q. What is the Internet?
---------------------
A. Quite possibly a straw hut somewhere in Africa with a line or two
reaching to the next hut on one side and another line stretching
across the oceans to terminate at your home. The internet is made
up of many computers connected in several directions.
One computer may be a very large machine at a university or college
the next could be a ancient PC in your neighbor's basement. The one
thing they have in common is they can talk to each other and their
operators can talk between themselves and any other machine on the
Internet!
When you connect to your Internet Service Provider with Net-Tamer
your computer becomes a part of the Internet until you log off. You
have extended the Internet by the distance from your ISP to your
house. As you use a service on the Net, the internet becomes just a
connection between your computer and the host computer for that
service! It shrinks and grows continuously!
The Internet is not sponsored by any one organization or government.
There are a few organizations that help maintain parts of the
Internet. They do this by general agreement that if they didn't the
net would not continue to work in a useful way until someone else
took up the same task. As for Rules, your ISP will tell you any
rules they require you to abide by. There won't be very many!
Q. What can Net-Tamer do?
----------------------
A. Net-Tamer is a program designed to automate many of the tasks that
you perform on Delphi, or any PPP dial up account. Net-Tamer will
capture EMail and Usenet messages to files that you can later read
while you are off-line. This saves you connect time and money, or
if your access to the net is unlimited - frees up the telephone, so
your spouse (or parents) won't gripe as much<G>. While reading your
messages you can write replies or new messages that Net-Tamer will
upload to your service on it's next call.
Net-Tamer has many more features. It also does FTP file transfers,
Telnet, and World Wide Web. The web stuff is a bit tricky yet, but
this will get better. It's speed will blow Netscape or similar
programs away, already.
The Net-Tamer FAQ
-----------------
I. GENERAL and GETTING STARTED
II. VISUALLY IMPAIRED USERS
III. PALM TOP USERS
IV. XT/286 Users
V. OTHER SOFTWARE
VI. GRAPHICS ON THE 386
You should first read section I and then any other section which might
pertain to you.
I. GENERAL
----------
Q: What do I have to do first?
A: Before you run Net-Tamer for the first time you should have signed up
for a PPP account with a local internet provider, or have access to a
PPP/TCP-IP connection on your comm port. That's COMM. PORT! Net-Tamer
will not work with a ETHERNET connection.
You should get the following information from your internet provider.
Don't worry, if you don't know what all of it means. If the person you
speak to on the telephone doesn't know the information, then ask to
speak to "the techie".
1) The address of the services DNS server and an alternate, if one is
available. These will be numbers, such as: 206.102.200.1 and are
sometimes called dotted quads.
2) The URL's for POP3, SMTP, and NNTP. These are most generally names
like: mail.peganet.com; spool.peganet.com; or news.peganet.com
Make sure you know which is which!
3) Your Email address, such as: sg@peganet.com
4) Your login username, such as: sg (or the first part of your E-Mail
address.
5) Your login password. This is most times case sensitive, so be
careful how you copy it down.
6) Your email password, if this is different from the login password.
(They are usually the same.)
7) The telephone number of the service, if you are not on a direct
comm port connection. If you want call waiting to be interrupted
while you're on line put a *70, before the telephone number. You
will be asked for it during setup.
In addition, you also need to know the following:
1) The comm port of the modem. You do not worry about the IRQ, unless
you know that you are not on a "standard port". If you cannot find
this information, then start by choosing COMM 1 and change to COMM 2
if this does not work. If all else fails, check the settings in some
other terminal program.
2) You need to know the initialization string for your modem.
Q. Just what exactly is a Init. String?
A. A modem usually accepts setup commands from the terminal program
in a list called a Initialization string. These AT commands have
evolved into a defacto standard. The AT has nothing to do with the
class or kind of computer you have.
+-----------------------------+
+ Some Suggested Init Strings +
+-----------------------------+
Use Factory Settings-------------------AT&F
Use Profile Stored in Modem------------ATZ
Generic/UNKNOWN Modem------------------AT&F^MAT&C1&D2&S1&K3
Generic Modem (9600 baud+)-------------AT&F^MATX3&C1&D2&S1&K3
Hayes or Hayes compatible--------------AT&F^MAT&C1&D2&S1^M.
U.S.R. Courier or Sportster------------ATZ^M.
Thanks to hbj@enterprise.net for the above list and the list now included
in the Net-Tamer Manual Docs. See the Docs for more Initialization strings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. What comm port speed should I set my modem to?
A. Once you have Net-Tamer dialling and connecting then run as fast as
possible! If your machine is capable of sending data to the modem
at 57,600 BPS then do so. Most modems can handle 38,400 at least
and some will run at 115,200 or even faster. For now choose either
19,200, if you have a palm top or XT, or 57600 if you have a 286
or higher. Some 9600 BPS and 2400 BPS modems can't handle more than
38,400.
Q: Okay, I did all of that. What next?
A: You need to decide on a login script. There are four furnished with the
*.ZIP file and others are listed in the doc file for various services,
CIS, DELPHI, DEMON, etc. About half of all services will work with the
default service1.log file. This includes AT&T and MCI. Try them each
in turn. If none of them work, then you can use dumb terminal mode.
Hit alt + =, and type:
ATDT999-99999
(substitute your services phone number for the 999-9999, of course).
Then login just like you were using Procomm, Telix, or some other
terminal program. Hit alt + P, when the service lets you know that
it is time for PPP mode.
Q: How do I setup the program?
A: For the first time only, you MUST run reader.exe. This program has all
the file viewing stuff and does the initial setup. Most often after
that, you will want to start Net-Tamer first. You will want to start
reader, if you only want to read and reply for a later connection.
Q. I can't get my system to connect to the ISP! I think its my modem
settings. I don't think I have a good init string. Help!
A. Check your comm port and IRQ setting first. If you hear the modem dial,
but the init string or phone number are not echoed to the screen, then
you are on the wrong IRQ. Check your settings in another terminal
program to find the correct information. The same goes for the modem
init string. If it works for another program, it will likely work for
Net-Tamer.
Finally, let's back your modem down to its lowest speed. Go into
comm. settings and set the port speed to 2400 BPS. Now set the Init.
string to ATZ if you don't already have a good string. Press x to exit
and save the new info. Try to login to your ISP as a dumb terminal.
Q. I can't even login at the lowest speed?
A. Turn your modem speaker on! If you can run as a dumb terminal and
dial a number with your modem, then you should hear some sounds
through the speaker. These sounds are a dial tone then a ring
and finally the two modems negotiating a connection.
If you can't seem to dial then make sure you have Net-Tamer set to
your modems port. If you can dial, hear the sounds, see the modem
responses on the screen and then the connection drops raise your
speed to 9600 BPS and try again. Most likely your ISP won't accept
a 2400 BPS connection!
Q. I can now connect at 9600 baud but I still need a Init. string and
I had a hard time setting the last comm. package up to run with my
modem. What do I do?
A. It's 9600 BPS (some purist will fuss if we say baud)! If you have a
Init. string for your modem and it works well with another terminal
program you can try using the same string with Net-Tamer. You will
find a very nice list of init. strings toward the end of the Net-Tamer
Doc file. Another source is the manual that came with your modem.
Q. What if, no matter what I tried nothing happens?
A. If you have a "WINDOWS MODEM", some users have reported they call the
U.S. Robotics service line and tell them they are a merchant who can't
get their VISA or MasterCard program to work. They claim U.S.R. becomes
very helpful then;)
Q. The program keeps playing "Happy Birthday"?
A. If you have a sound card the program will play some of the *.wav files
which were in the 386 release, provided it found the BLASTER =
environment variable set. You set this in your autoexec.bat file. If
you don't have a sound card, the program will look for the music.rnb
file, which has some BASIC style songs. If it can't find that and you
left sound or music on in setup, then it will play "Happy Birthday".
Either turn sound/music off, fix the environment variable for your
sound card, or move the music.rnb file to the message directory, if
you don't want to hear that tune;)
Q: If I do login using the alt + = routine, how do I get email, etc.?
A: You need to read the terminal.key file. This will tell you the hot keys
to start any service online. You should check the key files on any new
version to see what has been added.
I am including them here, but you can read any of them from within the
program, by pressing the F1 key and selecting the file that you want to
read.
Terminal keys:
F1 - HELP
F4 - HANG UP phone/log off
F10 - TERMINATE the program
alt + a - ALTERNATE number to call for logon. This is a temporary change
and is discarded, after connecting and logging off.
alt + c - CLEAR terminal screen
alt + d - DATE and time for your server with the correction for UST (GMT)
alt + e - EDIT a text file.
alt + f - FTP mode
alt + h - HELP
alt + i - FINGER utility
alt + m - MAIL, while on line gets and sends (if any) mail messages
alt + p - PING a url
alt + q - QUIT and log off
alt + r - READ a text/html file, show graphics file, or play sound file
- or shell to and RUN another program.
alt + s - SHELL out to dos.
alt + t - TELNET mode
alt + u - get USENET messages (usenet.get file must be ready)
alt + w - WWW mode
alt + x - eXit the program (same as F10, but does not work in all section
of the program. F10 does. This is included by "custom"<G>.)
alt + y - toggle sound/music on and off (temporary change, 386 only)
alt + = - dumb terminal mode, alt + P to start packet mode after login.
(Alt + P online starts the PING module.)
<Esc> - ESCAPE/Stop File Transfer or Socket Open, or leave site.
alt + esc - EMERGENCY ESCAPE. Shut down all sockets, files, and
return to terminal screen, but remain online.
Cancels Log off and/or autorun. You should log off, if you use
this option!
WWW keys:
F1 - help
F10 - quit the program
Cursor and enter on the option you want, or press the letter of the choice.
alt + s - shell to DOS
ctrl + f- Add Page To BOOKMARK.FAV (favorite sites)
ctrl + s- SAVE an HTML file you are viewing
VIEW keys:
You may also mouse the bottom screen line or a letter key, if listed.
Mousing a space is the same as enter. Mousing a letter is the same as typing
the letter. You may also mouse the up and down arrows.
A = Add to address list. D = Delete message when you're through viewing.
E = Edit/Review address file. F = Search for text. G = Get older msg.
J = Jump to Msg. # K = Kill Reply or Msg.(next pass) N = Next Subject.
Q = Quit Viewing. R = Reply/Review Reply current msg. U = Unreplied Email.
S = Save Msg. to printer or disk. Y = Yours (messages written to you).
V or L = View/list of Msgs. (with extra commands). W = Write a new message.
SPACE or ENTER = Next Message. PgUp - Scroll Up. PgDn Scroll Down.
HOME = First message in the file. END = Last message in the file.
Cursor Up = Scroll Up one line. Cursor Down = Scroll Down one line.
Alt + A = Get File From Work Space
Alt + F = Forward EMAIL or Msg.
Alt + G = Grab or steal a message line from this message, to tag file or
address.lst
Alt + Q = Delete all msgs. with this subject.
Alt + R = Read/Edit NON MESSAGE FILE.
Alt + S = Shell out to DOS. Type exit to return to program.
Alt + U = Run UUDECODE/BASE64 DECODE for all file with the .UUE/.64
extention
Ctrl + R = Short Cut Reply. Quick direct reply to the currently viewed
message, with no options for change. It also allows you to
write a second reply to the same message. If you hit CTRL + R,
you do not view and existing reply, instead you start a new one.
FTP keys:
F1 - help
F10 - quit the program
Cursor to and enter on the option you want. If it is a file, it will be
downloaded, if it is a directory, you will be taken to it.
alt + q - quit FTP mode
alt + s - shell to DOS
<Esc> - S
TELNET keys:
F1 - help
F10 - quit the program
pgdn - start xmodem download. Must be connect to a BBS.
alt + q - quit telnet mode
alt + c - start a capture file
alt + s - shell to DOS
insert - Transmit what you have typed. This ilnet.
II. VISUALLY IMPAIRED USERS
---------------------------
Q. Most modern screen readers don't need BIOS screen writes, so why should
I take that option?
A. That allows me to control what gets spoken to you. You would not want
to hear the clock counting the seconds in the terminal screen, for
instance.
Q. What else should I know?
A. You should blank the 25th line of the terminal screen, during an auto
run. The status line is sent to the bios, but it will yak you to death
as well as slow down things. Peek it occasionally to see what is going
on, so you will know the program is not stuck.
III. PALM TOP USERS
-------------------
Q. What are the "minimum" file for my palm top drive? After all space is
not unlimited!
A. You only need: nettamer.exe, reader.exe, red.com, and one login script.
Service*.log for example. Anything else the program needs, it will
generate. After installation, the reader.exe file can be removed, but
you will not be able to read messages, if you do this, only "surf".
IV. XT/286 Users
----------------
Q. What is the XT version missing?
A. There is no mouse support, inline graphics support, or sound support.
Otherwise, you can do anything else the "big boys" can<G>.
V. OTHER SOFTWARE
------------------
Here is a short list of programs you might want to add to or use with
Net-Tamer! Please help us find good URLs for these!
I wanted to cover each of these just a little but ran out of time this
month. So ask questions on the list or else the Newsgroup. Warning the
usenet group still doesn't propagate across all networks yet. The list
is more reliable.
Some text editors that can do word wrap.
----------------------------------------
UEDIT <url to follow>
SEDIT
QEDIT
SLED
Enhanced mail/news
------------------
Ntlserv
Killfile
SHARESPELL
READMAIL
File handling
-------------
Ntbinary
Shez
Pkzip
VI. GRAPHICS on the 386
-----------------------
Q. What about graphics? I have a vga monitor and our other machine
has a ega! How do I setup Net-Tamer for the Graphics I want?
A. Glad you asked. Just read the following text!
---------------------------------
Net-Tamers Graphics Capabilities!
---------------------------------
The 386 and higher version now has 4 graphics states controlled by
two switches. BIOS ON (set in user setup) and /NOPIX (a command
line switch).
BIOS ON and loaded with the /NOPIX option, shows no graphics and does
not show graphics links.
BIOS ON and loaded WITHOUT the /NOPIX option, does show the graphics
links, but does not show graphics.
BIOS OFF and loaded with the /NOPIX option, shows the page with
graphics fonts but does not show graphics inline.
BIOS OFF and loaded WITHOUT the /NOPIX option, shows the page with
graphics fonts and inline graphics.
\============ GRAPHICS =============/
\================\ /=================/
\ /
\ If you want full graphics (fonts and pictures) set BIOS OFF and /
\ /
\ start Net-Tamer WITHOUT the /NOPIX command line switch. /
\ /
\===============\ /================/
\=======================/
SUGGESTED READING
-----------------
Anybody have suggestions for this section! The docs and this FAQ of course!
CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
---------------------
David Colston 'Uncle Dave'
nettamer@cei.net
*********************************************************************
* You don't need a pentium to surf the net, find out why! Check out *
* Net-Tamer at: http://people.delphi.com/davidcolston/ *
* Internet In A Thimble! *
* Check out alt.comp.shareware.nettamer or the Net-Tamer listserver *
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*********************************************************************