#Help
18 messages in this thread
Hi out there!
I`ve got serious problems in downloading files to my A 2000. I tried
using X-Modem, Y-Modem (in its varieties), CompuServe-B and last, but
not least Kermit. Every other protocol but Kermit just produced
nonsense on the screen, I couldn`t read anything that comes up. I
then found out, that something was wrong with "translating" the data
coming from CompuServe to my computer. I found some words in this
weird bunch of letters, wich could mean something as "Enter choice !"
or "Press <CR> for more !" So, why does this happen. My
configuration: A 2000 D, Kick 2.0, Workbench 2.1, ZyXel U-1496 E+
(19.2), connected from Bochum in Germany to Dsseldorf (also in
Germany, as you know ;-)) ) at a "speed" of 2400! I`m using NComm 2.0
as my terminal software. Besides the problems when downloading,
everything works correctly. I can browse through the files, can
choose a protocol, but — nothing special happens. XModem and
YModem both give errors like "Bad file header" or "Bad block number"
or so..
I would like you to help me… It is very boring to see fine programs in the
libs, and not being able to download them.
Bye, Robert Kehl (Germany)
Robert,
Make sure you set your serial parameters to 8N1 (8 data bits, no
parity, 1 stop bit). You may also want to set a "strip high bit"
parameter, if NComm supports it. Most Amiga term programs will have
problems downloading if set to use parity (like 7E1).
Hope this helps….
– BobR
Hi Bob! Thanks for your help. The only problem is, I do not get any connect
with 8-N-1. In D|sseldorf, wich is the cheapest connect for me, I can only use
7-E-1.Now I use Autopilot. I hope it works, I think it supports CompuServe-B+
protocol. I wanted to use Whap!, but couldn`t find it in the Amiga`s Forums.
Can you tell me where it is?
Bye for now, Robert Kehl
Robert,
Whap! is no longer available. It is not being supported by the author
and he does not plan to keep it current with the changes CIS makes to
the compuserve software. AutoPilot is a vastly superior auto-nav
program for the Amiga and CIS, but it does require AmigaDos 2.04 or
higher.
I had similar problems when I first tried to download from Compuserve.
This is how I download using NComm.
I log on using 7 data bits, even parity.
I tell Compuserve to start the download and then I change these settings
to 8 data bits, no parity before selecting "Download" from the Transfer
menu.
When the dowload is finished I reset to 7 data bits, even parity before
pressing the Return key. Usually I have to press control-C after this to
get Compuserve to carry on.
This might not be the most efficient way of doing it but it does work.
A much easier way of Downloading is to get Autopilot (of course you have
to download this first)
Hope this is of some help.
Peter
You are correct … it is not the most efficient way. Connect at 8N1 to
begin with.
-sja
I found that you could not connect to CIS at 8N1 using NCOMM.
I also changed settings whilst online if I wanted to download!
Nancy
Nancy,
If you could not connect then NCOMM is broken or you've got it set up
incorrectly.
OK I admit I'm a airhead…I should have said that I log on to CIS
with NCOMM using 7E1, then change to 8N1 just before downloading.
Using 8N1 for normal usage just produced garbage. I am a bit puzzled
as I had someone, who is really knowledgeable about such things, set
NCOMM up for me when I first joined CIS.
Nancy
Nancy,
Is their something in the NCOMM configuration menu/screen or setup screen
that says something like STRIP HIGH BIT, or STRIP 8th BIT? If so, set
NCOMM up for 8N1, and choose that setting… and make sure you save the
configuration.
Nancy;
I am not at all knowledgeable about NCOMM however. To use 8N1 (and I have
been doing so with Whap/AP/VLT for so many years now that I forget that
there are other modes) you have to go into your CIS OPTIONS, change them
to 8N1 and save them. Log off, change NCOMM for 8N1 and then when you log
back on everything should be fine.
The way that it works is that CIS does not actually change the
communications parameters at the time that you set the option but rather
will use the new parameter THE NEXT time that you log in. Your
communications program OTOH will change immediately. Thus, you need to
set CIS for the new values first, log off, set the comm program and then
log back on.
You can try it at a speed that you don't normally use. For example most
people use 300 baud for interactive and then the highest speed available
to them for captures, downloads and the like. If you use 14,400 or 9600
normally, you could log in a 1200 baud to "get the hang" of making the
changes. CIS saves a set of parameters for each speed (there are a couple
of good reasons for this).
-bill
Bill,
I don't use Ncomm so much now, mostly AP, but I'll certainly see if I can
get it to work. To think of all those months of switching settings
backwards and forwards, when it wasn't necessary!
Thanks
Nancy
Nancy,
naw, you're not an airhead, it's just that telecomms seems to be the
last black art of computing. Not a single one of our telecomms programs
or modems can seem to agree on a method to do the setup. It's the only
area where I spend much of my time, with a magifying glass, examining
tables of dip switch and register settings in order to make the beast work
properly. I'm dead certain I don't have mine correctly configured and I
spent my life programming these beasties between sessions of fixing
digital logics at the bit level with sub-microsecond binary words.
We have autoconfiguring memory, autoconfiguring hard drives, why not
autoconfiguring modems? Sad, very sad.
Brian
bjbart@watnxt01.ucr.edu
Robert;
It sounds like you are trying to use a protocol transfer for an ASCII
read. If you are getting "Press <CR> for more !" then CIS is not doing a
protocol transfer.
-bill
Hi! No, I didn`t try to use an Ascii protocol, everything between
CompuServe and NComm was correct until the transfer started. I don`t
know why Ncomm isn`t able to download using XModem or YModem or
CompuServe B or B+, but now I downloaded Autopilot, which by the way
is very expensive. I downloaded it using Kermit. The Download lasted
for about one and a half hours, every block contained approximately
50 bytes!! Does anyone know a program similar to CIM on DOS machines?
A program where the control of CIS happens using menus and the mouse?
I`m tired of typing everything…. :-)) Thanks for the help provided
so far, Robert Kehl
Robert,
Actually, AutoPilot IS everything you're looking for, and it's really
not expensive at all. If you have been using a regular interactive
terminal program to access CIS, AutoPilot will pay for itself VERY
quickly. It allows you to read and write all of your messages
offline; it quickly and effeciently catalogs forum libraries and
automatically downloads files you select from those catalogs. It
views GIF's, keeps histories of messages, handles Internet and FAX
messages, keeps a personal phonebook, allows easy access to all the
different types of CIS nodes, etc. But above all, it SAVES CONNECT
TIME CHARGES!
I didn't realise AP viewed GIFS..how do you do that then?
Nancy
While in HANDSON ,if you want to view something like a weather map, just
choose the map you want to read from the (CIS) weather menu. If you want
to view an image from a library while online (kind of a silly waste of
time, I might add) just READ the image (I think… check the APDOCS file
for details!)