File MSKERM.BWR MS-DOS KERMIT 3.11 "BEWARE FILE" September 1991 BUGS, LIMITATIONS, AND HINTS This file applies to version 3.11 of MS-DOS Kermit for the IBM PC and PS/2 families and compatibles. If you are experiencing problems with MS-DOS Kermit, please read this file first to find out the status of the problem. It might be known already, and a workaround listed here. The user manual for MS-DOS Kermit 3.11 is the book "Using MS-DOS Kermit", Second Edition, by Christine M. Gianone, published by Digital Press, Bedford, MA (1991), order number EY-H893E-DP. Call 1-800-343-8321 (toll free, USA) to order, or order by mail from Columbia University. Certain features were added to the dialing directory and the TCP/IP support after press time for the second edition of the book. For greater details about these features, see the MS-DOS Kermit help file, KERMIT.HLP or MSKERM.HLP. For TCP/IP, also see the section at the end of this file. **** Problems noted since the publication of the distribution diskette on September 7, 1991, are listed at the end of this file. **** MS-DOS Kermit 3.11 has been successfully tested with PC-DOS 2.0, 3.0, 3.30, 4.0 and 5.0 on a wide variety of IBM PCs, XTs, PC/ATs, Portable PCs, PS/2s, and compatibles. DOS 2.0 or later is required for basic operation, and 3.30 or later is required for certain features such as code page switching. Please report problems via e-mail to Info-Kermit@watsun.cc.columbia.edu or to KERMIT@CUVMA.BITNET, or call (212) 854-5126, or write to Kermit Distribution, Columbia University Center for Computing Activities, 612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025, USA. Certain bugs that surface after the release of the software are correctable by runtime patches that can be installed from your MSKERMIT.INI file. Contact Kermit Distribution at Columbia for further information. PROBLEMS WITH KERMIT UNDER MS-DOS 5.0 Reportedly, Kermit loses incoming characters at high baud rates (19200, 38400, etc, depending on CPU model). The current speculation is that DOS 5.0's new memory management functions are causing interrupts to be lost. If the serial port data-ready interrupt is not delivered to Kermit, Kermit never knows that a character has arrived and therefore does not read it. PROBLEMS WITH KERMIT UNDER MICROSOFT WINDOWS, DESQVIEW, OS/2, ETC Although MS-DOS Kermit can work in these environments, and even takes advantage of many of their features, it does not have a "graphical user interface". You still have to type commands to the MS-Kermit> prompt or execute them from command files with the TAKE command. You can't use Kermit under Windows 3.0 in Windows mode (i.e. in a window) unless you are running Windows on a 386-class machine in Enhanced Mode. This is a restriction of Windows 3.0 -- Microsoft changed the rules. Kermit works in a window on all PCs (if they have enough memory) under Windows 2.0. To use Kermit's TCP/IP support under Windows 3.0, you must set up the KERMIT.PIF file to "Lock Application Memory" (Enhanced-Mode Advanced options screen). Reportedly, a third-party communication port driver (such as TurboComm) is required to run Kermit as speeds greater than 9600 bps under Windows 3.0. A 16550a UART is needed too, for its FIFO buffering. Other reports indicate that high speed operation is possible after all, and suggest looking at the Windows files SYSIN*.TXT for information about SYSTEM.INI settings related to communication ports, particularly COMxBuffer and COMBoostTime. The real answer is a combination of software, BIOS, machine architecture, serial port hardware, which drivers and TSRs are loaded, system load, and Windows settings. Under Microsoft Windows/286 v2.03 there may be problems with memory allocated from DOS being corrupted during Windows' operations. One symptom is that macro definitions will turn into garbage (random characters). This has not been observed under Windows/386 or Windows 3.0. When running MS-DOS Kermit under any version of MS Windows, specifying a ",P" at the end of a serial port setting in WIN.INI or in a MODE command can cause loss of characters from the serial port. Remove the ",P" from the setting. Reportedly, MS-DOS Kermit doesn't work under OS/2 2.0 BETA unless you direct OS/2 to load DOS in low memory. INCOMPATIBILITIES BETWEEN MS-DOS KERMIT 3.11 and 3.00/3.01: Macro arguments are now "stacked", saved at each macro entry and restored upon exit, so that calling macro B from within macro A does not destroy macro A's arguments. Note: this changes the operation of the LOOKUP macro described in the first edition of "Using MS-DOS Kermit" (version 3.11 uses a completely different technique for dialing directories). Macro definitions in 3.11 can be longer. Long macros that work in 3.11 won't work in earlier releases. The new macro argument \%0 now holds the name of the macro. The REPLAY command now allows screen rollback, dump, print, etc. At the end of the replay file, use regular terminal emulation keys (PgUp, Ctrl-End, PrintScreen) to invoke these functions, and use Alt-X, Ctrl-]C, or Ctrl-C to get back to the prompt. Previously, any keystroke would return to the prompt. If an INPUT command is interrupted by pressing any key, the status is set to FAILURE, just as if the command had timed out. If you need to know whether an INPUT failed because it timed out or was interruped, you can surround it with SET ALARM and IF ALARM commands, e.g. SET ALARM 30 INPUT 30 Login: IF SUCCESS GOTO OK IF ALARM ECHO INPUT Interrupted from keyboard IF NOT ALARM ECHO INPUT Timed out The ECHO command no longer requires a \13 on the end. It supplies both CR and LF. The WRITE command, introduced in version 3.00, no longer accepts "objects" like DATE, TIME, etc. Now it is more like an ECHO command that includes a destination specifier: WRITE SCREEN, WRITE SESSION, etc. The argument in all cases is a line of text. This text may contain any kind of backslash codes or variables, including the new (to version 3.10) built-in \v(xxx) variables like \v(time), \v(date), etc. Old-format WRITE commands will produce undesired results. For example WRITE SCREEN TIME FOO will print "TIME FOO" on the screen rather than something like "12:34:56 FOO". BYE, FINISH, or LOGOUT commands that fail (e.g. because the remote server has these operations disabled) no longer behave as if they had succeeded. Text and graphics screens can now have separate colors. Host-generated autoprint sequences work differently. In version 3.01 and earlier, MS-DOS Kermit copied characters to the printer as they arrived, regardless of the screen dimensions. In version 3.10 and later, Kermit's action follows that of a real VT terminal: it waits until the cursor moves off the line with a linefeed or formfeed, or the line wraps. If your screen does not support 132 columns, Kermit wraps long lines -- even those destined for the printer during autoprint sequences -- at 80 columns. If you need to direct long lines to your printer under these circumstances, use transparent print instead, or else LOG SESSION PRN. The Alt-minus key no longer "toggles" among all of Kermit's terminal types. As of version 3.11, Alt-minus switches between the Tektronix graphics screen and the text screen for the current text terminal type (e.g. VT320). DIALING The DIAL command and dialing directory have been totally redone for MS-DOS Kermit 3.11. See KERMIT.HLP (MSKERM.HLP) for a description. If you need to dial a non-Hayes compatible modem, write a dialing script for it, and change the definition of the _modem variable in MSKERMIT.INI. COMMUNICATIONS On IBM PCs and PS/2s with IBM asynchronous adapters, Kermit can be used at speeds up to 57600 bps under DOS (under Windows or DesqView, the maximum speed is probably lower). For 115200 bps to work, a very short shielded cable is required, and the async adapters of the two machines must be in perfect tune. Some VAX serial port interfaces are out of tolerance at 19,200 bps and faster. If Kermit loses incoming characters during terminal emulation because of serial port buffer overruns or network packet loss (which it can detect), it beeps (replaces the lost character(s) with a Control-G). Although high speeds can be used for file transfer, the maximum speed for VT and Tektronix terminal emulation might be lower, depending on your PC model and configuration. If your speed is set too high, the symptom might be lost or garbled characters or graphics images on the screen or beeps sounding when Kermit detects a data overrun. Normally flow control prevents these problems, so use it if you can. Printing while in CONNECT mode needs flow control to be active. MS-DOS Kermit does not attempt to monitor the communication line for carrier loss during terminal emulation or file transfer (but you can SHOW MODEM or SHOW COMMUNICATIONS to inquire about CD, DSR, and CTS). The script command WAIT permits sensing carrier presence in a script program. The SHOW MODEM and WAIT commands work right only if your modem or other communication device is configured to raise and lower the DSR, CTS, and CD signals appropriately, and the cable that connects your PC to the modem passes these signals through. For some modems, the factory setting is to always keep CD on, even if there is no connection. Consult your modem manual. For RS-232 devices, the HANGUP command (and Ctrl-]H in CONNECT mode) works only if the cable that connects your PC to the communication device passes the DTR signal through, and if the communication device itself is configured to hang up or otherwise terminate the connection when the DTR signal is lowered by the PC. For some modems, the factory setting is to ignore DTR transitions. Consult your modem manual. When communicating across some network pathways, the longest burst of information tolerated from the PC can be rather short. For example, the LAT path with SET PORT DECnet has a limit of 256 bytes and the SET PORT TES path has a limit of 512 bytes in a burst. Longer bursts can cause the network software to drop the connection. This is important when sending files, and if sliding windows are active, the sum of all the packets in the window (packet length times the number of window slots) must be shorter than the above limits. This is not a Kermit problem. TERMINAL EMULATION Kermit's VT320/340 emulator lacks the following features: . Smooth scroll . Downloadable soft fonts . ReGis graphics (VT340/330) . Dual sessions in split screens (VT340/330) . Local screen editing and block transmission (for security reasons) . ENQ/Answerback (also for security reasons) . True double height/width characters (these are simulated) . Selective erasure (as a character attribute, a formatted screen item) . Many of the exotic and rarely known features of the DEC VT340/330 series: mostly formatted screen and graphics operations highly specialized to DEC hardware. On certain "national keyboards", such as the German keyboard, Kermit's normal escape character, Ctrl-] (Control-Rightbracket) does not appear to work. This is because IBM changed the way certain control characters must be typed on these keyboards. On the German keyboard, Ctrl-] is produced by holding down the Ctrl (Strg) key and pressing the + (plus) key. MS-DOS Kermit has no way of knowing this, and continues to display the escape character as "^]". If VAX/VMS thinks you have a VT220 or VT320, it sends 8-bit control sequences. Kermit does not understand them unless you SET TERMINAL BYTESIZE 8. The symptom is the appearance of fragments of escape sequences on the screen and wrong cursor positioning, and possibly fractured tab settings, particularly during EVE sessions. You can prevent VMS from sending 8-bit control sequences (for example, if you really do not have an 8-bit connection) by giving the VMS command SET TERMINAL /NOEIGHT. For VAX/VMS, you should also use Xon/Xoff flow control in both directions (SET TERM /TTSYNC /HOSTSYNC on VMS). In VT100/200/300 emulation on the IBM family, receipt of the ESC [ 4 m (turn on underscore) command results in reverse video rather than underscore on IBM CGA, EGA and other color monitors. IBM display adapters have one less attribute than DEC monochrome terminals, and in addition the two systems choose to intensify dots differently (IBM does foreground/character dots only, whereas DEC can illuminate any dot). SET TERMINAL COLOR 1 [3xx 4xx] (used to make the foreground color bright), if issued when SET TERMINAL SCREEN REVERSE is in effect, results in reverting to normal video. If certain incomplete escape sequences are received during terminal emulation, Kermit can hang. For example, Operating System Command. Kermit is waiting for the string terminator that never comes. This usually happens because of noise on the communication line. Reset the terminal emulator by pressing ALT = (ALT and the equals sign key) which is default key binding of keyboard verb \Kreset. Kermit does not support 132 column mode on on the IBM monochrome adapter, CGA, MCGA, or EGA. However, if your display adapter handles 132 columns in text mode, and Kermit knows how to control it, Kermit can switch automatically between 80- and 132-column mode upon host command or SET TERMINAL WIDTH { 80, 132 }. Otherwise you have to provide external commands in the files COLS80.BAT and COLS132.BAT. Kermit does not support other widths (except, to a certain extent, 40). Kermit assumes 25 screen lines, but can adapt itself to other lengths to a certain extent if it knows how to get this information from the video adapter (but there still may be some confusion about screen length when switching between text and graphics modes, or between 80 and 132 column mode, or escaping back from CONNECT mode, due primarily to lack of reliable or consistent information from the many different kinds of video adapters). The following video boards are directly controllable by Kermit for changing screen width or length: ATI EGA and VGA Wonder (NEW) AST, Dell, and other boards based on Western Digital VGA boards (NEW) AT&T / Olivetti Everex Viewpoint EV-659, FVGA-673, EV-678, Micro Enhancer Deluxe (NEW) IBM XGA (NEW). Paradise AutoSwitch EGA Mono (NEW) Paradise Professional (NEW) Paradise VGA Plus 16 (ROM BIOS 003056-xxx firmware) (NEW) Paradise VGA Plus (ROM BIOS 003056-xxx firmware) (NEW) Paradise VGA Professional (ROM BIOS 003056-xxx firmware) (NEW) Paradise VGA1024 (NEW) STB VGA/EM (Tseng TVGA) STB VGA/EM Plus (Tseng 4000), VGA/EM-16, VGA/EM-16 Plus (NEW) Tseng Labs EVA board with 132-column kit installed Tseng Labs UltraPAK mono/Hercules with 132 column modes Video 7 Vega Deluxe with 132X25.COM driver installed and Video 7 VGA For other boards, create COLS80.BAT and COLS132.BAT files. If your video board and monitor cannot do 132 columns in text mode, neither can Kermit. On certain configurations that do not support 132 column mode at all (for example a PS/2-50 with VGA), attempts to SET TERM WIDTH 132 might cause an infinite loop of executing COLS132.BAT (if it exists). This problem is not reproducable. Workaround: delete COLS132.BAT if you don't need it. If you have a monitor with fixed horizontal frequency but a video adapter that Kermit knows how to switch into 132 column mode, you will see only garbage on your screen whenever Kermit switches it to 132 columns. There is presently no way to tell Kermit to ignore the "switch to 132 columns" escape sequence. Solution: if you buy a 132-column-capable video adapter, make sure you have a compatible monitor. To get properly formatted screens during terminal emulation, you must also inform the remote host of your screen width and length. So that key translation and macros can work on both IBM and non-IBM compatible PCs, Kermit uses the system BIOS to obtain key scan codes. But the IBM BIOS does not produce scan codes at all for certain keys, and may produce duplicate scan codes for others. Num Lock, Scroll Lock, Pause are examples. When you PUSH to DOS (including when you use Kermit's RUN command), and you have XON/XOFF flow control enabled, Kermit sends an XOFF (Ctrl-S) to the host when you leave, and XON (Ctrl-Q) when you return. This is good behavior, as it prevents data transmitted by the host while Kermit's back was turned from being lost. However, if you do this while using the EMACS text editor on the host, the Ctrl-S will be interpreted as a Search command, and the Ctrl-Q as a Quote command. When you return to EMACS, type several Ctrl-G's to get out of the Search command. Similar comments about sending Xoff and Xon apply when Kermit is commanded to change its screen size between 80 and 132 columns. For example, if your host insists upon seeing a particular character to begin a session, but not an Xoff/Xon pair, then use OUTPUT before starting Connect mode with a screen width different than that at the Kermit prompt. Session logging can be turned on using the LOG SESSION command, and it can be toggled on and off during terminal emulation by using whatever keys are associated with the verbs \Klogoff and \Klogon. One user stated the requirement to enable a session log, but to have it initially toggled off. This can be done as follows (using the F1 and F2 keys as examples): SET KEY \315 {\Kloginit} ; F1 to turn on log SET KEY \316 \klogoff ; F2 to turn log off DEFINE loginit log session, set key \315 \klogon, define loginit The session log is written to disk by DOS. The frequency with which DOS updates this file is governed by the BUFFERS= line in your CONFIG.SYS file (see your DOS manual). If you allocate a large number of buffers in CONFIG.SYS, disk operations occur infrequently and this improves performance of Kermit's disk accesses. If you need to have the session log updated more frequently to minimize the loss of data when there is a power failure, you can do this (at the expense of efficiency) by allocating a smaller number of buffers in CONFIG.SYS. GRAPHICS TERMINAL EMULATION If your display adapter lacks sufficient memory (as do CGA and the early 64K EGA boards), then when you toggle away from a graphics screen, or type the connect-mode escape character (Ctrl-]), the graphics image is lost. Furthermore, certain graphics images may be overlaid with vertical stripes on small (64K) EGA systems. PS/2 Model 25 and 30 MCGA adapter is used in low-resolution CGA mode by default, but images may be elongated or truncated. Hi-resolution graphics can be done (as of version 3.11) via SET TERM GRAPHICS VGA, but the PC might not be able to keep up at speeds above 9600 bps. When you type the escape character (normally Ctrl-]) while in Tektronix graphics mode, the screen goes back to text memory. Then when you type the argument character, the graphics screen reappears (unless the argument was C or P). Ctrl-]F will not file the graphics screen, but rather the text screen, because that's the screen that's showing after type the Ctrl-] key. To file the graphics screen (in TIFF format), use Ctrl-End (which has the Kermit verb \Kdump assigned to it by default). You can't dump the Tektronix screen while the GIN-mode crosshair cursor is active. When the crosshairs are up Kermit's keyboard translator is not active. Key strokes (of regular typewriter keys) or mouse actions are used to transmit the crosshair coordinates. If you press a non-typewriter key, Kermit just beeps. Kermit does not emulate a particular kind of colored graphics terminal, such as a DEC ReGIS display or a Tektronix 41xx or 42xx series. However, it can be used for color graphics by mixing ANSI color-setting escape sequences with Tektronix or Sixel commands. This requires graphics software vendors adding support for MS-DOS Kermit graphics to their packages (so far, WordPerfect Corp has done this for their host-resident products). There is at least one ReGis-to-Sixel converter on the market: RETOS, a DEC product for VAX/VMS. Problems may occur when using Kermit with host-resident (VAX/VMS) versions of WordPerfect because the color palette report sent by the "terminal" upon request of WordPerfect is very long. If the host is not configured properly, parts of the report will be lost because of overruns on the VMS side. SET TERM /HOSTSYNC and /TTSYNC are required by WP/VMS. Even then intervening communication boxes (e.g. terminal servers), can become overloaded with the 200++ byte response unless the server is configured to handle information of that length or to do flow control effectively. PRINTER SUPPORT (Shift-)Printscreen can cause the PC to hang if there is no attached printer. This is a BIOS feature, Kermit never receives the command. It occurs most frequently with a printer interface that has nothing plugged into it. If this happens during terminal emulation, try pressing Alt-= (hold down Alt and press the "=" key) several times to reset the terminal emulator. Serial printers are not directly supported. Kermit does not do flow control between itself and a serial printer. To use a serial printer effectively, you must have a driver for it that takes care of flow control. Transparent printing is started when the host sends the sequence ESC [ 4 i, and stops when the host sends ESC [ 5 i. Transparent printing passes all characters, including escape sequences, that arrive at the port directly to the printer without translation (but strips off the parity bit if Kermit's parity is not NONE). If character translation is desired, or it is desired not pass screen-control escape sequences to the printer, use Autoprint rather than Transparent print (ESC [ 0 i, ESC [ ? 4 i, ESC [ ? 5 i). In that case, characters are translated to the current IBM code page. If your printer doesn't support your IBM code page, you need an external utility to translate from the PC code page to the printer's character set. You can use SET PRINTER xxxx to capture Transparent print or Autoprint data into a file. INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER SETS Chapter 13, "International Character Sets," of the first printing of the first edition of "Using MS-DOS Kermit" does not mention that in order to use code page switching, you also need to have a statement like: DEVICE=C:\DISPLAY.SYS CON:=(EGA,437,(4,2)) in your CONFIG.SYS file. This was corrected in the second printing of the first edition. Refer to your DOS manual for details. It is possible to use SET TRANSLATION INPUT to define new terminal character sets, that is new translations between whatever codes the host happens to be sending and whatever characters are loaded in the PC's character generator. In MS-DOS Kermit 3.01 and later, this mechanism has been extended to work with character sets in which the C1 range (80h-9fh) contains graphic, rather than control characters, but only if you SET TERMINAL CHARACTER-SET TRANSPARENT. MS-DOS Kermit 3.01 changed the strategy used by SET TRANSLATION INPUT and which is described in the first edition of "Using MS-DOS Kermit". In version 3.00 and earlier, this command worked like this: SET TRANSLATION INPUT \xxx \yyy where \xxx is the code for the character received at the communication port, and \yyy is the code for the character to display on the screen. In version 3.01 and later, \xxx is the code for the character that would be displayed on the screen in the current code page after normal translation, rather than the untranslated character that arrives at the port. Example: modifying the built-in Swedish character set to show character values 64, 94, 96, and 126 as ASCII rather than Swedish characters (using PC code page 437) is now done like this: SET TERMINAL CHARACTER-SET SWEDISH SET TRANSLATION INPUT \144 \64 ; What would normally be E-acute is atsign SET TRANSLATION INPUT \154 \94 ; U-diaeresis is circumflex SET TRANSLATION INPUT \129 \126 ; u-diaeresis is tilde SET TRANSLATION INPUT \130 \96 ; e-acute is accent grave SET TRANSLATION INPUT ON ; Enable translation MS-DOS Kermit determines the current file character set, and it decides which translations to apply to the current terminal character set, by asking DOS what the current code page is. Code pages exist which are not distributed in the USA, such as CP861 for Icelandic and CP862 for Hebrew. It is said that DOS incorrectly reports these code pages to be CP437. Furthermore it's not clear what the DOS code page reporting mechanism would be, if any, for otherwise IBM-compatible PCs custom fitted with special character sets such as Cyrillic, Arabic, etc, so in these cases too Kermit assumes CP437 and again, there is no current method for the user to load the necessary character set translation tables for file transfer. Code page switching is reportedly not possible on old PC/ATs that have small-memory (64K) EGA boards, and it is not possible in DOS versions earlier than 3.30. The right hand portion (GRight) of the Latin1 terminal character set won't be accessed by SI/SO locking shifts unless Kermit first receives the escape sequence ESC-A (Escape, dash, uppercase A) from the host. This is the way Digital Equipment Corporation designed the VT300 terminals. The initial state is G0 = G1 = ASCII, G2 = G3 = Latin1, and SI (Control-N) shifts the GLeft pointer from the G0 to the G1 set. The escape sequence ESC-A puts Latin in G1.Alternatively, the right hand portion is accessable by using Single Shift 2, ESC N, or Locking Shift 2, ESC n, before the text character(s). You can also designate Latin-1 to G1 (so that SO/SI will work) by hand with the MS-DOS Kermit command: SET TERMINAL CHARACTER-SET LATIN1 G1 (This feature is new to verstion 3.10.) Kermit's terminal emulator sends characters with their 8th bit set as ESC N if parity is other than NONE. To get international characters to display correctly on the DEC VAXmate during terminal emulation, try SET TERMINAL CHARACTER-SET LATIN1 G2. LOG SESSION records the characters that arrive at the serial port, before translation by either Kermit's built-in terminal character set translation tables or by user-specified SET TRANSLATION INPUT commands (versions 2.32/A and earlier did apply the SET TRANSLATION INPUT command before logging to disk). This allows the REPLAY command to work correctly, but it prevents special characters from being logged after translation to the PC's own character set. Screen dump (Ctrl-End or Ctrl-]F) and autoprint, however, record the translated characters. SET TERMINAL CHARACTER SET is effective only for text screens, not for graphics screens. This is because the fonts for all the special characters have not been designed yet (and may never be, and even if they are, they would require a great deal of memory). International characters in macro names are not case independent. Case-independent string matching operations (e.g. SET INPUT CASE IGNORE, IF EQUAL xxx yyy) won't work with international characters. COMMAND PROCESSING A command file that contains lines or commands that are too long for DOS's line buffer can hang your PC. Commands in TAKE-files or MSKERMIT.INI can be continued by including "-" as the last character on the line, but NOT if the line ends with a trailing comment. In other words, you can't have a trailing comment on a continued line. If you need to end a line with a dash, but this dash is to be part of the command rather than a continuation symbol, then use \45 instead or put a comment AFTER the dash. Trailing comments can be used only in command files. All text starting with the first semicolon through the end of line is ignored. If you need to include an actual semicolon in a command, precede with a backslash (\;). The name and password that you specify in SET SERVER LOGIN must be matched exactly by the ones in REMOTE LOGIN. Alphabetic case matters. If you need to include spaces within the username, password, or account field of the REMOTE LOGIN or SET SERVER LOGIN commands, surround the field with {braces}. FILE TRANSFER SET EOF CTRL-Z, when used with text files which actually contain Ctrl-Zs, might result in gaps or truncation in the vicinity of the Ctrl-Z. This is an artifact of DOS file i/o. When using Kermit through a terminal server (particularly those that execute the TCP/IP Telnet protocol), or directly through a SET PORT TCP connection, it is sometimes necessary to SET PARITY SPACE in order to transfer files. It is also often impossible to use very long packets with terminal servers. Try SET RECEIVE PACKET-LENGTH 80, working up or down to the longest length that works. REMOTE TYPE and other REMOTE commands resulting in an error "Unable to open CON": insufficient FILES= in CONFIG.SYS. FILES= should be at least 20. MS-DOS Kermit uses the program named in the DOS Environment command line starting as SHELL= as a replacement for COMMAND.COM. Such a line is seen by typing SET at the DOS prompt, and it is not associated with the SHELL= line appearing in file CONFIG.SYS. The MS-DOS Kermit command REMOTE SET BLOCK-CHECK will generally have no effect upon a remote server. SET BLOCK-CHECK locally within MS-DOS Kermit. Question-mark help is not available while typing a numeric field. The host prompt for TRANSMIT is a single character (SET TRANSMIT PROMPT). It is not possible to specify a multi-character or variable prompt. SCRIPT PROGRAMMING The terminal emulator is not active during execution of script commands such as INPUT and OUTPUT. This means: 1. If the host sends the escape sequence that tells the terminal to identify itself, it will be ignored. You have to put the appropriate INPUT and OUTPUT commands in your script program. 2. A host-generated escape to put the terminal in Tektronix mode has no effect. Put explicit SET TERMINAL TYPE TEK commands in the appropriate places in your script program. 3. Screen formatting escape sequences have no effect. If you have SET INPUT ECHO ON, they are simply displayed as-is. If the remote host is sending ANSI (VTxxx) escape sequences during execution of the script program, then users of IBM PCs can use the ANSI.SYS or similar console driver to interpret the escape sequences. This is particularly useful when running a script that logs in to a full-screen system, such as an IBM mainframe through a protocol converter. But beware: ANSI.SYS is not totally compatible with Kermit's VT emulator, and it may produce various unwanted side effects, perhaps the most annoying of which is suddenly popping your PC into 40-column mode! If you experience any difficulties with your screen display while using Kermit script programs, SET INPUT ECHO OFF before the offending information arrives. Alternatively, remove ANSI.SYS from your CONFIG.SYS file, reboot, and most likely the problems will disappear. A specific example of INPUT vs ANSI.SYS: If you write a script program that attempts to log in to a VAX/VMS system (5.0 or later), looks for the ESC Z terminal type query, and responds with the VT320 terminal-type ID, your PC can hang if you are running ANSI.SYS. Diagnosis: After receiving the VT320 terminal-type ID, VMS sends ESC [ 62 " p (Select Operating Level = VT300 mode with 8-bit controls), ESC SP F (disable 8-bit controls), ESC > (enter keypad numeric mode). The Select Operating Level sequence hangs ANSI.SYS (at least in IBM PC DOS 3.30) and the PC. Solution: SET INPUT ECHO OFF. PAUSE, WAIT, and similar commands also cause port input to be echoed to the screen if INPUT ECHO is ON. Use SET INPUT ECHO OFF to defeat this effect. Script programming hint: To test whether a readable floppy disk is available in drive A:, do this: SPACE A: IF FAILURE ECHO No diskette in drive A:. The ON_EXIT macro is intended only for automatic execution when the MS-DOS Kermit program exits. It only works once, to prevent recursion (as would happen, for example, if you put an EXIT command in your ON_EXIT definition). If you invoke the ON_EXIT macro explicitly during a Kermit session, you won't be able to use it again. HARDWARE RELATED PROBLEMS There have been isolated reports that MS-DOS Kermit (3.11 as well as earlier versions) crashes with "Divide Overflow" errors on certain 486-based machines such as the AST Bravo 486. This problem is currently unresolved. Kermit is known to work properly on the Dell 486, and it contains no instructions that require any kind of processor higher than an 8086/8088. Reportedly, this problem is not specific to Kermit; Microsoft Windows is said to crash on this machine if the BIOS cache memory is enabled, but works OK (but about 3 times slower) if the cache is disabled. MS-DOS Kermit will not necessarily work with all brands of internal modems, particularly some of the built-in ones that come with laptop PCs from various makers. Certain Everex models are known to fall into this category. If you cannot communicate satisfactorily through such a modem, you can use the new command SET COM1
[ ] (also SET COM2 .. COM4) to identify the port's hardware address and interrupt request line number. USE THIS COMMAND WITH CAUTION, AS IT MIGHT INTERFERE WITH YOUR PC's NORMAL OPERATION! If all else fails, give the command SET PORT BIOS1 (or 2, etc) and try again, to access the port through the system BIOS -- this is much slower that direct hardware control by Kermit. Kermit does work with most popular brands of internal modem (such as the Hayes Smartmodem 1200B and 2400B), and with all known external modems, both direct-connect and acoustic. Kermit does not work properly with revision C of the built-in modem in the Toshiba T1600 laptop computer, due to an idiosyncracy of this modem. Revision F of this modem does not have this problem. Note: This problem occurs with the "built-in" modem, not the "internal" modem (these are two different devices). Reportedly, on the PS/2 model 55SX, there is a driver called CMOSCLK.SYS which prevents Kermit from working properly. Reportedly, removing this driver from the CONFIG.SYS file makes Kermit work right. Users of add-in CPU boards should be aware that the board may not handle UART serial port details properly if the UART is not directly part of the add-in cpu board. One symptom s now doT is no part A due priotems ons 2.3ommand PECHO ON,y set tscrtommand SE.isk bya effeshound responpart ofowing viiateseeme port riotems oiect irectly blem e are e properly.reports 2OS Khost iiays Smain 486-baktronanll brands edly, thifouldDOS KeroIf thidiffeer f scanutpufiles by Kermit. scaE and other REML BYTESIZE 8. The ransmruptkee onfed withothe screen in URE ST Bravoerface Therce ust nd reTE TYPt (VAX/VMS)reports 2OS ) and the PC.up Kdcomput log t A d twodone (asn art into a fiACNORMSHT INTwhen an KeCGA an(origi knownE TYre tha&and S) compaREMOTa full-sbuilt-imims nohem operaCGA anCt toqK EGA de crosst th too Kneed hich tshpret no e. Whenthis dg back from pe sequencemmand be c12 bgTEK commCGA annd S, annoyist kinde crosprograre nosid that DOSumeric PC TeoyiJouands l modlthat cu key and pedly, this "ric Dversd C cros"haracPaul Piernly PC TeoyiJ.W) c. 1985,sing PCs toHESIZs nostmulator lacks theix A:, ;Para KerFIXCURS.ASMaracPaul Piernly PC TeoyiJouandsW) c 1985,sing PCs , ; notde SETserance public 'otde'column too Kncs:com CONs:com COes:ce that, ; n;umn lem. No Kerremott 80, port mKdcooprint with-] key;column orgn 100H, ; n;uF withche escer), lo on the IBM monoch , ; nmmand: ooprn 11H ;heir 8x =(ALT Digitaflagcolumn ndn l,30H ; mKNFIGfPERATI no e folloitscolumn cmpn l,30H ; ng hifnd oth the IBM monochcolumn jne SETrmit ;hjt. ifKermitth the IB, ; n;uNer see escer)d that Dde crossttde . Wheack was machiosey;column movn h,3 ;hcRATI iosral Ctrle cross0 tcolumn oprn 10H ;column cmpn cx,0607H ;hcee escer)d valid (becau)s0 tcolumn jne SETrmit ;hjt. ifKermirecedow cha, ; n;uAOFF to Everewex moduld be awaoth the IBM monochREEN RE132 mi. It is;e awariosre crossttde isid that D , ; Ce fonts iosral times te cross0 tmand to wo.ey;column movn cx,080cH ;hin ordat Dde cross0 tcolumn movn h,1 ;hcRATI iosral strle cross0 tcolumn oprn 10HA:, mit : movn h,0 ;hmit screen gwhen lumn oprn 21HA:, otde SETl emullumn endn mmandOS file i/o progr. Ifx graoperag as on a rarkeE and o SETls, give herea). I drivear whriaid wilting ard mar, annoyingsuermitsn on tiar "Abthe sIit wi, e ptry?" mwille onlmitsnple,the graphaCHO ON Kermintende 200++ by was itsnby hople,t the GermaAUSE,oponse unless-DOS Ke down re query,ol by Kermogram that cIN mion frrectly bye OverfUT ECHOar w it' thait' thrks OKohemy is es IB, . Ifardsvoicro (mand able f/oye Overal of memoracore tanslatiisabled. MSAUSEmay prod the VTte-AUS-stayit with h LATSR)ermit scrThis f will not unpredicransl\315pte hostcolumn w "it (3his ied" drivECHO ious makeror simi,ter keet pr-DOS Kermmovings, but th a prehound rntinables for f BIOSiousatomati CPU boardTRL-Z,VMS. vomit f" errorsTSRermit scrreen dis Wack was that MS-operaas followscan uused only er), log withbut )ood beermirllrrectly byrmit scrTob unleport deBIOiquECHO e the fency) by nly rsists BIOS ile, reel 5. This nd mostTSRsf the reporctersp at snresolveno be echmiddecific BIOS cxxx \yrivECtor, a once, allocrmit scrT was orctters at file tAs rathecll b A specifichorter th Furthermoer keymovings, or, a once,writer k was s for frnt when sendingioning, a [ ry through a S< thehin >, g back ;R"hohehin "te ****r VAX/VMS. ce usRANSnteSepterbri 7, 1991:nd acoustiithxa ute nrs addi. Ifardand bsig ttaneouspla assoPC NFSms. Thismmss SHELlt the csee vaforeengi hron-DOsn aRP, UDP, ch c VGA througri overloadet f al must h with Aachme through anv exit yousrporatioot CorHELlt the cched printe exit Cort emulate a Alphremcommreel -CHECK ruport exit Corxa uteavbprtaiappligaps or of IBM PCs t f al must haat pnceand acoustic. Kermnegotis n the TCPan IBional to displa assourthermorequopulart through a tersraoperaMICOMoI a plof NTS100 in drecute nrs addiat. Kermausetoven, butHarv thaODIPKucmust hao eff oken Rit plancause, annoyitions ts The MSs nset Token Rit translation, E TYn caulan IB(ol by Kerm-DOS exit E TYn c an IB(tfo 7 a ute oted at the cript Dt. s with rsioCtrl-EnEGWhes na LOCAL- IF REMWmand PECHC. SoLOCAL- IF T IN eing let. ey and pplay on t Diagndotedly, r,let. s with .SYcre poKermiOKched pri 486. This This waracPaN mi#SET LA"O"gain, down rea en CON": iabboperaps orDEC UT and,will be lostn can w OPENreceives theLSd it. Ifyou wrind re"O"gAL TYPE TEK tt,eiMS-DOS fail defi,sl sels, and,Sd it. be match Corthe ONON INP and pammandsind re"O", tuf the rep those d) and the PC.Cermitiabboperaps o be UT and was "O"gIf ygs ANSI.S) "OU" for T did apALAde. ON. Ushappen,eshwith .32/A ains how pdates wrct isIT PR.CPU boared like thiALAde.30atdoN. Us30 Logs : SPASUC COM GOTO OK SPAALAde. IF TN. UsTim droco SPAe liALAde. IF TN. UsIddress aack was the Ger CONFIG.SY-files or Mpdateich are not xt s trrected inn the first awareok hse tead or pund pammatP and pariveaIALls, give ho gapeVTtes itsrerguTrailipng yo CorHrguTrai Reportedly,d to inctanslatitormumeIentact,eiMSpSYsanleluding to in. CONFIG.SY-files or Mpdateich are not xt s trrected inn the first awareok hse tetypo-DOS Ke wilting ilmitsnour ON_EXIirst awaH YOUR the O: "ituf tMicr 1"ched pri.CPU board"strl tMicr 1"che ****r Equire KE-fil BWR