Re: Help with Apple IIc+ and ProTerm on BBS

[shack@deimos.frii.com (Randy Shackelford)]

In article <5gmhmo$27u4@uni.library.ucla.edu>,
 <pubpc1@library.ucla.edu> wrote:
>shack@deimos.frii.com (Randy Shackelford) wrote:
>>Tilghman Lesher wrote:
>>>QuickPort II.  Yoshi.  Digital Exodus.  Faster port speeds.
>>
>>I used Proterm and tried the port at 57600 and at 38400. The modem
>>wouldn't stay connected with the port speed higher than 19200. Granted, I
>>didn't try very hard to figure out why, since I never planned to use the
>>V.everything on the IIgs. It was only recently that I decided to pull the
>>Linelink out of the closet and put in on the IIgs in place of the Courier
>>2400e I had had on there. I can't imagine making use of 14400 on a IIgs
>>anyway.
>
>Tip: Just because you don't use your IIgs to its full potential, it
>     does not follow that everyone else has packed up and gone Mac.

Looks like you edited my article a little. I said I can't imagine making
use of >14400 (greater than 14400) and the quoted text up there says
making use of 14400.

I don't recall any advocacy in my article up there. Just relating that
I did try the port at higher speeds, which the person whom I followed
up didn't seem to think. Here's a question for you: Suppose you have a
box with TCP connectivity and can do FTP, WWW, telnet, etc, and a box
that can only function as a VT100 terminal. You have a 33600 modem and
a 14400 modem to use with them. Which gets the 33600 and which gets the
14400? I just tried the 33600 on the IIgs as an experiment and found that
it didn't work worth a hoot. Kinda like when I tried to get my 230 mb
magneto optical to work.

>There are many of us who use the IIgs for telecommunications and we
>want the maximum speed.  Now, granted, if you don't have a hardware
>handshaking cable, you may have problems.  You might also need an
>accelerator card to make good on the connect speed (even on a stock
>IIgs, however, the modem will connect at top speed with the proper
>cable...just might use the flow control more).

Be a little hard to use the V.everything on the Mac without one, dontcha 
think?

>I suspect your problem is that you are running ProTERM by launching
>from the Finder?  If you have any DA/extension installed that eats
>up precious interrupt time, ProTERM will choke at higher speeds.  The
>solution is to bypass GS/OS completely, booting up directly to
>ProDOS 8 (by pressing the '8' key during boot-up).  Try it - the extra
>speed of a higher speed connect is awesome.  It will make 14.4 seem
>like 2400 (although you mainly notice it in file transfers).  Even
>on a 14.4, you should have a port speed of at least 38400 to make
>error correction and data compression work properly.

14400 seems fast after using the 2400e. That's a USR modem that connects
at 2400 but provides 9600 throughput with data compression, in case you
haven't heard of it. I'm perfectly happy with 14400.

>Randy, incidentally, this problem also crops up on Macintosh
>computers.  Running a terminal program (White Knight or Zterm, I
>forget which one...it was several years ago), the Mac would choke
>on a high speed connection.  I could not figure out why, until I
>removed a clock extension!  That one change made the difference
>between successful high speed modeming and not.  You see, I
>am NOT a Mac hater...I've used Macintosh, Amiga, PC, and IIgs
>computers.  It is just that I'm not as big a Mac advocate as you. :)
>Now the Apple IIgs is something that I will support till the end!
>The IIgs was and still is my primary computer for wp and modeming
>(although the little '486 sits quietly until Netscape is needed).

I find using an FTP client much easier than the ftp/zmodem rigmarole, I
kinda like having a graphical web browser, and having multiple logins at
the same time using a telnet app is cool too. All running at the same time
quite often, and playing an audio CD out the internal speaker to boot. But 
to each his own. I practically have no need for a modem on the IIgs since I
can ftp files for it then localtalk 'em over. That's why the 2400e was on 
there for so long, but I decided it takes up too much desk space.
-- 
Randy Shackelford                                 
shack@frii.com