8/18/94 DIALER.TXT Operational Information ----------------------- The SLIP/PPP ODI driver and MS Windows-based Dialer can operate in one of TWO MODES: 1. The default mode makes use of the MS Windows serial communications driver (COMM.DRV) -- Windows-based applications such as FAX drivers and standard communications packages can use your modem when it is not being used for a PPP or SLIP network connection. -- PCs with the less-capable 8250 or 16450 UARTs may actually perform better in this mode. -- The automatic disconnect feature only works in this mode. -- The little LED-like "lights" on the Mobile Monitor Icon blink like a modem's Carrier Detect, Transmit and Receive lights in this mode (see the "SLPMON.EXE" section below). 2. "COMMOwner" mode, the ODI driver takes full control of the serial port that your modem is connected to and hides the port from the Windows COMM drivers -- this mode enables DOS based TCP/IP applications to operate reliably in Windows' DOS boxes, and enables Windows applications that make heavy use of blocking network operations to work well over serial lines. -- In "COMMOwner" mode, it is possible to exit and renter MS Windows without affecting the state of a SLIP or PPP connection. -- To load the SLIP_PPP.COM driver in COMMowner mode use the /E switch: "slip_ppp /E " or add this line to the Link Driver SLIP_PPP section of your NET.CFG: COMMOWNER YES SYSTEM FILE CHANGES: ------------------- These instructions are for SLIP/PPP configuration only. We assume that you already have LAN WorkPlace installed and configured for the LAN. Please refer to you LAN WorkPlace for DOS Configuration Guide for more general configuration problems. NET.CFG ------- For SLIP or PPP usage, your NET.CFG file should resemble this example: Link Support buffers 8 1500 mempool 4096 Link Driver SLIP_PPP FRAME PPP ACCM 00000000 INT 3 (set for your modem port) Port 2F8 " " TCPIPComp VJ COMMOWNER NO (NO is the default) NOTE: Direct, listen, dial, are not valid parameters anymore. Also, any values for mru, accomp, pcomp, TCPIPComp, etc. in the NET.CFG will be over-ridden by choices you make in Dialer. Protocol TCPIP path lwp_cfg c:\net\hstacc path tcp_cfg c:\net\tcp path script c:\net\script path profile c:\net\profile tcp_window 4096 NOTE: Do NOT enter ip_addresses, ip_routers, ip_netmasks in NET.CFG, that is done ONLY through Dialer. 1. Identify the COMM Port "INT" and "Port" values to use when SLIP_PPP is loaded in the default "COMMOwner" mode, usually: COM1 - Port 3F8 COM3 - Port 3E8 Int 4 Int 4 COM2 - Port 2F8 COM4 - Port 2E8 Int 3 Int 3 (the example above shows COM2) 2. Specify an initial frame type of PPP in NET.CFG even if you will be running SLIP! This choice is made from Dialer. It is not necessary to specify an IP address, subnet mask, or default router in NET.CFG when using the SLIP_PPP driver. These settings, as well as DNS name and ip_address, will be set as needed through Dialer or by the remote router at connect time. AUTOEXEC.BAT ------------ The TCP/IP Transport and PPP drivers are loaded into memory using the following batch-file-ready sequence: cd D:\ lsl slip_ppp tcpip The LAN WorkPlace for DOS installation creates "LANWP.BAT", and edits AUTOEXEC.BAT to call this batch file. You may decide to edit LANWP.BAT or create another batch file to call from AUTOEXEC.BAT for working away from a remote location. You will need two NET.CFG files and can use the /c= option to LSL.COM and TCPIP to call the right one. LSL /C=C:\NET\NWCLIENT\NET.ASY SLIP_PPP TCPIP /C=C:\NET\NWCLIENT\NET.ASY SYSTEM.INI ---------- In "COMMOwner" mode, watch out for SYSTEM.INI entries under the [386Enh] section specifying the Port and Interrupt values of your modem's COMM port. Remove lines such as the following: [386Enh] COM2Irq=3 COM2Base=02F8 Such entries are not placed in SYSTEM.INI by the default Windows installation. They will only exist if someone put them there. CONFIGURING DIALER ---------------------- Once LSL.COM, SLIP_PPP.COM and TCPIP.EXE have been loaded, you can start MS Windows and configure Dialer. The first step is to add Dialer to the LAN WorkPlace program group. The first time Dialer is run on your system, the configuration program (\NET\BIN\CONFIG.EXE) is launched. The screens are fairly straight forward, instructions are provided in addition to extensive online help. The Dialer Configuration program will create an initial entry in Dialer's "Connection Directory". Editing this entry, or creating new entries is a straight forward process for somewhat experienced MS Windows users. Some Trouble-Shooting Advice ---------------------------- 1. Experiment with different DTE rates by editing your Connection Directory entry, and selecting "Port Settings", then "baud" rate. To find the optimal performance for your PC and modem try various DTE rates. It's possible that the performance will increase at a lower DTE rate. Also, if you just see garbage in the Login window and can't type in your username and password, lowering the DTE rate might help. 2. Experiment with both modes of operation. Since some applications may access the network in such a way as to prevent the Windows System VM and COMM drivers from delivering data, lockups may occur in this mode (rarely). This is usually an indication of a flaw in a Windows application, but is a fact of life with certain DOS applications and network redirectors. If you experience difficulties running in the default mode, try the "COMMOwner" mode instead. 3. If you do not see a list of supported modems when performing the initial configuration of Dialer, it is likely that the "PATH LWP_CFG" setting in NET.CFG is pointing to the wrong place, or that you neglected to load TCPIP.EXE prior to starting Windows. 4. Your modem is not in the list? Try Hayes Compatible or find out from the manufacturer if their modem scripts are similar to any of those on the list. For example, we found that the Zoom FaxModem VFX V.32/V.42 script works for the IBM PCMCIA Fax/Modem card. 5. "Error opening the communications channel" -- check that the new Dialer files are all in the path. -- check that the Port and Interrupt in NET.CFG match 6. "Modem timed out waiting for a response" -- Dialer requested a modem operation and your modem did not respond. -- Is the modem is properly installed, configured, connected and powered on? If all that is true you might try the Hayes compatible modem script from the Configure->Select Modem window. 7. "Call to undefined dynalink" When SLPMON.EXE loads it looks for a particular SLPAPI.DLL, WLIBSOCK.DLL and LWPUTIL.DLL. One of these is "out of sync". Double check the versions, see LWP203.TXT installation instructions. 8. You can connect successfully but can't ping anyone. Check that no ip_addresses or ip_routers are in NET.CFG. Enter the ip-address in Dialer, or not at all if its going to be assigned with bootp or by the PPP server. When loading TCPIP you should see an IP Address of 0.0.0.0, Subnet Mask 255.0.0.0 and Default Router 0.0.0.0 and Frame PPP. 9. TCPIP.EXE returns "FATAL: Unable to determine this station's IP address". You have Frame SLIP in NET.CFG and no ip_address. If you're using the new Dialer your best bet is to put Frame PPP in NET.CFG and specify PPP within Dialer's Connection Directory entries. Modem Control Files ------------------- The latest collection of Modem definitions in "AIOMDMS.MDC" are available on FTP.Novell.COM in /PUB/NETWIRE/NOVLIB/01/NWCMOD.EXE. This file is common to NetWare Connect (both Server and Workstation) and the Windows Dialer. SLPMON.EXE ---------- SLPMON.EXE is a Windows application that monitors the state of the dialup network connection and (in conjunction with SLPAPI.DLL) provides a means for Dialer to communicate with the modem. SLPMON is loaded automatically when Windows starts in 386 Enhanced mode whenever SLIP_PPP.COM is resident. Normally, SLPMON works invisibly, but it can be made visible by adding the following lines to your LWP.INI file (normally found in \NET\HSTACC\LWP.INI): [SLPMON] Visible=True This LWP.INI setting will cause SLPMON.EXE to become visible as an icon. When SLIP_PPP.COM is loaded in this default mode, the icon can simulate the receive LEDs of your modem. When "Restored" or "Maximized", SLPMON provides information through various menu picks that may be useful for troubleshooting purposes. Most users will not want to be bothered by a visible SLPMON.EXE, but it can provide useful information and statistics when troubleshooting. Apart from these notes, a visible SLPMON.EXE is an "undocumented feature". NetWare Client -------------- NetWare Client v1.11 access over SLIP or PPP, is not supported with this release of LAN WorkPlace SLIP/PPP. Scripting --------- Dialer provides a very basic scripting language that can automate the ASCII login process required by many dial-up routers. To "Auto-Record" a script, Edit the Connection Directory entry and type the name of a new script in the "Script" field. Click on "OK" to save the entry, and then IMMEDIATELY dial the connection entry to record the script... NOTE: If you don't execute the dialing of the entry immediately after entering a new script name, the script name will be forgotten and the Auto-Record will not occur. Once connected to your dial-in Router, the title bar of the Login Window should indicate that your script is being recorded. If your newly recorded script contains a password, you may "password protect" the usage of your script through Dialer's Script menu. Scripts are NOT stored on disk in clear text format. New Script Commands not documented in the Online Help: ----------------------------------------------------- 1. PROMPT [ $TEXT=prompt_text $TITLE=dialog_title ] PASSWORD [ $TEXT=prompt_text $TITLE=dialog_title ] The PROMPT and PASSWORD commands erect a modal dialog box that requests information from the user. The two commands are identical except that the PASSWORD command replaces characters in the user's response with asterisks and the dialog box title is different. The commands have two optional arguments. One sets the text describing what the user should respond with in the dialog. The other sets the title of the dialog. The defaults are: For PROMPT: $TEXT=Please enter the required information $TITLE=Information Required For PASSWORD: $TEXT=Please enter your password $TITLE=Password Required Since the characters '$' and '=' are used as part of an argument key a way is needed to enter them in the actual text string. They can be entered by using '\' to escape the character. Example: $TEXT = An example string with an embedded \$. $TEXT = An example string with an embedded \\. Replies can embed "control" character by entering a string like "#nnn" where "nnn" can be any value from 0 to 255. Values outside this range are ignored. Only decimal notation is supported. Example: WRITELINE #97#116#122 will send an "atz" to the remote. If a '#' character is required it can be represented by "\#". For the PROMPT and PASSWORD commands, only the response typed into the dialog box is checked for control characters. The $TITLE and $TEXT arguments to the commands are not affected. (The commands WRITE and WRITELINE can have control characters embedded using this syntax as well.) 2. TIMEOUT time (time is in seconds) The TIMEOUT command sets the global timeout value for the PAUSE and WAITFOR commands. The default global timeout is 30 seconds. The PAUSE command can still set its own timeout value. If the TIMEOUT command is given without an argument, it resets the internal timeout to the default value of 30 seconds. 3. WAITFOR Command The WAITFOR command times out after the global timeout expires (see the TIMEOUT command description above). 4. READIP The READIP command is to be given an argument that defines what IP address to retrieve when more than one IP address is given. The argument defines the position in the list. READIP 2 would retrieve and use the second IP from a list of IPs. The default value is 1. The position argument has a range of 1 through 32767.