Rich's Ramblings

by Rich Schinnell

OS-2, Here I come. (Now don't get upset.) I just started my column this way to get your attention. Bet you thought Rich had gone off his rocker again, eh? <G>

If you're a non-internaut, then you can skip this month's column. I can't seem to be able to describe this without some techie talk. So be patient.

I received a free copy of the new Warp, OS/2 version 3.0 from the IBMers at the local GovCom show in September. I left it laying in its wrapper at the CPCUG offices for a couple of weeks, and also let Henry Noble know that it was there. Warp came on CD-ROM, and I have always had trouble with my CD-ROMs and OS/2. A couple of days ago, Henry installed Warp on a machine in the office, and in the process he created the 20-some diskettes necessary to install it from floppies.

I took them home and installed it on a virgin 202MB hard disk so that I could start off fresh. It seemed to install fairly easily, even though I got tired of swapping the disks.

All in all, it went quite smoothly as I have a 486-33 and 16MB of RAM. This time, OS/2 booted into the desktop, and I then proceeded to install the Internet diskettes. The Internet installation went quite smoothly as I did have some of the answers to the questions asked.

I still have a problem with the darned (mild language here) mouse. It seems that when you double click an icon, the cursor should change to an hourglass or some other indication that the program is executing. I sometimes have to click it a few more times for luck <G>, or I end up opening Windows more than once.

To digress, I had been on Clark Development Companies BBS (they donated the PCBoard BBS software for the Members Information eXchange), and there were some messages about this program called VMODEM, which is supposed to work with the OS/2 Warp version and its Internet connection option. VMODEM is an executable part of the package called SIO, which probably stands for Serial Interface Option.

I found out that this shareware program is a Virtual Modem. In other words, it is a program device driver that allows OS/2 Warp users who have an internet SLIP/PPP account to pseudo dial-out over the Internet using most OS/2 communication programs. Of course, you have to have a SLIP or PPP account with some local provider, or a TCP/IP connection where you work. With a Virtual Modem, the difference is that instead of using ATDT 949-8848, you need to specify ATDT 199.67.41.2 or one of the other addresses for BBSs that are running the VMODEM SIO drivers. This sends TCP/IP packets of information out your modem to your Internet connection if the intended recipient has an OS/2 connection and is running the VMODEM/SIO driver program on their end. You will connect to the BBS system as if you had dialed in on one of their phone lines.

Piece of cake <G>. It worked the first time, and I only glanced through the documentation file. It is a bit complicated to explain here, but there is a sequence of events that must be followed to successfully connect. I logged onto Clarks' BBS and was able to download using my OS/2 communication program's internal Zmodem. I also dialed into the three addresses on the net that are listed in the documentation file with VMODEM/SIO.

I prefer to use Terminal Emulator (TE/2), which is an OS/2 communications program well worth the money. I had registered the program quite a while ago, and was able to upgrade to a new version for free. It is very similar to QMODEM PRO, and the old familiar PageUp PageDown for upload and download, and Alt-D for the dialing directory, are all there. Very configurable, and best of all, it has automatic internal Zmodem.

SIO135.ZIP (latest version) is available from:

The Software Division
Attn: Raymond L. Gwinn
12469 Cavalier Drive
Woodbridge, VA 22192
(703) 494-4673 Voice
$25 for registration with quantity discounts for businesses

TE/2 is available from BBSs locally or:

Oberon Software
1405 East Main Street
Mankato, MN 56001
(507) 388-7001 Voice
(507) 388-1154 BBS
$65 for the single user version.

I was able to connect to BBSs in Chicago, Utah, and Houston, Texas very easily and without a lot of aggravation, exactly the same things on the screen that I normally get when dialing with my physical modem, once I installed the addresses in the dialing directory as "Dotted Quads," (that's the term the Unix types prefer for the 4-part numerical address for each node on the internet; my CSLIP account number is 164.109.213.210). As a CSLIP (Compressed Serial Line Interface Protocol) user, I was used to much of the vernacular necessary to connect to my cpcug.org account. Everything worked as planned.

On to other parts of IBM's Internet for OS/2 components.

What a horrible implementation of a newsgroup reader. I tried all the different configuration changes, and still never found out how to have the article date show up on the list of articles in a newsgroup. I am sure that there will be others who have either figured it out or found out that it is not possible. I await answers. I also couldn't change the font for the newsreader.

I was able to use Telnet and FTP without any problems. I never was able to get the mail reader working, but after all, I don't like to read the documentation. I then tried to log onto the IBM-supplied SLIP account. (IBM has an agreement with a service provider to sign up people online.) The built-in application for Internet access that comes with the Warp Internet feature is quite easy to complete, get registered, and get online. Of course, it helps to have an American Express card with a high limit <G>. $35 for a start-up charge or registration fee, and the monthly charges, is quite high: $12.95 monthly for six hours a month (YES, that's a month), and then it's $4 per hour. Each use of the account starts the old meter running. They do have 800-number access, as well as local numbers, with a different charge level for each. I hear rumors that they are working to get a $29.95 per month with 30 hours (extra hours at $3 per) price structure allowed. That sure makes CPCUG's (via Millkern and cpcug.org) $25 a month for SLIP/PPP and four hours a day look like the good deal that it is.

I did make a mistake in trying to create and send mail, online. Horrible implementation of a mail reader. I highly recommend the mail reader Eudora and the news readers that come with the SLIP shareware package, available on the MIX and other BBSs. I do have a mail address: IBM.net" >schinne@ibm.net.

With every new userid I receive, they keep truncating my name.n Pretty soon it will be S@server.net or something. That's the problem with nine character last names. It seems that Unix and DOS are just against us. Shorter names are better. . . .

Bottom line on Internet connection: for Shell or SLIP/PPP, sign up with cpcug.org, and attend the training classes by Randy Steer, Peggy Ireland, Larry McGoldrick, and Stu Winokur...all much better values. And the shareware for SLIP connections is much easier to implement and use.v

Rich Schinnell is the President of CPCUG, retired from the USN and Vitro Corporation. He can be reached on the Internet at schinnel@cpcug.org, in person on the phone at (301) 949-9292, the MIX, or catch him at the CPCUG offices where he spends a few days a week.

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