Archive-name: http://www.vub.ac.be/BFUCC/doc/faq/modem.faq.html
Version: 1.6.1 - August 2000
This text is also available on ORCA : `about modem-faq`
This document may be copied and distributed freely, as long as it is not altered or truncated in any way. Quotes from this FAQ in other documents are allowed, provided a reference is made to this document. The information contained in this document is not guaranteed to be correct, and merely offered for your information.
RESULB, the network of the ULB, offers several pools of modems:
More info : email : resulb@ulb.ac.be
VUBnet, the network of the VUB, offers several pools of modems:
More info : email : vubnet@vub.ac.be
Best use a terminal emulation of the vt100 or vt220 type.
To free up lines and due to the large demand for dialup connections, it is possible that some connections will be interrupted after 5 or 10 minutes idle time.
Also, the number 02/650.42.98 has a time-limit of 60 minutes. After that the connection is closed.
Sometimes the modems answer correctly but no connection is made to the machine requested. Reasons for this may be:
If you get an error message Command ignored or Command
rejected or possible other error messages while selecting a machine,
there may be a problem with the terminal server itself. Try a phonenumber
to another terminal server and please contact the administrators of the modems
or mail to support@ulb.ac.be:
If you get through on the other phonenumber, send a message to support@vub.ac.be or support@ulb.ac.be to report the problem so the network team(s) can remedy the problem situation. Please indicate which number has been giving you problems and when.
All transfers follow the same general procedure.
After the transfer, the UNIX command will have ended and you're able to continue working in your UNIX environment.
Use -b as argument to these commands for binary transfer.
/usr/local/bin/kermit (on ORCA, not (yet) on MACH)
Kermit offers on-line help : a list of parameters can be obtained by typing 'kermit -h'. Kermit is slower than sz but uploading works fine with this version. There is no man-page available.
First, save the attachment(s) from your e-mail interface (ELM, PINE, ...) to a file on MACH or ORCA. Then quit the e-mail program and transfer the file(s) as outlined above.
The home system needs special software, called SLIP/PPP, and you need to be validated to run SLIP/PPP to the machines and network at the university. If these conditions are met, you will be able to use Netscape and all other Internet programs from home.
As of this academic year the VUB/ULB Computing Centre has extended its dial-in services with PPP access for university members (students and staff). For details, see below.
There are two ways of reading mail from home. One way is to simply login to the system your mail is being stored on and use one of the mailreaders that are available there (e.g. elm on MACH).
The other way is to use an off-line mailreader (off-line means that you can disconnect the telephone line once your messages have been transferred from the university to your home computer, thus saving on comunication costs).
For some off-line mailreaders you need SLIP/PPP because they are based on TCP/IP. Eudora normally uses TCP/IP but also offers the possibility to read mail off-line over a modem line without needing the SLIP/PPP software on your computer (for Mac from version 1.4, for PC from 1.5.4). You will find the description on how to configure Eudora to make use of this feature at point 3.3
Eudora offers the possibility to read and send mail over a modem line without requiering SLIP or PPP access on a server. To achieve that it uses a script mechanism (also referred to as NAV's) in which you have to define the steps to login on a UNIX system from which it will initiate a 'telnet' to a POP server (based on the POP account as specified in the Eudora Settings) and download all messages.
The instructions below refer to using this procedure by using
If you have a Macintosh, you can check out the VUBnet grabbag on Appleshare
which contains examples of NAV's to login on MACH over the modem, as well
as an Eudora manual. These items are also available on the Anonymous FTP
server at the Computing Centre.
The steps to follow on a Mac are:
Needless to say that you require your modem to be hooked up to the Mac and
the telephone line.
Items 1, 2, 4, and 5 only have to be initialized once. You can freely switch
between normal TCP/IP (PPP/SLIP) and Modem Toolbox by switching the Connection
Method in the Settings Dialog.
These NAV's are currently available on the anonymous FTP server at the Computing
Centre (they work for Eudora 1.5.4 and up AFAIK):
Important: the above NAV's are specified for a standard login procedure
on MACH for the Bourne-shell (last instruction in the STR# resource ID 128
is waiting on $ prompt). If you have another login shell, have modified
your login procedure or work on another machine, you may have to correct
this last string. If you work on another machine, change the entry for
mach.vub.ac.be in one of those strings to the name of the machine
you wish to connect to.
The Mac application may have some difficulties with some resources to connect
on a UNIX system and to the requested POP server.
If you have a PC, you can check out the Anonymous FTP server at the Computing
Centre which contains examples of NAV's to login on MACH over the modem,
as well as an Eudora manual. The NAV's are simply text files that describe
the sequences of the login procedure. You can edit those with a standard
editor on PC (as edit) or a Word Processor (save as TEXT !!).
For the PC, there are 3 navigation scripts (NAV's) which you have
to install on your PC: serial.mod, serial.nav and serial.mid. The file serial.mod
contains modem commands, serial.nav contains navigation for the
login procedure, up to the UNIX login prompt of the user. serial.mod contains
commands that are executed when the connection to the POP server is terminated.
It can be empty.
serial.mod has been changed to contain the last line of serial.nav ; this
should be the standard procedure. The file can be empty but it has to exist
!
Follow these instructions to configure Eudora for modem:
Needless to say that you require your modem to be hooked up to the PC and
the telephone line.
Items 1, 2, and 4 only have to be initialized once. You can freely switch
between normal TCP/IP (PPP/SLIP) and Dialup Mode by switching the TCP/IP
or Dialup settings in the category "Dialup" in the above dialog box.
These NAV's are currently available on the anonymous FTP server at the Computing
Centre (they work for Eudora 1.5.4 and higher). Download the 3 NAV files
and install them as indicated above.
Important: the above NAV's are specified for a standard login procedure
for the Bourne-shell on MACH (last string in the serial.nav is waiting
on $ prompt). If you have another login shell, have modified your login
procedure or work on another machine, you may have to correct this last string.
If you work on another machine, change the entry for mach.vub.ac.be
in one of those strings to the name of the machine you wish to connect to.
SLIP and PPP implement TCP/IP (internet protocol) over a serial line (like
a normal telephone line). Applications using this protocol are behaving as
if they were directly connected to the Internet.
As of this academic year 1998-1999 the VUB/ULB Computing Centre has extended
its dial-in services with PPP access for university members (students and
staff). PPP access is available to university members at the cost of EUR
50/year. For details, please see the
VUBnet PPP
and RESULB
PPP pages.
RESULB offers ISDN
connections at 64k (even 128k) for ULB staff for EUR 50.00/year.
Macintosh
Make sure that the telnet command is followed by a return (enter),
or the script will hang during this telnet command.
PC
3.4 Q: What are SLIP and PPP ?
3.5 Q: Is SLIP/PPP available at the University ?
4. About ISDN
4.1 Q: What about an ISDN connection ?