What is the problem with C-Kermit?
Where is the sz.doc file which is the only documentation for the options
available when downloading from GREX via x-, y- or z-modem protocols.
(Enter "sz" with no filename and you'll see what I mean.)

As for C-Kermit, Yesterday I tried to download a file from my home directory,
but got an error saying No Such File or Directory, or some similar junk.
I also got an error saying Too Many Retries.
        What's up with that?
        Why Won't C-Kermit recognize a file in the active (working) directory?
        (I triplechecked to make sure that I was properly identifying the
        filename and active directory, so don't even try to explain it that
        way!) :)

49 responses total.

C Kermit works just fine for me. I tried to help "other" last night.
What happened when you renamed the file name to a simpler one?
I cannot believe you can say ls <file> and see it, but in kermit
you cannot say send <file> without getting this error.

Please post the specifics.

I just changed the filename to mlayers and tried sx mlayers.
It was working fine until I tried to interrupt it in order to set a larger
packet size.  Then Irealized i had no idea how to do that with sz, since I
can't find the docs!

Now I need to know how to interrupt a download at the GREX end without having
to drop my DTR and dial in again.  ^D and ^C both failed, as did esc, break,
and everything else I tried short of dropping the carrier.
  :(

I'm not sure how to interrupt zmodem.  Many xmodem and ymodem programs
accept a control-x as indicating abort (often requiring a second one
as confirmation).  I don't think you can change the block size for
zmodem - I think it automatically adjusts somewhat if there's noise, but
it's initially 1024, which is about as big as you usually get.

Re C-Kermit:  Please enter the specifics on what you tried.  Like Steve,
I've never encountered the error you experienced.
And I use C-Kermit a lot.

Re interrupting downloads:  For C-Kermit, use ^C.  You may have to hit
it several times.  For sz or sx, use ^X, as Dave indicated.  You may have
to hit it a number of times (like, 10 or so) for it to "take".

Yup, ctlr-x for stopping zmodem.  It might take a while to take effect.
If you're using a DSZ or GSZ for MSDOS, you can also do alt-N (nuke
the transfer) and that seems to be a bit faster.

I've had trouble with c-kermit before.  Usually, the trouble is that
a remote filename is not legal on the local system.  Wildcards also
might not act as you'd expect them to.  Also, watch out for the fact
that UNIX filenames are case sensitive.  

I think other has the case right, because he's using copy and paste
on the file name. I suggested the name might have contol characters
that copy wouldn't pick up, so I asked him to ls the file by typing
(pasting actually) the name. I believe he said ls recognized that as
a file. Your advice is certainly good in general, though.

My equipment:
        Macintosh SE, System 7.0, Versaterm 4.5.3
C-Kermit settings (modified only, all unlisted were unchanged from default):
        Set file type text
        Set send size 1024
        Set parity even
        Set Block 3 (CRC)   (I don't know what CRC means, BTW)
 I think that's it. 
All matching setting locally.
        The filename was used exactly as printed in my directory listing
by cut and paste into/from my local buffer, verified by pasting into ls -l.
Steve (srw) verified because I was in talk with him, and pasted the output
into our conversation.
        The file is now in my home dir, and renamed mlayers.  I successfully
began a download using xmodem protocols, but i wanted to increase packet size.
I would like to be able to find the sz.doc file so I can use the options that
are available with s{x,b,z}.
        BTW the file *was*     maclayers1.30.sit.hqx

sz.doc didn't seem to be online anywhere, so I ftp'd the latest rzsz
from oak.oakland.edu, extracted the files rz.doc and sz.doc, and put
them in the directory ~remmers/Doc, for want of a better place.  You
can access them there.  (They should probably reside permanently
in a directory under /usr/local -- not sure of the best place.)

There are probably man pages in that, too, John, unless they've given up on
them.

It might be text, but isn't there the necessity of extablishing
the connection as an 8-bit path [ 8-N-1 ]  before doing any of that?
 

Thanks, remmers, for retrieving that doc file.
davel, there are no man pages for sx,sb,sz.
tsty, it is necessary to change my settings to 8N for the download, but then
I can switch back after.

Hmm.  Upon looking at them, it appears that sz.doc and rz.doc
actually *are* man pages, but unfortunately they're not in nroff
format, so I don't think I can install them where the man command
will find and process them.  Weird.

other, I meant in the package - obviously they weren't installed.  John,
you mean they aren't *also* distributing sz.1 and rz.1 in addition to the
doc files?  (This seems quite possible, but they used to have them.)

Unfortunately, there are no sz.1 and rz.1 in the distribution I just got.

I could get them for you if I could ftp out...

I could look around for them, I suppose.  Do you know of an
anonymous ftp archive where they can be found?

Actually, I did look around a bit (from work) and found that the
newer rzsz* archives have pre-formatted *.doc files that go through
nroff just fine (no nroff commands to process, so they just kinda
come out like they went in, I guess); rename sz.doc to sz.1 and let
the man page formatter have a go.  I do have an rz.1 and sz.1
that are a bit older (1989 I think) that are formatted for nroff
if you want those, but they'll probably differ in content enough to
be annoying.  Anyone wanting some practice in formatting man pages
could practice on sz.doc and rz.doc...  

Hmm.  I tried the man command on the pre-formatted rz.doc and sz.doc
referred to in #17, and it just made a hash out of them.

I think they're worth keeping as online documentation, though, so
I moved 'em to the directory /usr/local/doc/rzsz, where they should
reside until superseded.

Think I'll pass on using those files for practice in formatting man
pages -- they're over 10K each in size and would have to have hundreds
of nroff formatting commands inserted, plus a lot of other editing.

The worst of it is that obviously the nroff version is being maintained
somewhere by somebody.

I just experimented with 'man' and the preformatted version of sz.1.
It looked okay to me; no hash evident. Also, the man page more man
says that if you have preformated man pages in cat? directories,
man will just page them and skip the formatting.  That might be an
option (though I don't suppose all man pages should be preformatted
due to disk space restraints).

Now I'm having a new download difficulty. I want to use Z-modem
instead of Kermit. When I log in through Merit, this means I need 
a full 8-bit connection. I read somewhere (but I can't remember where)
that there is a '%' command one can issue at the which host? prompt
that will ensure an 8 bit instaed of a 7 bit link.

Does anyone know if this is true, and if so, what is the command.
I have alseo searched through conferences and Merit's help files
without being able to discover this. Thanks in advance.

I use Zmodem via MichNet very frequently (almost daily).  Issue a
<break> command to get MichNet's attention, then type '%bpc=8' and
a couple returns.  Now set your comm program to 8N1.  Start your
transfer.
  Since Zmodem is a streaming protocol, it sometimes has problems
(gets ahead of itself, just keeps sending packets even though the
receiving end is begging for a resend).  Read the man page for sz.
The -L and -l parameters can be used to rein in Zmodem (sets the
max window size and a wait-for-acknowledgement interval) if you
have frequent overrun problems.  They do slow the transfer down,
however.
  Even at a slightly slower rate (195 vs 230 cps at 2400 baud),
Zmodem beats Kermit simply because you can resume aborted or
screwed up transfers (and this is a darn handy feature to have on
MichNet).
  I've used this <break>%bpc=8 procedure even from Grex (when I'm
telnetting in via MichNet).  Seems to work okay fine.

You can also issue the "%bpc=8" command directly from the "Which Host?"
prompt, without preceding it with a <break>.

My connect script when using Procomm goes something like this:

Merit                      Terminal
-----                      --------
%Terminal=                 <return>
Which Host?                 %bpc=8
[n/a]                       [change connection to 8N1]
[...]

So I automagically get connected at 8N1 when using procomm.

Thanks guys. %bpc=8 is the magic I was looking for.
Merit's help is utterly lacking when it comes to % commands.
(or else it's too well hidden for me.)

It's not in any of the Merit docs I've found, but then the only
such I've found are dated 1983...

%bpc=8 sounds familiar - but I think it is pre _Window_, and certainly
pre _PCtie_, which implemented the file transfers without your having
to set the MTS protocol. I now use only FTP, so don't see this
"problem". Eventually (and not so long, either!) it will be "history".

This doesn't do the job for me - or, rather, only partly so.  It gives me
8N1, OK, but when I do a file transfer I get errors or garbage.  I even
just tried Kermit, and got a garbled file.  (*That* might conceivably
be a mis-setting in Kermit, but ymodem won't even get initial
acknowledgement.  I don't have zmodem here.

I've never been able to get Ymodem to work via MichNet.  I have the
same problem you see: no initial ack/never gets through that first
packet, then times out/has too many errors.  Kermit should work at
7E1 with no trouble (that's how we got files in and out of MTS before
ftp was so easy to access).  Where is "here" that you don't have Zmodem?
There is a version for Unix and most every other OS around.
  I assume if you're using Kermit at 8N1 you need to change some
settings (like parity).

My problem with Kermit was forgetting that the stupid program thinks text
files should be the default for file transfers (& you have to tell it on
*both* ends).  "Here" is at home, where my comm program is a once-cheap
shareware Procomm that doesn't support Zmodem; the problem isn't that the
platform doesn't support it, but that I don't want to pay for yet another
comm program.

BTW: I don't know what all the possible % commands for MichNet are, or any
way to find out - I'd never known there were any until this thread started -
but I tried %? at Which host? and got a list of my settings.  I presume a
bunch of them could be reset in a fairly straightforward way, if I only
knew what they meant - not that *I* want to, as far as I know.

For seom reason, I want to say that the "%" commands are in Merit Document
15, but I am not sure about the name.  If you are interested,  I can find
out the correct name and the path to it.

I used to have a large list of % commands (most don't work anymore, but
some still do such as %co and %hello) back when Merit was fun... :)
Still have it somewhere.

bdp and I even conducted one of those old Merit chats using %g and some
other commands I don't remember! Simple fun!

The Merit commands are in "User's Memo No. 15"  The copy I have which
I got last year is "Revised 14 February 1983".
 
davel, doesn't Procomm support an external command hot-key?  If so,
you can run Zmodem, I believe.  It would be more appropriate to
"attach" Zmodem to Procomm via an external protocols list, but if
it doesn't have that, you need to look at other alternatives.
 
Look for dsz????.zip and /or gsz????.zip probably in the /SimTel/msdos/
modem/ directory on oak.oakland.edu.
 
Occasionally, I use %crd (carriage return delay) to slow down the
lines as they are dumped on my screen.  (Certain terminals seem to
need more delay to keep from losing chars at the beginning of lines).

I knew that it had something to do with 15.  I think that a continuation
of the commands are in Merit User's Memo No. 23. 

This response has been erased.

Me, too...that and Confer'ing

This response has been erased.

Well %bpc=8 didn't work for me either. I could have sworn someone 
said you could do 8bit transfers on merit if you knew the secret code.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss