response 1 of 27:

Apr 9 19:52 UTC 2001

Cindi, if you've got a 486, you might well find it easier to get the
box up and running on the Internet by using Linux rather than DOS.
I can remember messing about with packet drivers and what have you
years ago on a DOS box, and it's no fun.  If you want to keep using
DOS software, you could either run dosemu on the Linux box, or put
the DOS machines on a network with the Linux box and use the latter
simply as an Internet gateway.

response 3 of 27:

Apr 10 21:41 UTC 2001

I didn't study computer science either (philosophy, actually), and
when I started with Linux all I knew about Unix was that I wanted it.
It really isn't as hard as people make out.  If you can hack DOS
to the extent of getting on the Net, then you have enough techincal
nous to tackle Linux.  Of course, you may prefer to stick with what
you know, that's understandable; and I don't get a referral fee from
Linus Torvalds for every new Linux user I create, so I'm not trying
to "convert" you!  It just struck me that you do seem to put a lot
of effort in to geting stuff working on DOS that would just run out
of the box with Linux.  Not a criticism, must an observation.

Another point is that more people know about getting Linux up and
running these days; hardly anyone is fiddling with DOS anymore.  So,
if you did try Linux, you'd immediately have more people in a position
to help.

response 5 of 27:

Apr 12 17:33 UTC 2001

Found a few problems and fixed them.  To run dosppp using chat.scr and
myppp.cfg you MUST NOT also have pppdrc.cfg and chatscr in the dosppp
directory.  Another problem was a missing call in front of a batch file name
used in another batch file.  Yet another problem was that the unix-type
commands gecho sed cat etc. were not on the path - the author never said to
put them there.  He will make the instructions clearer.  And hopefully rewrite
so as not to need pushdir and popdir (which he did not provide, or specify
had to be on the path).  I can now run the program (dial, load packet driver,
load lynx) with one command, and send mail (with one error message having to
do with pushdir and not finding a directory which may not matter).
But half the time I get the message "PPP link is down.  Cannot load packet
driver."   This does not happen with Nettamer but it does with Arachne which
also uses epppd.  Is there a fix for it?  Is there some timing problem with
the ISP?  This batchfile is now set up to dial and immediately after
connecting to load the packet driver.

Has anyone used Kermit to telnet?  When I try it cannot connect with the
nameserver, or with grex when I give the IP number.

response 7 of 27:

Apr 13 15:06 UTC 2001

Can you list exactly what you do to telnet with Kermit, after dialing and
loading packet driver?  What I do next (after filling in mscustom.ini for
bootp and DNS numbers and even gateway address) is type set port tcp/ip
www.grex.org (or the IP number for grex).  It then tries to connect and says
it cannot connect (to DNS server or to grex when given IP number).  I also
tried first giving it a set KERMIT = path c:\kermit (did I get this right?).
I am in the Kermit directory as is mscustom.ini.  

We removed all the pwd and pushdir and popdir stuff from the batch file and
I will remember if I shell to go back where I was.  Now it all works except
for sendmail.bat not finding wattcp.cfg.  What programs need wattcp.cfg? 
Sendmail can use bootp instead.  

Has anyone used bobcat 386 with nmo?  I cannot get the latter to run 'olim'
which writes and/or reads mail.  It wants a full path to munpack, which is
in the same directory that I am in when I try to run it.  munpack decodes base
64 files.  The mailout program won't work either.

response 9 of 27:

Apr 13 23:40 UTC 2001

Of course, what else?  Anyone have any ideas on how to set the .cfg
file for epppd (dos ppp) so that it will wait longer to do PAP authentication
instead of telling me PPP link is down cannot load packet driver?  
There are settings to change the max no of PAP authentication requests
transmissions from default 10, and to setPAP restart interval from 3 seconds
to something else.  Is either of these likely to help?  Half the time I try
I cannot load packet driver, especially during busy times (5 pm).

Also can lynx be set so as to wait longer for the DNS computer and not tell
me nameserver ARP failed (what does that mean?).  Usually cutcp telnet works
but sometimes it also gives up when lynx is getting this message - so it is
set differently somehow.  

The other browsers I am using don't have these problems (except Arachne which
is using dos ppp).

response 11 of 27:

Apr 14 12:08 UTC 2001

Right.  I run Linux at home even though I'm the only person using
the system.  So far nobody has arrested me for it.  :)

response 13 of 27:

Apr 15 13:03 UTC 2001

Multi-user means (among other things) the ability to easily run multiple
processes at once.  This makes it much less hassle to run simultaneous telnets
and such, and to have a TCP/IP stack running in the background.  With DOS you
have to spend a fair amount of time just getting that sort of stuff to work
under a single-process environment.  Plus all that Internet stuff is designed
into Linux, whereas in DOS you have to spend time adding it on.

response 15 of 27:

Apr 15 20:09 UTC 2001

How about being able to run lynx and telnet sessions at the same time, so you
can refer to a webpage you are writing about?

response 17 of 27:

Apr 15 23:49 UTC 2001

What I'm referring to is being able to have multiple "screens", which you
would switch between via some key combination (it's typical to assign them
to Alt-F1, Alt-F2, etc.) rather than splitting the screen.

The lynx on Grex is bigger and also more stable?  I'm not sure how that would
be a big surprise.  The Unix versions are almost certainly better supported
than the DOS versions, plus the difficulty of running a DOS TCP/IP stack in
limited memory along with everything else.

response 19 of 27:

Apr 16 17:32 UTC 2001

Kermit lets you scroll back a few screens.  So I think I could go to the URL
of interest with lynx, then quit lynx and go into Pine and scroll back to that
screen, while dialed in directly.
Got lynx working to the point where I can telnet from the bookmark file (but
still need some sort of script to log in with Kermit like I do when dialed
in).  Dialed connection is at least twice as fast as telnet for me.  

response 21 of 27:

Apr 17 00:06 UTC 2001

Reverse video would be a combination of your Grex settings and your PC
software settings.  Not sure why one app would do it better than another,
though.

Try using the "set" command before and after to see if anything is changed,
maybe.

response 23 of 27:

Apr 17 00:47 UTC 2001

I looked at set and did not see anything obviously different before and after
running lynx.  What sort of setting might I try changing in kermit to fix the
problem (what does lynx maybe set that I should have kermit also set - but
kermit works fine when dialed, just not when telnetted).