[net.unix] Framing errors and autobaud @ 2400

rjk@mgweed.UUCP (Randy King) (03/22/85)

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It seems that autobauding from 1200 down to 300 by means of a framing
error is quite reliable when the 300-baud user types almost any character.
Hence for years uucp info has contained strings like:   login:--login:
where the "--" implied "send CR".

The reverse did not work, so the 1200-baud user would send a BREAK to
upshift the remote to 1200; hence  login:-BREAK-login:  for the uucp info.

Now I am finding that downshifting from 2400 baud to 1200 baud more closely
resembles the 300->1200 upshift in that sending a BREAK is the more reliable
way.  It is not always the case, however.  There are times when just a CR
from my 1200 baud modem calling a tri-speed modem at 2400 baud will cause
the port to fallback to 1200.  Many times, however, a BREAK is required to
cause the downshift.

If you have had experience with 2400 baud autobauding, including upshifts and
downshifts among the speeds from 110->2400, I'd like to hear about your
findings.  This would be important information for future releases of UUCP
information from sites with >1200 baud modems.

						Randy King
						AT&T-CP@MG
						ihnp4!mogul!rjk

honey@down.FUN (code 101) (03/24/85)

CR is not the best character for generating a framing error.  you want
the receiver to see a 0 where it expects to see the stop bit.  since CR
is 00001101, the receiver sees the reversal of this bit string (rs232
is little-endian), with start and stop bits added, and every bit
repeated, i.e., 001100111110000000011.

note the long string of 1's where you would like to have a 0.  the
second byte will also fail to generate a framing error since it ends
with the real stop bits.

your best bet for generating a framing error is to use the ascii
character that ends with the longest string of 0's: @, or 01000000.

this is why you frequently see "" @ and in:-@-in: in uucp login
scripts.  @ also has the happy side effect of clearing out line noise,
except in 4.2bsd where the convention was unilaterally changed.

	peter

wls@astrovax.UUCP (William L. Sebok) (03/25/85)

> Now I am finding that downshifting from 2400 baud to 1200 baud more closely
> resembles the 300->1200 upshift in that sending a BREAK is the more reliable
> way.  It is not always the case, however.  There are times when just a CR
> from my 1200 baud modem calling a tri-speed modem at 2400 baud will cause
> the port to fallback to 1200.  Many times, however, a BREAK is required to
> cause the downshift.

I decided to take another tack here at astrovax.  I installed code in my
getty to add an option to explicitly autobaud on an initial carriage return.
The code to do this on 4.2 BSD was posted on 23-Nov-83 by Jim McKie
(jim@mcvax.UUCP).  This has the welcome side effect that it prevents modems
that echo dialing commands (or anything else) from getting into a conversation
with getty, which interprets the echoing of the login banner as an attempt to
login.
-- 
Bill Sebok			Princeton University, Astrophysics
{allegra,akgua,burl,cbosgd,decvax,ihnp4,noao,princeton,vax135}!astrovax!wls