G.DACRUZ@SU-SCORE.ARPA (04/26/83)
From: Frank da Cruz <G.DACRUZ@SU-SCORE.ARPA> This message touches some of the recent hot topics on this list -- free file transfer programs, DOS 2.0, the XT, hard disks, etc. At Columbia University, we develop, maintain, and distribute a file transfer package called KERMIT. It's roughly equivalent to MODEM, except that it has a "nicer" user interface, more documentation, and runs on a wider variety of systems (I think), including the PC. A while back I sent a message to this list to the effect that the availability of PC KERMIT would be announced for the ARPANET/Internet community shortly. In fact, it's ready to go, and has been for some time; I'm just waiting for a suitable distribution point to be set up -- a rather large area is required, since there are dozens of programs for many micros, mainframes, operating systems. Here's the current list: TOPS-10, TOPS-20, IBM VM/CMS on 370-series machines, UNIX on any machine; Z80/8080/8085-based CP/M systems (about 10 different implementations); 8086/8088-based MS DOS systems (several implementations); Apple II; RT-11 with OMSI Pascal; others (like VAX/VMS) on the way. Sources, binaries, hex, documentation, etc, are all provided. Anyway, I hope to have a distribution area ready "soon", and as soon as I do, I'll announce it to this list. Meanwhile, we have heard from some Kermit-86 users who have got either the XT or the IBM hard disk expansion chassis for the PC that Kermit does not work for them. It still can do terminal emulation, but as soon as it starts to transfer a file (in either direction), it hangs. The effect seems to be tied to the presence of the IBM hard disk controller -- even when the disk is turned off and the floppies are selected the symptom persists. The effect is independent of DOS version -- KERMIT works just fine under either 1.1 or 2.0 so long as there is no hard disk. My suspicion is that the new controller is preventing communication port interrupts from getting to the program. I have also heard speculation about seeing different behavior depending upon what slot the serial communication card is plugged in to, but that may be a red herring. Can anyone shed any light on this? Clearly, it must be possible to do file transfer over the communication line when one has a hard disk; I suspect some of the commercial packages may already be doing it. We're groping in the dark, since we don't have an XT, a hard disk, or even 2.0. - Frank da Cruz, Columbia U.