[net.micro.mac] Problems with mac binary format transfers

dad@mit-vax.UUCP (David Duff) (04/19/86)

I have been trying to use the program macbin to simplify my file
transfer process, but have had no luck in getting it to work properly.

I take a file from net.sources.mac and run it through xbin, producing
the three files .info, .rsrc, and .data.  I then run them through
macbin, which presumably combines them all into one big file.  So far
so good.  When I try to download this file to my mac, however, I have
problems.  Most of the time I use Red Rider on  my Mac.  I have tried
version 7.? and now version 8.0 with no luck.  I have also tried
Freeterm 1.8(?).  All of these programs are supposed to be able to
recognize a file in binary format.  RR, in fact, puts up a message
saying that it is receiving a binary file. On the Unix end, I have
tried kermit, sb, umodem and xmodem.  

The file arrives on my mac and usually has an icon and everything, but
it never "works".  Macwrite files are unreadable, programs always
bomb. The only other sign that anything else is wrong is that at the
beginning of the transfer, RR seems to "skip over" the first few
blocks.  That is, the counter counts quickly up to about five or so.
At the end the counter goes past where it should.  At the very end of
the receive process it will say "block #201 of 195" or something like
that.  

Can someone tell me a configuration (Unix program, Mac program) that
works?  Thanks.

abulloch@violet.berkeley.edu.berkeley.edu (/violet_b/abulloch) (04/23/86)

In article <225@mit-vax.UUCP> dad@mit-vax.UUCP (David Duff) writes:
>I have been trying to use the program macbin to simplify my file
>transfer process, but have had no luck in getting it to work properly.
>
>I take a file from net.sources.mac and run it through xbin, producing
>the three files .info, .rsrc, and .data.  I then run them through
>macbin, which presumably combines them all into one big file.  So far
>so good.  When I try to download this file to my mac, however, I have
>problems.  Most of the time I use Red Rider on  my Mac.  I have tried
>version 7.? and now version 8.0 with no luck.  I have also tried
>Freeterm 1.8(?).  All of these programs are supposed to be able to
>recognize a file in binary format.  RR, in fact, puts up a message
>saying that it is receiving a binary file. On the Unix end, I have
>tried kermit, sb, umodem and xmodem.  
>
>The file arrives on my mac and usually has an icon and everything, but
>it never "works".  Macwrite files are unreadable, programs always
>bomb. The only other sign that anything else is wrong is that at the
>beginning of the transfer, RR seems to "skip over" the first few
>blocks.  That is, the counter counts quickly up to about five or so.
>At the end the counter goes past where it should.  At the very end of
>the receive process it will say "block #201 of 195" or something like
>that.  
>
>Can someone tell me a configuration (Unix program, Mac program) that
>works?  Thanks.

Don't do any xbin-ing on Unix. If you are using RR, invoke kermit s on
Unix and use the kermit-receive mode on RR; then (for almost all files)
use Binhex 4.0 (for some items you will then also need Packit II).  For
short files you can read through them on the screen, then select the text
using the mouse-and-cursor, Copy (under the Edit menu) and Paste into
a Mockwrite file (having Mockwrite handy as a D/A lets you do things
with texts at your end while still on line).

RR won't work with Unix' u(/x)modem (you need MacTerminal for that), but
kermit is just fine.

Good luck.

Anthony Bulloch
Dept. of Classics
UCBerkeley
Ca. 94720

(415)-642-4218

abulloch@ucbviolet.berkeley.edu