ggl@mhuxi.UUCP (LASKARIS) (04/02/86)
- f - o - o - d - - - f - o - r - - - t - h - o - u - g - h - t - Trouble with Unix PC Release 3.0, communications, and remote terminals: We have a couple of Unix 7300's here, linked together via rs232 expansion ports. In addition, just to add a bit of spice, each has a telephone line for cu and telephone manager, and one has a terminal (an AT&T 510a). We have observed the following strange and wonderful behaviour. The hotline has so far not been able to help, although I have not allowed all that long before trying alternate routes. When someone is logged into the terminal (9600 baud direct connect) and the computer is involved in a 'cu' or 'uucico' via either the rs232 to the other computer or the phone line to another remote machine, OFTEN but not ALWAYS: 1) the terminal will hang up 2) if uucico is being used, it will fail, usually with a timeout. This leaves the terminal hung up until a reboot, and leaves the communications port in an extremely strange place. I can get into 'cu' (whether I was already there or in uucico) and dial a remote machine. I then carry on a strange dialogue: I type, and the correct number of characters echo. The remote machine responds, and again the correct number of characters are shown on my screen. If I am a good typist, I can log in, give a password, and issue commands to the remote system. Always, the correct number of characters result. HOWEVER, although the characters are correct in number, they are not what either I or the remote machine are typing. In fact, they are what has already happened, perhaps 200 characters back. In other words, if the machine hung this way during a uucico, the characters that echo at me will be those from the uucico file, along with the handshaking protocol. If I keep working this way, eventually my remote terminal session will be displayed, including my typing entries (and including any spelling errors I made because I couldn't see what I was typing at the time). In other words, it seems that there is a buffer somewhere associated with the remote line, and that a pointer into that buffer is screwed up. I keep adding to the end of the buffer, and the beginning of the buffer keeps getting displayed. We just don't agree as to where input and output are. The only solution I have come up with is to reboot the system. Crude, but it works. By the way, without the remote user logged in this problem has NEVER occurred. With the remote user logged in, it has probably occurred 25 times now. I guess we can't use remote logins. Help! Adthanksvance, David Laurance ihnp4!mhuxi!ggl (201) 953-7633
gemini@homxb.UUCP (Rick Richardson) (04/02/86)
I have had the same trouble (characters echoed are the ones that were
typed many characters before), on my 7300 which has 3 serial ports.
The way I used it, all 3 serial ports were running a very basic
terminal emulator to talk 9600 baud to 1) a development system,
plus 2) a "product" dumping data at 9600 baud using XON/XOFF flow
control, and 3) another one like 2). No remote logins. Under this
heavy load, the 7300 flow controlled 2) and 3) alternately for awhile,
then finally got so confused that my session on 1) started getting
the delayed by characters echo problem. Once this happened, I had to
reboot to fix.
I have since given up trying to use the 7300 as a replacement for three
terminals in the lab.
Rick Richardson, PC Research, Inc. (201) 922-1134
..!ihnp4!houxm!castor!{rer,pcrat!rer} <--Replies to here, not to homxb!!!jhc@mtune.UUCP (Jonathan Clark) (04/04/86)
Keywords:
In article <423@mhuxi.UUCP> ggl@mhuxi.UUCP (LASKARIS) details some strange
occurences concerning the tty driver on the combo card. Rick Richardson, in a
later article, concurs.
This is a known problem. It is a bug. To fix it, get hold of release 3.04.2.
This provides you with a new kernel and a new combo card driver. I think that
people will be much happier with the performance of the RS232 ports using this
release.
Sorry, I don't know *how* to get hold of this release - I suggest calling the
hotline and asking them. This applies to internal and external people. Either
kind may like to ask their friends.
--
Jonathan Clark
[NAC]!mtune!jhc
My walk has become rather more silly lately.