K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET (05/04/87)
A few users of UniTerm have had problems with the Kermit file-
transfer protocol, I have tested (and used) UniTerm Kermit
with a number of different mainframe Kermits without problems
(C-Kermit,VMS-Kermit,VM/CMS Kermit,TSO Kermit,MS-Kermit), due
to the many variations that are possible in computer to computer
connections you may have problems that are specific to your
site and setup! A few tips:
UniTerm V1.7a Kermit: this version had some problems
with timeouts and transmission
errors, if you have a resonable
error free line you should still
be able to use it.
UniTerm V1.7b Kermit: timeout problem fixed, XOn/XOff
handshaking NOT turned off
automatically!!!!!! (I did this
because of a suggestion in the
Kermit protocol manual, it
probably wasn't a good idea!)
This means you may have to turn
XOn/XOff OFF if you are having
problems using the same settings
as in V1.7a!
For all versions: don't use IBM-mode, it is extremly unlikely
that you will need it, it has NOTHING to do with the actual
make of your host computer!
Turn XOn/XOff OFF, if you allocate a big enough (experiment!)
RS232 input buffer, you will not need handshaking anyway
except at 19200 baud!
If you have trouble getting any connection at all with the host
Kermit (no packets are received), check that the host and
ST parity are the same and that all interconnections use
the same parity or are at least transparent for parity!
Most mainframe Kermits are VERY fussy about parity, being
able to get a normal terminal connection means NOTHING!
Speed: at low rates (< 9600 baud) UniTerm Kermit and GEM-Kermit
should transfer about at the same speed (time the whole transfer!),
at the higher rates (9600 and 19200 baud) UniTerm should be a bit
quicker (or at least it was, last time I mesured the speed).
Simon Poole
K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET
PS: this was transferred via a 300 baud modem with UniTerm Kermit
to a 3083 running VM/CMS Kermit 3.1, terminal connection via
a Series/1 running the Yale terminal emulation package.
PPS: it took 110 s to transfer 2485 bytes + initial packets + handshaking
which gives a transfer rate of 22.4 bytes/s.