werner@utastro.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) (11/07/88)
it has been brought to my attention that quite a few people seem to have problems getting those new-fangled binary files downloaded to their Macs "intact" .... ...whereas some users simply make mistakes, such as 1) forgetting to set up the FTP-connection appropriately for the type of binary connection required with the particular archive-site (type TENEX with DEC-20s, type binary with UNIX boxes like RASCAL) 2) postprocessing the file inappropriately either on the local host or on the Mac after downloading ... BUT, I also found a problem caused by bugs in, at least, the download software, in particular in xmodem version 3.2 .... NOTE, that the latest version of xmodem that I am aware of (and using successfully) is version 3.6 (available from the archives at RASCAL) which was distributed on USEnet in the UNIX-binaries group some time ago .... and that I have confirmed that downloading with xmodem 3.2 (and VersaTerm 3.10, at least) results in a damaged file on the Mac (damage is, probably, minor and could be fixed with a little hacking, but that's "just not good enough" ... :-) I'd appreciate to hear from people about their experience of success/failure with the combination of software that you happen to be using, so that I can respond to help-requests and trouble reports with a little more information. -- --------------------> PREFERED-RETURN-ADDRESS-FOLLOWS <--------------------- (ARPA) werner@rascal.ics.utexas.edu (Internet: 128.83.144.1) (INTERNET) werner%rascal.ics.utexas.edu@cs.utexas.edu (UUCP) ..!utastro!werner or ..!uunet!rascal.ics.utexas.edu!werner