Chris_F_Chiesa@cup.portal.com (02/27/89)
Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen... Really. Such fuss: "modify the hardware;" "write your own software;" "set up one computer at one house, the other at another;" etc etc.! Those who suggest a null-modem cable are on precisely the right track, but are unnecessarily complicating the matter by crying the alarm over the ATASCII EOL (CHR$(155)) character vs. ASCII CR-LF sequence, in the matter of text files. All you need do, once the null modem cable is in place and "ready to go," is use a terminal program that includes a file-transfer protocol AND, on the Atari side, the capability to distinguish between "binary files, no need to 'convert' CR/LF and EOL", "text to be converted," and possibly "text to NOT be converted (e.g. what people keep saying AtariWriter+ can generate with what, the Control S option? I may be wrong here)." I know whereof I speak, also: I regularly transfer all types of files: Atari text, non-Atari text, Atari binaries, and non-Atari binaries, FLAWLESSLY back and forth between my Atari XL and my Amiga 1000, through a null-modem cable, at speeds up to 9600 baud, using Kermit protocol. Kermit allows you to set "file type" to "binary" or "ascii (or 'text')" -- and, on the Atari implementation of "Kermit65," to "ATASCII" ! (There's even a nice doc file for Kermit65 that spells out quite nicely just WHEN you need to use each setting.) Personally, I recommend running Kermit65 on your 8-bit Atari, and whatever Kermit is available/necessary for the 'other' computer. It exists for nearly EVERY computer I've ever encountered: Vax/VMS mainframes, Unix machines (most if not ALL flavors), Mac, IBM PC, and of course Atari. (Kermit65 for the Atari, incidentally, is frequently posted to this very newsgroup, if you've managed to miss it so far.) The *ONLY* kludge necessary as far as hardware is concerned, is that you need "something" to make the Atari serial-I/O port compatible with a "standard" RS-232 port. I use the 850 Interface Module with the usual Interface-Module- 9-pin-jack-to-RS232-25-pin-jack cable on the Atari side, and straight into the back of my Amiga on the Amiga side. Basically, get your Atari and the "other" computer into whatever configuration WOULD NORMALLY allow you to plug an off-the-shelf modem onto each, and then instead of plugging in a modem, connect the null-modem cable. This works BEAUTIFULLY, from personal and immediate experience. (In fact, I now do all my BBSing and mainframe/Net chatting with the Amiga, including downloading any Atari binaries -- then I transfer 'em over to the Atari later, offline.) Good luck, all, and write me here if you need any details. I haven't had a decent chance to help people with computer questions since I graduated from college and had to take a real job, so I'm eager to assist! Chris Chiesa By the way, to 'bartlett' who originally posted here: did you receive my two multi-page E-mail messages regarding details of null-modem cable construc- tion, sent from 'cfchiesa@bsu-cs.UUCP', or do I need to send them again? Same question to 'yehuda@solarium', I sent them to YOU too.