WILLIAMS@GAMMA.IS.TCU.EDU (02/27/91)
Boy, this has been the day. I'd like some suggestions. Help!... I've got a USR V.32bis Dual Standard that's displaying some new tricks: Occasionally, about a half second after it goes on-hook, I get a RING result back from the modem. This behavior began one Sunday afternoon. I put up with it for 24 hours and after having almost all of my autodialing routines quit because they expect to see a BUSY or a NO CARRIER and not a RING, I called USR on Monday (2-11-91) and said "What's wrong with it?" They had me reset all the registers and then try again and I still got the RING that was by this time no longer cute and funny. They said "We'd like to take a look at it" so I sent him off UPS blue and they got it a couple of days later. I told them that I thought it was probably just a misadjustment in the RING detection circuitry and the spike on the phone line after things went on-hook was being read as a RING. Well, I called them 9 business days later (they promised to have it fixed in 4, but who's counting -- after the fourth day they changed their story and no matter how many times I reminded them they'd said 4 days, they stuck to the new 7 day turnaround, which really isn't all that unreasonable anyway) they said it was coded F01 (couldn't duplicate the problem) and sent it back. Now I would think that since they have my phone number and all that, if they can't make it work, they ought to call me and see if they've missed anything, rather than send it back and then have me get all upset when it still doesn't work and send it in again. But they didn't. I got it back today, and guess what? Same problem. So this time I figured I'd do some more homework. I tried it on another line. No more problem. But I would hate to have to call everyone I know and tell them I'm changing my number, so I've called Southwestern Bell and reported trouble. They said they'd "look into it" which could mean anything. So, Floyd, et al, do you guys have any suggestions as to what to ask the Bell people when they call me back tomorrow? o USR says "modem is fine, we used the modem killer on it, no prob." o modem returns false RING only on one line o with modem on-hook, taking line off-hook then on-hook with type2500 set causes false RING o false RING doesn't occur on every on-hook command, just one in five Any clues? Mark Williams williams@gamma.is.tcu.edu
floyd@ims.alaska.edu (Floyd Davidson) (02/28/91)
In article <B2AC5EF4B17B00BE6B@gamma.is.tcu.edu> WILLIAMS@GAMMA.IS.TCU.EDU writes: [...] > > o USR says "modem is fine, we used the modem killer on it, no prob." > o modem returns false RING only on one line > o with modem on-hook, taking line off-hook then on-hook with type2500 > set causes false RING > o false RING doesn't occur on every on-hook command, just one in five > >Any clues? > >Mark Williams >williams@gamma.is.tcu.edu Well if the modem is OK, and it seems to be, then the modem is getting hit with something that can be mistaken for a ring. I haven't ever looked at what modems use as a ring detector, but telco equipment usually just has some form of a full wave bridge rectifier hung on the line. Basically any AC, or a significant spike, with enough voltage will look like ringing current. There are too many possible causes to guess at. Inductive spikes, capacitive discharges, sheesh, I don't know. But there are a couple things you can do. One is take every other thing off the line (phones, answering machines, fax, etc.). See if it still does it. If you have a voltmeter, measure the DC and then the AC across the line as you hang it up. Then go measure it across another line the same way (even using the same phone if you can), and see what the difference is. An analog meter movement would be required. A look at it with a scope would be interesting too, but if you can do that kind of thing just remember that it is a balanced line. Readings to ground don't mean anything, and grounding one side is trouble. Simple scopes don't look at tel lines very well. One thing that might help when talking to the telco is refering to it as the "ring detection" having a problem, rather than as a false ring. If the tech is a modem user it won't bother him either way, but if he isn't into modems the "ring detection" will ding bells (in his head) that are different than "false ring" does. Floyd -- Floyd L. Davidson | floyd@ims.alaska.edu | Alascom, Inc. pays me Salcha, AK 99714 | Univ. of Alaska | but not for opinions.
flinton@eagle.wesleyan.edu (03/01/91)
In article <B2AC5EF4B17B00BE6B@gamma.is.tcu.edu> WILLIAMS@GAMMA.IS.TCU.EDU writes: > [...] modem returns false RING ... Any clues? Floyd Davidson's answer may also help explain my own, slightly different, false RING problem: while on-hook in originate mode (auto-answer disabled) my modem "detects" dial-pulse clusters of great enough length as RING 's. Eights, nines and zero's always; the lower the number, the less the likelihood of its being considered a ring. I first discovered this while the modem's auto-answer was still enabled (at the modem-specific default of 2 rings) -- I'd place a voice call, or try to, only to hear the modem's answer tone before I had a chance to finish dialing. Setting the right S-register to zero cured the auto-answer problem, but is there a cure for the false RING-detection ? (I know, I know, get DTMF service. No thanks, I save $2.00/mo. w/ rotary.) The modem is from Acer, their 2424 (an MNP-4 300/600/1200/2400 jobby). For any advice, my thanks. -- Fred <flinton@eagle.Wesleyan.EDU>
root@zswamp.fidonet.org (Geoffrey Welsh) (03/16/91)
>From: WILLIAMS@GAMMA.IS.TCU.EDU >Occasionally, about a half second after it goes on-hook, I >get a RING result back from the modem. >I tried it on another line. No more problem. But I would >hate to have to call everyone I know and tell them I'm changing >my number, so I've called Southwestern Bell and reported trouble. Bad move, at least around here. Bell Canada doesn't charge for service calls if they find anything wrong with their lines, but they do charge you if they don't, or if they find the problem is in customer-owned equipment. I think you'll find that the problem is *not* your line, but rather other equipment on your line, probably a cheap phone or something like that. Remove everything - even unattached cables - from every socket on that phone line. See if your modem barfs if it's the *only* thing on the line. -- UUCP: watmath!xenitec!zswamp!root | 602-66 Mooregate Crescent Internet: root@zswamp.fidonet.org | Kitchener, Ontario FidoNet: SYSOP, 1:221/171 | N2M 5E6 CANADA Data: (519) 742-8939 | (519) 741-9553 The mile is traversed not by a single leap, but by a procession of coherent steps; those who insist on making the trip in a single element will be failing long after you and I have discovered new worlds. - me