[comp.dcom.modems] Bad XMODEM/MNP interaction?

Owens-Christopher@cs.yale.edu (Christopher Owens) (07/26/89)

Maybe someone out there has some insight into what is happening here.

I use a Macintosh running Red Ryder 10.3, connected to a Practical
Peripherals 2400 MNP level 5 modem, dialing into a Vax running Ultrix,
via a Racal modem (model unavailable) that supports MNP level 3.  For
file transfer, I use mbget and mbput, which use the XMODEM, (128-byte
packet with CRC) protocol plus some extra info in the headers to
handle Macintosh's file format.

When I use a generic 2400 baud (no MNP) connection, everything works
fine.  When I try to use a reliable (MNP) connection, which I assume
is being negotiated at MNP level 3, I get fine behavior during my
interactive session, but all kinds of problems with file transfer.
Uploading files from the Mac to the Vax works OK, but downloading
files from the Vax to the Mac causes either of two problems:  Either
the transfer never gets going -- times out before the first block is
sent, or the transfer wedges after block 6.  At this point, the
connection is wedged.  If I hang up and dial back in, the modem
answers, this time in regular 2400 baud (No MNP) mode, and starts
spewing ~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~ as soon as the connection is
established.

Apparently something in the data stream is causing the modem to go
into a strange state.  Any idea of what?  This is a bit hard to debug.
I'd appreciate any pointers.

Thanks,

-c

P.S. I know that xmodem is redundant with MNP, but it happens to be
embedded within a program that does other nice things for me, so
"don't use xmodem" isn't really a good workaround.