[comp.unix.xenix] DOS under Xenix

jct@psm.UUCP (John Tompkins) (10/26/88)

I am interested in running DOS programs under UNIX, probably Xenix,  on a
386 machine using something like VP/IX. I was told by the SUN salesman, whose
386i will also run DOS, that programs using a lot of interrupt driven IO
will run slowly. They say it will be faster in the future but there is a lot
of overhead in the interrupt emulation. Does anyone have experience in 
using interrupts driven IO on any of the DOS emulators for UNIX/Xenix ? I am
looking at about 9600 baud on a serial port and maybe some type of DOS
networking on ethernet or arcnet. Thanks in advance.

John C. Tompkins

sandy@turnkey.TCC.COM (Sanford 'Sandy' Zelkovitz) (10/27/88)

In article <267@psm.UUCP>, jct@psm.UUCP (John Tompkins) writes:
> I am interested in running DOS programs under UNIX, probably Xenix,  on a

[ rest of text left out]
> 
> John C. Tompkins

I have been running VPiX under Xenix386. The following statements are what I
have noticed about the product.
 
1) The DOS programs run nearly as fast under VPiX as under MSDOS on the
   console. If the programs run on remote terminals, the reduced baud rate
   is definately noticeable when output by the program is required.
 
2) You need MANY megabytes of memory in your computer for proper operation.
   I would strongly suggest a minimum of 4 megs to start if you have other
   Xenix programs running at the same time.

3) Not all terminals are supported under VPiX. This may cause problems
   for you.

Tou summarize, the product is excellent and is well worth the money.
 
Sanford <sandy> Zelkovitz

richard@neabbs.UUCP (RICHARD RONTELTAP) (11/01/88)

[ DOS comm prgs under VP/ix ]
 
We've tried VP/ix, but *no* comm prog works under any reasonable
baudrate using a *protocol*. (Just terminal emulation is ok)
 
It must be noded that I don;t have the final version of VP/ix yet, but
I fear the worst.
 
Richard
(...!mcvax!neabbs!richard)

zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us (Jon Zeeff) (11/02/88)

In article <52662@neabbs.UUCP> richard@neabbs.UUCP (RICHARD RONTELTAP) writes:
>[ DOS comm prgs under VP/ix ]
> 
>We've tried VP/ix, but *no* comm prog works under any reasonable
>baudrate using a *protocol*. (Just terminal emulation is ok)
> 

Try getting a 16550AN uart and turning on the fifos.  It should stop any
lost character problems.


-- 
Jon Zeeff      			Ann Arbor, MI
umix!b-tech!zeeff  		zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us

jbayer@ispi.UUCP (id for use with uunet/usenet) (11/03/88)

In article <52662@neabbs.UUCP>, richard@neabbs.UUCP (RICHARD RONTELTAP) writes:
> [ DOS comm prgs under VP/ix ]
>  
> We've tried VP/ix, but *no* comm prog works under any reasonable
> baudrate using a *protocol*. (Just terminal emulation is ok)
>  
> It must be noded that I don;t have the final version of VP/ix yet, but
> I fear the worst.

The final version of VP/IX corrects most problems I encountered with 1.0.
It also supports comm programs up to 2400 baud.

Jonathan Bayer
Intelligent Software Products, Inc.

john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US (John Owens) (11/03/88)

In article <238@ispi.UUCP>, jbayer@ispi.UUCP (id for use with uunet/usenet) writes:
> The final version of VP/IX corrects most problems I encountered with 1.0.
> It also supports comm programs up to 2400 baud.

Yes, the final version is much better.  I use it with a comm program
at 9600 baud (and ~ get 2400 baud throughput, but anyway....)  [Yes,
it uses flow control; it's for a specialized application.]

-- 
John Owens		john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US		uunet!jetson!john
+1 301 249 6000		john%jetson.uucp@uunet.uu.net

jim@fsc2086.UU.NET (Jim O'Connor) (11/04/88)

In article <238@ispi.UUCP>, jbayer@ispi.UUCP (id for use with uunet/usenet) writes:
> In article <52662@neabbs.UUCP>, richard@neabbs.UUCP (RICHARD RONTELTAP) writes:
> > [ DOS comm prgs under VP/ix ]
> >  
> > We've tried VP/ix, but *no* comm prog works under any reasonable
> > baudrate using a *protocol*. (Just terminal emulation is ok)
> 
> The final version of VP/IX corrects most problems I encountered with 1.0.
> It also supports comm programs up to 2400 baud.

In today's world of TB+ modems (and its similar companions in the 9600 baud
world) are we really to consider 2400 to be a *reasonable* baud rate?

--jim
------------- 
James B. O'Connor		+1 615 821 4090 x651
Filtration Sciences Corp.      UUCP:  uunet!fsc2086!jim
105 West 45th Street           or      jim@fsc2086.UU.NET
Chattanooga, TN 37411

root@conexch.UUCP (Larry Dighera) (11/04/88)

In article <164@jetson.UPMA.MD.US> john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US (John Owens) writes:
>Yes, the final version [of VP/ix] is much better.  I use it with a comm program
>at 9600 baud (and ~ get 2400 baud throughput, but anyway....)  [Yes,
>it uses flow control; it's for a specialized application.]

But, who makes a smart multi-port card that has a driver that supports
VP/ix.  Bell Technologies claims their ACE driver (v0.4 beta) does, but
it doesn't work for my client using it on an Everex 386/20.

Are there any other ACE card users successfully using it under VP/ix?




-- 
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TELE: (714) 842-6348: BBS (N81); (714) 842-5851: Xenix guest account (E71)
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peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (11/05/88)

In article <345@fsc2086.UU.NET>, jim@fsc2086.UU.NET (Jim O'Connor) writes:
> In today's world of TB+ modems (and its similar companions in the 9600 baud
> world) are we really to consider 2400 to be a *reasonable* baud rate?

In todays world of TB+ modems and protocol spoofing, are we really to
consider DOS to be a *reasonable* working environment? If you really need
a chatty little modem program, use pcomm under SV/386 and forget about
DOS. As for me, the only protocol I use these days is uucp-g.

The only use for VPIX is programs that can't be found for UNIX. Stuff like
Locust 1-2-3, or Weirdstar or AutoCAD. There are enough PD options for
terminal work that there's no point waiting around for DOS. Term programs
are a particularly bad case... under DOS they're one of the biggest CPU hogs.
Under UNIX they're one of the lightest loads.
-- 
Peter da Silva  `-_-'  Ferranti International Controls Corporation
"Have you hugged  U  your wolf today?"     uunet.uu.net!ficc!peter
Disclaimer: My typos are my own damn business.   peter@ficc.uu.net

debra@alice.UUCP (Paul De Bra) (11/06/88)

In article <345@fsc2086.UU.NET> jim@fsc2086.UU.NET (Jim O'Connor) writes:
>In article <238@ispi.UUCP>, jbayer@ispi.UUCP (id for use with uunet/usenet) writes:
>> In article <52662@neabbs.UUCP>, richard@neabbs.UUCP (RICHARD RONTELTAP) writes:
>> > [ DOS comm prgs under VP/ix ]
>> ...
>> The final version of VP/IX corrects most problems I encountered with 1.0.
>> It also supports comm programs up to 2400 baud.
>
>In today's world of TB+ modems (and its similar companions in the 9600 baud
>world) are we really to consider 2400 to be a *reasonable* baud rate?
>
Yes.

In today's world of communication programs available under Unix (Xenix)
i think it is very reasonable when someone, who still insists to run a DOS
based communication program on top of Unix, still gets 2400 baud throughput.

There is a LOT of overhead involved in accessing devices, so you get what
you deserve.

Paul.
-- 
------------------------------------------------------
|debra@research.att.com   | uunet!research!debra     |
------------------------------------------------------

rob@dhw68k.cts.com (Robert Kenyon) (11/07/88)

In article <11429@conexch.UUCP> root@conexch.UUCP (Larry Dighera) writes:
>
>But, who makes a smart multi-port card that has a driver that supports
>VP/ix.  Bell Technologies claims their ACE driver (v0.4 beta) does, but
>it doesn't work for my client using it on an Everex 386/20.
>

The Computone Intelliport with 4.xx drivers are supposed to support VP/ix.
I haven't installed it yet, but I should in the next week.  I'll let the world
know for sure.

This combination of hardware and drivers has been out for about 4 months at
least.

-- 
Help! I'm trapped in an IBM PC!!!!!       !!!!!!CP MBI na ni deppart m'I !pleH
Robert Kenyon - {trwrb,hplabs}!felix!dhw68k!rob - InterNet: rob@dhw68k.cts.com

clewis@ecicrl.UUCP (Chris Lewis) (11/07/88)

In article <11429@conexch.UUCP> root@conexch.UUCP (Larry Dighera) writes:
>In article <164@jetson.UPMA.MD.US> john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US (John Owens) writes:
>>Yes, the final version [of VP/ix] is much better.  I use it with a comm program
>>at 9600 baud (and ~ get 2400 baud throughput, but anyway....)  [Yes,
>>it uses flow control; it's for a specialized application.]
>
>But, who makes a smart multi-port card that has a driver that supports
>VP/ix.  Bell Technologies claims their ACE driver (v0.4 beta) does, but
>it doesn't work for my client using it on an Everex 386/20.

Connect-Tech Inc's "Intellicon" board - 2, 4 or 8 ports.

Computone's Advantage and Intelliport boards: 2, 4, 8 or 16 ports.

We prefer the former because they're simpler, cheaper and don't get in
the way.

The latter has some pretty spectacular features (transparent AUX printer
handling, multiple virtual screens, and "keyboard macros") which would
be handy in some applications, but not for others.

As far as reliability/compatibility goes, we've had no problems whatsoever
with the Connect-Tech boards - many months of solid dependability with
VP/IX (eg: DOS WordPerfect, Symphony and 123) and UNIX (386/ix).  One of our
customers has an Intelliport board on Xenix - once we managed to demuck the
configuration screwups his previous consultants introduced, it appears
to be working quite well (VP/IX, UNIX WordPerfect etc.)  However, there
have been a few circumstances that have led us to believe that individual
channels can get hungup - though we haven't been able to confirm them.

-- 
Chris Lewis
Ferret Mailing list:{uunet!attcan,yunexus,utzoo}!lsuc!gate!eci386!ferret-request
{uunet!attcan,uunet,utgpu,yunexus,utzoo}!lsuc!ecicrl!clewis
(or lsuc!gate!eci386!clewis or lsuc!clewis)

john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US (John Owens) (11/08/88)

In article <11429@conexch.UUCP>, root@conexch.UUCP (Larry Dighera) writes:
> But, who makes a smart multi-port card that has a driver that supports
> VP/ix.

I'm using the Ultra 186 from Comtrol Corporation.  Versions 2.14c and
later of the driver support the final release of VP/ix.

-- 
John Owens		john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US		uunet!jetson!john
+1 301 249 6000		john%jetson.uucp@uunet.uu.net

karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Karl Denninger) (11/09/88)

In article <14759@dhw68k.cts.com> rob@dhw68k.cts.com (Robert Kenyon) writes:
>In article <11429@conexch.UUCP> root@conexch.UUCP (Larry Dighera) writes:
>>But, who makes a smart multi-port card that has a driver that supports
>>VP/ix.  

>The Computone Intelliport with 4.xx drivers are supposed to support VP/ix.
>I haven't installed it yet, but I should in the next week.  I'll let the world
>know for sure.

Yep, it works, we install these on Tele-386 systems (and now TelOAS) under
Xenix and VP/IX and they work fine..... just make sure you have the new
drivers (V4).  We checked a few out before shipment, and didn't see any
problems with it at all.  I've no idea just how efficient they are though.

Aren't those 'cat eyes' patterns that the LED arrays play on the Computone
boards rather "interesting"? :-)

--
Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, ddsw1!karl)
Data: [+1 312 566-8912], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910]
Macro Computer Solutions, Inc.    	"Quality solutions at a fair price"