iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Tim Iverson) (04/21/88)
After reading the docs on ZCOMM, I thought that it looked liked a very promising program - not so. Most of the time it doesn't even run (immediate hang on startup). The times it does run, it hangs as soon as I try to connect (hang=time to *cold* boot). Has anyone got this to run on your TRUE BLUE AT? It sure doesn't work on mine. For those of you who are wondering, yes my COM ports are configured correctly, and there were no TSR's or other resident handlers installed. Now, about the "documentation": whoever wrote this seems to have a very large chip on his shoulder - the tone is defensive in the extreme and the poor organization just about renders the entire 150k manual useless. The first four chapters are spent bragging about what a great product this is and why you should register it. The rest is basically a scattershot description of minute details of various commands. Why I would spend $40 for a typeset copy of this tripe I can't fathom. Enough zcomm bashing (what should I expect from shareware, right :-). However, judging from the other programs Chuck has posted, I was considerably surprised at the lack of functionality of the program. Since Chuck didn't post it himself, I'm wondering if this isn't a pre-release or if some other mistake has been made. If not, well, it has just about assured that I will never buy any product from Omen Technology. - Tim Iverson iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU ucbvax!cory!iverson
tim@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (Timothy L. Kay) (04/22/88)
Tim Iverson writes: >After reading the docs on ZCOMM, I thought that it looked liked a very >promising program - not so. Most of the time it doesn't even run (immediate >hang on startup). The times it does run, it hangs as soon as I try to >connect (hang=time to *cold* boot). Has anyone got this to run on your TRUE >BLUE AT? It sure doesn't work on mine. For those of you who are wondering, >yes my COM ports are configured correctly, and there were no TSR's or other >resident handlers installed. I am surprised to hear this. I pulled ZCOMM off SIMTEL20 about two weeks ago. I managed to get it working with absolutely no trouble on a true blue IBM XT with a PCSG Breakthru/286 card. I then got it running on my AT 10Mhz/0 clone. Not only has it been *no* trouble, but it even suggested that I change the way my modem is configured. I have never had a terminal package that was able to suggest that my modem was misconfigured. After using Kermit all these years, it is a delite to use zmodem protocols to do the transfers. It is fast and *very* reliable. I immediately sent my $50 ($40 for registration + $10 for a nice binder) because I see this program as solving many of my problems. It is possible that you can't get it to work because your 8250 serial port chip is defective? It has happened before. >Now, about the "documentation": whoever wrote this seems to have a very >large chip on his shoulder - the tone is defensive in the extreme and the >poor organization just about renders the entire 150k manual useless. The >first four chapters are spent bragging about what a great product this is >and why you should register it. The rest is basically a scattershot >description of minute details of various commands. Why I would spend $40 >for a typeset copy of this tripe I can't fathom. While the manual does lack in organization, I don't get the same impression about the defensive tone. And you aren't paying $40 for the nice, typeset manual; you are paying $40 for registration. The nice, typeset manual comes as a bonus. > [...] It is too bad that you had bad experiences. I find the package delightful. I plan to continue using it to the exclusion of all other terminal packages. I should mention that I have absolutely no affiliation with Omen Technology other than that of a satisfied customer. Tim
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr) (04/22/88)
In article <2598@pasteur.Berkeley.Edu> iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Tim Iverson) writes: | | After reading the docs on ZCOMM, I thought that it looked liked a very | promising program - not so. Most of the time it doesn't even run (immediate | hang on startup). The times it does run, it hangs as soon as I try to | connect (hang=time to *cold* boot). Has anyone got this to run on your TRUE | BLUE AT? It sure doesn't work on mine. For those of you who are wondering, Works on an XT and AT, at least three brands of clones, a 386 clone, and seems to work on a PS/2 (at least it the user hasn't complained). | [...] | Now, about the "documentation": whoever wrote this seems to have a very | large chip on his shoulder - the tone is defensive in the extreme and the | poor organization just about renders the entire 150k manual useless. The The organization is very bad, I agree, but the data is there, and in painstaking detail. The program is so complex I doubt that you are ever going to get all the detail into one of those six page flyers that pass for documentation these days. | [...] | Enough zcomm bashing (what should I expect from shareware, right :-). | However, judging from the other programs Chuck has posted, I was considerably | surprised at the lack of functionality of the program. Since Chuck didn't | post it himself, I'm wondering if this isn't a pre-release or if some other | mistake has been made. If not, well, it has just about assured that I will | never buy any product from Omen Technology. I doubt that Chuck will care, as long as you don't use it without paying for it. I admit that I decided zcomm was too much trouble for what I wanted, but I would consider using it if I needed to present a friendly menu to a user who objected to typing in baud rates, etc, and phone numbers, and login sequences... ie. the person who uses a computer because s/he must, and gets no joy from it. I get the impression that this is another "I can't make it work so the software is bad" postings, but perhaps you got a bad copy or something. I feel that zcomm is a fine product for a technical person to configure, and a lazy person (aren't we all) to use. It saves a lot of time and seems reliable on all of the machines on which I tried it. I didn't continue to use it for personal preference, not because of technical problems. -- bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa) {uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
pjh@mccc.UUCP (Peter J. Holsberg) (04/23/88)
In article <2598@pasteur.Berkeley.Edu> iverson@cory.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Tim Iverson) writes:
==
== After reading the docs on ZCOMM, I thought that it looked liked a very
== promising program - not so.
You haven't given it a chance. Chuck's software is "UNIX-oriented".
I.e., the user must already be an expert to use it. However, it is
really a suberb program. It's not "user-friendly" like ProComm, etc.
== Now, about the "documentation": whoever wrote this seems to have a very
== large chip on his shoulder - the tone is defensive in the extreme and the
== poor organization just about renders the entire 150k manual useless. The
== first four chapters are spent bragging about what a great product this is
== and why you should register it. The rest is basically a scattershot
== description of minute details of various commands. Why I would spend $40
== for a typeset copy of this tripe I can't fathom.
==
Again, it's UNIX-like documentation. I purchased ZCOMM's big brother,
YAM, and have barely learned how to use it. It does what I want but I'm
sure that I don;t use more than 1-2% of its capabilities. No question,
it needs a detailed tutorial.
== ... I will never buy any product from Omen Technology.
Well, that'll mean that you will be missing something pretty fine. As I
said, Chuck's stuff tends to be for experts, so perhaps the rest of the
world should indeed avoid it.
root@mjbtn.UUCP (Mark J. Bailey) (04/23/88)
My understanding of ZCOMM and its status is that it is a share-ware cousin to ProYamm (a commercial package). I have had ZCOMM (although I haven't yet checked the version of this one against my current copy) for some time now. I got my first copy from CompuServe's Unix Forum. I have pretty much liked it. I MUST say that it is a MONSTER in that you have to set everything up yourself, unlike PROCOMM which takes you by the hand. It is a lot like UNIX (concept-wise). Its "uncoothness" may just be its saving grace. I used the original PHODIR.T until I downloaded one from GENIE that someone else had setup. When I plugged it in, WOW, it was like I had a new program. It is not a pre-release. This is the intended package. I haven't really dug into it for lack of time. I like its protocol mechanisms. I find that they out-perform any other program I use. There again though, it IS shareware, and you must say, that Chuck put a lot of effort into it, readily functional or not, and he should get credit for that if nothing else. I does what I want it to and I am happy. Mark. -- Mark J. Bailey _____________________________________________________ _________________\ _____| > @ Nashville Knoxville _/ / + ____'' > Jackson + <*> MURFREESBORO _/ / "From the Heart of Middle Tennessee!" ___> > + Memphis Chattanooga _< <______________________________________________+_______/ JobSoft UUCP: ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,mit-eddie}!killer!mjbtn!root Design & Development Co FIDO: Mark Bailey at Net/Node 1:116/12 Murfreesboro, TN USA