sl179060@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (09/29/89)
I am having some problems down-loading software from SIMTEL20 and I hope
someone can help me out.I am logged unto a VAX at IU (Ultrix).
I am using telnet software and a ZENITH 286.I log into SIMTEL20 with the FTP
program and I declare myself to be an anonymous user. I follow this
procedure:
%ftp simtel20.arpa
............ sign on message ......
username:anonymous
password:{nothing}
............ login message ........
ftp>cd pd1:<msdos.ega>
ftp>tenex {I have no idea what this does}
ftp>get gmovie.arc
ftp>bye
.... sign off message .......
ftp>quit
%ftp 129.79.101.146 {my workstation}
ftp>send gmovie.arc
ftp>quit
%logout
However when I try to run or unarchive any of the downloaded programs my
PC hangs up. Some files which were supposed to be ASCII (eg. .PAS ) contain
garbage. A few of the archived files did contain partly valid headers and my
archive utility LARK displays the archive contents. When I invoke PKXARC or
any of the other archive programs my machine crashes. This only happens when
I ask the PKXARC progrom to unarchive the SIMTEL20 files.
Does somebody out there know the procedure to download files from SIMTEL20
using the setup that I have. I am awaiting eagerly.
Chima Echeruo.silver@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Andy Silverman) (09/29/89)
In article <120800007@silver> sl179060@silver.bacs.indiana.edu writes: > >I am having some problems down-loading software from SIMTEL20 and I hope >someone can help me out.I am logged unto a VAX at IU (Ultrix). >I am using telnet software and a ZENITH 286.I log into SIMTEL20 with the FTP >program and I declare myself to be an anonymous user. I follow this >procedure: > >%ftp simtel20.arpa >............ sign on message ...... >username:anonymous >password:{nothing} >............ login message ........ >ftp>cd pd1:<msdos.ega> >ftp>tenex {I have no idea what this does} >ftp>get gmovie.arc >ftp>bye >.... sign off message ....... >ftp>quit >%ftp 129.79.101.146 {my workstation} >ftp>send gmovie.arc >ftp>quit >%logout The tenex command changes the ftp protocol slightly to insure that binary files will be properly received from the TOPS20 system which uses a strange word format to Ultrix, which uses a more common back-words format. See if you can get hold of an ARC utility on your Ultrix system to check the validity of the files at that point. The most likely place for the files to be getting trashed is sending it to your workstation. Your FTP is probably defaulting to 7-bit ASCII send mode, thus trashing the file. The fix is to type the command ftp> binary before doing the send command to the workstation. This is somewhat like "tenex" but has less overhead, tenex probably being unnecessary for the second transfer. This will allow full 8-bit transfer. This seems to be the most likely fix for the problem, as you mentioned that some files came through with valid ARC headers but garbled data. This is consistent with 7-bit transfer trashing of an 8-bit file. +-----------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Andy Silverman | Internet: silver@eniac.seas.upenn.edu | | "All stressed out and | Compu$erve: 72261,531 | | nobody to choke." | | +-----------------------+-----------------------------------------+
halliday@cheddar.cc.ubc.ca (Laura Halliday) (09/29/89)
In article <120800007@silver> sl179060@silver.bacs.indiana.edu writes: > > I follow this >procedure: > >%ftp simtel20.arpa >............ sign on message ...... >username:anonymous >password:{nothing} >............ login message ........ >ftp>cd pd1:<msdos.ega> >ftp>tenex {I have no idea what this does} Simtel20 is a DECsystem 20, whose word length is 36 bits. It puts four 8 bit characters into each word, leaving 4 bits at one end of the word unused. Specifying `tenex' tells it to handle the file specially, skipping those 4 bits. If you specified `binary', it would dole out the file 8 bits at a time, without regard for word boundaries. Use `ascii' for text files. >ftp>get gmovie.arc >ftp>bye Fine so far... >%ftp 129.79.101.146 {my workstation} >ftp>send gmovie.arc >ftp>quit Whoa! You must specify file type `binary' (it may be `image' on some systems) here. Though your Ultrix system and your workstation both speak ASCII, they differ in some things, like how they delimit lines in files. The default is to translate Ultrix lines (ending in NL) to MS-DOS lines (CR/LF). You need to disable this translation. Postscript (most emphatically *not* a flame): is there any kind of new user package floating around the net somewhere? Should we create one? There are half a dozen questions that keep coming up (this is one of them), and it would be handy to collect answers and tell people `Get a copy of such-and-such; the answer is there.' ...laura
w8sdz@smoke.BRL.MIL (Keith Petersen) (09/29/89)
In article <120800007@silver> sl179060@silver.bacs.indiana.edu writes: >I am having some problems down-loading software from SIMTEL20... >%ftp simtel20.arpa >............ sign on message ...... >username:anonymous >password:{nothing} >............ login message ........ >ftp>cd pd1:<msdos.ega> >ftp>tenex {I have no idea what this does} The tenex command functionally the same as typing two commands: ftp> type binary ftp> quote "TYPE L 8" which tells your end to use binary mode and SIMTEL20 to use BINARY(8) which is how the MDOS binary files are stored on the system. >ftp>get gmovie.arc >ftp>bye >.... sign off message ....... >ftp>quit >%ftp 129.79.101.146 {my workstation} You left out one command here: type binary >ftp>send gmovie.arc >ftp>quit >%logout > > However when I try to run or unarchive any of the downloaded programs my >PC hangs up. That's because the archive was transferred to your PC in text mode rather than binary. > Some files which were supposed to be ASCII (eg. .PAS ) contain >garbage. You must set type text (some ftp programs use type ascii) when transferring 7 bit text files from SIMTEL20. >Does somebody out there know the procedure to download files from SIMTEL20 >using the setup that I have. I am awaiting eagerly. Please send questions about SIMTEL20 files to me at the address below. Questions and reports about network and FTP problems should be sent to: Action@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL Keith -- Keith Petersen Maintainer of SIMTEL20's CP/M, MSDOS, and MISC archives Internet: w8sdz@WSMR-SIMTEL20.Army.Mil [26.2.0.74] Uucp: {ames,decwrl,harvard,rutgers,ucbvax,uunet}!wsmr-simtel20.army.mil!w8sdz
ts@chyde.uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) (09/29/89)
In article <120800007@silver> sl179060@silver.bacs.indiana.edu writes: >program and I declare myself to be an anonymous user. I follow this >procedure: > >%ftp simtel20.arpa >.... sign off message ....... ... stuff deleted ... >ftp>quit >%ftp 129.79.101.146 {my workstation} >ftp>send gmovie.arc I can always be mistaken, but as far as I could see there was nothing wrong in your simtel procedure, but I think you have failed to move the file correctly to your PC. In getting the file from your workstation you have omitted the all-important command: binary. Here at the University of Vaasa we run an ftp system as well, and the experience here is the same as I know Simtel20 maintainer Keith Petersen must have: A great majority of problems in transferring files from ftp sites is NOT in the transfer between the ftp site and the user's mainframe (or workstation) but in errors in transferring from the user's mainframe to the users PC. Two errors are particularly common: 1) Forgetting to set the file type binary (this was your problem most probably). 2) Failing to set the parity correctly at *each* end of the user's mainframe <--> PC. Eg in kermit setting the parity even at each end usually helps. ----- Keith, if you are reading this message. Should you and I consider preparing an automated reply-message to these queries, because this same question comes up so often? ................................................................... Prof. Timo Salmi (Site 128.214.12.3) School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland Internet: ts@chyde.uwasa.fi Funet: vakk::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun
mat431010110@stat.appstate.edu (09/06/90)
I have tried to ftp SIMTEL but couldn't make heads or tails of it. I couldn't figure out how to change directories and get to the MS-DOS stuff. Anybody have hints for me?
w8sdz@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Keith Petersen) (09/07/90)
mat431010110@stat.appstate.edu writes: >I have tried to ftp SIMTEL but couldn't make heads or tails of it. I couldn't >figure out how to change directories and get to the MS-DOS stuff. Anybody have >hints for me? Download SIMTEL-ARCHIVES.INFO from the default anonymous FTP directory. It gives a complete overview and instructios on how to find things in the archives. Keith -- Keith Petersen Co-SysOp, Detroit Download Central 313-885-3956 (212/V22bis/HST/V32/V42bis) Internet: w8sdz@vela.acs.oakland.edu, w8sdz@brl.mil BITNET: w8sdz@NDSUVM1 Uucp: {ames,decwrl,harvard,rutgers,ucbvax,uunet}!vela.acs.oakland.edu!w8sdz