ce1zzes@prism.gatech.EDU (Eric Sheppard) (12/03/90)
I hoped QVT/net would give me what I wanted most from an ethernet comm program: multiple telnet/ftp sessions. However, I can only get one telnet session. Particulars: 80286 AT-clone, 2 Meg. 3Com 3C503 ethernet, using AUI connection. Clarkson packet drivers from version 7 set. Whenever I select any setup or connection item from the menu bar, the entire system crashes and delivers the message [20:00] Keyboard Controller Failure - Halting Does this happen to other people? Incidentally, this same thing happens at seemingly random times whenever I'm using Windows. It happens consistently when I select the menu items in this program, though. Any advice appreciated. Eric
ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Nur Iskandar Taib) (12/04/90)
>I hoped QVT/net would give me what I wanted most from an ethernet comm program: >multiple telnet/ftp sessions. However, I can only get one telnet session. Speaking of which: how do you get WinQVTNET to start a session to a machine not listed in the configuration file? In Telnet, one would type alt-A, then an IP number or something the name- server would understand. Why specify nameservers if the same option is not available on WinQVTNET? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iskandar Taib | The only thing worse than Peach ala Internet: NTAIB@AQUA.UCS.INDIANA.EDU | Frog is Frog ala Peach Bitnet: NTAIB@IUBACS !
medici@dorm.rutgers.edu (Mark Medici) (12/04/90)
ce1zzes@prism.gatech.EDU (Eric Sheppard) writes: >I hoped QVT/net would give me what I wanted most from an ethernet comm program: >multiple telnet/ftp sessions. However, I can only get one telnet session. >Particulars: >80286 AT-clone, 2 Meg. 3Com 3C503 ethernet, using AUI connection. Clarkson >packet drivers from version 7 set. >Whenever I select any setup or connection item from the menu bar, the entire >system crashes and delivers the message >[20:00] Keyboard Controller Failure - Halting >Does this happen to other people? Incidentally, this same thing happens >at seemingly random times whenever I'm using Windows. It happens consistently >when I select the menu items in this program, though. Any advice appreciated. Sounds like a possible keyboard, keyboard BIOS, or HIMEM.SYS problem -- not necessarily related to (but perhaps more frequent with) WinQVT/Net. I'm no expert in system design, but the following is what I understand happens: The keyboard controller is used to switch the 80286 from protected to real mode. Real mode access is required to process DOS interrupts and access BIOS routines. An 80286 has no built-in method of returning to real mode from protected mode. To get around this, A specific memory location is set to a defined value and then the keyboard is ordered to reset the system. When the system starts to reboot, it looks at that specific register for the defined value and, if found, immediately goes on with what it was doing before (without going through the normal boot-up process). Pretty kludgy, huh!?! The packet driver uses DOS interrupts. PKTINT acts as a go between from Windows in standard or enhanced mode (which requires protected or virtual 8086 mode, respectively) and the packet driver. So switches between protected and real mode will occur more often when using the packet driver, which would be whenever you are using WinQVT/Net. HIMEM.SYS also uses the keyboard controller, but in a different way. An anamoly of the 80286 is an extra 64kB chunk of RAM above FFFFF. On an 8088 processor, addressing above FFFFF results in wrap around to 00000. However, the 80286 does not wrap around. Some creative programmers used the wrap around on the 8088 to speed their programs. To maintain compatibility, 80286 system designs had to devise a method of selectively disabling the 286's extra 64kB addresses. The keyboard controller is again used in an interesting way to control this anamoly. HIMEM.SYS is used to enable the extra 64kB region (it is disabled for compatibility by default). So that's kinda what's happening -- but how do you fix it? Try borrowing someone's keyboard to see if that does the trick. It usually does. If not, you may need to update your system BIOS -- the motherboard manufacturer should be able to help you there. Good luck. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Medici/SysProg3 * Rutgers University/CCIS * medici@elbereth.rutgers.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------