monty@blackhole.lerc.nasa.gov (Monty Andro) (07/28/90)
I have been having problems using "talk" between a sun 386i and SPARC
workstation. I get the following error message on the SPARC station
when I respond to a pending "talk" request from a 386i:
unable to connect with initiator: address family not supported
by protocal family (47).
Each machine prints messages requesting the user to respond to a pending
talk connection, but when you respond the connection is never made.
So, some connection and communication is accomplished but not completly.
Can anybody explain this ? Can I correct this problem with a different
software package or command ? Maybe it can't be done.
Any help will be appreciated.
monty guy@auspex.auspex.com (Guy Harris) (07/29/90)
>Can anybody explain this ? Yes, the SunOS "talk" program is based on the 4.2BSD "talk" program, whose messages are sent over the wire in a machine-dependent format. The original Sun version had some heuristics to try to make it work between VAXes and 68K-based Suns; those heuristics would probably have made it work between 68K-based and 80386-based Suns as well. Then the heuristics were changed to make it work between 68K-based and SPARC-based Suns; this may have broken its ability to work between 68K-based Suns and VAXes, and/or may not have increased its ability to work between SPARC-based Suns and VAXes or 386 machines. >Can I correct this problem with a different software package or command ? Yes, throw out the SunOS "talk" software on all your Suns and grab the 4.3-tahoe "talk" software instead. It's in the "AT&T-free BSD software" archives on "uunet"; in 4.3BSD, Berkeley fixed it to send stuff over the wire in a much more machine-independent fashion.