Section 3 : Running a Server

Q302: How do I use modems connected to a Telebit NetBlazer?

Q.

How do I use modems connected to a Telebit NetBlazer?

Does FlexFAX work with following configuration:

-------------- ----------------- | | | | --------- | | | |------| Modem | ZyXEL | UNIX Host |----------| NetBlazer | --------- | | | | --------- | | | |------| Modem | ZyXEL -------------- ----------------- --------- I've a Netblazer with a couple of modems attached. I'm able to connect to the modems from the UNIX Host via Telnet (I can assign an IP address to each modem l line). When Telnetting to the modem it's almost the same than saying "cu" or "tip".

Note:
The following information relates FlexFAX and I'm not sure if and how it works with HylaFAX (Matthias Apitz).

A.

Date: Tue, 24 Aug 93 19:21:55 -0700
From: cslater@Telebit.COM (Charlie Slater)
Subject: how to use FlexFAX with NetBlazer

How to Use FlexFAX with a NetBlazer by C. Slater, Rev 0.1, 8/24/93

Configure your NetBlazer.

On the NetBlazer running version 2.1, I set up my modem on line01 with these line commands:

auto 01 off talk 01 AT&FS58=2&W (suspend talk, with ctl-]) flow 01 cts dsrtime 01 0 ctstime 01 0 dtrtime 01 200 login 01 off char 01 raw reset 01 The line parameters should now look something like this: c58:Top>Configure>Line> l 01 Line Modem Char's Use Command MFlags line01 <> raw none <> Flags: 0019284f DSR: ON DCD: ON CTS: ON RTS: ON DTR: ON Speed: 19200 Flow control: cts/rts Login: OFF Callin: ON Access: all Autoconfigure: off Modem command delay: 0 milliseconds Modem status delay (seconds): DCD=0.320 DSR=0.000 CTS=0.000 DTR off time: 100 milliseconds Idle times (minutes): receive=27 transmit=27 auto-reset=0 Trace: ON Callback monitor: OFF IP address: 143.191.10.58:7001 Terminal type: <> Rows: not set Cols: not set Process = Event Manager, Dial Protocol = Console, state = Idle Then I did server start raw save Get "nd". (I got my copy from ftp.uu.net in networking/cisco.) Build and install it (easy, it's small).

Start nd:

nd -\& -r tcpcon -r 1 -l /dev/ptyqe <7000 + line> On my BSDI workstation, I did: nd -\& -r tcpcon -r 1 -l /dev/ptyqe c58 7001 to connect nd to line01 on the netblazer named, "c58".

Telnet to the NetBlazer and run line trace. (E.g. trace 01 on). tcpcon should make a connection to line01 and line01 should move to state "TALK". The line parameters should now look like this:

Line Modem Char's Use Command MFlags line01 <> raw RAW_CONNEC <> Flags: 0019284f DSR: ON DCD: ON CTS: ON RTS: ON DTR: ON Speed: 19200 Flow control: cts/rts Login: OFF Callin: ON Access: all Autoconfigure: off Modem command delay: 0 milliseconds Modem status delay (seconds): DCD=0.320 DSR=0.000 CTS=0.000 DTR off time: 100 milliseconds Idle times (minutes): receive=30 transmit=30 auto-reset=0 Trace: ON Callback monitor: OFF IP address: 143.191.10.58:7001 Terminal type: <> Rows: not set Cols: not set Process = line01, Dial Protocol = Console, state = Talk In another window, use "tip" or something to test ttyqe. Send commands like "at", "at+fmfr?", and "at+fclass=?" to the modem. When I did this, I saw responses like, "OK", "Telebit", and "0,2".

Get out of tip (or whatever). Line trace should show the line moving to Idle and then back to TALK.

Almost ready to go. Now you need to make one source modification.

faxd goes nuts lowering and raising DTR to make sure that DTR really comes back on, it closes and opens the tty file. This is bad for the raw TCP connection that makes the "nd-NetBlazer" team work. FlexFAX does all this for good reasons, but those reasons don't apply to this configuration. In my copy, I took the reopen out of of the FaxModem::reset(long ms) function in FaxModem.c++.

The code I took out out looks like this:

#ifdef NOTDEF /* * On some systems lowering and raising DTR is not done * properly (DTR is not raised when requested); thus we * reopen the device to insure that DTR is reasserted. */ server.reopenDevice(); #endif Build, install and start faxd. On my BSDI system I did "/usr/libexec/faxd -m /dev/ttyqe".

At this point I could send FAXs to various number using sendfax.

Notes:

I used a WorldBlazer in my test, but I don't think it matters. Any modem that works with FlexFAX should work with the NetBlazer in this configuration. I used FlexFAX 2.1 and the 2.2beta041 code.

The dtrtime value (the time the NetBlazer waits for the modem to boot) of 200 milliseconds is an order of magnitude shorter than it needs to be in normal worldblazer/netblazer configurations. I faxd does its own waiting and it takes a while for flexfax/nd/netblazer raw TCP will allow to get going. This gives the modem the extra 2.5 seconds it needs to finish booting.

Many people would like a more general solution that allowed them to use a single modem for anything (SLIP, FAX, etc.) without manual reconfiguration. I don't know how to do this, yet.

I am sure I missed something in the instructions, so when you find it let me know.

Thanks! -charlie

For more information contact support@telebit.com

FAQ Index

Q303: Do I have to restart a server after changing the modem config file?