The PC Users Group

What is a FAQ?

The Internet is used by tens of millions of people, who write general messages in Newsgroups, or exchange personal messages in Email. People also access data, innumerable sites offer access to an immense wealth of data, ranging from personal computer software, through to text, graphics and sound archives. There are more things happening on the net than you can poke a stick at. The Internet is the generic term for all of the computers, communications hardware, and software that makes the interconnection and intercommunication of computers possible.

The Internet is a worldwide phenomenon. Nobody owns the Internet, there are common guidelines that people, organisations, and countries should, and mostly do, follow. Since it is such an open environment, there are many weird and wonderful things out there available free of charge. But there is also a very real sense of anarchy -- nobody can tell anyone else what to do, how to behave, what files they should or shouldn't make available to any or all people. The Internet is an exercise in cooperation and willing participation. Do not think that you will change someone's opinion or actions merely because you think that they should be changed. If you don't like something, or someone, avoid that thing or person. Complaining rarely helps.

What computer, modem, and software you need, is covered in later parts of this FAQ.

You also need a user account and password on the Internet Project's account database. In order to use the service, you must be a currently financial member of either the Australian Unix Users Group, or the PC Users Group (ACT) Inc. Access to the Internet Project is available in two forms:

• Basic Access gives a user access to Internet News and personal Email facilities
• Advanced Access, which, when you connect your computer via modem to the service, will temporarily put your computer onto the Internet, enabling you to use the many and varied tools to seek out and acquire data.

NOTE WELL As from the 1st of June 1995, the PCUG Committee implemented a decision which affects how soon a member can expect to be able to access The Internet Project. The new rule is as follows

PCUG members who have joined the group on or after June 1st 1995, will have to wait three months, from their initial starting date, before they will be eligible to access The Internet Project.

This rule was brought in to deal with a number of issues:



• People becoming members of the PCUG for the primary purpose of accessing the internet cheaply. People should be joining the PCUG to be a part of a group, embracing the 'Users helping users' philosophy.
• Delaying adding more people to the list of those trying to access the already overburdened resources that TIP has in place
• To allay the fears of commercial Internet service providers, who see PCUG/AUUG's services as being a real threat to their continued existence, if any person can walk in off the street, pay their membership, pay for TIP access, and immediately be able to access the internet.

The PCUG is not a public access internet site. The services, software, hardware and sheer effort put into making this service a reality, have been paid for or provided by members of the PCUG and AUUG groups. The ability to provide a service to the existing users of TIP, with the current configuration of hardware and software, is very difficult, with some users getting so annoyed with the level of service, that they are going elsewhere.

The PCUG committee trusts that these reasons will appease new members of the group. PCUG members who joined (and are still financial) prior to June 1st 1995, are not affected by this ruling.

You need a user account and password. In order to get an account and password, you have to follow these steps. Fill in an internet application form (available in each copy of Sixteen Bits), send it off, wait for TWO WEEKS, and then call the PCUG centre on 239 6511 between 9am and 5pm on a Saturday or Sunday, the centre staffer will inform you if your internet details are available or not. If they are, you can then go out to the centre, sign the 'acceptable use' policy, after which you will be given your userid and password.

Please note that you will NOT be informed when your account details are ready. You MUST call the centre and ask them if your password and account is available, and you MUST go out to the centre to sign the acceptable use policy before your account id and password is handed over to you.

You need to sign an 'acceptable usage' policy, which states that you will take full responsibility for what you do with your account. There are strict provisos that the Internet Project levies upon users of the service; breaking the rules will mean instant suspension of service. Please contact the Internet Project coordinator of the PCUG or AUUG (whichever organisation you belong to) for more information.

You need to know the phone number of the service: (06) 239 7877.

The hardware for the group is located at the PCUG Centre, in Dalby Street, Fyshwick.

The hardware consists of

• A Sun Sparcserver, with multiple gigabytes of disk space, and 48Mbytes of memory. The machine was was donated to the AUUG by Sun Microsystems, and the two organisations purchased the hard disk drives and memory required.
• Four 16 port Cisco routers/terminal servers. Each router can accomodate up to 16 modems, each modem port can communicate at 115,000 bits per second to the modem. The Cisco routers are connected by Ethernet to the Sparcserver, and by high speed serial ports to the telecommunications hub.
• A telecommunications hub. This device is essentially a high speed modem which connects to the Telstra ISDN line, and enables the routers to talk over the ISDN line to the Telstra equipment at the ANU.
• A Telstra ISDN (Integrated Services Data Network) line permanently connected between the PCUG centre and the Telstra site located at the ANU. This is our link to the Internet. We currently have a single 64Kbps channel. It is envisaged that this bandwidth will be increased to 128kbps in the near future. With additional hardware the Project can support up to 2Mbps to Telstra, but the Telstra charges involved are significant.
• A number of Maestro 28.8Kbps V.FAST modems (currently 22, soon to be 54 as of September 1995). Each modem is connected to a router port, and a Telstra phone line. Maestro generously provided the modems for the project at a substantial discount. It is envisaged that the number of modems will be increased as the service becomes more popular, and the groups deem that they can afford the costs involved.
• Associated cabling, electrical work, cabinets and rack-mounting to make the equipment 'hang together'.

Ongoing costs are projected to be in the order of $65,000 - $75,000 a year, depending upon expected improvements in both ISDN bandwidth and modem+Telstra lines. Note that the initial AARNet/Telstra deal cost the group $30,000 for 12 months connectivity. Telstra have changed their pricing scheme, effectively doubling the cost to the group. However, there are some benefits envisaged from this extra cost, such as a faster ISDN link to the ANU. Nothing is set in concrete for 1996, so keep a lookout in the tip.announce newsgroup for any announcements on service charges, changes, or updates.

Any excess, or 'profit' from subscriptions to the service, will go towards expanding the service. All money raised from the Internet Project will go towards ongoing funding of the Project.

Well, they're like a bank account which deals with units of time. When you get your Advanced Access (or Basic Access!) account, 400 hours are deposited in your monopoly hours account. Time is deducted from your account for each minute you are connected to one of the Internet Project's modems.

The project only has a limited number of modems, and a great many users. In order to be be fair and reasonable, daily usage of the Internet Project modem resources should be limited to one hour per day.

Whilst it would be nice to be able to stay on the network for hours on end, it isn't economically feasible to provide a modem for each user that wishes to use the service. Indeed, with 1200 members [and still growing], even the promised one hour of access per day is not feasible! There simply isn't enough modem time to go around.

Actually implementing a 'one hour a day' policy is somewhat unfair to those people who wish to spend some extra time exploring the 'Net, and getting to know how to navigate through the vast maze of servers and information providers.

So the administrators of the Internet Project have devised a scheme were it costs greater and greater amounts of 'monopoly minutes' to stay online past your allocated hour.

The first hour is debited from your account at one minute per minute you are logged on. During the second hour, you are debited two minutes for each minute you are logged on. During the third hour, you are debited three minutes for each minute you are logged on. This means that it will cost you a single 'monopoly' hour to be on for your allocated hour, but it will cost you six monopoly hours to be online for three hours!

Your 400 hours lasts until you run out - this may take you three months, or two years. As long as you remain a financial member of AUUG or the PCUG, your time credits are available. When you run out of your 400 hours, you may purchase an additional 400 hours for another $120. [Note: There will be changes to these arrangements as of 1 January 1996.]

What you can do with Advanced Access

• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
• ARCHIE (Search for files available on FTP sites)
• GOPHER (A menu driven system for accessing information on the net)
• WWW (World Wide Web: A graphical tool for accessing information)
• TELNET (Establish connections with other machines)
• IRC (Inter Relay Chat : Talk with people on the net in real-time)
• PING (Find out if a machine is responding to TCP/IP packets)
• FINGER (Find out who is who on the net)
• MUDS, MOOS (Multi User Dungeons, Multi Object-Oriented Dungeons Create personas, meet interesting people, waste lots of time, and probably get addicted to MUDding)
• USEnet Newsgroups (Thousands of subject-specific message areas)
• Email (Mail to and from your account to the rest of the Internet)
• Mailing Lists (Specialists groups that communicate by CC'd Email)

Some people would like to be able to login to our main server (supreme.pcug.org.au) and execute programs such as FTP, or TELNET, or whatever. The PCUG simply does not provide this level of access. Our file server is meant largely for data access; it isn't a powerful machine, and cannot support multiple users doing CPU intensive tasks, such as compiling, running editors etc.

Please be aware that Unix shell availability on our site is not an option. If you wish to have such a service, then other service providers will happily provide you with such access.

TELIX is available on the PCUG BBS in the communications section of the Files area. I mention this because you may have Terminal for Windows, which will work, but isn't anywhere near as functional as Telix. Using Terminal for Windows, you can connect to the PCUG, and download Telix to your computer.

Configuring a modem and communications program to work on your computer, is beyond the scope of this document. PCUG members can attend a training course 'How to use the BBS effectively', which covers such things as configuring and connecting modems to your computer.

Placement of the software is critical. Correct extraction of the software is also critical. Incorrect installation of the software *will* result in frustration and unecessary angst trying to get things running smoothly.

You will need PKUNZIP.EXE, which is part of Phil Katz immensely popular PKZIP package. PKZIP is available on the BBS as PKZ204G.EXE, if you don't already have a copy. PKUNZIP should be in a directory that is in your PATH (do SET to see what your PATH is set to).

You will also need a fair amount of hard disk space -- approximately five megabytes.

The default configuration of these kits assumes that they are located on the 'root' directory of drive C:. This can change, but be aware that the configuration files for various pieces of software have to change as well, which will considerably complicate the entire process. If you have the space on drive C then please consider using the default installation.

The steps involved are

• Note the location of the two kits on your system. In this example I have placed them in the directory D:\TELIX\DOWNLOAD
• If you are in Windows, you need to open up an MSDOS session, or you can simply quit out of Windows.
• Change directory to the root of drive C:

  C:
  CD C:\

• Unpack the WSKIT20x.EXE file

  pkunzip -d d:\telix\download\WSKIT20X.EXE

  The -d option is necessary to create the correct directory structure. Omission of this flag will place all of the files in the WSKIT into your root directory, instead of the (created) WSAPPS\xxxx directories.

  Many programs will be extracted from the archive, and placed into their own directories under WSAPPS, such as Eudora, Netscape and Trumpet News.

• Change directory to the WSAPPS directory

  CD C:\WSAPPS

• Unpack the SLKIT20x.exe file

  pkunzip -d d:\telix\download\SLKIT20x.EXE

  Again, the -d option is required to create the subdirectory, which will be called WINSOCK. Omission of the -d option will cause you problems later, when trying to configure [or even find!] the Winsock programs.

  The WINSOCK directory should be created, and the various bits and pieces required for TCP/IP operation will be placed in this directory.

• You need to make sure that WINSOCK.DLL, contained in the WSAPPS\WINSOCK directory, is either copied to a directory that is in your PATH, or that your PATH is modified to include the C:\WSAPPS\WINSOCK directory. Modification of the PATH statement is achieved via editing your AUTOEXEC.BAT. I personally recommend putting the WINSOCK.DLL in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, since it is already on the path. If you choose to change the PATH in AUTOEXEC.BAT, you must reboot your machine after making the changes. This will setup the PATH for the following steps.
• You should read the various README.TXT files in the various directories. Much more detailed instructions on how to install and configure the various pieces of software, are contained in those README files, including troubleshooting, and who to contact if you get in trouble.
• You then need to either go back to Windows, or invoke Windows.
• From Program Manager, select the File Menu, and the 'New' option. Create a program manager group called "Winsock Applications".
• Again from Program Manager, select File and New, and create a new program item called TCPMAN, which invokes the program. C:\WSAPPS\WINSOCK\TCPMAN.EXE

  You may also like to browse through the WSAPPS directory, and create new program items for Netscape, Eudora, Ping, WSFTP, etc. Keeping these items in the Winsock Applications group is just a case of neatness, and knowing where things are in Windows. You can call the group anything you like, really.

• Invoke the TCPMAN application. This is your gateway to the Internet. The first time you invoke TCPMAN you have to enter some setup information. PLEASE read the README.TXT file supplied with the SLKIT for information on how to correctly configure TCPMAN. Take some time to make sure you follow the README file steps carefully, since without TCPMAN working, you will simply not be able to access the Internet Project.
• Before connecting to the Internet Project, take some time to configure the various other applications (Netscape, Eudora, etc) based upon their own README files. It is very important to note that invoking these programs to configure them is IMPOSSIBLE without having TCPMAN running. Even if TCPMAN isn't connected to the Internet Project, it still provides the "sockets" required for TCP/IP applications to start up. Note that some programs (Netscape for example) will take a very long time to invoke if TCPMAN is running (5 - 10 minutes!), but not connected to the Internet Project. You can do some magic [depending upon your modem] to fool Netscape into starting.
• go into TCPMAN
• select the Dialler menu, and MANUAL LOGIN
• enter the string AT&C0
  IMPORTANT press the ESC key to put TCPMAN back into 'sockets' mode

this will force CARRIER DETECT on your modem. Netscape and some other applications 'look' for Carrier Detect before they will invoke.

Another tip sent to me for inclusion in this FAQ, is to turn off Eudora's automatic mail check, by putting

CheckForMailEvery=0

in their eudora.ini file.

Note that the above procedure is only useful for the initial setting up and configuration of software BEFORE you connect to the Internet Project. If you had configured TCPMAN and logged in to the Internet Project, then Netscape and other programs would come up almost instantly, but then you would be wasting connect time trying to configure various programs to suite your environment -- a process that is best done offline.

• Once you are satisfied with your various configurations, you should attempt to connect to the Internet Project, using TCPMAN, and selecting LOGIN from the Dialler menu.

Accessing the Internet via Windows introduces its own set of stresses. Trying to use a 286 machine with the SLKIT and WSKIT is bound to cause you many headaches. Indeed, some of the WSKIT applications just Will Not Work on anything less than a 386 processor. Even with a 386, you're going to be straining your resources with anything less than a DX33.

You need a modem. The faster the better. The Internet Project uses 28.8K V.FAST modems, and supports speeds of 1200, 2400, 9600, 12000, 14400, 24000, and 28800 bits per second. A staggering range of modems exist, and most of them should have no problems connecting with the service. The exceptions being 1200 and 2400 when using PPP -- these modems CANNOT be expected to provide sufficient bandwidth to support PPP or SLIP connections. It is highly recommended that Advanced Access users have a modem that is capable of 9600bps or better.

People using 14400 or 28000 connections on PC Clones, should make sure that they have a buffered ("16550") UART chip on their serial card. Windows tends to be less snappy than Dos in servicing the interrupts generated by the serial port; having the buffered chip will stop a whole load of problems relating to lost data during serial transfers.

A hard disk is required to store the software.

You will find it difficult to run multiple Windows applications with anything less than 4Mbytes of memory.

Linux and Unix users have a wealth of network software to chose from, and it is assumed that users of these products will know enough to fend for themselves.

Set up a phonebook entry for the Internet Project, containing the phone number (239 7877), this will save you a lot of typing. If you prefer, you can initiate the call using modem commands -- entering ATDT 2397877 (or use an ATDP prefix if you don't have tone dialling) will cause the modem to dial the number, and with luck, connect you to the board. DO NOT type anything on your keyboard before you see 'CONNECT' on your screen, unless you want to immediately abort the call.

Once connected, you will be prompted for a username:

Username:

Here you enter the username you received when you signed the Acceptable Use policy. Your username is in lower case ONLY; be aware that uppercase or mixed case usernames will cause you problems, since the software will not recognised you if you don't use the lower case name you have been assigned. Press after entering your name. You will be then prompted for a password:

Password:

Type in your password -exactly- as shown on your userid / password document. Again, this is a case sensitive operation; be aware of the difference between the numeral '0' (zero) and the letter 'o', as well as the difference between the letters 'l' and 'i' the numeral '1'.

If you get either the password or the username wrong, then you will be advised of this, and prompted to enter your username and password again. Three bad attempts will cause the software to drop you out, thus wasting your phone call.

Once the service accepts you, a menu should appear. It has a number of choices;

slip default
ppp default
connect supreme
logout

Since you're using Basic Access, the only sensible choice is 'connect supreme', so type that in, and a session should be established to the server. ('supreme' is the name of the Sun Sparcstation machine. When you dial in, you connect to 'kryten', 'robbie', or 'daneel', which are Cisco router/terminal servers, each with 16 modems/Telstra lines attached to them).

Note that if you attempt to use SLIP or PPP (two mechanisms for establishing a connection to the Internet) without having paid for Advanced access, that you will be barred from access for the duration of that call. Attempts to 'hack' the system, that is, gain access to services without authorisation, will be treated very harshly, as detailed in the Acceptable Use policy document.

There is an exception to the above; all users get 5 hours of Advance Access, which they can use to see if they would like to avail themselves of that level of service. Once this 5 hours is used up, further Advanced Access attempts will be disallowed (unless you elect pay for the service)

Once at the server, you will have to again log on to supreme, using the same username and password as you did to connect to the router. Again, case sensitivity and correctness is an issue. Get the username/password combination wrong three times, and you will be unceremoniously booted out of that session.

After successfully navigating the login screen, you will be presented with a restricted shell, featuring a menu. This FAQ does not attempt to describe the menu -- most of the things in the menu are self-explanatory. To read email or news, you use PINE. To send or receive files, you use SZ or RZ. There are a number of online FAQ's (like this one) dealing with various concepts and programs.

The restricted shell environment is severely limiting and user unfriendly. This is unfortunate, but necessary in order to prevent people from accessing parts of the server that contain project-sensitive data.

In order to read email and news from your home machine, using Eudora or Free Agent, or any other TCP/IP product, you must have Advanced access, as well as the necessary software kits. Basic Access only provides for online access to news and mail through PINE.

Make sure your modem is on. Make sure your software is configured. Invoke Windows, open up the Winsock Applications folder, invoke TCPMAN.

TCPMAN, if correctly configured, should ask you for your username and password the -first- time it is invoked. You have to enter the relevant details you acquired when you signed the Acceptable Usage policy. TCPMAN's login script will execute automatically.

TCPMAN will then dial the Internet Project, and as long as a modem is available, should connect. The script should enter your username and password, invoke PPP (Point to Point Protocol), and then TCPMAN should eventually show you your temporary IP address, assigned by the Cisco router, determined by which modem port you managed to get in to.

Once TCPMAN has connected, it just sits there. All TCPMAN is doing is providing a mechanism for communicating with the outside world, and provides "sockets" which applications can plug in to. DO NOT CLOSE DOWN TCPMAN! If you CLOSE the application, then your link to the world is gone. Whilst you are using the Internet, you must leave TCPMAN running. You should MINIMISE the TCPMAN application, so that it is just an icon on your Windows screen.

Start up the NetScape WWW application. If it is configured correctly, it should go out to the NetScape home page, displaying text and graphics on the screen.

HTTP://www.pcug.org.au

And you should be greeted with the Internet Project's home page.

Alternatively, if you suspect Netscape isn't configured correctly, you can use the WS_PING application that comes with the WSKIT2xx.EXE, to verify that you're on the net.

Invoke PING from it's icon. It should come up with a grey screen. Select BlockingPing from the menu, which will bring up a dialog box. In the HOST part, type in the name 'supreme.pcug.org.au' then press OK. You should get a series of 'ping' responses back from the server.

If this doesn't happen after a few seconds, press the ESC key, and try again, except this time put the following number in the HOST field

203.10.76.34

This is the IP address for supreme.

If THIS doesn't work, then TCPMAN isn't communicating with the world, and you have something wrong with your configuration.

If 'supreme.pcug.org.au' failed, yet '203.10.76.34' worked, then it indicates that TCPMAN isn't set up correctly. Read the README file associated with TCPMAN, and make sure that within the FILE menu, under SETUP, the 'name server' field is filled in as '203.10.76.34' (without the quotes). A Name server is a directory service which matches machine names to IP addresses, this enables you to use 'supreme' instead of '203.10.76.34'.

If you're still not communicating with the net, then you need to do some trouble shooting, or get help by sending a message to PCUG_INTERNET_HELP on the PCUG BBS.

• able to be connected to your computer
• able to be connected to the telephone line
• able to communicate to other modems at various speeds

The general rule with modems is, the faster their rated speed, the better. The rated speed is in Bits Per Second. A 2400BPS modem can deliver about 235 characters per second. A 9600BPS modem can deliver 1,100 characters per second, using data compression techniques. 14.4KBPS modems deliver 1,600cps, and 28.8K modems can deliver up to 3,600cps.

Newer modems are generally more tolerant of line conditions, these devices have programs that analyse the quality of telephon lines, and automatically retrain to lower (or higher) transmission speeds. These days 2400 is considered slow, 9600 barely adequate, 14.4K is ok, and 28.8K is the best.

28.8K modems come in two flavours -- the pre CCITT certification version, using V.FAST protocols, and the V.34 certified models. The modem industry has attempted to make the two kinds of protocol interoperable (i.e. a V.FAST modem should be able to connect to a V.34 modem, at 28.8K) but they haven't promised anything. The PCUG initially purchased V.FAST 28.8K modems. The 32 new modems are V.34 modems. They are all Maestro modems, and are all interoperable with Maestra V.FAST and V.34 modems.

How do you know if your modem is set up correctly?

• Is it installed correctly?
• is power connected to the modem? (internal modems excluded)>/li?
• is the modem connected to the computer via a correct cable? (internal modems excluded)
• is the modem connected to a telephone outlet, and is the cable the one that came with the modem! Some modems require different wiring to others, switching telephone line cables between different brands of modem, is a bad idea.
• Are you sure that other devices connected to the same telephone circuit, are compatible with your modem. Some likely contenders for conflicts are
• Answering Machines
• S200 or T200 Touchphones
• FAX machines
• Are you certain that you aren't using more than two serial devices at the same time, and that the two you are using are odd numbered and even numbered ports? PC architecture is such that you can have up to FOUR serial ports connected, but only two of them may be active at any one time, and even then, the four com ports share TWO interrupts, the ODD pair (1,3) using one interrupt, and the even pair (2,4) using the other. Connecting both odd numbered com ports or both even numbered com ports, will surely cause you problems.

  Some Windows configurations have trouble communicating with COM3 or COM4 even at the best of times. Some devices (especially S3 video cards) conflict with COM4. These are only a few of the many traps to fall into when dealing with PC communications.

The best command is ATI, enter the three characters, and press the Enter key. All modems will return something to this command, usually an identification string, or a simple 'Ok' response. If you don't get a response, then you could have a speed, parity, or other incompatibility that can be fixed by setting up your communications program properly.

Comms parameters for modems depend upon their brand and rated speed. There are innumerable variants of modem command sets, with (thankfully) a small set of common commands that are mostly the same between all 'Hayes compatible' modems. These days the most common parameters for communicating with modems are the byte size, the number of stop bits, parity and speed.