from "Glenn Gilbreath Jr." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: (begin quote, lines already go off the right margin of 80-wide screen without adding "> ")
Well here's how I handle a potential loss of my ARACHNE.CFG...basically I keep at least 2 different "ACF" (Arachne Configuration File) files...one I use to have Arachne use Minterm and dial, then load EPPPD. This one I now have named SURFBEST.ACF (SurfBest is my ISP). The other ACF I name SURFBES1.ACF, and with it I use an external dialer and TCP/IP driver, such as LSPPP, or one that I have hacked together for testing purposes only at the present, though WZPPP does seem VERY stable! Next, I usually use a RAMDisk for my CACHE and ARACHNE_TEMP, and my preferred driver is XMSDSK. So, my "quick start" batch which Arachne Setup can create for me, usually named A.BAT, I edit with any plain text editor, then add the line to load XMSDSK, along with my desired parameters such as size, drive letter designation, etc., then the next line reads something along this... "COPY /Y SURFBES1.ACF ARACHNE.CFG" (without quote marks!) the next line is the rest of the normal quick start A.BAT (something like ARACHNE %1%2) If I want to use Arachne to dial, with Miniterm, I have another quick start batch. This one has the same line to load XMSDSK, but the next line reads: COPY /Y SURFBEST.ACF ARACHNE.CFG In this manner I keep a "backup" of sorts for ARACHNE.CFG available at all times...I also keep a few ACFs and ARACHNE.CFG in the sub-directory /arachne/backup. Then while surfing, if anything does mess with ARACHNE.CFG, I can simply exit Arachne, then use one of my quick start batch files to regain my configuration. Works like a charm! As for WZPPP...who knows, I may decide to turn it lose on the unsuspecting public if it stays stable! So far it has worked well on 3 different machines, a Pentium 75 w/8meg RAM and MS DOS 5.0, a 486DX2 w/16meg RAM and MS DOS 6.22, as well as my 486DX4 w/DOS 7 and 24 meg RAM! The first 2 machines have 14.4 kbps modems, my DX4 has a 33.6. I'll let everyone know if/when I decide to put it up for download! *(end of quote)* My response: I too keep copies of ARACHNE.CFG but in an Arachne-safe place like \ASAVE : ARACHNEE.CFG (for EPPPD) and ARACHNEL.CFG (for LSPPP). I notice bugs in both LSPPP and DOSPPPD (EPPPD) with newer hardware at my end and at the Bluegrass Net end. With EPPPD, CHAT or MINITERM dials, but EPPPD or PPPD doesn't make the IP connection with my new computer, modem is USRobotics 2976 hardware modem, PCI, base address 0xd400 IRQ 11. I even tried DR-DOS 7.03 DEBUG.EXE to modify the byte at 0040:0005 so that the six bytes beginning at 0040:0000 were 00 3F 00 2F 00 D4 . Then I was able to dial the modem calling it COM3, but EPPPD still failed to make the IP connection. I even tried changing the six bytes to 00 D4 00 2F 00 3F and calling the modem COM1. Modem dialed but EPPPD still failed. I don't have the source code for DOSPPPD, wonder if EPPPD or PPPD refuses to recognize a nonstandard address like 0xd400. Information on the COM port addresses came from Ralf Brown's interrupt list. Mouse connection is PS/2, so no conflict with serial ports. LSPPP dials and used to connect consistently, then with Bluegrass Net change of IP address range, most of the time I could not access hosts by name at all in 32-bit DPMI applications such as Lynx386, while there was consistent 30-second delay with 16-bit applications such as Arachne; accessing by IP address where I knew it worked without this delay. More recently with hardware or configuration modifications at Bluegrass Net, I can only connect some of the time with LSPPP. I connected the older computer (Diamond SupraExpress 56i modem jumpered for COM4 (base 0x2e8) IRQ 5), and EPPPD still worked, and I was able to access hosts by name as well as IP address. LSPPP suffered the same problems as on the newer computer. So I might be interested in WZPPP unless I have Linux and/or NetBSD setup in good shape including WWW, mail, news and text editors and then decide that DOS really is Dinosaur Operating System. But I might be curious to test it anyway, assuming it will be able to work with nonstandard serial ports. Still behind in my email. -- Tom Mueller
