SUMMARY: DU4.0 modem to internet via ISP

From: richard n. frank <rnfrank_at_ccnet.com/.ornl.gov>
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 17:11:54 -0800

Greetings,
   Several months ago I began posting queries to this organization
regarding
the use of modems on Digital UNIX 4.0 with the intent of connecting a
4/166
AlphaStation to the internet via an Internet Service Provider(ISP). I
have
finally succeeded. It was a very arcane process where the big picture
was
thoroughly obscured by a lot of detail. The following is an attempt to
summarize the processes required to accomplish this task. This info is
the
best I can provide, but may not apply in all cases and is surely
incomplete.
   This particular system being discussed is as follows:
DEC 200 4/166 AlphaStation
Digital UNIX 4.0b
Modem purchased from DEC = Rockwell 28.8 data 14.4 fax modem

0) Physically install the modem.
   a) config UUCP with the sysman utility
      1) There are a limited number of modem choices. Mine, a Rockwell
         was not among them, but was HAYES compatible, so I chose that
one.
      2) The config asks to chose the numeral for the tty device...
         I picked "2", the response was 'no such device'... I did a
         ls -la /dev/tty* and subsequently entered "0". It then renamed
         /dev/tty00 to /dev/ttyd0.
      3) A summary followed: type of device : ACU
                             dev name : ttyd0
                      dev name of an 801 acu: -
                      type of modem : hayes
      4) then pick 1) add device
      -> responds modem added to DEVICES file
      -> do you want a uugetty : no
         then enter 5) End of Config
      -> enter the name of a remote system : return=none
      -> enter time system is allowed to call: 1) any time
      -> select baud rate : 2) any speed
      -> enter the prefix for the dialcodes file :
         I entered a 4 character name that was probably meaningless
      -> what phone # does the prefix stand for : enter a number...
          which is of questionable value (to me at least)
      -> enter login name on system : 'seemed to be of no value'
      -> enter password : ditto
      -> a summary of responses followed...
         1) add this system
         2) skip
         3) redisplay
         my notes indicate I 'skipped' this selection, then EXIT.
      5) shutdown the system
      6) now I used this method >>> add-fax
         hit the return and the screen goes black, does some tests and
         then the prompt comes back >>>
      7) >>> show config
         shows that com4 is enabled and at IRQ 3 and com2 is not
enabled.
         com2 used to be enabled before add-fax
      8) now rebuild the kernel
      9) somehow the modem actually runs on ttyd1 even though I entered
         '0' to select ttyd0 ( another mystery in this convoluted
          series of events )

1) The /etc/acucap and /etc/remote files must be modified.
   a) This modem is not listed in either file, but the documentation
that
      came with the modem says," If your software does not list this
modem,
      it is compatible with HAYES modems"
   b) The mods to the acucap file I used are as follows:
/etc/acucap ...
      hayes-V|h9600|HAYES smartmodem 9600:\
       
:cr:hu:ls:re:ss=\d+++\dATH\rATZ\r\d:sr=OK:sd#250000:di=ATDT:dt=\r:\
        :dd#50000:fd#50:rs=,:os=CONNECT:ds=\d+++\dATZ\r:ab=\d+++\dATZ:
#
      hayes-V|h19200|HAYES smartmodem 19200:\
       
:cr:hu:ls:re:ss=\d+++\dATH\rATZ\r\d:sr=OK:sd#250000:di=ATDT:dt=\r:\
        :dd#50000:fd#50:rs=,:os=CONNECT:ds=\d+++\dATZ\r:ab=\d+++\dATZ:
#
      modem3|h28800:|HAYES smartmodem 28800:\
       
:cr:hu:ls:re:ss=\d+++\dATH\rATZ\r\d:sr=OK:sd#250000:di=ATDT:dt=\r:\
        :dd#50000:fd#50:rs=,:os=CONNECT:ds=\d+++\dATZ\r:ab=\d+++\dATZ:
#
# /etc/acucap has other things in it as well.

   c) the /etc/remote file is modified as follows (I put this stuff at
the
      very end):
/etc/remote...
      modem1:dv=/dev/ttyd1:br#9600:pa=none:
      modem2:dv=/dev/ttyd1:br#19200:pa=none:
      modem3:dv=/dev/ttyd1:br#28800:pa=none:
# end /etc/remote
#
At this point it is possible to connect to other dial in modems in a
telnet
type character session by doing the following
(local command prompt = > )
( the system responding = -> ) :

> tip modem2
 -> connected
> at
 -> OK
> atdt1234567 # enter atdt and phone nr. to dial w/o spaces
 -> if the system responds asking for a port password enter it now
     note: this is for a proprietary local net access
 -> permission granted
> telnet system_name
> login as usual
> do stuff
> logout
 -> resetting line and disconnecting
 -> NO CARRIER
> ~<ctrl>d
   enter a tilde and control d with no spaces to terminate the modem
connection
_____________________________________________________________________________

With that accomplished I set out to find an ISP that did not require
either
Windoze or Macintosh. After some searching I found one that could supply
a
'shell account'. I found out after much travail, that this was
just what it sounded like, a character terminal type account. What I
gained
from this attempt was a realization that I wanted a 'PPP' or "SLIP"
account
with a UNIX ISP. If you were completely on the outside looking in, the
phone
bill searching for one might be significant. The internet search
revealed at
least one in the silicon wasteland of the S.F. Bay Area.

2) PPP must be configured. Most of this is in the /etc/ppp/options file.
   The significant portion follows:

/etc/ppp/options...

asyncmap 200a0000 # XOFF, XON, and ^] (the default telnet escape)
escape 7e,7f,fe,ff,93 # 7-bit and 8-bit variants of rlogin escapes
                        # 0x93 is XOFF or-ed with top bit (0x80)
mru 296 # IP header plus 256 more octets
defaultroute # leave blank
crtscts # hardware handshaking

 
I then used the GUI to do the BIND config. The ISP provided the ip
numbers for
the primary and secondary domain name servers (DNS).

I used the NETWORK GUI to configure a static route file to the
'default gateway' at the ISP as proved by the ISP.

The NETWORK GUI was also used to set the IP address of the local host to
0.0.0.0. In one of these the processes a GUI changed the name of the
local host
from macnicol to macnicol.isp.com.

NOTE: The team and seem to recall trying this earlier on, but the system
(DU4.0b) responded that the network interface must be configured before
these options. After attempting a ppp session, the system accepted these
configurations.
 
3) Now dial up to the ISP and connect as before:
> tip modem2
-> connected
> at
-> OK
> atdt1234567 # atdt the phone nr. of the ISP w/o spaces
-> ispnet login: <enter username here>
-> isp password: <enter password here>
-> a bunch of characters start to fill the screen... in my case the ISP
is
   trying to establish a ppp session with me. At this point enter a
tilde
   and control d to break the modem session i.e, ~<ctrl>d
> (now you are at the local machine command prompt but a connection is still
   established with the ISP)
> /usr/sbin/pppd /dev/ttyd1 19200

> ps -ef | grep ppp # will show if a ppp session is truly established

Now you can fire up Netscape or telnet to the internet. It is just as if
you had an ethernet connection, except it is slower.

In going over my notes to write this I noticed that I should have been
starting ppp with the 'passive' switch, i.e.
/usr/sbin/pppd /dev/ttyd1 19200 passive

The next time I log in I'll try it and see if it is any better.

When you decide to exit the session do
ps -ef | grep ppp then
kill the number associated with the first ppp process. This terminates
the
call so you don't pay for an endless session!


Mysteries yet to be solved include why the /etc/remote file and
/etc/acucap
files can be somewhat different in terms of names but it works anyway.
Also,
I cant get this modem to work at 28800 even though the glossy brochure
says
it will.

Anyway, I hope this can help some other folks out there who are new to
modeming
and are resistant to the lure of Windoze. Many thanks to the help
offered
in progress and the archives of this great newsgroup.

           rich frank
           rnfrank_at_ccnet.com
           rnfrank_at_llnl.gov
Received on Thu Oct 30 1997 - 02:27:13 NZDT

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