mac-internet-faq-2002-12
========================
Q: What to ask my ISP when getting an account?
Q: How to set up MacTCP, MacPPP and TCP-apps?
Q: What are the relevant mac's TCP-apps and where to get them?
Q: Can users share one Macintosh for their mail with Eudora?
Q: What are the relevant helper-apps and where to get them?
Q: Where can I download mac software?
Q: My Apple server is busy - are there any mirrors?
Q: What is BinHex, BinHex 4.0, BinHex 5.0, MacBinary, raw binary, AppleDouble,
AppleSingle, MIME, base64, CR/LF, ISO 8859-1, Latin-1, DOS-CP850, DOS-CP437,
7-bit Scandinavian, QP, uuencode, type/creator, .hqx, .bin, .sit, .cpt, .uu,
.uue, .gz, .tar, .Z, .zip, .image, .smi etc and how to handle them on a mac?
Q: How can I download mac files (via a PC) and then use them on my mac (given
that I don't _already_ have mac decode/uncompress software)?
Q: How to surf the net with 68000 macs like MacPlus?
This text-file describes how to set up your mac for the Internet in practice. It
also tells you what apps the author of this faq considers to be essential to all
mac-surfers out there. Note that these are the author's experiences only and
some topics (like configuring Open Transport or setting up a SLIP connection)
aren't discussed in detail. This file is formatted as setext so you may use Easy
View to browse it.
The version numbers and directories in the URLs may have changed so look around.
Use a local info-mac mirror, if possible:
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/help/mirror-list.txt>
<ftp://mirrors.aol.com//pub/info-mac/help/mirror-list.txt>
The latest version of this file is available at:
<http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/mac-internet-faq.txt>
There is also 68000-mac-faq at:
<http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/68000.txt>
Matti Haveri <matti.haveri@sjoki.uta.fi> <http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/>
basic settings
==============
questions to your ISP
---------------------
Ask your Internet Service Provider:
1. How the connection is established; direct Ethernet / LocalTalk, PPP, SLIP,
ARA etc?
2. Does your mac have a static ip-number <x.x.x.x> or does the server give it
whenever the connection is made? What is the ip-number of the possible gateway
(i.e. router) <x.x.x.x>?
3. Modem connection (PPP, SLIP, terminal emulation) phone numbers?
Does the PPP server support Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) (username &
password?) or do you have to make a connect-script (what is the script; what
command starts PPP <slirp -P> etc)?
What are the speeds the server modems support, does the modem connection require
any special settings?
4. What are the ip-numbers of the domain name servers <x.x.x.x>? What is the
recommended local domain (i.e. default domain or domain name) <host>?
5. What is your:
login username & password. How often and how to change the password. What is the
length and format of a valid password?
POP/IMAP mail server (incoming) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol;
outgoing) server <host>?
email address <user@host>; is it different from your POP account <user@host>?
Can you use an alias like <firstname.surname@host> as an email address?
news server or NNTP (Net News Transport Protocol) server <host> (does the news
server require username and password)?
www-, ftp- and other proxy servers <host> and their port numbers. Recommended
local www-homepage <http://host/> (if you want to use one)?
6. Who to contact when in trouble (phone, fax, email)?
7. ...does the ISP know the mac? Does it support MacTCP and Open Transport; does
it understand what you're asking?? Does the ISP have support personnel (how
many?) who specialize in the mac? What portion of ISP's customer base use macs?
Can you leave voice/email and how quickly does the ISP respond; does the ISP
maintain a local newsgroup for questions? Does the ISP have an automated status
line and is it up-to-date? How does the ISP handle busies and are they a
recurring problem (ask for their main modem number and call it in the evening
between 19 and 22 to see if you get a busy signal; also call at a time you think
will be typical for your use)? Does the ISP have a web server customers can use;
what is the limit to how much material you can make available?
minimum requirements
--------------------
* MacPlus, (2.5-)4MB RAM, 20MB harddisk, (2400-)14400 modem, System 7.0* and
MacTCP 2.0.6 are the practical minimum requirements for PPP connections. Only
MacPPP 2.0.1, MacSLIP 3.0.3, InterSLIP 1.0.1 and FCRppp 1.6 currently work on
68000 macs. MacPPP 2.0.1cm4 and v2.1.2SD are enhanced versions of MacPPP 2.0.1;
2.0.1cm4 enables background dialing, for instance - MacPPP 2.1.2SD has
enhancements like: fixes problem with Config PPP not being able to access it's
prefs file if the Finder closed the control panel on a low memory error,
terminal window is larger and scrolling of text off the top is a little cleaner,
shows the 115K and 230K rates in the Port Speed popup (and has 4800 as a slowest
port speed vs 1200 on v2.0.1). (Note that MacPPP 2.0.1 variations fail to redraw
the PPP "up" symbols on screen (after the 1st connection; no reboot between
connections) unless you cover and uncover them with other windows).
On 68000 macs (Plus, SE, Portable, Classic, PB100) telnet-, ftp-, mail-, news-
and tcp-apps like NCSA Telnet, Fetch, Anarchie 1.6.0, Eudora, NewsWatcher and
MacTCP Watcher 1.1.2 work fine. With MacPlus you can't use control-keys in NCSA
Telnet (in ZTerm you can use option or command instead of control). On 68000
macs NCSA Mosaic 1.0.3, MacWeb 1.00A3.2, v2.0 and MacLynx work for www; NCSA
Mosaic can display in-line graphics but with MacWeb you must use an external
helper like GIFConverter or GIFwatcher DA. Apps and extensions requiring color
or better processor (Netscape Navigator, JPEGView, QuickTime etc) don't work on
68000 macs.
With only 1MB RAM, floppy drive(s) and System 6 you can connect via a terminal
emulator like ZTerm and use unix apps like pine, tin, ftp, ncftp, sz, rz, and
lynx for mail, news, file transfer and www. With ZTerm you can use option or
command instead of control when using MacPlus. To save disk space on those 800K
floppies install the minimum System 6.0.x that ZTerm requires. You can trash all
files except System and Finder, delete unnecessary fonts and DAs from the System
file with Font/DA Mover and delete PPC code from ZTerm with Strip Fat to save
even more disk space.
If you want to use System 6 and connect via PPP, following software versions
work even with 1MB RAM: System 6.0.5-6.0.8 (MacPPP 2.0.1 insists that System
Folder's name must be "System Folder" so if you are using a localized System
change the folder's name accordingly), MacTCP 2.0.6, MacPPP 2.0.1, NCSA Telnet
2.6, Fetch 3.0.3, Eudora 1.3.1 (install also Map control panel from the System
disks and set your time zone), NewsWatcher 2.0d13m01, Internews 1.1, MacWWW 1.03
(Samba), MacTCP Watcher 1.1.2 (older versions of these apps may use less
memory).
MacWWW 1.03 (Samba) works on 68000 macs (at least on System 6.0.5 - it crashes
on System 7.0.1*). It opens fine, loads the startup page fine (doesn't know how
to read files from disk, text-only, no ISO 8859-1 translation, opens a new
window for each link). Do not close any windows as this crashes the mac; also
quitting MacWWW seems to cause a crash.
Note that with System 6 MacTCP may crash when saving prefs for the first time so
check that the prefs are actually saved. To save space on a floppy-only system,
install a minimum System for your mac and delete all System Folder items except
System, Finder, PPP, ConfigPPP, MacTCP, PPP Preferences, MacTCP DNR and MacTCP
Prep; delete also unnecessary fonts and DAs from the System file with Font/DA
Mover (keep Control Panel DA, though) - this leaves 322 K of free space on a DD
floppy with System 6.0.5 US (MacPlus minimum install). Unfatten also "fat"
tcp-apps. Turn RAM Cache off to leave maximum amount of RAM to the apps.
software for TCP connection
---------------------------
* You need MacTCP or Open Transport for TCP-connections like direct ethernet or
PPP- and SLIP-connection via modem. Use Open Transport (TCP/IP) instead of
MacTCP if your mac supports it (68030 processor or better). MacTCP and
OpenTransport are included in System 7.5 and above. Apple dealers sell MacTCP
but also "The Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh" (Adam Engst, Hayden Books)
book includes it, among other utilities.
<http://www.mcp.com/hayden/iskm/mac.html>
MacTCP can also be found on the net:
MacTCP 2.0.4:
<http://www.mdstud.chalmers.se/pub/internet/mac/MacTCP/MacTCP.hqx>
MacTCP 2.0.6 and some developer stuff:
<ftp://ftp.apple.com//devworld/Development_Kits/MacTCP.sit.hqx>
MacTCP 2.0.6:
<ftp://ftp.indiana.edu//iub_only/mac/Mac_OS/System_Additions/MacTCP/>
MacTCP 2.0.x to 2.0.6 updaters:
<ftp://ftp.apple.com//Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/
Macintosh/Networking-Communications/Other_N-C/MacTCP_2.0.6_Update.sea.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/conn/mactcp-206-updt.hqx>
...once you are there you can also fetch the latest network software
(ZM-NSI_1.5.1) although TCP-connection doesn't usually need it. With Network
Access Disk it is possible to boot almost every mac and connect to AppleTalk
network (this allows CD-ROMless macs to install system software from another
mac's CD-ROM drive etc):
<ftp://ftp.apple.com//Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/
Macintosh/Networking-Communications/Network_Software_Installer/
ZM_NSI_1.5.1.sea.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.apple.com//Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/
Macintosh/Utilities/Network_Access_Disk_7.5.sea.hqx>
* PPP and SLIP.
Q: I'm using Open Transport - should I use OT/PPP or FreePPP?
A: OT/PPP is native, a little faster and requires a modem script. FreePPP is
more customizable. Try them both and see for yourself. You can have both in the
System Folder simultaneously.
MacPPP 2.1.2SD is recommended as a first choice for System 7.x 68000 macs. Only
MacPPP 2.0.1, v2.0.1cm4, v2.1.1SD and v2.1.2SD, MacSLIP 3.0.3, InterSLIP 1.0.1
and FCRppp 1.6 currently work on 68000 macs (Plus, SE, Portable, Classic,
PB100). OT/PPP or FreePPP are recommended for other macs as a first try. OT/PPP,
FreePPP and MacPPP 2.5 work also with Open Transport which supercedes MacTCP on
newer macs. You can also try SimplePPP, SonicPPP, NTS PPP, tcpCONNECT4 PPP,
MacSLIP or LinkUPPP! for PPP connections.
Overview of PPP software:
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/per/tb/tidbits-306.etx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/per/tb/tidbits-307.etx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/per/tb/tidbits-354.etx>
MacPPP 2.0.1, v2.0.1cm4, v2.1.1SD and v2.1.2SD:
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/conn/ppp/mac-ppp-201.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.unipg.it//pub/mac/tcpip/mac-ppp-201cm4.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.sunet.se//pub/mac/mirror-umich/util/comm/macppp2.11sd.sit.hqx>
<ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi//mac/internet/serial/macppp212sd.sit>
MacPPP 2.1.2SD is recommended as a first choice for System 7.x 68000 macs.
MacPPP 2.0.1cm4, v2.1.1SD and v2.1.2SD are enhanced versions of MacPPP 2.0.1;
v2.0.1cm4 enables background dialing, for instance - MacPPP 2.1.2SD has
enhancements like: fixes problem with Config PPP not being able to access it's
prefs file if the Finder closed the control panel on a low memory error,
terminal window is larger and scrolling of text off the top is a little cleaner,
shows the 115K and 230K rates in the Port Speed popup (and has 4800 as a slowest
port speed vs 1200 on v2.0.1). (Note that MacPPP 2.0.1 variations fail to redraw
the PPP "up" symbols on screen (after the 1st connection; no reboot between
connections) unless you cover and uncover them with other windows). If the
"Open" button is grayed out in MacPPP make sure that PPP is selected in MacTCP.
Note that there is a memory related bug in MacPPP 2.0.1: If applications have
used all available memory, Config PPP is forced to close with an error message
like: "The control panel "Config PPP" cannot be used now, because not enough
memory is available." It is not possible to reopen the control panel because
there is a message: "Config PPP Error! Opening Preferences". This prevents one
from properly closing the internet connection.
OT/PPP requires at least Open Transport 1.1.1, 68030 mac and System 7.5.3:
<ftp://ftp.apple.com//Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/
Macintosh/Networking-Communications/Open_Transport/>
FreePPP requires at least 68020 mac and System 7.1:
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/conn/ppp/free-ppp-25v2.hqx>
FreePPP www-site and latest betas:
<http://www.rockstar.com/ppp.shtml> <ftp://members.aol.com/freepppgrp/>
MacPPP 2.5 requires at least 68030 mac and System 7.5:
<ftp://ftp.apple.com//Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/
Macintosh/Networking-Communications/Other_N-C/MacPPP_2.5.sea.hqx>
SimplePPP requires at least System 7.1 (v1.4.5 doesn't work on a PB100):
<http://www.animats.com/simpleppp/simpleppp.html> <ftp://ftp.animats.com/>
Sonic PPP (on PB100 opens the connection OK but soon crashes the mac):
<ftp://ftp.sonicsys.com//pub/updates/SonicPPP/SonicPPP_1.2_Installer.hqx>
NTS PPP requires at least 68020 mac:
<http://ws175.nts.com/Tango/ntsppp/ntsppp.html>
Commercial tcpCONNECT4 PPP (formerly InterPPP II) supports PPP and SLIP, it
requires at least System 7 (v2.0.1 doesn't work on a PB100):
<http://www.intercon.com/products/interppp2.html>
<ftp://ftp.intercon.com//DEMOS/mac/CONNECT4_PPP/CONNECT4_PPP.sea>
Commercial MacSLIP supports PPP and SLIP (requires at least System 6.0.7):
<http://www.zilker.net/~hydepark/>
LinkUPPP! (formerly FCRppp) supports PPP and SLIP (v1.1r1 doesn't work on a
PB100):
<http://www.fcr.com/LinkUPPP/LinkUPPP.html>
<ftp://ftp.fcr.com//fcr/LinkUPPP/LinkUPPP_Demo_1.1r1.hqx>
InterSLIP:
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/conn/
inter-slip-installer-101.hqx>
MacTCP settings
---------------
* Turn AppleTalk ON (Leaving it OFF seems to provoke a crash when saving MacTCP
prefs for the first time. With some Systems you may have to reboot to make
AppleTalk active). Drag and drop "MacTCP" control panel on top of the system
folder icon so it goes automatically to the control panels folder. In general,
the "Hosts" file is not needed nor recommended to copy to the system folder.
* If you use PPP drag and drop "PPP" extension and "Config PPP" control panel
the same way on top of the system folder icon so they go to their right places
in the extensions and control panels folder.
* Restart the mac.
* Choose "Ethernet" (direct ethernet) or "PPP" in MacTCP's first panel. Based on
your connection method you may also have to choose "EtherTalk", "LocalTalk", ARA
etc. (The Network control panel configures which lead the AppleTalk packets go
(slow LocalTalk, fast EtherTalk, ARA); MacTCP control panel configures which
lead the TCP packets go.)
* Click More... and in the following panel choose "Obtain Address" "Manually"
(direct connection) or "Server" (PPP).
* In direct connection in the first MacTCP panel write _this mac's_ unique
"IP-Address" like "123.123.123.123" and in the second MacTCP panel "Gateway
Address" like "123.123.123.1" (ask the right ip-numbers from your ISP!!)
* In PPP connection these "IP-Address" and "Gateway Address" fields are left
blank (if the address is obtained from the server MacTCP fills them
automatically whenever a connection is made).
* Domain Name Server Information configures name servers which translate domain
names like "ftp.funet.fi" to ip-numbers like "128.214.248.6" and vice versa.
Note that the primary domain name server is also written to the second row (note
also the dots in the in the following Domain columns!). In the following example
"domain.com" in the first row means only that if you write in a TCP-app (telnet,
ftp etc) an incomplete domain name without dots like "cc" MacTCP automatically
appends your "domain.com" (i.e. your "local domain", "default domain" or "domain
name") to it and the final result is "cc.domain.com". For example (ask the right
local domain and ip-numbers from your ISP!!):
domain.com 1.2.3.4 (x) default
. 1.2.3.4
. 5.6.7.8
. 6.7.8.9
* MacTCP fills automagically the info in the second panel's upper right hand
corner so you can just ignore them in most cases.
* Restart the mac.
* If you suspect that your MacTCP settings have been corrupted trash MacTCP
control panel and the files "MacTCP DNR" (System folder) and "MacTCP Prep"
(Preferences folder) shift-boot and set up MacTCP again from scratch. This may
also be a good idea when upgrading to a new MacTCP version. Make sure you have
the correct settings somewhere!
* Open Transport (OT) is used instead of MacTCP in PCI macs. Macs with 68000 and
68020 processors cannot run OT at all, so they run what Apple calls "classic
networking," with the MacTCP and Network control panels. Macs with 68030 and
68040 processors and non-PCI PowerMacs, have a choice of running classic or OT
networking. All PCI-based PowerMacs require OT. Be sure to get at least OT
v1.0.8! If necessary, MacTCP can be installed and used instead of OT by removing
the following OT components from the System folder: Control Panels:TCP/IP,
Extensions:OpenTptInternetLib and Open Tpt Internet Library. ...why would you
want to switch between OT and classic networking? Some older programs may not
work with OT. Also, OT requires more memory than classic networking (up to
1.5MB).
<ftp://ftp.apple.com//Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/
Macintosh/Networking-Communications/Open_Transport/>
MacTCP Switcher is a very simple little program that makes it easy to save and
quickly restore multiple MacTCP configurations. This is especially useful for
PowerBook users who carry their PowerBooks around and regularly use them with
different network connections (e.g., SLIP at home and LocalTalk or Ethernet at
work).
Open Transport has its own built-in feature for saving and restoring multiple
TCP/IP and AppleTalk configurations. You don't even have to restart. To use the
Open Transport feature, open the TCP/IP or AppleTalk control panel, then select
the "Configurations" command in the "File" menu. You can also try TCP/IP
Switcher.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/conn/mactcp-switcher-11.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/conn/tcp-ip-switcher-10b1.hqx>
TCP/IP (OpenTransport) settings
-------------------------------
Connect via: PPP
Configure: Using PPP Server
Name Server addr.: 1.2.3.4
5.6.7.8
6.7.8.9
Search domains: domain.com
Edit/User Mode/Advanced/Options/Make TCP/IP: Active & Load only when needed. In
the version of Open Transport included in MacOS 8.6, the "Load only when needed"
no longer applies when physically connected to a TCP/IP network via ARP-able
media such as Ethernet." Only PPP connections "respect" this setting.
...more info about MacTCP and Open Transport settings:
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/info/mactcp-info-13.hqx>
<http://tampico.cso.uiuc.edu/nas/nash/mac/mactcp.html>
<http://tampico.cso.uiuc.edu/nas/nash/mac/ot/open.transport.html>
Q: How to get a mac's _hardware_ ethernet-address?
A: In MacTCP, hold down option-key and click on MacTCP control panel's Built-in
(or Alternate) Ethernet icon. In OpenTransport, expand TCP/IP control panel to
Extended mode, press Info-button when Built-in (or Alternate) Ethernet/BootP
server is selected. Apple LAN Utility, GetMyAddress etc can also show the
address.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/get-my-address-20.hqx>
MacTCP 2.0.6 gives an error message when you query for a name with an underscore
<_> character because underscore is strictly an illegal character in Internet
domain names. (MacTCP 2.0.4 accepted underscores in domain names).
MacPPP settings
---------------
The following advice applies also to other PPP clients. Please check to be sure
you are using the most current version of MacPPP, version 2.01 for 68000 B&W
macs (i.e. macs without color QuickDraw like Plus, SE, Portable, Classic, PB100)
and FreePPP 1.0.5 or better for all other macs including PCI PowerMacs. You may
also try OT/PPP which is included in System 8.0 and up.
* Open the Config PPP control panel.
* Select the port to which the modem is connected. A few PowerBook modems,
including the Apple Express Modem, the Global Village PowerPort/Mercury for the
PowerBook 500-series, and Duos, are bus modems, and show up in the menu as
Internal Modem. Other internal PowerBook modems are non-bus modems and use an
internal connection to the Modem port. For these, choose Modem port. Mac AV/PPC
users may also have a GeoPort option. If you get an error message "PPP Error!
Error initializing serial port. Possibly already in use." try to reselect the
port you need (this error manifests itself at least when transferring Config PPP
preference files between localized Systems with different port names).
* The Idle Timeout pop-up enables you to set a time of inactivity, after which
MacPPP will close the connection. MacPPP does a soft close in this idle timeout
situation, which means that a MacTCP-based application can automatically re-open
the connection by requesting MacTCP services. If MacPPP did a hard close,
applications wouldn't be able to re-open the connection automatically; you would
have to click the Open button to open a new connection.
* If present, uncheck Allow applications to open connection.
* for Echo Interval choose Off. The Echo Interval pop-up menu provides the
opportunity to configure MacPPP to periodically query the line to see if your
connection has dropped. If MacPPP receives no response after three successive
requests, MacPPP assumes that the connection has gone dead. If you have trouble
with your connection dropping frequently, using it may make life easier. When
MacPPP detects a dead connection, it pops up a dialog box with three buttons for
Close PPP, Ignore, or Restart, which in this case means restarting the PPP
connection, not the Macintosh. Of course, if your connection drops, you must at
least quit open MacTCP applications before trying to do anything else. You may
have to restart to clear things up appropriately if the open applications have
become sufficiently confused by the loss of the connection. Note: The Echo
Interval feature continually sends packets to the server and waits for a
response, but these packets don't count as traffic for the Idle Timeout feature.
* Uncheck Terminal Window. If you check it, MacPPP ignores the Phone number and
Modem init fields in the Configure Server and Connect Script dialog boxes.
Instead, it makes you walk through the connection manually, starting with
dialing the modem with an ATDT command. Note: In some situations, MacPPP's
terminal window doesn't echo what you type back to the screen, but the
characters will be sent when you press Return. You may never need to use
MacPPP's terminal emulator, but if you have trouble logging on, it's much easier
to have the terminal emulator built into MacPPP rather than be forced to use an
external one. If you must use the terminal window, enter Modem init and Phone
number manually, enter your username and password, and once you start seeing
some gibberish characters that indicate the start of PPP data, click OK to start
the PPP session. Write down which responses you get from the server and how you
answer to them so you can write your login script based on this information.
* Check Hangup on Close. Hangup on Close, if checked, sends the modem a hangup
string (+++ ATH) when you close your PPP session.
* Check Quiet Mode. If you have the Quiet Mode checkbox checked, MacPPP closes
the connection after a preset time of inactivity (Idle Timeout) without warning;
if not, then at the end of the idle time period MacPPP presents you with a
dialog that enables you to either ignore the warning and leave the PPP
connection active, or close PPP.
* Click the New...
* Create a new configuration. Name it, and it appears in the PPP Server pop-up
menu. If you want to delete one, make sure it's showing in the menu and click
the Delete button.
* Click on Config...
* Select the Port Speed. The Port Speed (DTE or data terminal equipment speed)
is the speed at which the mac and the modem communicate, not the speed at which
the two modems communicate i.e. "line speed", DCE or data circuit-terminating
equipment speed (unless it happens to be slower than the fastest speed the
modems have in common, at which point it forces the modems to communicate at
that speed). Do not set the Port Speed menu to 14400 or 28800 even if you have a
14400 bps or 28800 bps modem. The reason is that some modems don't accept those
as valid port speeds, and MacPPP won't talk to the modem properly. Note: Port
speed is reportedly irrelevant if you use a bus modem, since it doesn't use the
modem port. Set it to 57600 if you have one of these modems. If your modem
supports data compression set the Port Speed so that it is 2-4x the highest DCE
speed the modem supports, for example:
2400 for 2400 modem
38400 for 9600 modem
115200 for 28800 modem
* For Flow Control, try one of the following settings (on a USR Sportster):
1. "CTS and RTS (DTR)" and init string AT F1 &D0. Works otherwise OK but
occasionally the modem doesn't hang up properly because the mac has to hang up
the modem using the "+++" escape sequence to put the modem in command mode
followed by the "ATH" command. It's much more reliable (and faster) to hang up
the modem by just dropping DTR.
2. "CTS only" and init string AT F1 &D0. The drawback is that your mac can't
tell the modem to stop delivering data, and as a result it may lose some
packets. In practice, most modern Macintoshes are fast enough so that they
rarely fall behind, and even if they do PPP and TCP/IP will make sure the data
still gets there. Note that whatever &Dn you use, "CTS only" setting ignores it.
3. "CTS and RTS (DTR)" and init string AT F1 &D2 S25=250. It is often possible
to get both CTS/RTS handshake AND hardware hangup via DTR (&D2 in the init
string). The trick is to configure the modem to ignore DTR until it has been
held down for some time. The DTR threshold is usually held in register S25,
though the units vary from modem to modem: some use 1/10 sec, some 1/100 sec etc
- you need to read the friendly manual. For example, for the USR Sportster use
S25=250 and for the Multitech S25=25. In both cases, the modem will not hang up
until DTR has been held down for at least 2.5 secs, which is far longer than the
time DTR would be held down for CTS/DTR handshaking (or if the mac is taking
longer than 2.5 secs to respond to CTS, chances are that it has died, and you
want to hang up anyway). Note that with USR Sportster &F1 already includes &D2
so you may omit the latter and use just AT F1 S25=250.
Q: Why isn't "CTS and RTS (DTR)" and init string AT F1 &D2 recommended?
A: Hardware handshaking refers to the protocol used between Macintosh's serial
port and the local modem to control data flow. If you enable CTS/RTS flow
control in PPP client, you must also enable CTS/RTS flow control in your modem,
and you must be using a modem cable that supports hardware handshaking.
The CTS pin is how the modem signals the Macintosh that the modem's buffer is
full and that the mac should stop sending data to the modem temporarily until
the modem has had a chance to send some of its data.
The RTS pin, conversely, is how the Macintosh signals the modem that the mac's
serial buffer is full and the the modem should temporarily stop sending data to
the mac.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of pins on the mac's serial port, the RTS and DTR
pins are wired together. This is why you see RTS flow control described as "RTS
(DTR)", since they are the same pin on the mac. In other words, there is no way
for the modem to distiguish between a signal on the RTS pin and a signal on the
DTR pin. By default, some modems are configured to hang up when they see a
signal on the DTR pin. This setting is controlled by the modem init string.
If the modem is configured to hang up when DTR drops (&D2), and you enable "CTS
and RTS (DTR)" flow control, then during high traffic periods when the mac's
serial buffer fills up, it may signal the modem on the RTS pin, which will also
cause the DTR signal to drop, making the modem hang up.
No matter what handshaking setting you choose, the key is to make sure you are
using the right modem init string to cause the modem to hang up on DTR dropping
or ignore DTR as necessary. The most common mistake is where the modem is
configured to hang up when DTR drops, and you're using full bidrectional flow
control, causing the connection to drop at unexpected times.
...how does that CTS/RTS/DTR stuff relate to internal modems? Basically, the
internal has all of these as they are typically supported right in the driver.
In other words, they don't really exist at all, but the driver pretends they do.
The effect of using CTS or RTS in these cases is rarely of any importance as the
data is being moved over the bus and flow control is typically handled via
software running the modem. However there are systems where this is not the
case.
Note: for the Global Village Bronze and PowerPort Mercury in the PowerBook 2xx
or 5xx, choose None for Flow Control. Internal PowerBook bus modems like Express
Modem and Geoport can have the Flow Control pop-up menu set to None.
* Select Tone (unless you are using a rotary phone)
* Enter phone number
* For Modem Init see previous discussion under Flow Control. If in doubt, start
with the factory default configuration for your modem (usually AT&F, AT&F1, or
AT&F2, although the numbers change depending on the modem). Make sure that
software flow control (XOFF/XOFF) is disabled. Display verbal result codes and
enable additional result code subsets (protocol indicators added (LAPM/MNP/NONE
(error control) and V42bis/MNP5 (data compression)), set so that CONNECT returns
DCE speed. Set fixed serial port rate. Set transmit Data (TD) hardware flow
control (Clear to Send (CTS)) as well as Receive Data (RD) hardware flow control
(Request to Send (RTS)). Enable error control and data compression. Disable
auto-answer. To silence the modem's speaker add M0 (that's a zero) to the
string. To set speaker to lowest, low, medium, or high replace the M0 with L0,
L1, L2, or L3. Init strings for a plethora of modems are listed at:
<http://www.mcp.com/hayden/iskm/modems.html>
Note: If you are having a problem with connections using the Silver, Gold or
Mercury or Platinum modems, try using the predial init above and adding a %C0
(that's a zero) to the end of the init string. This is often needed when
connecting to main frames and UNIX systems. This also increases transfer rates
with PowerBook 100 & PowerPort/Gold.
* Modem connect timeout field: 90 seconds. This offers you a chance to increase
the amount of time MacPPP will wait for the connection to occur. If it takes
MacPPP a long time to negotiate your connection, you may need to increase this
value.
* Click on Authentication...
* Enter PPP-Authentication ID and -password to the Config/Authentication dialog
box if your server supports Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) to negotiate
your connection. If you're really paranoid about your password, you can leave
that field blank and MacPPP will prompt you to enter it every time you connect.
Leave Retries at 10, Timeout at 3 seconds. Retries specifies how many times
MacPPP should attempt to resend your ID and/or password, if it is unable to
establish a connection with the local terminal server. Timeout tells the number
of seconds MacPPP should wait for the terminal server to respond to your ID
and/or password authentication request.
* Click on Connect Script...
* If using the Authentication method of logging in to your PPP server machine
doesn't work, you must instead use the Connect Script dialog to script your way
in. If you leave the Connect Script blank or configure it incorrectly, and leave
the Authentication dialog empty, MacPPP prompts you for your userid and
password, just as you would have entered them in the Authentication dialog.
Basically, all you do in the Connect Script dialog is replicate the process of
logging in to your host manually (and the terminal window can be helpful in
figuring out the connect script). You click an Out button to indicate that
MacPPP should send the contents of the field to the left (and a carriage return
if the checkbox is selected for that line), and you click a Wait button to
indicate that MacPPP should wait for the string specified in the field to appear
before moving on to the next line. Note: If you're unlucky, connecting to your
PPP server will require more than the eight fields MacPPP provides here. In that
case, if your server doesn't support authenticated logins (which is likely, if
it requires more than four send/expect interactions), your only option may be to
use the commercial tcpCONNECT4 PPP. Actually, that's not entirely true, since
you can do some funky scripting within MacPPP by using special codes like \t
(which drops you into the terminal window at that point in the script), \r
(which sends a Return to the host), and \d (which forces a 1 s delay). The trick
when creating such a hacked script is to use delays instead of the Wait buttons,
thus enabling you to cram more functional script lines into the same space.
Other codes are: \^ literal "^", \\ literal "\" and \nnn "8-bit octal value" -
the following can be used only in Out strings: \b sends a break (100 ms).
(x) Out ( ) Wait (cr)
( ) Out (x) Wait ogin: ( )
(x) Out ( ) Wait "username" (cr)
( ) Out (x) Wait word: ( )
(x) Out ( ) Wait "password" (cr)
The previous example connect script says, when translated: "Send a carriage
return as soon as you're connected. Then wait for the string "ogin:" to appear,
and once you've seen it, send _your_ "username" and a carriage return. Wait for
the string "word:" to appear, and then _your_ "password" and a carriage return.
Once you're done scripting here, click OK to save your script. Note: The words
"login" and "password" may have their first letter or letters removed in scripts
like this, because you never know whether or not the first letter will be
capitalized. "Wait timeout" is the number of seconds MacPPP will wait for each
Wait string to be received from the local terminal server. By default, if more
than 40 seconds elapse, MacPPP will abort the attempt to establish a connection.
An alert box will appear, asking if you want to quit MacPPP or retry the connect
script from the beginning.
* Back in the Configure Server dialog, you've probably been wondering what's
inside the LCP Options dialog and the IPCP Options dialog. You really don't want
to know. No normal user should ever have to change any of those settings. (In
some weird situations you may have to fiddle with these, however. IPCP Options:
In the Local column's IP Address field, enter your assigned IP address. In the
Remote column's IP Address field, enter your Gateway IP address.)
* When you're done with your work and want to close your connection, first quit
all of your MacTCP-based applications. Some of them dislike having the
connection disappear from under their little electronic feet. To pull the plug
on the PPP connection, you can do one of two things, depending on how you use
MacPPP. First, you can click the Hard Close button, which hangs up the
connection and "locks" MacPPP so that the only way to establish a new connection
is to click the Open button. This prevents any applications from forcing MacPPP
to open the connection automatically while, say, you're not present. Second, if
it doesn't bother you to possibly have applications dialing your phone behind
your back, you can click the Soft Close button to close a connection. That
leaves open the auto-connect feature for the rest of that session, so launching
an application makes MacPPP establish a new connection. There are some cases of
MacPPP dialing for apparently no reason that are eliminated with Hard Close.
* If your settings are correct and you continue to have problems with PPP, try
trashing the PPP Preferences, found in the Preference folder in the System
folder. Please also, try reselecting the PPP from within the MacTCP window.
* When you have your MacPPP settings right it is a good idea to backup your "PPP
Preferences" from the Preferences folder to a safe place. You can do the same
for MacTCP prefs with MacTCP Switcher (see above).
OpenTransport/Modem preferences
-------------------------------
USR Sportster external as an example; you may have to use slightly different
settings for other modems:
Connect via: Modem port
Modem: Select the appropriate modem script from a pop-up menu. The correct
script should come with your modem or there may already be a script installed by
the System. The scripts go to System Folder/Extensions/Modem Scripts/. You may
search newer scripts from the modem manufacturer; the latest US Robotics script
is at <ftp://ftp.usr.com//usr/dl10/usrara.hqx>, for example. Note that on a mac,
the modem script or init string must have &D0 (DTR override) active (if "CTS and
RTS (DTR)" is used as Flow control). (Note also that MacPPP and FreePPP don't
require modem scripts and you can easier experiment with various modem inits
using them instead of OpenTransport/PPP and the Modem control panel).
You can also make your own modem script with Modem Script Generator:
<ftp://ftp.apple.com//Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/US/
Macintosh/Misc/Modem_Script_Generator1.0a1.sea.bin>
Make sure you have a mac hardware handshaking modem cable!
Sound: off (or on if troubleshooting)
Dialing: Tone (or pulse if you use a rotary phone)
Ignore dial tone: off (or on if you must prefix the number by "0" to dial the
company's outside line and there is no dial tone, for example).
OpenTransport/PPP settings
--------------------------
If your ISP supports PAP, choose Registered User and enter your username and
password. Otherwise you must use a connect script as follows:
Connection: Guest
Phone number:
*Options/Redialing:
Redial main number only
Redial 100 times
Time between retries: 5 seconds
*Options/Connection:
Connect automatically when starting TCP/IP applications: off (if you don't want
the applications start a connection by themselves).
Use verbose logging: off (if you aren't troubleshooting the connection).
Flash icon in menu bar while connected: on
Prompt every 5 minutes to maintain connection: off
Disconnect if idle for 10 minutes
*Options/Protocol:
Allow error correction and compression in modem: on
Use TCP header compression: on
Connect to a command-line host: on
Use connect script: <import a script; see below>
Q: How do I create a connect script?
1. Choose Options/Protocol/Use terminal window, then press the Connect-button in
PPP control panel's main window.
2. When the connection is established and the terminal window appears, choose
Settings:
Close Terminal when PPP is started: on
Prompt to save Connect Script on close: on
3. After you have entered appropriate info to the nic login and password
prompts, you are prompted to save the automatically generated Connect Script to
disk. (At this phase you should also have a PPP connection established).
4. Choose Options/Protocol/Use connect script/Import Script and choose the
script you saved to disk. Disconnect, close the PPP control panel and save the
changes. From now on you should be able to connect using the script provided
that your login username and password remain the same. Manual login using the
terminal window can be useful for troubleshooting if the automatical script
fails for some reason.
what do I need to connect two macs?
-----------------------------------
* AppleTalk is built-in so you may not need to buy anything to get things
running via LocalTalk. Install System 7.0* or better from the installer disks
making sure you also check the FileSharing option. Then you can mount shared
volumes and folders between macs connected via a LocalTalk cable or a cheaper
and better Farallon PhoneNet cable. Also a simple ImageWriter cable does just
fine although you can connect only two macs using it. (EtherTalk is just a
driver which allows AppleTalk protocol to be transported by Ethernet).
* Macs using System 6 can access shared items on newer Systems but if you want
to make them file-servers you have to buy AppleShare server software.
* Public Folder 1.01 allows also System 6 macs to be one-way file-servers:
<ftp://ftp.claris.com//pub/USA-Macintosh/x.Shareware-Freeware/
PublicFolder1.01.bin>
Via Ethernet: You need an ethernet crossover cable for a simple mac-to-mac
network. It has two of the pairs of wires interchanged at the ends, unlike a
standard 10baseT-to-hub ethernet cable which allows more macs and printers to be
connected. The maximum distance for 10baseT cabling is 100 meters. If your mac
has a AAUI port (looks like a monitor port) you'll need a transceiver. Once you
have the two computers hooked up and running, open the AppleTalk control panel
and switch it to Ethernet (you may have to turn Ethernet Off/On on the machine
that was powered up first), also switch AppleTalk active via the chooser on each
mac. Then turn on File Sharing on one machine and use the chooser on the other
and use AppleShare. The machine with File Sharing on should show up on the
desktop of the other.
troubleshooting
---------------
If you have problems, try the following:
1) Read the manuals and FAQs and check if your mac is compatible with the
software you are using. Verify from your ISP that you have the right TCP- and
PPP/SLIP-settings.
2) Check which AT-commands, port (modem/printer) and port speed your modem
requires. Make sure you have a mac hardware handshaking modem cable! If your
PPP-connection requires a script, connect via Terminal Window to see what script
you should enter for automatic connections.
3) Disable any fax software from loading; you may also try to switch AppleTalk
off via the Chooser.
4) Delete MacTCP and PPP/SLIP software and their preferences (from the System-,
Extensions-, Control Panels- and Preferences folders) and reinstall them from
uncorrupted backups and build the preferences from scratch (for example, with
MacTCP and MacPPP trash MacTCP DNR (System Folder), PPP (Extensions Folder),
Config PPP and MacTCP (Control Panels Folder) and MacTCP Prep and PPP
Preferences (Preferences Folder)). Verify that your username and password are
valid (do not use Caps Lock key when typing them!). You may also rebuild the
desktop (boot with Shift-key pressed down - when you see "Extensions disabled",
immediately press Option-Command-keys until you get the choice to rebuild the
desktop) and reset parameter RAM (boot with Option-Command-P-R-keys pressed down
until the mac beeps two times).
5) If this fails, do a clean system install: open the existing System Folder and
drag the System file into any other folder. This "de-blesses" the current System
Folder. To complete the de-blessing, you must close the System Folder and verify
that the Finder no longer displays the special System Folder icon. Finally,
change the System Folder's name to something else like "old system". During the
installation, the Installer will create a new System Folder.
6) If also this fails, backup, low-level reformat the drive (also install
current disk drivers) and install everything from scratch.
7) Ask advice from comp.sys.mac.comm or/and comp.sys.mac.system.
get StuffIt Expander!
---------------------
To handle mac-specific files (*.hqx, *.bin, *.sit, *.cpt) you need StuffIt
Expander. Most mac's communication programs (ZTerm, Fetch, Anarchie etc) decode
MacBinary (*.bin) automatically; Fetch can also decode BinHex (*.hqx) - with
these apps you can download and decode an encoded version of StuffIt Expander.
StuffIt Expander is included at least with System 8.1 and up and should also be
included with Netscape Navigator 3.0 and up. If you have Netscape Navigator 2.0,
go into General Preferences / Helper Apps, change the preference for
application/mac-binhex40 from "Launch Application StuffIt Expander" to "Use
Netscape as Viewer", download the BinHex encoded version of StuffIt Expander;
Netscape Navigator will automatically do the BinHex decoding.
If these fail, your mac's email program may have the built-in capability to
decode BinHex mail attachments like Eudora. Try the following: send an email to:
<info@aladdinsys.com>, make the SUBJECT of the message "getexpander" (no
quotes!), leave the BODY text areas of the email message empty. An email message
will be automatically returned to you with StuffIt Expander included as a BinHex
encoded mail attachment. (For advanced users it is also possible to let Eudora
decode BinHex from sendmail-like-files already on your local HD).
You can get a working copy of StuffIt Expander using a freebie AOL disk:
install, and double-click on the AOL icon, when AOL offers to take you through
the sign-on process click on cancel, select "Open" from the file menu and decode
the stuffed version of StuffIt Expander.
You can also copy StuffIt Expander from a friend, local user group, your
friendly mac dealer etc; you can even download it via a PC (see below). If all
else fails, you can order a copy on disk directly from Aladdin:
<http://www.aladdinsys.com/consumer/order.html>
<http://www.aladdinsys.com/>
Q: How can I download mac files via a PC and then use them on my mac (given that
I don't _already_ have mac decode/uncompress software)?
A: Sometimes mac-users are in a situation where their only connection is via PCs
and they need to transfer files through them. They need to have StuffIt Expander
(or some other utility) to convert BinHex (*.hqx) and MacBinary (*.bin) files.
If they don't have a working copy of StuffIt Expander then Mac-ette (or MacSEE
or TransMac) makes it possible to get it via a PC:
1. Get Mac-ette and StuffIt Expander (get the MacBinary version!) to the PC. Get
also WinZip and Uucode if the PC doesn't already have similar apps. Use _binary_
transfer.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/disk/macette-30.uu>
<ftp://ftp.aladdinsys.com//pub/_old/mac/StuffIt_Expander/
exp_40_installer.bin>
<http://www.winzip.com/download.htm> <ftp://ftp.winzip.com/>
<ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi//windows/util/uucode16.zip>
2. Uudecode, unzip and launch macette.exe on the PC. Put in a mac-formatted
HD-diskette (or format it with Mac-ette) and open the desired folder/directory
in it.
3. Copy exp_40_installer.bin to the mac-diskette using _MacBinary_ option in
Mac-ette. With StuffIt Expander installed on a mac your next file-transfers are
easier:
4. You can FTP and copy subsequent mac-files to PC-diskettes. Remember to use
_binary_ transfer with MacBinary *.bin and compressed files such as *.sit and
*.cpt! Mount PC-diskettes on a mac equipped with SuperDrive (using PC Exchange,
Access PC or DOS Mounter; all macs excluding the Plus and some older SE's have
SuperDrive) or copy them using Apple File Exchange (binary transfer with AFE) to
the mac. Decode and expand them with StuffIt Expander.
If the file is too big to fit on a floppy, use WinZip on the PC side to compress
and segment/span it into smaller parts to PC-diskettes and extract the file
using ZipIt on the mac. Another option is to split a BinHex file with a PC word
processor or uuencode and segment the file on a PC and join them on the mac.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/cmp/zip-it-138.hqx>
...you want also DropStuff with expander enhancer; together with StuffIt
Expander it decodes and expands almost everything (bin, hqx, sit, cpt, uu, gz,
tar, Z, arc, zip).
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/cmp/drop-stuff-with-ee-40.hqx>
...MacSEE or TransMac can be used instead of Mac-ette to translate MacBinary
and to write on mac disks on a PC:
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/disk/macsee-22.uu>
<ftp://ftp.cica.indiana.edu//pub/pc/win3/util/tmac14.zip>
terminal emulators
==================
ZkandiTerm is a ZTerm settings file and keyboard layout which adds 7 bit
scandinavian character set (åäöÅÄÖ -> }{|][\) to ZTerm.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/term/zterm-101.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/comm/zkanditerm30.sea>
Black Night handles also ISO 8859-1 character set:
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/term/black-night-105.hqx>
Q: How to download files via zmodem?
A: sz file1 file2
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/term/kermit-199-190.hqx>
tcp-apps
========
dns-lookup, ping etc
--------------------
Get MacTCP Watcher 1.1.2 if you are using a 68000 mac.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mactcp-watcher-20.hqx>
<ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi//mac/internet/others/mactcp-watcher-112.sit>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/ot-tool-10b4.hqx>
telnet
------
NCSA Telnet te has 7-bit scandinavian character set (åäöÅÄÖ -> }{|][\) in
addition to the standard ISO 8859-1 char set:
<ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi//mac/internet/telnet/ncsatelnet-27b4te.sit>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/ncsa-telnet-27b4.hqx>
You can also try NiftyTelnet or dataComet (NiftyTelnet doesn't work on 68000
macs (Plus, SE, Portable, Classic, PB100):
<http://andrew2.andrew.cmu.edu/dist/niftytelnet.html>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/data-comet-442.hqx>
ftp clients
-----------
Anarchie can handle multiple simultaneous downloads and has directories nicely
in separate windows. Like many other tcp-apps Anarchie uses "Internet Config" to
suffix mapping, i.e. how to download (binary vs. ascii) files with different
suffixes (.txt, .sit, .jpg etc) and what type/creator (TEXT/R*ch) to give them
on a mac. To move upwards in the directory tree command-click the directory's
name or type command-arrow-up (just like in the Finder). Note that unlike v1.6.0
the latest v2.0.1 crashes on 68000 macs.
Adding and removing entries from Anarchie bookmark list:
a) put all of the bookmarks you want to access in a folder
b) drop that folder on to Anarchie, which creates a window containing all of the
entries from all of the bookmarks
c) select just the entries you want and choose Save Bookmark from the File menu
Q: How to download files using wildcards?
A: In Anarchie, after you have the directory listing, choose Find (cmd-F), type
.gif and then click the "all at once" checkbox, then click Find and it will
select all the entries with .gif in their name. Then you can double click/press
return or drag them to the desktop to download them. You can also specify a
wildcard when you do a directory listing (eg, instead of double-clicking a
directory entry, hold the control key down and double click (or under MacOS 8,
select the directory, hold the control key down and press return)), then add the
pattern to the end of the directory (eg, "/home/peter/dir/*.gif").
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/anarchie-201.hqx>
<ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi//mac/internet/ftp/anarchie-160.sit>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/internet-config-13.hqx>
Fetch permits a somewhat better control when uploading files; it also
understands VAX systems unlike Anarchie. As in Anarchie text-transfers allow an
option to also change mac character set to standard ISO 8859-1 and back. When
uploading use the raw-option if the files are binary documents (gif, jpg, excel,
word) meant to be used in other platforms like PCs. (Raw binary transfers only
the data fork in binary mode).
Fetch saves window positions when you quit, or (in the case of dialog boxes
only) when you dismiss the dialog. If there are multiple windows of the same
type (e.g. transfer windows) open when you quit, Fetch saves the position of the
upper left-hand window.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/fetch-301.hqx>
ftp servers
-----------
NetPresenz (formerly FTPd) is a ftp-, www- and gopher-server. NetPresenz uses
the Apple's standard file sharing permissions so it is easy to configure and
very secure. NCSA Telnet offers a rudimentary ftp-server for occasional use.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/web/net-presenz-401.hqx>
mail
----
Eudora Light 1.5.5 needs at least System 7; v1.3.1 works on System 6. v3.1.3 has
many additional features like filters and it also no longer splits large
messages; it is somewhat slower than v1.5.5.
<ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com//eudora/eudoralight/mac/english/3.1/
eudoralight31.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mail/edr/
eudora-light-155.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com//eudora/eudoralight/mac/english/1.3system6/
eudora131.hqx>
Q: Where can I find "@" key on my keyboard?
A: Use the Key Caps desk accessory to find the key combination (plain-, shift-,
option-keys) for "@".
Q: The POP server refuses my post because the date field is missing!?
A: Open the Map control panel and set your time zone.
Q: What does error "we do not relay" mean?
A: As an anti-spam measure, many ISPs don't allow you to send mail through their
SMTP server unless you're logged onto them (via Ethernet, PPP etc). If this
situation applies to you, you can enter the SMTP server address of the ISP
you're logging onto into Eudora's settings. You may, however, use another POP
server to check your mail.
Q: Can I collect mail from multiple accounts? Can users share one Macintosh for
their mail?
A: First, run Eudora and allow it to create the "Eudora Folder" in the system
folder. You can drag Eudora Folder anywhere you like (even on a floppy) and
rename it anything you like. When you want to read your mail, start Eudora by
DOUBLE-CLICKING the "Eudora Settings" document IN THE FOLDER. You can make
copies of Eudora Settings file and edit each to suit particular need. Key point
is to launch Eudora by opening appropriate settings file, not by dbl-clicking
Eudora program. You can rename the settings or their aliases to point out
particular setting or user. This will do it.
If the settings files are in the same folder you can collect mail from multiple
POP accounts into a single IN box (dbl-click each settings file and check mail
from each account separately). It is also possible to redirect mail from other
accounts by making (via a telnet session) the following .forward file on such
accounts:
host1> cd
host1> cat >.forward
user@host2
^c
If users want to collect mail from multiple POP accounts into separate mailboxes
have each Eudora Settings file in a separate folder. This will cause Eudora to
create a separate set of mailboxes in each folder. You can rename the settings
or their aliases to point out particular user.
If you double-click on Eudora itself, Eudora will create a new Eudora Folder in
the system folder. If you want to disable that behavior, place a regular
document (any kind of document) named "Eudora Folder" in your system folder.
Eudora will then insist on being started from a Settings file.
Q: I have two computers. I use the Powerbook when I go on the road. When I come
home, I'd like to reconcile my two "In" files. How do I do this?
A: 1. All Eudora mail files (In, Out etc) are just text files so you can move
them between the mail folders which Eudora uses. 2. Eudora uses mail files (or
their aliases) which are in the same mail folder as Eudora settings file when
the settings file is double-clicked. 3. So to reconcile two "In" mail files just
transfer (Transfer/New... in Eudora) the PowerBook's "In" mailbox to a new
mailbox called "In PowerBook", for example, and copy it to the other mac's mail
folder (via Finder). Then launch Eudora by the other mac's Eudora settings file
and transfer "In PowerBook" to "In" mailbox. OR, it is strongly recommended to
transfer all messages to other mailboxes organized by topics. Older versions of
Eudora have *.toc files which accompany similarly named mailboxes and you should
transfer them as well. ...Another option is to check "Leave on server" setting
in the other mac and grab all mail to the other.
Q: Is there a way of sending a letter to a prepared mailing list?
A: You can type in how many e-mail adresses in the to (or cc or bcc) field as
you want to. Separate the adresses with commas (,). You can make "nicknames"
that refers to one or more adresses with the "Nickname" window. (Look in the
"Window" menu in v1.5* or "Special" menu in v1.4*). Eudora has very good balloon
help messages, turn it on for instructions on how to do it. If you want to reply
to a message sent to several recipients, you may choose between "reply to
sender" or "reply to all" by holding down the "option"-key when selecting
"reply".
Q: Is there an easy way to make a nickname of a bunch of nicknames?
A: Just open up the address book, select the nicknames (shift / command-click),
then choose Special/Make Nickname.
Q: Is there a way of sending a note to multiple recipients without having all
the addresses appear in the header? I have one nickname which includes over 100
addresses. A reader has to page through all those names and addresses to get the
body of the text.
A: Put the nickname in the Bcc: field. If your mail host chokes on not having
anything in the To: field, put your own email address in the To: field.
Q: How to "burst" mailing list digests into separate messages?
A: With Eudora v3.1.3 and up use Burst. You can also try Cucumber or
MailConverter.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mail/burst-15.hqx>
<http://www.karsh.demon.co.uk/soft/cucudoc.html>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mail/mail-converter-224.hqx>
Q: How to respond to junk email?
A: Examine the headers (select "blah, blah, blah" from the menu-bar to see all
of them) of the message to determine the site where the message _originated_.
(This information is usually in the bottommost "Received:" header line.)
Although this information can be forged, it's usually more useful than the names
of intervening sites. Write a mail message to the username "abuse" or
"postmaster" at that site, with a brief, polite note, the _full_ headers of the
message you received, and the message itself. Try to leave the subject line
intact. This is the text I use to reply to junk email: "I received the following
unsolicited bulk email ("spam"), which apparently originated from your site.
Please take appropriate action to ensure this doesn't happen again."
When attaching files to the messages the best setting seems to be "Always As Mac
Documents" un-checked and "AppleDouble" checked. This way the resource- and
data-forks of the attached file are sent separately (MIME/base64 encoded) and
PC-users can ignore the resource-fork (subpart "Application/APPLEFILE") which is
redundant to them and get the base64 encoded data-fork. BinHex can also be used
if the receiver is known to use mac- or PC-Eudora. Do not BinHex attachments in
advance; let Eudora do it while sending. When an attached text-file's type is
changed to other than TEXT (for example type/creator changed from TEXT/R*ch to
????/R*ch with FileBuddy, ResEdit etc) then Eudora doesn't try to wrap the
attachment even if wrapping is enabled; this seems to be the best way to attach
text meant to be transferred binary. AppleSingle is a format to store both the
resource & data forks of a mac file in a single file so it is similar to
MacBinary but it is seldom used.
If you receive a large message which includes, for example, an uuencoded file
_inside_ the message text Eudora up to v1.5.5 splits it into several smaller
20-30k messages. You can extract the original file by selecting all the pieces
and doing a Save as... with "Guess Paragraphs" and "Include Headers"
_unchecked_. Decode the file with StuffIt Expander.
Q: Is it possible to import a unix/PC mailbox as an Eudora mailbox?
A: Eudora mailboxes are in the same sendmail format as that used by unix pine
and elm and PC-Eudora. You must either transfer the file to mac using ascii ftp,
or manually convert the linebreaks to MacOS standard (using BBEdit, Drop Text,
Xlator etc). Ensure that the filename is 27 chars or less. If the mailbox has
"large" >32k messages and you're not running Eudora 3.0, you need to manually
split the message by inserting its header several times inside the message.
Finally, although it's not necessary to do so, it's not a bad idea to set the
file creator to Eudora's creator code (TEXT/CSOm). *.toc files aren't
cross-platform so you can ignore them.
It is also possible to let Eudora decode MIME, QP and attachments from
sendmail-like-files on your local HD (ftpd from the POP spool or unix
mail-directory, for example). To do that, you can suck the mail into Eudora as
if the mbox file is a POP spool. Just set your POP account (Eudora 3.1.3 and
earlier) or Username in Eudora's settings to:
"!volume:directory:directory:filename" (replacing names appropriately according
to your HD's and its directories names) and Eudora will receive the mail as if
it came from a POP server (note that the input-file's linebreaks must be in mac
format and that its contents are deleted in the process so make a copy of it
before you try). This also automatically breaks >32k messages into smaller
chunks. If you set the SMTP server to
"!volume!volume:directory:directory:!filename!0000" you can also test-post to
the local harddrive (every outgoing mail-file is stored in separate file with
names such as D.*00001, D.*00002 etc with accompanying log files X.*00001,
X.*00002 etc).
Q: I received Quoted Printable characters (in listserv messages etc) - how can I
decode them?
A: See above how to let Eudora get mail from your local harddrive. Add the
following headers (modified to your needs if necessary) to the QP-encoded
message(s) and check mail:
From CNV Fri Jan 10 17:49:19 1997
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
From:
To:
Subject:
Date:
<Message body with QP-encoded text> =C4=E4kk=F6set.
Q: What are *.toc files; do I have to archive them?
A: They are the "Table Of Contents" files for each of your mailboxes. If you
attempt to open a mailbox and Eudora can't find the .toc, it will offer to
rebuild it for you. If you're running Eudora 3.x, it is no longer necessary to
have these as separate files, as it gives you the option of storing the toc in
the resource fork of the mailbox file itself. You don't really need to archive
toc files. However, it is a good idea to keep them because they contain info
about changed subject-lines and priorities of messages as well as which messages
are deleted but not yet completely trashed via mailbox-compacting.
MailConverter converts many mail-like formats to Eudora compatible sendmail
mailboxes. For example, NewsWatcher save-files can be converted to Eudora
mailboxes for later reading with Eudora or Easy View. MailConverter also filters
out redundant headers from the messages.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mail/mail-converter-224.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/text/easy-view-261.hqx>
To compact just one particular mailbox command-click in the little box in the
lower-left corner of that mailbox window (the one that tells you the number of
messages, the active size and the total size).
* Character Sets in Eudora
* Traditionally, English and Finnish/Swedish e-mail messages used slightly
different character sets. For example, the code for "{" (left curly bracket) in
English 7-bit character set is used by letter "ä" (a with umlaut) in the
Finnish/Swedish set. To show these characters correctly the program must know
which set is in use. This problem is avoided by adopting an 8-bit standard for
mail characters. One additional bit for each character doubles the number
characters that can be shown at the same time.
* ISO 8859-1 (Latin-1) is one such 8-bit character standard. It is available
(with some small differences) in most computer platforms. From 1st June 1994,
ISO 8859-1 is the officially sanctioned mail character set in Finnish University
Network (FUNET) which everyone should use.
* Eudora Light 1.5.5 converts automatically Macintosh charset (MacRoman) to ISO
8859-1 using internal tables (Note that due to a bug if a transliteration is
selected and de-selected Macintosh charset is used for outgoing mail. If a
default transliteration is selected and de-selected the only way to use the
internal tables again is to build Eudora prefs from scratch). You need plug-in
tables only if you are using other character sets. To use other character sets
than ISO 8859-1 you have to copy the needed plug-in tables into the Preferences
folder in your System folder. Restart Eudora. When plug-in tables are installed
Message / Change / Transliteration-menu shows a list of possible character
translations. You can translate the characters before sending or after receiving
a message. Try different settings for incoming messages that seem to use wrong
characters. A given transliteration can be set as a default by keeping the
shift-key down while selecting it. Do it for both outgoing and incoming
messages; the permanent selection is shown in outlined text font. With text
files you can also use BBEdit or Xlator to make these conversions (see below).
* Up to Eudora 3.x, you could put the Eudora Tables into the Preferences folder
inside your System Folder. With version 4.x, they must be put into the folder
Eudora Stuff.
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mail/edr/
eudora-central-e-europe-111.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mail/edr/
eudora-cyrillic-111.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mail/edr/
eudora-greek-101.hqx>
<ftp://ftp.funet.fi//pub/mac/info-mac/comm/inet/mail/edr/
eudora-thai-102.hqx>
* More info and more plug-in tables at:
<http://www.hf.uib.no/smi/files/eudtab.html>
* Mail encodings:
* MIME -- Yes or No. MIME is a way of giving information about the message in a
set of headers; MIME itself does no encoding or similar, but tells the receiving
email program what encoding if any has been used. A MIME message is one which
has "MIME Version 1.0" in the header.
* QP -- Yes or No. Quoted-Printables is a way to code 8bit "beyond Z" characters
in hexadecimal codes. QP depends on MIME, but MIME does not have to use QP when
sending. All MIME-capable programs will understand and decode QP-codes when
receiving, but only in messages with a MIME header showing that QP has been
used.
* Bit-depth -- 7bit or 8bit. Not dependent on MIME. QP'ed messages are all 7bit
(that is the purpose of the coding). Officially, 8bit-characters in email are
not allowed, but some still use them, at their own risk. Some intermediary mail
handlers may "strip" the 8th bit, leaving "i" for é, x for ø etc.
* Character set -- Latin-1 (=ISO 8859-1); other ISO, Mac etc. MIME allows the
insertion of a charset header on an outgoing messages, which indicates to a
receiving MIME-capable program how to decode it. Independent on QP on or off.
Any MIME-capable email program will understand Latin-1, but few will in practice
understand other character sets. Without MIME, 8bit characters can mostly
assumed to be Latin-1.
* Eudora (version 1.4 and up) is set up with maximum flexibility. It is MIME
capable, allows you to send with QP on or off (default is on), 7 or 8bit and any
charset you like (Latin-1 is a built-in default). Thus, if you send a message
with "beyond-z" (so-called high-ASCII) characters such as accents etc. from a
plain-vanilla Eudora without changing anything, it will go in 7bit, QP on, ISO
8859-1 with full MIME headers. Any other Eudora will understand and decode
correctly, and so will any other MIME-capable email program. Non-MIME programs
will display =BF type QP-codes.
* If you turn off "May use QP" for a single message, or in the Settings for all,
the message is sent in 8bit and ISO 8859-1. Delivery of high-ascii characters
are not guaranteed, but if they arrive, any MIME program will still decode them
correctly. Non-MIME programs may decode correctly if they are set up with
Latin-1 internally (unix programs e.g.) or as default encoding (as you could in
older, pre-MIME versions of Eudora).
* Thus, in communication Eudora-Eudora all this will done invisibly to the user.
The problem is with listservs. Many listservs do not understand MIME. If so, and
you send a QP'ed message to them, they will not decode them, and will send them
out again without a MIME header. When a Eudora or other MIME program receive
them, they will not see the QP header, and will thus not attempt any decoding of
the text in the message, displaying them as =BF etc.
* When a message is digested, even a MIME-capable server may go wrong. It may
not be adapted for different messages in the digest having different encodings;
thus while it has a MIME header, it will not indicate that one particular
message in the digest is QP encoded; or it does in a way that the receiving mail
program cannot understand it. This may be the reason why individual messages go
through all right, while digested do not: A general header for the digest may
have been applied that is not valid for all messages inside it.
* More things may go wrong. If you send in 8bit (i.e. with QP off) the receiver
may get it all right. However, the message may go out again with incorrect
headers; typical is a MIME mailer which does not add any charset header. When
Eudora sees such a message, it will assume it is in Latin-1, and decode
accordingly, which may or may not be correct. Further, the other program may
even stamp the message as "us-ascii", but still send it as it received it, with
characters that "should not be there" according to us-ascii. In that case,
Eudora will not attempt to decode it, which again may right or wrong, depending
on what originally was there. In that case, one will often find the 8th bit
stripped off by the sending list-server's post office (so you get a mangled
message, while the one who sent it saw yours fine).
* These are only a few of the things that may be screwed up. The problem is that
there isn't really very much the receiver can do about them. Most of them result
from the listserv or other sending program being set up incorrectly, or not
being up to MIME standards; and then only correcting or upgrading the server is
the solution (and of course, they are mostly in the US, where few people care
about such matters).
--
The following piece of advice has once saved my day:
Eudora quits unexpectedly. Subsequent mail-checks result in the following error
message:
8:0.9.10 PASS
8:0.9.10 -ERR Maildrop lock busy! Is another session active?
When you have problems accessing your POP mail either due to timeouts or due to
the lock box being busy, telnet to your host and try checking for the following
file with the following command:
ls -s /usr/spool/mail/.username.pop (or /var/mail/.username.pop or something
like that...)
where username is the name of your account.
If the file has 0 size, then just remove it:
rm /usr/spool/mail/.username.pop
If it does have a size, then you will need to "reset" the lock on it before you
can access it via email again. Try the following sequence:
mv /usr/spool/mail/.username.pop popmail
cp popmail /usr/spool/mail/.username.pop
rm popmail
Then try re-running Eudora. It is important that this exact sequence is
followed, or else the lock may not be cleared. You may also want to see if
popper is still running:
ps -ef | grep username
and terminate it:
kill -9 process-id
...if this doesn't make it ask help from your ISP.
mailing lists
-------------
Macjordomo and Autoshare are free. You may also try StarNine's ListSTAR or Fog
City's LetterRip:
<http://leuca.med.cornell.edu/Macjordomo/>
<ftp://ftp.dnai.com/users/m/meh/AutoShare>
<http://www.dnai.com/~meh/autoshare/>
<http://www.starnine.com/liststar/>
<http://www.fogcity.com/>
Microsoft Exchange client
-------------------------
<ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/exchange/exchange-public/fixes/Eng/Exchg5.0/Sp2/Mac/>
