From owner-freebsd-questions Mon May 20 20:27:28 1996 Return-Path: owner-questions Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) id UAA16928 for questions-outgoing; Mon, 20 May 1996 20:27:28 -0700 (PDT) Received: from mistery.mcafee.com (jimd@mistery.mcafee.com [192.187.128.69]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) with SMTP id UAA16923 for ; Mon, 20 May 1996 20:27:24 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from jimd@localhost) by mistery.mcafee.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) id UAA06819; Mon, 20 May 1996 20:40:04 -0700 From: Jim Dennis Message-Id: <199605210340.UAA06819@mistery.mcafee.com> Subject: Re: tip & system hang-up To: njensen@habaneros.com (Neil C. Jensen) Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 20:40:03 -0700 (PDT) Cc: questions@FreeBSD.org In-Reply-To: <01BB4648.3DE618A0@jalapeno.habaneros.com> from "Neil C. Jensen" at May 20, 96 12:31:08 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-questions@FreeBSD.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > > I just installed a modem, however, whenever I try and send it commands = > via tip, it hangs-up my system so badly that I have to hard reboot. The = > specifics are: > > FreeBSD 2.1R > USR Sportster 14.4 internal, IRQ3 COM2 > kernel configured for sio1 at 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3 on isa. type 16450 (I = > am on an old 486SX) > using ttyd1, cuaa1, etc. > added V.32bis settings to /etc/gettytab per directions in Handbook > added /etc/ttys mods: ttyd1 "/usr/libexec/getty" V19200 vt102 on > > I can connect to the modem using either 'tip' or 'cu' (logged in as = > root). > I get the 'connected' prompt. > If I exit without sending the modem any 'AT' commands I am disconnected = > properly. > Once I am connected, if I try and send the modem any commands at all = > (ex. 'AT') the entire system hangs. The only way I can get back in is to = > hard reboot the system. It is almost certainly an IRQ conflict. Do you have DOS installed on a partition of the hard drive? Do you have access to Norton Utilities (7 or 8 or later)? Try NDIAGS to identify the problem. It was my personal experience that NDIAGS from Norton was *much* better than AMIDIAGS, System Sleuth, or CheckIt (and that opinion is truly not related to the fact that I used to work in their support department -- I had a low opinion of the competition before I even knew that they were working on NDIAGS). Jim Dennis, System Administrator, McAfee Associates > I seem to recall someone on the list having a similar problem just a few = > weeks ago, but I can't seem to find it in the archives. > > Does anyone have any suggestions? Most likely it would be a conflict with an existing COM port (maybe your motherboard or IDE multi-function card as a COM port on it that is not disabled -- some *cannot* be properly disabled regardless of how you set their jumpers). If you have an ether card -- these commonly default to IRQ 3. Maybe you can isolate and fix it with just that lead. Otherwise isolation will get uglier. If you can't find a good PC hardware diagnostics package (and those are *all* DOS based as far as I know) -- try the hardware technician's equivalent of brute force (I was a field service rep before I got into software tech support -- which was before I did a stint in SQA and that was before I landed here in IS). Take everything out of the system except the video card. Find a simple IDE paddle card (no I/O -- no printer port, not SCSI just IDE). Get the system to boot like that (I realize this might be painful if you're current drive is SCSI -- but it may be necessary). Now put just the internal modem. Try it. If that fails take out the internal and try just a serial card with an external modem. Personally (and I know you aren't going to like hearing this) I'd get rid of the internal modem, get a good STB or Boca serial card with a 16550AFN UART and an external modem. These are only a bit more expensive but they are worth the premium for the life of the devices. It is *so* much more reliable and *so* much easier to troubleshoot than an internal. I've permanently banned internal modems from all my systems and had multiple employers and customers commit to throwing out all that they had -- and standardizing on "real" modems. (I've been a BBS SysOp and supported PCAnywhere as well -- I also used to support Concurrent DOS for both remote and multi-user (PCTerminals) applications -- I have a bit of experience with modems (though surprising little of it is related to Unix -- just set up the one at home on the linux box as a dial in under mgetty once and use minicom sometimes). > Thanks in advance. You're welcome. I hope you get it before it gets to you? (I'm fighting with a DigiBoard intelligent EISA host adapter and a 16 port serial concentrator under TSX-32 right now -- no matter how long I stand in this game serial hardware gets harder to configure)! > Neil Jensen > Habanero Studios Ltd. > Vancouver, Canada Jim Dennis, System Administrator, McAfee Associates