Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!chuq
From: chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Shiva NetSerial
Message-ID: <37139@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 8 Dec 89 20:42:33 GMT
References: <1003@maytag.waterloo.edu>
Organization: Life is just a Fantasy novel played for keeps
Lines: 42

jb@aries5.uucp (James Bruyn) writes:

>Could you please provide me with a review of your experiences with the
>Shiva NetSerial.  

I've been using one at home for about 18 months. It's currently
attached to a US Robotics 9600 baud modem and lets us use it from any
of the Macintoshii on the net (yeah, a LAN in a house. why not?).

Previously, I'd tried to use InfoServe, a software-only solution, which gave
me no end of grief. I finally tossed it out. The Netserial has been
flawless, being used essentially daily. I've considered putting the MIDI on
one so it could be used from any of the machines as well, but I'm lazy.

It's *almost* transparent. Under Red Ryder and White Knight, the only
'problem' is that these programs open the serial port when they start and
keep it open (which is what you'd expect them to do, when you think about
it). Unfortunately, if the NetSerial is busy when you try to grab it, RR
won't necessarily open the port right. The solution is to exit the app and
start it again -- no biggie. 

Under CompuServe Navigator, if the modem is busy Nav will time out and end
the session rather than waiting for the port to come back to life. 

None of this, notice, is Netserial's problem -- just programs making
(reasonable) assumptions about the serial port that don't happen to be true.

You can use both the Netserial *and* the serial port it emulates simply by
using the CDEV to turn Netserial on and off. 

I like my Netserial. It's really been a good purchase for my uses.


-- 

Chuq Von Rospach   <+>   chuq@apple.com   <+>   [This is myself speaking]

When it comes to matters ourside your specialties, you are consistently and
brilliantly stupid [....] with respect to matters you haven't studied and
have had no experience basing your opinions on casual gossip [....] and
plain misinformation -- unsuspected because you haven't attempted to verify it.
	-- Robert Heinlein to J.W. Campbell, Jr. 1941