Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sunybcs!oswego!cboard!ostroff
From: ostroff@cboard.UUCP (Boyd Ostroff)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp
Subject: Re: why do sites timeout always
Keywords: timeout
Message-ID: <502@cboard.UUCP>
Date: 8 Apr 90 05:19:14 GMT
References: <142744@felix.UUCP>
Reply-To: cboard!ostroff@oswego.oswego.edu (Boyd Ostroff)
Organization: The CallBoard System - Fair Haven, NY
Lines: 25

In article <142744@felix.UUCP> art@felix.UUCP (Art Dederick) writes:
>I've watched some connections with -x9 and find that after the R
>command is sent the remote site fails for some reason and the
>local machine times out.  

Of course it's hard to say without more details, but I've had a
similar frustration here.  SUNY Oswego installed a new, state-of-the-art
digital (Intecom IBX) phone system.  The ports on the computer center's
vaxen are connected at 9600 baud over digital (ITE) lines, and calls 
to/from the outside world are routed through a pool of 2400 baud modems.

Evidently buffering in this system "gobbles up" uucico's ACK's and
leads to similar symptoms.  The small number of characters sent by the
remote site's uucico is not enough to flush this buffer, and the two
systems get "out of sync" with each other, leading to a series of 
"alarms" and eventual failure.

We tried lots of things to get UUCP working between cboard and oswego
through this modem pool, but finally gave up.  They now have reverted
to a modem in the machine room on an analog (STE) phone for UUCP use.
Now UUCP works reliably....

||| Boyd Ostroff - Tech Director - Dept of Theatre - SUNY Oswego 
||| Sys Admin - "The CallBoard" - (315) 947-6414 - 1200/2400 baud 
||| ostroff@oswego.oswego.edu - cboard!ostroff@oswego.oswego.edu