Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wa3wbu!compnect!dave
From: dave@compnect.UUCP (Dave Ratcliffe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ti
Subject: Re: TELCO problems (was Re: Charter available??)
Summary: Differences are in the hardware
Keywords: TELCO, terminal emulation, VT100, baud rate, version
Message-ID: <697@compnect.UUCP>
Date: 10 Jul 90 21:49:36 GMT
References: <633@compnect.UUCP> <1990Jun18.134728.4886@ecn.purdue.edu> <1071@mti.mti.com>
Organization: John Core at home, Harrisburg,PA
Lines: 66

In article <1071@mti.mti.com>, dave@mti.mti.com (Dave Stuit) writes:
> >In article <3069@psueea.UUCP>, chuckn@eecs.cs.pdx.edu (Chuck Neal) writes:
> >> I have versions of TELCO up to at least ver. 2.3, and every one of them have
> >> failed to recognize escape sequences in every emulation mode.  Has this problem
> >> been fixed?  Or do you use something else for editing and reading news?
> 

> (1) At high baud rates I lost characters.  As I backed off on the baud rate,
>     things improved around 2400 and most problems went away by 1200, if i
>     recall correctly.  I realize that I can't expect too much out of a 4A,
>     and any performance improvements are likely to be small.  I'd like to
>     hear about experiences with the latest version of TELCO on a 4A.

This still holds true. The interrupts for screen writes used in the TI are the
problem. Telco can handle it but the hardware can't.

>     The problem I had was missing functions.  Perhaps
>     the biggest omission I found was that none of the emulations supported
>     the line insert/delete capabilities of the emulated terminals.
>     Applications on the host systems could emulate these functions by
>     redrawing the screen from the cursor to the bottom.  But this made it
>     painful to use visual editors such as emacs, especially at the low baud
>     rates supported.  

Again, still a problem even with the Geneve with a full PC style keyboard.
I also have the Rave keyboard expansion kit for my TI and had the same
problems there. I think the problem here is that Telco uses many of the
'special function' keys for control of the program so they become
unavailable for the normal terminal useage. The disadvantages of
software designed for a limited keyboard computer <sigh>


> What I'm looking to find out is how TELCO might have been improved in the
> past few years.  Also, what's the current status of FasTerm?

You probably HAVE the latest version of Fasterm. Paul has done nothing
with it for several years. I think 1.16pc was the last except for a hack
for 80 column cards and the Geneve. 

> In article <664@compnect.UUCP> dave@compnect.UUCP (Dave Ratcliffe) writes:
> >Chuck, I'm using 2.3 with vt52 under uPort 386 Unix. For reading news I
> >use vnews (from the 2.11 BNEWS distribution) and my global editor is
> >MicroEMACS 3.9. Running Telco on a Geneve 9640 [...]
> 
> Maybe the key to your success is the Geneve.  How do the 4A and Geneve
> implementations of TELCO differ?

They don't. Same software runs on both machines. The difference is the
CPU. The Geneve uses a TMS9995 which is a bit faster than the old 9900
and the VDP now is a 9938 instead of a 9918 so everything is handled
more efficiently and quickly. The speed problems with the TI and Telco
past 2400 bps are a result of the delay taken for the screen writes. I
can use the Geneve talking null-modem to a PC at 9600 without a hiccup.
Not even speeding up the clock on a TI would help much since you would
start running into problems with the interrupts at faster speeds. One
thing that MIGHT help a TI is to install the 32k on the main CPU card
instead of in the PEB. I'll have to ask one of our local UG members who
did this and see if it helped him.

          *>> Dave <<*

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