Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!usc!jarthur!nntp-server.caltech.edu!pooh!madler From: madler@pooh.caltech.edu (Mark Adler) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: fax modems Summary: both Abaton and NeXT *do* know what's going on Message-ID: <1991Jan14.012108.25077@nntp-server.caltech.edu> Date: 14 Jan 91 01:21:08 GMT References: Sender: news@nntp-server.caltech.edu Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Lines: 29 Nntp-Posting-Host: pooh.caltech.edu dc4f+@andrew.cmu.edu (Daniel Crimmins) made the attempt: >> i tried this the other day, and couldn't get it to work. the fax daemon >> kept telling me i had chosen the wrong kind of fax modem. calls to abaton >> and next have not helped (abaton claims this is definitely not supported, >> and must be handled by next). Another case of getting the wrong people, I guess. I've been talking with Everex/Abaton about this for some time now, and this is the story: The current EverFax 24/96E (under whatever guise you have) will not work with the NeXT fax support--Abaton has a new version for the NeXT. The difference is that the new modem implements the Class II fax command set, instead of Class I. Class I puts most of the burden, especially buffering, on the attached computer. This is fine for PC's, but not non-dedicated Unix machines, like the NeXT. For them, Class II was developed which has the modem do the time-critical stuff. All is not lost, however, for the old Abaton modem. You just have to replace the ROM and RAM chips, both of which are socketed. (Replacing the RAM chip doubles the memory which is needed for buffering.) They have yet to give me details on how to get these chips (of course, I could get the RAM myself), but I have yet to get my 040/2.0 upgrade, so I haven't pushed it yet. Just by the way, I do not know if the Class II Abaton fax modem comes in black. Clearly an important factor in any NeXT purchase. :-) Mark Adler madler@pooh.caltech.edu