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From: goldfish@CONCOUR.CS.CONCORDIA.CA
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: 4500, 10.3, BSD, 2400 modem?
Message-ID: <9103081115.aa05182@concour.cs.concordia.ca>
Date: 8 Mar 91 16:15:32 GMT
References: <1991Mar8.073658.12083@world.std.com>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 60


After spending two years and logging at least twenty calls to the
hotline number over serial port use, I can say with complete
conviction:

            **************************************
            *   APOLLO SERIAL PORTS DON'T WORK   *
            **************************************

Experience says they don't work   . . .   Apollo says they don't work
   . . .   yourMODEM will tell you they don't work.

Some of the things that don't work:

	1)  handshaking:  the DSR-DTR interaction is broken.  HP knows
	    it is broken, Apollo knew it was broken before the merger.

	1a) The computer will drop the DTR occasionally and hang up
	    your MODEM.

	1b) Upon hanging up the MODEM, it will not terminate the
	    session so the next caller gets your session already
	    logged in.  (caution boys and girls, don't try this
	    without parental supervision) (and to think all the work
	    HP did to ship an insecure system when all you needed was
	    a MODEM and POOF, you're as safe as a long-tailed cat in a
	    rocking chair factory :-()

	2)  BAUD switching: The word I got from HP (semi-official) was
	    that BAUD switching was not supported in the Domain-OS.
	    (the fact that the termcap entries to do BAUD switching
	    are unchanged from the Berkeley release not-withstanding;
	    that the documentation says nothing about this and the
	    hotline folk think it is supposed to.)

	3)  The SIO and TTY drivers do NOT maintain consistent
	    internal structures.  (can you say "probably written in
	    unstructured COBOL" everyone?) 

The Apollo serial ports will:

	1)  drive a printer

	2)  handle a local terminal

	3)  talk to a single speed MODEM if you are careful

Remember the logic:  one man -- one machine ... (Apollo had hoped to
sell you that machine,) Better spend your money on a terminal server;
at least TELNET works. Or even better still: remember how well HP
supports their products and tell your friends ...

Have a nice Day ... :-)

--	  Paul Goldsmith
<goldfish@concour.cs.concordia.ca>				 (514) 848-3031
	(Shirley Maclaine told me there would be LIFETIMES like this)

Ps: It's Friday, I am taking a week's leave and I'll probably be a lot
nicer in nine days.