Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!MIS.ARIZONA.EDU!JMS
From: JMS@MIS.ARIZONA.EDU (VAX/VMS---the Unabridged Edition)
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: RE: Disallowing logins on Terminal ports
Message-ID: <8806111912.AA17673@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 5 Jun 88 18:29:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 42

>Mark Nichols              (505) 646-4183       SYSMAN   at NMSUVM1
writes:

>We have a problem concerning terminal ports and the NIU's used to
>connect to the campus network. Whenever the NIU times out and goes to
>the idle state the Vax interprets the response from the NIU as a login
>attempt and prompts for a password. The NIU screams back "Invalid Response"
>or something like that. The Vax of course kicks back "User Authorization
etc.

First my assumption: what you call the "NIU" is some sort of data
PBX system, like the Equinox, IDX3000, Sytek Localnet, etc.  Most campuses
have this.  The function is that people have access to the data PBX,
and get through it to a limited number of ports on VAX systems (or
whatever else is connected).

The problem is that you have either (1) not wired the NIU-to-VAX interface
as a modem connection or (2) not told the VAX that the NIU ports are
modem ports.

Any data PBX must simulate modem lines to VAX/VMS.  This means, preferably,
wiring RI (pin 22), so that the VAX knows when a "call" is coming in and
so that the VAX can raise DTR (pin 20) (assuming that the modem also has
DSR (pin 6) high) and so that the modem can answer the call and bring up
CD (pin 8).  You need at least one modem control line in each direction,
as well as one data line, and a ground.  To make most modems work, it is
correct to wire 2,3,6,7,8,20,22.  Don't wire 1 (that's illegal), and
you can probably do without 4,5 and almost certainly all the rest (well,
the VAX won't look at them anyway).  You may have to fake something up
by jumpering on either end.  This can still be a black art.  

In any case, playing with something like TYPEAHEAD or other strange 
software solution will not work.  The VAX won't pay attention to characters
on modem lines if the proper signals aren't there, and your NIU-thingy
better provide those signals.

jms

+----------------------------+ BITNET: jms@arizmis.BITNET
|Joel M Snyder               | Inter: jms@mis.arizona.edu     
|Univ of Arizona Dep't of MIS| Phone: 602.621.2748   ICBM: 32 13 N / 110 58 W
|Tucson, AZ 85721            | Quote: "Design is everything. 
+----------------------------+         Implementation is trivial."