Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!apple!bionet!agate!ucbvax!A.ISI.EDU!GFoster
From: GFoster@A.ISI.EDU (Glen Foster)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: Re: Communication problems involving PC-Interface and Procomm / Kermit
Message-ID: <12437554333.27.GFOSTER@A.ISI.EDU>
Date: 11 Oct 88 12:06:29 GMT
References: <77@stanton.TCC.COM>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 18


We experienced the problem of loss of characters in serial I/O when doing
networking "stuff" under 3Com's 3Plus product.  3Com "fixed" it with a
"special" version of their data link level driver (ETH.SYS), which I hear
was created for them by NSF.  One should set the board and the SW to use
as high an interrupt level number as possible (7 is best) as well.  One
still experiences the very occasional loss of a character, especially when
TSR's are resident.  However, it can be done on a 5MHz 8088 with a 3C501.

With the plethora of 10 MHz 8088 motherboards available, selling for under
$50, one's best bet may be to let the hardware handle it rather than try
to optimize somebody else's software.  Doubling the instruction budget 
for interrupt handlers eliminates the problem entirely (at least for 3Com's
software) in my experience.  Alternatively, you could trash all the machines
to which you can't telnet :-)

Glen Foster
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