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Greetings. This is my first post to the group after subscribing a few weeks
ago.
I have a 701c running Windows 3.11 and initially had a bear of a time with
the modem. After much tweaking, it has been quite reliable, but by now it's
unclear which of my adjustments made the ultimate difference. I shall
present most of them for any and all who might be in need of the
information, since it seems many 701 owners have had the problem.
I must add at the outset that one problem particular to the 701 internal
modem is the chance of it completely freezing. It seems like a hardware
problem, during unplanned disconnects. In these instances, one cannot get
the modem to respond, even if exiting all programs, including windows.
There is one way to deal with this besides the otherwise necessary power
off/on reboot: Hibernate the computer and bring it back out (Fn+F12,
restart with power switch) This seems to unfreeze the modem while allowing
you to remain within windows and open applications.
Ok, on with various suggestions:
1.) Use an alternate comm driver. I am using the CyberCom V1.1.0.0P driver
from Cybersoft Corp. This driver makes better use of the 16550 UARTserial
port chip on the 701 than the original Microsoft comm.drv driver. The
Cybercom driver is widely available as Shareware over the internet. If the
701 came with Faxworks pre-installed, the driver that is installed for use
is listed in the [boot] section of system.ini:
The following line was changed by the FaxWorks install=
COMM.DRV=fx-comm.drv
This Faxworks driver does NOT work well as a general comm driver.
2.) In the system.ini file, I have added the following under [386Enh]
com1fifo=1
com1buffer=1024
comboosttime=8
These additions were mentioned in Trumpet Winsock (which I use)
documentation to aid comm overuns (which tend to be the problem with the modem)
3.) In config.sys file, I have increased files and buffers. (This was the
fix for disconnects with America Online (blush :-)) and I don't know if it
still applies, but overall everything is working....
FILES=45
BUFFERS=35,0
4.) Port settings in Control Panel: The settings for the modem port
(usually com1) includes a baud rate of 38400. This is important since this
determines the speed the modem sends data to the processor, not the over the
phone line. Due to the nature of the UART chip, the data from modem to cpu
can and should move faster than the actual modem speed.
5.) IBM documentation suggests better modem performance if you use the
configuration utility (Fn+F1) to select a processor speed of 25/75 Mhz as
opposed to Auto. (This will not make or break a connection.)
These are the basic changes that can affect all modem connections. There
are then issues relating to winsock connections (which I still have not
completely mastered!). I hope has not been too in-depth, and helps others
with 701 internal modem problems.
-Howard Simpson
At 01:16 PM 7/19/96 PST, "James S. Dickson" <jsdickson@anet.rockwell.com>
wrote:
>I am new to this mailing list, and this subject may have been covered
>before.
>
>I have a 701cs, with the internal modem. Whenever I connect to my ISP
>or a BBS, my connection only lasts for about 5 minutes, and then
>disconnects. I have seen the same symptoms using a winsock, or even
>just windows terminal. I sent my 701 back to IBM, and they replaced the
>modem, but I have the same problem. I am using Windows 3.11, Windows
>terminal program, and Microsoft Explorer's winsock program. When I use
>a MegaHertz PCMCIA 14.4k, I do not have this problem. Any ideas?
>
> -- J. Scott Dickson
>
>
>