OSMKNETC - INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE IBM INTERNET CONNECTION VIA THE COMPUSERVE INTERNET SERVICE (CIS) 05/23/96 ======================================================================= Instructions for the IBM Internet Connection via the CompuServe Internet Service (CIS) ======================================================================= Please Read Entire Document for Full Explanation of Procedure ------------------------------------------------------------- DESCRIPTION This procedure can be used to configure the "Dial Other Internet Provider" dialer for accessing the CompuServe Internet Service. RESOLUTION Note: This is a long document. The responsibility for accessing an Internet service provider lies with the provider. To support their Internet service, CIS has a forum that can be reached at GO INTERNET. A subset of that service, specifically focused on PPP, is available at GO PPP. You can access the CIS forum in addition to the OS2USER and OS2SUPPORT forums, for assistance. The sign-on instructions that follow are not usable if you respond to the first system generated login prompt with something other than "CIS". If you access CIS through a provider such as TYMNET, or respond to the system prompt with some other sign-on, contact your provider for modifications to the sign-on instructions. To establish a PPP connection through CompuServe, you must have either: * OS/2 Warp's IBM Connection for OS/2 (IIC) installed on your machine. You also must have the latest PPP update installed; you can ftp the file from ftp.ibm.net as /pub/PPP/PPP.ZIP or you can download the file from the OS/2 USERS forum (GO OS2USER) in Library 20 with the filename PPP.ZIP. Place the PPP.ZIP file in your \TCPIP directory and unzip it. If you are using the PKZIP or INFOzip archiver, use the "-d" parameter to ensure that files are placed in the proper subdirectories (that is, UNZIP -d PPP.ZIP). If you are using OS/2 Warp for Windows (red spine), you must install FixPak 5 or later. OR * OS/2 Warp Connect with the TCP/IP v3.0 feature installed. It is not necessary to install the IBM Internet Connection for the OS/2 feature of the OS/2 Warp Connect BonusPak when the TCP/IP feature is installed. Installing the IIC over the OS/2 Warp Connect TCP/IP feature will render TCP/IP inoperative. After Installation of the PPP Update ------------------------------------ 1. Open the Dial Other Internet Providers object in the Internet Utilities folder. 2. Select the Add Entry object, or select Add Entry from the Configure pull-down menu; then configure the dialer as follows. Login Info Page of the Settings Notebook ---------------------------------------- 1. Type CIS or PPP or another name of your choosing for this connection, in the Name: field. Note: This name serves only to identify the target provider dialer entry. The dialer itself does not reference this "Name," and can contain any name you find meaningful. 2. Type a description for this connection in the Description: field. Note: This is for descriptive purposes only. The dialer does not use the contents of this field. 3. Type your CompuServe User ID number in the Login ID: field. Substitute a "." (period) for the comma separating the two-number series. 4. Type your password in the Password: field. If your password contains one or more blank characters (spaces), substitute the two-character string "\s" for each blank character. 5. Type the dial-up number that you use to connect to CompuServe in the Phone Number: field. 6. Type the following information into the Login Sequence: field. Make sure there are no spaces and that each line ends with a carriage return (CR). \r ame: (use lowercase) CIS ID: [LOGINID]/GO:PPPCONNECT (type exactly as shown,including brackets) ord: (use lowercase) [PASSWORD] (type exactly as shown,including brackets) Notes: * Make sure there are no spaces in the text. * Do not use a "cut and paste" operation to enter the text. Type it in directly. * Do not put your real Login ID or Password in the text. Use [LOGINID] and [PASSWORD], including the brackets. 6. Set the Connection Type to PPP. 7. Set the Inactivity Time Out to the desired minutes for the dialer to wait before automatic hang-up. Connect Info Page of the Settings Notebook ------------------------------------------ 1. Set the MRU (Maximum Receive Unit) to 1500. 2. Place a check in the VJ Compression box. 3. Type 149.174.211.5 in the Domain Nameserver: field. 4. Type compuserve.com in the Your Domain Name: field. Server Info Page of the Settings Notebook ----------------------------------------- 1. If you want to use a news reader through your PPP connection, type news.compuserve.com in the News Server: field. 2. Leave the other fields blank. Modem Info Page of the Settings Notebook ---------------------------------------- 1. Modem Type - Check through the modem list for your modem. If it is listed, select it and go to step 2. If it is not listed, refer to the section below: "Modem Initialization Strings. 2. COM Port - If you use anything above COM2 you must define it in the CONFIG.SYS file with a COM.SYS statement. 3. Speed (Baud) - This field refers to the DTE speed--the data transfer rate between the communications port and the modem. In general, the higher, the better. The standard communications support (COM.SYS) currently supports no higher than 57600. If you have problems communicating with the modem, decrease this number to 9600 to ensure that this is not the cause of the problem. 4. Data Bits - Leave at 8. 5. Parity - Leave at NONE. 6. Prefix - Leave at ATDT (unless you don't have tone dialing; then use ATDP). 7. Mode - Leave at Dial. 8. Initialization Strings - If your modem type was not in the list, see below. Modem Initiation Strings There is a file titled MODEMIAK.ZIP in the OS2USER Library 20 that contains an updated and expanded list of modems and initiation strings that can be used with the dialer. Another option is to use the initiation strings suggested for use in the IBM Dialer. You can view these by using your editor and loading the file MODEM.LST that resides in x:\TCPIP\ETC. There are two initiation strings because some modems require a delay between a reset and any other commands. Typically, the first command is to reset to factory defaults; then the other string is used to make any changes needed from those defaults. In practice, most modems work fine with just one string (which can be quite long), and this avoids the two-second delay that is inserted between the two strings. If you cannot find a string(s) that works, it is recommended you try the following command in Initiation string 1 (leave Initiation string 2 blank): AT&FM1E1S0=0&C1&D2 Not all of these commands are available on every modem; if you get an error when you dial (as a response from the modem), start removing commands until you no longer receive the error. &F Reset to factory defaults (check your modem manual to see if there is a different command for this; if there are several, use the one for asynchronous communication with RTS/CTS (hardware) flow control). M1 Speaker on (usually a default). E1 Echo on (so you can see the commands being sent to the modem, including the dial string). S0=0 No auto-answer. &C1 Signal true carrier-detect. &D2 Hang-up when DTR drops (this is how SLIP/PPP makes the modem break the connection). After adding the above information, close the Settings notebook and select SAVE. Using an editor, open your CONFIG.SYS file and type the following, following the other "SET" lines near the top of the file (first 20 lines or so). SET HOSTNAME=mypc where mypc is the name of your host. Save the file; then shut down and restart the system. Establishing the Internet Connection ------------------------------------ To establish your PPP connection, select the Name of the connection; then select DIAL. You will see the initialization of the modem, the dialing, the login, and messages in the Status Window reporting the remote IP address, VJ compression enabled, and verification that the default route address has been assigned. Do not be concerned if you see "fcs" error notices. The final line will be "[PPP] Enter Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Break to End Session" When you see this message, the connection is complete. You must leave the dialer running while the PPP connection is active. You can minimize the dialer after the connection is established. The first thing you should do after connecting to the internet is invoke Retrieve Software Updates and download Base Update for TCP/IP (PN71501) (this is not required for users of OS/2 Warp Connect). This allows the full functions of the IBM WebExplorer 1.03. No other CSD's or TCP/IP updates are required. Sending and Receiving Internet Mail (E-Mail) -------------------------------------------- You cannot use Ultimail Lite/2 (or any other mail handler) to send or receive mail when connected to the Internet via CIS. CIS does not provide a POP (Post Office Protocol) server. You can continue to use a non-internet CIS navigator (CIM, Golden CommPass, etc.) to send mail to, or receive mail from the Internet via the CIS-supplied Internet gateway; simply address your mail to INTERNET:xxxxxx@yyyyy.zzzzz. Problem Solving --------------- * Unsuccessful connection The primary reason for an unsuccessful connection is the use of illegal characters (usually spaces) in the text, modem strings, password, or user ID. To check for unwanted spaces, place your cursor at the beginning of a space. Hold down the left mouse button (LMB) and drag the cursor to the end of the space or to the end of the line of text. There should be no empty spaces in any of the "fill in" spaces and only one space at the end of each line in the text. * After clicking on the Dial icon, it switches to Hang-up and then immediately switches back to Dial -- quitting immediately. Make sure there are no spaces in your userid or password; you can substitute "\s" for any spaces. Your COM port is not defined to OS/2. On ISA bus machines, COM1 and COM2 are the only ones defined by default. If you use COM3 or COM4, you need to add a COM.SYS statement to the CONFIG.SYS file; then shut down and restart your system. Your COM port is still held by some other program (another communications or fax program). You must exit that program before dialing. If you are using the original OS/2 Warp for Windows (red spine) and communications applications, you should have at least FixPak 5 installed. * The dialer does not appear to talk to the modem and, after one minute, terminates with a failure. On some hardware combinations, there is a flow control problem on the communications port. Issuing the following command before dialing may help: MODE.COM COMn:IDSR=ON,ODSR=OFF,OCTS=OFF,DTR=ON,RTS=HS,BUFFER=ON * Cannot find host name. Using an editor, open your CONFIG.SYS file and type the following, following the other "SET" lines near the top of the file (first 20 lines or so). SET HOSTNAME=mypc where mypc is the name of your host. Save the file; then shut down and restart the system. * [io_event] Unsupported protocol (xxxx) received. The remote server is trying to set up additional communications protocols (such as IPX) that PPP.EXE does not support. This is an informational message. PPP.EXE will reject the protocol; this will not cause a problem unless the server insists on the protocol being supported. * [io_event] Unsupported protocol (2080) received. This is a special case. The 2080 is not a PPP protocol--it is ASCII characters typically used to format text (non-PPP) messages. In other words, the server is not yet in PPP mode, but OS/2 is. This usually means that either: - You are not correctly logged in (from the server's viewpoint), and it is sending you error messages. PPP.EXE is expecting formatted PPP messages at this point. or - You are logged in, but the server is sending a few more text messages, such as: Ok, you're on Let me get my ppp code fired up Hold on a sec Ok, it's up Have a good day To eliminate this error, you have to determine what the messages are. In the first case (not correctly logged in), correcting the login should solve the problem. In the second case, you'll need a different Login Sequence (not a blank or NONE LS). To determine what is being sent, put an intentional error in your LS. After the last line to be sent to the server, add a line with "xxxyyy". This won't match, so the Status Window will display all messages received. If it wasn't indicating a login error, replace the "xxxyyy" with the last part of the last such message. In the example above, the last line in your Login Sequence would contain: good\sday * Invalid FCS A bad phone line or modem or, more likely, PPP.EXE has entered PPP mode while the remote system is still sending text messages. The latter can often be corrected by improvising a better Login Sequence. But don't do anything at all if you just get a few of these messages at the start of the connection. If the problem continues throughout your session, try the suggestions below to correct the problem (usually a phone or modem problem). - Use a better serial card (with a buffered UART) - Run the COM port at a lower speed ("baud" on page 4) - Replace the serial cable - Use a better phone connection - Use a better initialization string for the modem - Suppress modem compression (such as V.42bis) - Replace the modem - Replace COM.SYS with the shareware SIO.SYS (or vice versa). SIO is available from CIS in OS2BVEN Library 4 as SIOxxx.ZIP or from most OS/2 BBS's. - Some USR Sportster modems seem to have trouble accessing the Internet through CIS. Be sure you use the modem strings in the updated list MODEMIAK.ZIP as described above. The strings in the original MODEM.IAK are incorrect. ______________________________________________________________________ IBM disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, including without limitation, warranties of fitness and merchantability with respect to the information in this document. By furnishing this document, IBM grants no licenses to any related patents or copyrights. Copyright (c) 1994, 1996 IBM Corporation. Any trademarks and product or brand names referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Consult your product manuals for complete trademark information.