TROUBLESHOOTING MS-DOS KERMIT SERIAL PORT AND MODEM PROBLEMS

  "Why can't MS-DOS Kermit find my COM3 or COM4 port?"
  "Why can Kermit send characters to my COM port, but not read them?"
  "Why doesn't Kermit work with my internal modem?"

Rule out the obvious: Is everything connected and turned on?  Did you
give a SET PORT command for the right device, and did you give it BEFORE any
other device-related commands, such as SET SPEED and SET PARITY?  Remember,
port-related settings apply to the port that was selected in the most recent
SET PORT command, so a proper sequence might be:

  SET PORT COM2	      ; First select the port
  SET SPEED 19200     ; Then set its speed
  SET PARITY EVEN     ; and other parameters for this port...
  SET FLOW RTS/CTS
  SET LOCAL-ECHO ON

Each of these parameters is remembered for each port, so switching ports (e.g.
SET PORT COM1 after you have given the above sequence of commands) changes
all these parameters to their previous (or default) values for the port you
have switched to.  To see communication parameters for the current port:

  SHOW COMMUNICATIONS

Check them carefully to be sure they are what you intended.

  The following discussion is detailed and technical, but most of it boils
  down to (a) telling Kermit two numbers, the port address and IRQ value; and
  (b) fiddling with your modem.	 Keep that in mind as you read more about PC
  hardware than you ever wanted to know.

.