INTERFACING APPLES WITH ALPHA MICROS
 
I.  The Apple End
 
        You need a good terminal program that can emulate the terminal drivers
supplied by Alpha Micro.  One of the best  is ASCII Express Professional  from
United Software which can be purchased thru discount mail order houses such as
Northeastern Software for around $80.00.
 
        The terminal emulator that works the best is the IBM 3101 on the ASCII
Express Pro ("IBM" on the Alpha Micro  which can be downloaded from the  Alpha
Micro Users Society if you don't have it).
 
        Set  up  your  apple  terminal program  (ASCII  Express  Professional)
according to the instructions in the manual, dial in and you're ready to go.
 
 
II. On the Alpha Micro end
 
        The AM 1000 series uses an operating system called AMOS/L.
 
        You  need to  log in to the operating system  on the AM 1000 with  the
command LOG SYS:  (RETURN)
 
        To get a  directory type DIR/W (RETURN). See if there is a file  named
AMOSL.INI. If so give  the command TYPE AMOSL.INI/P  (RETURN). It will  scroll
one page at a time. Hit RETURN for the next page, etc.
 
        The will  be a series of TRMDEF statements. One of the terminals  will
be on the modem port (it might be TERM1, TERM4, etc. You will see the name  of
the terminal driver (i.e. IBM, ADM5, TVI925, etc.) on the line.
 
        Then type LOG DVR:  to see the drivers. Type DIR/W to get a  directory
and look for the IBM.TDV terminal driver file. If this is not listed you  need
to get  it from  your Alpha  Micro  dealer or  from AMUS.  The IBM  driver  is
available from the Alpha Micro Users' Society as an assembly language  program
called IBM.M68 which can be assembled to IBM.TDV on your system.
 
        If the  one  you want is on the system  and not already on your  modem
port, then you will need to make a change in your bootup program on the  Alpha
Micro. It is dangerous to directly modify  AMOSL.INI, as if you screw up,  the
AM 1000 won't ever boot again! So...
 
        Type LOG SYS:
 
        Then type COPY TEST.INI=AMOSL.INI
 
        Then type VUE TEST.INI
 
        Then use your AlphaVUE word processor commands to change the  terminal
driver on the terminal in the  appropriate TRMDEF statement to the driver  you
want.
 
        Example:
 
        TRMDEF TERM2,AM1000=1:1200,ADM5,100,100,100
can be changed to:
        TRMDEF TERM2,AM1000=1:1200,IBM,100,100,100
 
where the 1200 refers to 1200 baud (it could be 300 baud if you change it.)
 
        When you've  made  the  change, then hit ESCAPE  key, then at the  VUE
prompt '>' hit F and RETURN, and the change is made.
 
        Then to test  it out, type LOG OPR:  to log into the system  operators
section. Then Type  MONTST AMOSL,TEST.INI and RETURN.
 
        Wait a few minutes while your system reboots. Then it should work.
 
        *Note - all the  above on the AM end should be done at an Alpha  Micro
terminal. Now test it out at your Alpha Micro to be sure everything works  OK,
and that it BOOTED UP OK!
 
        If so,  you're ready to dial  in from your Apple, using ASCII  Express
terminal program. Then if it works  you can permanently change your  AMOSL.INI
bootup program. To do this type
 
                   RENAME AMOSL.INI=TEST.INI/D    (RETURN)
 
and you're done.
 
        Before you do any  of this it would be a good idea to check with  your
Alpha Micro programmer. There may be  other modifications you'll need to  make
in AMOSL.INI, and I'll be glad to discuss this with you.
 
 
III. Sending and Receiving files
 
        Its easy to  RECEIVE a text file  from the AM 1000 to the Apple.  Just
LOG into the appropriate  area, set your Apple  terminal program to receive  a
file, go  back  to  the  online  state and  then  give  the  AM  command  TYPE
FILENAME.TXT and hit RETURN. Then save the buffer to disk and you're done.
 
        To SEND a file from the Apple to the AM 1000, you'll need to log  into
a word processing area, then type VUE FILENAME (whatever 6-digit name you want
to give  it on  the  AM 1000)  and hit  RETURN.  Once you  get the  screen  of
asterisks, then use your  character file sending mode  and send the file.  You
need to have the ECHO mode ON and if you're using ASCII EX-Pro, as soon as the
file transfer begins, hit the UNSHIFTED <  key about 5 times to slow down  the
transfer and it should work fine.
 
        If you have RECEIV.LIT on your operating system, you can log into  the
account you want to send a file to and type RECEIV FILENAME, hit return,  then
hit CTRL-Q on ASCII  Express, then K  to enable "chat" (to  send line feed  in
addition to carriage returns). then S to send the file. You will be asked  for
the filename which you should type in. Use "standard", "line" mode and when it
asks for a "prompt" just hit return. The  file will be sent. When you get  the
"AE Term ->" sign, then hit CONTROL-C to  stop RECEIV on the AM. You can  then
TYPE FILENAME on the AM to be sure the transfer went OK. RECEIV, if available,
works MUCH faster than sending a file to VUE - you can use a full 1200  (maybe
2400) Baud.
 
        If you have KERMIT on your Alpha Micro (available free from AMUS)  and
KERMIT for your Apple (also  free from the Source  or Compuserve), you can  do
verified file transfers, but KERMIT is  not much good as a terminal  emulation
program.
 
        I sincerely hope this works as well for you as it does for me. If  you
have any questions, please send me a message by EMAIL. My source ID is  BCJ386
and Compuserve ID is 75206,2021
 
 
 
                                     Good Luck!
 
                                     Doug

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