From: smithe@minot.com (elliot smith) Subject: Easy_PPPTCP_1.3 replaces Easy TCP and PPP config 1.1 --->_MacTCP/_Connections/ freeware-May be included on the CD-ROM. This is an ASCII text PPP & TCP configuration guide. It is intended for the intermediate Macintosh user who just needs to know how to get PPP up and running. There is about .5k of text that is relevant to the expert computer user, but oh!, what a vital .5k it is. The beginning Mac user may also benefit from: info-mac/_Information/_Communication/ez-slip-ppp-mactcp-guide-dm.hqx (336k) (not written by me) or my soon to be uploaded guide called ppp_tcp_net_starter_disk. My starter_disk package will provide more detailed PPP and TCP instructions, much like "ez-slip..." and, using stuffit installer maker, or just plain old drag and drop, you can use it to create a 'self-installer' disk which largely automates the task of setting up PPP by providing preconfigured prefs files - A must for any internet provider. The _net_ducation part of the guide is not yet implemented. Any ideas, anyone? smithe@minot.com / smithe@warp6.cs.misu.nodak.edu --------------------------------------- (include above header please) Easy_PPPTCP_1.3 Sources : My thanks to Ge´rard DREVON, drevon@cc.in2p3.fr for his great explanation of the PPP settings in PPPDoc(http://www.in2p3.fr:80/html/PPP/ppp.html) his simple explanation of the "will and want" was all I needed to end the PPPain with my PPP connection. I also copied a lot of stuff from the following pages: http://leo.circa.ufl.edu:80/handouts/macppp_html/macppp.html http://www.biddeford.com:80/help/macPPP.info http://marketplace.com:70/0/tia/tia.faqs/tia.mac.ppp.txt Intro: You need MacTCP. MacTCP is the basic control panel that a Macintosh needs to do Internet stuff. MacPPP is an additional control panel & extension that's used in conjunction with MacTCP. MacPPP takes care of the modem-end of things. As of this upload, MacPPP is up to version 2.2.0a and MacTCP is up to at least 2.0.6. It helps to have a newer version of MacTCP, I'm not sure what the minimum recommended MacTCP version number is. ****** Mac TCP******... Here are three good, legal ways to get a free copy of MacTCP: 1) Get it from your network administrator if your network site has a site license from Apple. 2) Buy a copy of System 7.5, or any new Macintosh computer. 3) Buy _The Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh_, 2nd edition, by Adam Engst. (Hayden Books, 1994. List is $29.95, but it often sells for around $22 - $25. Also packaged in a box set with another Mac Internet book by Engst.) _The Internet Starter Kit_ is the best introduction to this software, as well as to the leading commercial TCP/IP client programs for the Mac. There are other books that include MacTCP, but none are as helpful and readable for the novice Mac SLIP/PPP user. Adam Engst publishes the leading electronic newsletter for Mac users (Tidbits). He also runs an ftp site at tidbits.com with current versions of the essential Mac freeware and shareware. I suggest you download: ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/pub/tidbits/select/bookmarks.sea It is a list of the Fetch/Anarchie bookmarks for the essential client programs. Or just pop over to the pub/tidbits/select/ directory, which has everything you need. ...****** Mac TCP****** It's also a good idea to have the latest system update for your system. You need system 6.0.8 or latter for use with MacPPP. If your system is horribly corrupt, reinstall it. INSTALLATION: * Remove any conflicting extensions/control panels from your system folder. Conflicting extensions are extensions which will by their nature mess up PPP. These include but are not limited to Control panels/Extensions having to do with modems or containing the words geoport, teleport, bronze, gold, silver, and fax in their names. It is also a good idea to remove any InterSLIP extensions / control panels. If you're on a Power-Mac, I guess you might need the geo-port extensions. I dunno. Try without. * You might also have to zap your pram to get your serial port to work, especially if you've installed any Connectix software *dig.* To zap pram : hold down option-command-P-R while booting (restarting). * Now install MacPPP (drag and drop) and MacTCP as well. * If you're going to be connecting via multiple network situations, you may want to use Mac TCP Switcher to switch between TCP configurations. I also recommend PPPremier Timer - this times your PPP usage very well. CONFIGURATION OF MACTCP: * You can only change your gateway address while you're set to manual, so set back to server when done, unless you actually are using manual. Server is what you're probably using. * Class - try B, C, and A, in that order, I think if you try A, upon connect, it will jump to B or C if needed, and stay there. I know it will jump from B to C. * Make sure the little slider pointer is as far left as it'll go. * Set your Name server(s) too, for example : Minot.Com nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn where nnn is a number. And finally, select PPP, not local talk. CONFIGURATION OF MACPPP: * open the config PPP control panel. Click on new to create a new setting 'set'. * Set your port speed to 9600 and once you get PPP working, try increasing it to at least twice your modem's speed for greater throughput, of course. * Set the phone number you'll be calling- this is so MacPPP will send the modem init. * To test your modem init, open a terminal emulator like zterm and type it in. If you get an OK back, it's a good one. Modem inits help your modem recover after crashes and may maximize efficiency. Try this one: AT &F&C1&D0&K3 L0 or at&f0 or at&f1 or at&f (f for Factory settings) and if your PPP connection still stinks, get a list of modem specific inits on the WWW.(inits not included here in the interest of saving space, and who really needs them anyway?) * Set the port your modem's plugged into, and select hangup on close. * If you're good with machine syntax, you can write a script, if not you can select terminal for manual log in. On some systems you affix a "P" to the beginning of your name while logging in to do PPP, on others you type "login" and then your e-mail address and password, and then you type PPP. Here's how to get your script to do the typing for you: *****Connect Script*****... If login in looks like this: *** atdt 5555555 [connect 9600] welcome to our little server login: Psmithe password: computer establishing ppp connection : header is 1500 btu or whatever PPP up. $#%@$%VNEVNDLfvnwjnjkt423ty0256@@$^#$!#$%#$%^3564;'' 254&^$#4].... *** Your script would look like this: wait gin: out $USERID$ cr wait word: out $PASSWORD$ cr wait PPP up. out out out "cr" is carriage return, and the waits are not necessary if the prompt you're waiting for comes up right away. Is necessary for the password prompt. If your login looked like this : *** atdt 5555555 [connect 9600] welcome to our little server ndts1] login smithe@warp6 password: computer ndts1] ppp establishing ppp connection : header is 1500 btu or whatever PPP up. $#%@$%VNEVNDLdg#$fvnwjnjkt423ty0256@@$^#$!#$%#$%^3564;'' 254&^$#4].... *** Then your script would look like this: wait ndts1] out login $USERID$@warp6 cr wait word: out $PASSWORD$ cr out ppp cr wait PPP up. out out * And if you want the script to be completely automatic, replace $USERID$ and $PASSWORD$ with your userid and password. Note however that an automatic script gives your computer the ability to establish a PPP connection in your name without your permission. This will happen for example if you leave Eudora open, close your ppp connection, and then an hour later Eudora decides to check your e-mail. ...*****Connect Script***** * Set Flow Control according to your modem manufacturer's recommendation, printed in the manual that accompanied your modem (look up "flow control" or "handshake" in the index). If you're still not sure, try setting it to None for a modem with no data compression feature, or CTS only for an internal modem, or CTS & RTS if you have a hardware handshake cable and a modem with data compression. * Set what port your modem is plugged into , of course. * Idle time out and echo: I don't know what idle does, but echo will ping , this will prevent some systems from hanging up on you after a certain period of inactivity - good for line sitting. :-P * LCP ICPC : these come set at default. IF that works, so be it. It didn't for me. * PAP (in LCP) is something your server might not have, (it won't flash on your PPP connect box if not) so you could just turn it off(uncheck all 4 boxes) but this isn't necessary and likewise, * in ICPC, you could type in the remote address (IP # of your server) and click on "want", and if you have a manual address assigned to you, in addition to setting it in the TCP (I know not how) you could set it here and click "want." * ---->> However, you will most likely get PPP to work if you take every last "want" box in both LCP and ICPC and unclick it, and also click every last "will" box. * However, for some reason all 4 boxes do have to be checked in the IP # section of the LCP, I think. * One of my sources said that it sometimes works if you unclick everything. (except the IP # section) This was not my experience. * To test your connection, you should upload as well as download a file of length of about 50 or 100k. * What "want" means is that the remote or local machine (depending on the column the box is in) will insist on negotiating that aspect of the connection, be it the IP address, compression type, or whatever. The "will" box means it will allow the other machine to manage / setup? that aspect. So I figured that if I didn't fix in stone that either machine should do anything in particular (i.e. if I didn't click any "want" boxes) then they'd sort it out between themselves. And it worked. If it didn't, I guess the next logical step would be to try turning off particular items, and getting feedback in the "stats" as it could be that the server you are connection to isn't capable of something that you've said it is (by clicking it's "will" box.) Of course I could be completely wrong on this. * LCP is apparently the physical modem connection protocol and ICPC is the higher level Internet TCP type protocol. * "*70," should turn off call waiting, in your phone number. * Apple Talk has to be turned off if you're using the printer port for your modem. * You may find it necessary to turn Apple Talk off and reset your MacTCP in the future as these may change by themselves, so saving your TCP configuration with MacTCP switcher might be handy. Once you've got it configured, you might want to restart again. You never know. USING MACPPP. MacPPP goes up when the MacTCP driver is open or you click on the "open" button in the config PPP control panel. This means that any application that tries to use the net will cause MacPPP to go up. This is really annoying if the application (such as Fetch) tries to open the TCP driver again and again. For this reason, such applications should be quit before you close your connection. If you use Netscape off line(like to look at local files) set your default homepage to "". To OPEN your PPP connection, click on the open button, or use PPPremier Timer. Note that after a hard close, if you background the PPP connection window on a subsequent connect attempt without first restarting, your computer will freeze. IT appears that 2.2.0a does not have a soft close option. Another annoying thing: when it's in the background dialing, it freezes your computer every 3 seconds for about 1 second. Makes me wonder... If it doesn't work for you, You can find and purchase PPP software that is supported by a software developer/vendor, such as InterCon Systems, sales@intercon.com, (703) 709 9890 (a demo of their TCP/Connect II can be downloaded from ftp.intercon.com in InterCon/sales/mac). Debugging: * Restart if you can't get it to open a connection. * Verify all your MacTCP settings with your system administrator. * Try again with Port Speed set to 9600 or 2400, with Flow Control set to None. * Increase your timeout values. * Try temporarily turning off all the switches( except the 4 IP address switches, which should be default) in the LCP and ICPC. Turn off echo and timeout. * MacPPP conflicts with other software - Sometimes MacPPP will conflict with a non-Apple control panel or extension in your System Folder. This is not hard to work around, but it is tedious to find the conflicting software. Here is what you can do: Remove all non-Apple and non-essential control panels and extensions from your System Folder, and put them into other folders. Be sure to leave anything essential inside your System Folder, such as your printer driver, MacTCP and PPP. Be sure to remove any FAX software, however, for the purpose of this diagnostic test. Restart your Mac. Try to use MacPPP. If it works OK this time, then you know there is a software conflict. If there is a software conflict, the only way you will discover the offending software is to move the control panels and extensions back into your System Folder, one at a time, restarting your Mac and trying to use MacPPP each time. Be sure to put the control panels back into the control panels folder, and the extensions back into the extensions folder. Don't put them in the wrong places inside your System Folder. Once you've found the control panel or extension that stops MacPPP from working, you can remove it from your System Folder and restart your Mac before you use PPP. * PPP allows your Macintosh to connect directly to the Internet using a modem. Note that without PPP, you can still use a terminal emulator such as Zterm to get a lot of information from the Internet. An excellent guide to the Internet is the book The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog by Ed Krol published by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. * Congratulations, Microsoft. You took a decade longer than Apple, but you finally produced a semi-decent GUI OS in your Windoze 95... Guess what? You get to start all over again as soon as someone (hopefully Apple) releases the next generation OS. duhh.. what does that have to do with PPP? :-) ----End of guide. If you have any information to add, please do. If after checking out the available information, you still have questions, feel free to e-mail me and I'll try and answer them for you as best I can. Let me know what you need to know - as I become more familiar with people's questions, I can make a better guide. Elliot Smith, smithe@minot.com http://minot.com/~smithe/ For usabality, separate function from interface. .