PE>> It is likely a bug in your modem, asking for the block to be resent
 PE>> all the time.

 RS> But not reporting that its doing that with the status display on the
 RS> front of my modem. Unlikely if its asking for a retransmission of every
 RS> single block, as it must be doing for the thruput to halve.

That's why it's called a bug, Rod.  After it works out whether to blink or
not, a bit is set and something else resends.

 PE>> Now is there any way of getting information out of your modem, to tell
 PE>> you that it has requested a resend?

 RS> Thats what the front panel display does show. It shows either the
 RS> letters TE or RE depending whether its a receive or transmit error. And
 RS> I do see them at times, particularly on those bad attempted connects. I
 RS> also see them occasionally on a normal download from other than you, got
 RS> one on the Madhouse this am infact, no real effect on thruput tho.

More info than that.

 PE>> I think that a bug like this is more likely to be software than
 PE>> hardware.

 PE>> I have had my Spirit's software upgraded already, and even the
 PE>> hardware totally upgraded. When was the last time you had your
 PE>> software upgraded?

 RS> Well I dont have the problem, but I did have a rom upgrade a month or so
 RS> ago. Fixed a few trivials like falsely detecting a Trailblazer unusual
 RS> PEP ranging tones as busy.

You have no proof that you don't have the problem.

 PE>> Can you ask someone if there is any known bugs on your level of
 PE>> software that causes a request for retransmission when none is
 PE>> required?

 RS> I know there isnt. I have been reading the appropriate echoes for
 RS> atleast a year now and continue to do so. Thats why I read HS_Modems and
 RS> Comms. And I read the Supra specific forum on Compuserve.

And the new board for the Spirit makes the MR flashing problem go away, the
one that doesn't happen on 12000 or 9600 connections.  And you haven't seen
anything to the contrary in HS_Modems also, so the problem can't possibly
be in the Spirit.

 PE>> I will ask on the Spirit echo if it is possible to get information
 PE>> whether my MR light is flashing because of an error IT has discovered,
 PE>> or whether it is because it has received a retransmit request.

 RS> I havent read the Spirit specific echo myself, but there has been lots
 RS> of traffic in Aust_modems since Xmas on the Spirit MR blinking problem.
 RS> With a number people demanding their money back and some finding the C70
 RS> cut fixed it for them. And some like Trev claiming there never was a
 RS> problem. Almost none of them would have been with a Supra at the other
 RS> end of the call. Thats the very powerful evidence that its a Spirit
 RS> problem IMO, the classic Spirit MR blinking and poor thruput problem.
 RS> What the answer is is another question entirely.

Symptoms are totally different.  And you are the only person I am having
trouble with.  BTW, it almost can't be a hardware problem, because changing
SOFTWARE protocol to MNP4 instead of V42 makes the problem disappear
entirely. The protocols aren't THAT different. Can you try putting your old
ROM chip back, if you still have it? Since you have never seen anything in
HS_Modems that say "there is a bug in the Spirit which causes V42 to
fail on every speed, but it never occurs talking to another Spirit or a
Worldblazer, it only ever occurs talking to a Supra modem" you modem
is suspect as any. In fact, seeing as you are getting the problems with
other Spirits, and there is no traffic showing such symptoms, yet Spirits
are as common as grass, whilst you can't give me the name of a single board
with the same modem as you, it's looking increasingly like your modem.

 PE>> I guess it can either be a bug in my modem that thinks it got a
 PE>> retransmission request when it DIDN'T,

 RS> I think a better way of saying it is that it thinks it should retransmit
 RS> when it shouldnt. And blinks the MR cos it is retransmitting blocks. For
 RS> whatever reason it decides to do that.

Yes, that's right.  I want to know if your modem is asking for
retransmissions, or mine is making up stories.

 PE>> or on your modem where it sends a retransmit request for no reason,
 PE>> and then doesn't report it to you.

 RS> Seems unlikely since I can see when it does actually send a retransmit
 RS> and shows that its done so on the front of the modem.

Except for that bug in your Supra not showing it up.



Paul

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