david, at 17:56 on Feb 11 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

db>> Y'know, there's this package - "SoftRAM" or something
that's supposed to
db>> double your memory capacity under Windows (both 3.x and '95),

BG> Yep, I've already had a good chuckle about that, thanks all the same.  :)

db> I noticed that the Sydney Morning Herald gave it a reasonably good review 
db> too;  mindless journos.  I hold it as solid proof that Windows users are 
db> all Lemmings, nothing more.

I'd be inclined to alter the above to read "MOST Windows users",
as there are still frequent occasions where I need to boot Win311 here,
mainly due to my music MIDI apps not running too well under Win-OS2 (the
real problem is the MPU-401 interface and lack of a decent OS/2 driver
which interfaces with the Windows one).  I'm sure there must be others who,
due to their favourite app being Windows-based, have a real need to run
Windows as well.

BG> Until Paul mentioned it, I never even knew there was a difference, and
BG> I'm currently on my 6th USR modem.

db> It's like me with mixed-type SIMMs and a multi-tasking operating system - 
db> if people hadn't mentioned that mixing SIMM types and speeds in the same 
db> machine might cause a multitasking operating system to get upset, I 
db> wouldn't have known since my system works perfectly with both 80ns and 
db> 70ns, 3-chip and 8-chip (9-chip?  I forget) SIMMs.

Sure, but that only applies to certain m/boards or chipsets, and I've even
run OS/2 here with a mixture of 3 and 9 chip SIMMs, also with different
speed ratings, and have never had a problem.  By the same token, I fully
expected to have major problems and TRAPs at the time.  It's moot now, as
I'm running a matched pair of 16Mb 72 pin SIMMs.  The USR anomaly exists in
every USR model however, and I can think of only one scenario which may
cause problems - if somebody alters their term's port rate and doesn't
issue an AT command (ATZ won't do either), then a call immediately comes
in.  The modem won't answer, as the mailer can't see a RING response in
order to send an ATA (which, oddly enough WOULD then auto-baud the port
rate anyway).  With the right mailer init, this problem would NEVER occur,
but it does show how important it is to know that the USRs work differently
to Rockwells in this regard.

db> Doesn't mean it's not a "bug" of some sort, just that I've
not encountered 
db> it, that's all.  Same with you and USR modems - the way you use the modem 
db> may be more in-line with what the developers of the modem had envisaged, so 
db> they wrote the modem to work the way you expect it to .. doesn't mean there 
db> aren't any subtle bugs still lurking around that you may never encounter, 
db> though.

Oh sure, no argument with that at all.  There may well be sinister bugs
lurking in my USR's EPROM, but if there are, I've not yet found them, but
as I said earlier, I still don't consider the lack of auto-baud on ATZ to
be a bug at all.  Rather, it is a normal reset operation for all Hayes-type
modems.

BG> Incidentally, I had my first failed connect with his Courier this morning
BG> - a 28800 MNP connect was negotiated, then the modem immediately dropped
BG> carrier.  Called again, got another 28800 MNP connect, and the mail
BG> transferred OK that time.  Most people would blame the modems, but not
BG> me.  Not this time.  I'm not forcing MNP here, so Paul has apparently
BG> been playing around with his Courier's S27 register, something that
BG> should be left well alone unless one knows exactly what they're doing.

db> Yes, he has been playing around .. 

Correct, and he's since admitted as much anyway.

db> but answer this for me - why did the first 28.8Kbps MNP connection fail, 
db> but the second connection of the *same* *type* (ie., 28.8Kbps MNP) *not* 
db> fail? 

Who knows?  Why is Paul's board the only one to which I occasionally have
problems connecting, regardless of the type of modem in use at his end? 
With different modems, the constant is the software.  I wonder...

db> I'm not saying that Paul shouldn't mess with his S27 register, just that 
db> something *else* is at work if one connection is fine and the other isn't.

Quite so, although S27 is not a register to be altered willy-nilly, as it's
mainly used for incompatibility problems, and while it might fix poor
connects to one type of modem, it could just as easily screw up previously
good connects with others.

BG> And I'm convinced that Paul doesn't, I'm afraid.

db> Entirely probable.

Still smarting from your "discussions" re Binkley, are you?  :)

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20