XM 301

[Joe Cool]

HI GUYS,

 

I TRUST YOU'RE WELL.

 

 

IS THERE A WAY TO DIAL-UP WITH AN OLD 800 AND A XM 301 MODEM?

 

 

WILL TELELINK CART DO THE TRICK?

 

 

 

THANKS VERY MUCH,

 

JOE

[frogstar_robot]

HI GUYS,

 

I TRUST YOU'RE WELL.

 

 

IS THERE A WAY TO DIAL-UP WITH AN OLD 800 AND A XM 301 MODEM?

 

 

WILL TELELINK CART DO THE TRICK?

 

 

 

THANKS VERY MUCH,

 

JOE

 

INTO A UNIX SHELL PROVIDER....MAYBE.

 

But you'd be better off using SIO2PC to make a serial connection to an Internet connected PC that you already have.

 

BTW: TURN OFF THE CAPS-LOCK AND LEARN TO USE THE Shift key.

[Joe Cool]

Hey Frogstar Robot,

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

 

Sorry about ALL CAPS, i'm new here and real happy to be here!

 

 

Do you really think just the cart and the modem will work together...?

 

i have neither of them, yet!

 

 

Primary reason for this idea is - QUICK BOOTUP TIME TO GET ONLINE!

 

like the old days!!!

 

 

remember?

 

 

Thanks a million!

 

 

please tell me more about UNIX...?

 

thanks

 

J.C.

 

 

 

 

[iNTO A UNIX SHELL PROVIDER....MAYBE.

 

But you'd be better off using SIO2PC to make a serial connection to an Internet connected PC that you already have.

 

BTW: TURN OFF THE CAPS-LOCK AND LEARN TO USE THE Shift key.

[frogstar_robot]

Do you really think just the cart and the modem will work together...?

 

i have neither of them, yet!

 

 

Primary reason for this idea is - QUICK BOOTUP TIME TO GET ONLINE!

 

like the old days!!!

 

 

remember?

 

In the good ole days, you either dialed into a BBS that ran off a phone line in some kid's house or you dialed into something like TymeNet. The times have moved on. There are some old-school BBSes here and there but they have mostly moved to being accessible by telnet on the Internet. Dial-up services today expect the connecting terminal to speak the PPP protocol and have a TCP/IP stack. Apparantly this is barely possible for C-64s and isn't a plug-n-play sorta deal and the software doesn't exist or is in prototype form for the A8s.

 

What you can do at least in major metropolitan areas is dial into ISPs that provide UNIX shell accounts. Once connected, you are sitting at a command prompt on a UNIX, BSD, or Linux machine. You may then be able to run text based web browsers like Lynx and W3M which are typically provided. Once so connected, you may even be able to telnet to an Internet hosted BBS. A possible problem is that their modems won't negotiate as low as 300 Baud. I'd leave the XM-301 out of this if you are at all serious about this.

 

You can replicate this by using various means to connect to a serial port on an Internet connected computer in your home. Windows can be made to work this way but a BSD or Linux is easier "out of the box" for doing this sort of thing.

 

We had a thread last week about putting A8s on the net.

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=127917

 

The consensus was that what I've just outlined is the closest you'll get to doing that. There may be a die-hard or two running an old-fashioned BBS in your area but I doubt it. The scene has moved on.

Edited July 13, 2008 by frogstar_robot

[Joe Cool]

Hi Froggy,

 

Once again, thanks!

 

 

I think I understand what you're talking about.

 

 

So, are you saying these UNIX systems will still accept a dialed 300 baud call?

 

And once in, what can one do with such a system?

 

Pardon my ignorance, all I remember is calling up a BBS and downloading some great stuff - ah, the old days...

 

 

Also, i did some research - it seems that the XM301 requires a floppy disk based program by Russ Wetmore (remember him,

he wrote PREPPIE!).

 

The 835 modem will work with a cart - TELELINK II - but i just gotta find 'em.

 

 

i am even considering just coding a mach lang prog to terminal the 301. but that may be way over my head.

 

can you help me find a floppy to run the XM301?

 

 

THANKS A MILLION,

JOE COOL

[frogstar_robot]

Hi Froggy,

 

Once again, thanks!

 

 

I think I understand what you're talking about.

 

 

So, are you saying these UNIX systems will still accept a dialed 300 baud call?

 

I'm actually saying that I tend to doubt that. It's barely possible their modems may still negotiate down that low but the A8 with clever programming can manage 19.2 kbits/s and probably 9600 without breaking a sweat. You'd probably need something like an 850 interface and something like an external US Robotics Sportster to make a real try at it. There are modernized serial interfaces you can use as well but others here can tell you about them. Your term software will also have to send the codes to limit the baud rate to something the A8 can handle. I don't have experience with anything faster than the XM301 I had back in the day. I moved to an ST and a 2400 bps unit in the latter days of my BBSing and spoke with some guys in hushed awe of BBSes that were transferring to each other with 9600 baud modems.

 

Also this:

 

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/

 

has a good section on using A8 modems, networking and connection options.

 

And once in, what can one do with such a system?

 

Pardon my ignorance, all I remember is calling up a BBS and downloading some great stuff - ah, the old days...

 

You can run whatever programs they have made available to the shell. The most relevant ones are text webbrowsers like Lynx and telnet so that you can hit some of the telnet based BBSes that are still around. Unless you use something like FlickerTerm, it will be a bit on the difficult side as nobody assumes the 40 column displays of old 8-bits.

 

Also, i did some research - it seems that the XM301 requires a floppy disk based program by Russ Wetmore (remember him,

he wrote PREPPIE!).

 

The 835 modem will work with a cart - TELELINK II - but i just gotta find 'em.

 

I believe you can use any TERM program that can talk to the R: handler (this is the part of the Atari OS that provides access to serial port based services.

 

i am even considering just coding a mach lang prog to terminal the 301. but that may be way over my head.

 

I doubt that is necessary nor is it a terribly good option. Google for APE and SIO2PC. You can buy or build a simple cable to connect your A8 to a serial port on one of your household PCs. The APE software can mimic A8 terminals and disk drives so your A8 will act as though connected to a stack of floppies and a modem. You can then use the modern peripherals in your PC to put the A8 online or simply transfer information to it.

 

Some people employ old laptops or PCs for this and you can even case mod them to make them look like the Atari peripherals they have just become.

 

The following link is to an ATR disk image of Flickerterm 80. It uses a software technique to produce an at least usable 80 column display. It should also be able to connect to your modem.

 

http://mousenet.radtkes.net/bbs/bbsmenu/so...ickerterm80.atr

 

You can connect an Atari disk drive with an SIO2PC to your computer and use that to write the image to an Atari floppy.

Edited July 14, 2008 by frogstar_robot

[Joe Cool]

HEY FROGMAN,

 

 

thanks again!

 

you're being extremely helpful and informative, i really appreciate it.

 

 

i will see what i can do,

 

thanks.

 

joe

[Joe Cool]

HEY

 

Frogstar!

 

 

Sorry it took me so long to reply.

 

Thanks a million for your kind and attentive and informative informational replies to my

 

 

questions!

 

I have a lotta info now, thanks to you.

 

So take good care of yourself.

 

And have a nice day!

 

 

Walter

 

 

Hi Froggy,

 

Once again, thanks!

 

 

I think I understand what you're talking about.

 

 

So, are you saying these UNIX systems will still accept a dialed 300 baud call?

 

I'm actually saying that I tend to doubt that. It's barely possible their modems may still negotiate down that low but the A8 with clever programming can manage 19.2 kbits/s and probably 9600 without breaking a sweat. You'd probably need something like an 850 interface and something like an external US Robotics Sportster to make a real try at it. There are modernized serial interfaces you can use as well but others here can tell you about them. Your term software will also have to send the codes to limit the baud rate to something the A8 can handle. I don't have experience with anything faster than the XM301 I had back in the day. I moved to an ST and a 2400 bps unit in the latter days of my BBSing and spoke with some guys in hushed awe of BBSes that were transferring to each other with 9600 baud modems.

 

Also this:

 

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/

 

has a good section on using A8 modems, networking and connection options.

 

And once in, what can one do with such a system?

 

Pardon my ignorance, all I remember is calling up a BBS and downloading some great stuff - ah, the old days...

 

You can run whatever programs they have made available to the shell. The most relevant ones are text webbrowsers like Lynx and telnet so that you can hit some of the telnet based BBSes that are still around. Unless you use something like FlickerTerm, it will be a bit on the difficult side as nobody assumes the 40 column displays of old 8-bits.

 

Also, i did some research - it seems that the XM301 requires a floppy disk based program by Russ Wetmore (remember him,

he wrote PREPPIE!).

 

The 835 modem will work with a cart - TELELINK II - but i just gotta find 'em.

 

I believe you can use any TERM program that can talk to the R: handler (this is the part of the Atari OS that provides access to serial port based services.

 

i am even considering just coding a mach lang prog to terminal the 301. but that may be way over my head.

 

I doubt that is necessary nor is it a terribly good option. Google for APE and SIO2PC. You can buy or build a simple cable to connect your A8 to a serial port on one of your household PCs. The APE software can mimic A8 terminals and disk drives so your A8 will act as though connected to a stack of floppies and a modem. You can then use the modern peripherals in your PC to put the A8 online or simply transfer information to it.

 

Some people employ old laptops or PCs for this and you can even case mod them to make them look like the Atari peripherals they have just become.

 

The following link is to an ATR disk image of Flickerterm 80. It uses a software technique to produce an at least usable 80 column display. It should also be able to connect to your modem.

 

http://mousenet.radtkes.net/bbs/bbsmenu/so...ickerterm80.atr

 

You can connect an Atari disk drive with an SIO2PC to your computer and use that to write the image to an Atari floppy.