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Article #20505

HAYES ACCURA 33.6 MODEM - KILLING THE MOUSE update

#20505
From: Miguel Amorim
Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 00:00
369 lines
15435 bytes
Latest on this situation:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

As we know, the following is supposed to be the case:

IO          COM PORT       IRQ
-------------------------------------------
3F8           com1                 4 
2F8           com2                 3
3E8           com3                 4
2E8           com4                 3   

Now,  by pure  trial  and error,  I  figured out  a functioning
setup,  although  this  made me  suspect  that  the electronics
design in the Hayes modem might  be bizarre or confused or what
not, IMO.

What I wanted to do when I  bought the new modem was to use the
reliable modem _setup_  that I had  successfully used for close
to 4 years with my GVC 14400 internal modem.

I had  thought I'd  just configure the  Hayes 33.6  to COM4  in
place of the  other GVC one, and  I would be  ready to rock and
roll.

This wasn't the case (I won't repeat the story).

Basically, my mouse's  (a new one)  wire  is still connected to
the _physical_ COM1 at the back of my box.

The situation  is that  the Hayes modem  does NOT  have any DIP
switches at all, unlike the  GVC, so the configuration can only
be  loaded up in the autoexec.bat file at bootup.

I  had  expected  that  the line  for  a  COM4  setup  would be
setcomm16.exe 2e8  3,  as shown in the  table above,  since the
command involves the following: setcom16.exe [address]   [IRQ].

This  did  not work.....and  caused  havoc in  my  system, as I
explained already, and  even destroyed my  Dexxa mouse in terms
of it being now broken, apparently.

By serendipity (trial and error)   a setup that I found worked,
was using setcomm16.exe  2e8 4. Note the  new IRQ location of 4
rather than 3.

This works, but I wouldn't  have imagined that this alternative
setup would still be COM4... I  thought it would be an improper
com3 setting or what not.

Going into  Norton8 diagnostics  -  it showed  the IRQ settings
with respect to   the modem, and said  it was  on com4, despite
that unorthodox IRQ.

And  apparently, MSD  (Microsoft  Diagnostics) showed  that the
mouse  was  working on  COM2...which  is bizarre  because, as I
said, it's  using the  COM1 physical outlet  in the  back of my
box.

Finally, and to finish off this bizarre yet funcional modem and
mouse  setup,  my iNTEL  ZP board  BIOS, using  the settings on
"AUTO",  apparently indicated that  it had chosen or  organized
the above devices as the following:

SERIAL 1---> COM2, 2F8, IRQ3
SERIAL 2---> COM3, 3E8, IRQ3

Even more strange, Norton8 diagnostics checkmarked the mouse as
functional,  com1,  com3  and  com4  as  active,  but   com2 as
inactive.

Last but NOT LEAST, in the  SYSTEM.INI file of WFWG 3.11, there
are the IRQ settings listed.  What's absolutely necessary is to
SWAP  the IRQ's  pertaining to  COM3  and COM4.  Therefore, for
COM3, that file must show IRQ3,  while COM4 must show IRQ4 !!!!
Incredible !!! But my system NOW WORKS normally, as it did with
my former modem!!! Geeeeeeeeez !!!!!!!!!

In conclusion, I think that  Norton Diagnostics tells the truth
-  the devices  indeed are physically  intended to be organized
as  Norton  indicates  they are.   i.e.  modem  on  com4, mouse
working since it's  physically on com1 at  the back of the box,
and both not sharing the same  IRQ, not to mention the CDROM on
com 3 I think, and the SbPro on IRQ5.

Basically, the BIOS, and the Hayes Plug n Play "setcom" utility
(in  place  of  the  traditional  dip  switches)   seem  to  be
organized in an unorthodox ways.

This makes me  suspect that the  Hayes "setcom" utility perhaps
might be buggy under DOS  6.2...inverting the IRQ settings of 3
in place of 4 and perhaps vice versa, IMO.

The old 14400  GVC modem never  made  me go through this wasted
and frustrating time....

Maybe this  is temporary...and the  Hayes modem  will freeze my
computer again tomorrow  without any changes  made by myself to
the system - WFWG 3.11 and DOS 6.2.



-------------------------------------------
Even more recent followup:


At 05:59 PM 20/11/1997 -0500, you wrote:


>1) You don't need to load "mouse.com" if you're only
>   using the mouse in Windows.

Of course. But I also use MSDOS 6.2 a great deal. And that's WFWG
3.11.

>2) I would also try switching to a lower video resolution,
>   the problem might be coming from your video driver.

I don't use any video driver....the Diamond card has built-on SVGA 
capability...with no drivers in MSDOS. However, in Windows, there's
a
tough Diamond Multimedia utility for on-the-fly resolution
changing...


>3) Haven't owned a Hayes for awhile, but they used to offer
>   additional drivers/files on their local (404) BBS. Maybe
>   you can telnet to it.

They're  online  service is  dead.  I  might actually  send  them my
product  registration   card, albeit   having registered   online at
their   site.  But  there's  a  post  office  strike  across  Canada
these days.

Anyway, the HAYES ACCURA DESTROYED my Dexxa mouse.

It's      kaput...dead....gone....destroyed...passed    away.    :-(

It's   hard  to  believe....but   the  Hayes  modem  destroyed  that
mouse.

I  got  a  cheap  $10  mouse  today...to  test  it...and  so  far no
problem. It works.

Anyway, the  Dexxa mouse  that I had  for 4  years is  now sold FREE
at Futureshop.

You  pay  for  it, and  they'll  send  you a  coupon/rebate  for the
sales price.

Just goes to show how cheap that Dexxa mouse was...and how homicidal
was the Hayes modem!

Later

-----------------------------------------------------------------


I   think  it's  a  virus.....maybe  a  Java  related  virus  from a
web-page.

I've  been  told that  Netscape  has  a bug....so  that  hackers can
sabotage some files on the connecting computer.

I   haven't  excluded  this  possibility...it  might  be  the  case.
Several   files  on  my  PC  have  changed  date  recently  with  no
explanation.   But  I  ran  virus  detection  program  with  strings
prepared  as recently  as  last Summer,  and  came up  with nothing.



---------------------------------


Followup:

Now,  due to  the Hayes  installation program,  that possibly
corrupted my iNTEL ZP board's BIOS, I can't the mouse to work
in Windows or  in Dos 6.2, even  with the Hayes modem REMOVED
from the board!!!

They must have only tested it in Windows 95 !!!!!!!!!!!!

--------------------------






The following is the case:

- iNTEL ZP board with 100 MHZ Pentium
- DIamond PCI Triov+  64
- mouse 
- SBPro v.2
- CDROM Teac 6x (internal)

AND RECENTLY:

-   Hayes  Accura  33.6   internal  (voice,  data,  fax)  modem
     (to substitute a 14.4 bps  v32 bis GVC internal fax modem)

I  haven't experienced problems like  presently is the case for
a LONG time!

The Hayes modem caused HAVOC with  my MOUSE both in Dos 6.2 and
in WFWG 3.11 !!!

The sound  card is on  IRQ 5, with  the setting 220  and DMA 1,
etc.

The mouse has always been connected to the external  COM1, 3f8,
IRQ4.

The  old GVC modem was on COM4,  2e8  and IRQ 3. However, I
also think that  the GVC was  using COM2 as  well to accelerate
the data  speed transfers  by itself,  in terms  of a "buffer".
This  never caused  any problems  whatsoever, for  the almost 4
years I've had the 14.4 GVC modem.

The internal Teac  CDROM is configured  at boot up  as Drive E,
and uses MSCDEX.exe, as well  as TEAC_CDI.SYS in the config.sys
file. I've lost  the Teac manual, but  over the last year and a
half of having this CDROM, it  has never at any time causes any
freezes,  or bugs  or errors  with other  devices, such  as the
mouse,  etc.  Both  in  windows  and  in  DOS  6.2  the CDROM's
reliability has been spotless.

e.g.  in autoexec.bat:  C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:TEAC-CDI  /M:15 in
config.sys : C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:TEAC-CDI /M:15

As  for the  BIOS of  this board,  I no  longer can  consult it
because I  left it  at a house  very far  away from  where I am
presently.  The  BIOS  perfectly  detects  the  Western Digital
2.1GIG , and Maxtor 245. Yet, with respect to the IRQ settings,
and the COM  settings, if I  set them to  AUTO, they can change
configuration every  time I  bootup the  computer, in sometimes
absurd ways. If I try to  configure the COM1 port to the mouse,
and  COM4 to  the new  Hayes 33.6  internal modem,  at bootup a
"hardware  conflict"  is  indicated, and  there's  a  choice of
proceeding with the bootup, or going into the BIOS immediately.

The  BIOS  menu is  difficult  and ambiguous   to  configure in
certain places,  such as  ITU/Setup, or  use PnP software/Setup
choices,  and COM2  IR mode  yes  or no,  and deciding  the ISA
shared memory size if any (disabled), etc.

SYMPTOMS --------------------

The  new  Hayes  Accura 33.6  internal   CAUSES  HAVOC  with my
external  Dexxa mouse.  At bootup,  the "c:\setcom\setcom16.exe
2e8  e" command  loads the  plug  n play  Hayes modem,  and the
SbPro2 card, and the Teac CDROM drive with no problem. Then, to
load  the  mouse using  mouse.com  very often  the  system will
refuse,  by  saying the  mouse  cannot  be found  or  cannot be
installed.  I tried  to load  the mouse  with mouse.sys  in the
config.sys file at bootup, but the same problems were the case.

I use  QEMM, and have  noticed that  the order of  the lines in
autoexec.bat and config.sys actually have an impact in terms of
capability of loading the various  cards and devices at bootup.
So, I kept  both of those files  that I've used with absolutely
no  problems of  any kind  for close  to 4  years with  my GVC,
optimized by Qemm 7.5. The GVC  14.4 never  was bothered by the
order of  lines in autoexec.bat  or config.sys, however, unlike
this Hayes Accura 33.6.

The Hayes 33.6 in terms of modem performance is very
satisfactory,  yet  by  using it,  I  find  myself  WITHOUT THE
SERVICES OF  THE MOUSE. I  use the  ALT key, TAB  key and arrow
keys  to manoeuver  inside WFW3.11,  but  this is  annoying and
unfeasible in  terms of  performance and  user productivity, of
course.

Sometimes, I  would use  the alt,  tab and  arrow keys, because
before loading  windows, my mouse  would refuse to install....I
would call up my ISP, get  my email and newsgroup postings, and
terminate the call, exit windows, and by some unkown autonomous
magic  the mouse would then load, if I typed mouse.com. I would
revert  to windows,  and then the  mouse  would be  there to be
used. Sometimes  I would  use the  microsoft mouse  driver, and
other times the specific COM1 Genius mouse driver.

In windows, besides the mouse not loading up (I never needed to
type mouse.com before entering windows before to be able to use
the mouse,  since windows loads  it by itself)  the mouse would
have hyperactive moments, such as moving very fast all over the
screen by itself in an apparent  conflicting devices situation.

My   system  before  the  Hayes  modem  was  extremely stable -
printing,  listening  to an  audio  CD, browsing  the internet,
downloading, and  going to  DOS in  a shell  simultaneously was
always error/bug -free.

With  the Hayes,  this is  possible at  times, but  there's the
mouse conflict  situation, or  mouse missing.mouse  refusing to
load situation.

I've  removed the  cards in  the PC  to check  this out.....and
found out that it isn't the CDROM or the , SbPro  causing this,
IMO.

I  think it  could have to  do  with the  Diamond Multimedia 64
Triov+  card. I  read  that a  certain  memory address  must be
excluded at bootup - I haven't had  that line in a while in the
autoexec.bat file,  yet without any  problems. I  also lost the
specific line to place  - I don't have  the manual, and the zip
files  from  Diamond  do not  contain  absolutely  any  kind of
manual, as is the case with my iNTEL ZP motherboard.

In summary,  the Hayes  Accura modem  performs well  ... but it
isn't feasible for me to use a 33.6 modem  WITHOUT A MOUSE, and
with that modem making my SYSTEM very unstable and
unpredictable, and making me go into the BIOS menus a few dozen
times a day in  the hope of getting  the mouse to work. There's
no   reliability,  and  no  productivity  in  various  software
packages without any mouse working!

I  reverted to  my GVC  for the  moment.....and from  what I've
seen,   the   online  (Internet)  Hayes,   Intel   and  Diamond
Multimedia customer support is bogus.

Not to mention the VERY POOR Hayes installation manual for WFWG
3.11, which DID  NOT WORK for me...it  froze my system! And all
it  was supposed  to do  was unpack  a number  of files  in the
directory setcomm, and place the  line setcom16.exe  2e8 3 (for
COM4) in the  autoexec.bat file. I actually  had to figure this
out myself, by  running the installation on  a spare hard drive
which had  WIN95 installed - as an experiment.

The Hayes' telephone line monitor/speaker is about 30 times
less loud that that of my old GVC...at "L3" and "M1" string
settings. In fact, I can barely hear the phone line AT ALL 
with the Hayes line monitor speaker!

Not only that, but there isn't any TXT or ASCII manual supplied
with the Hayes Accura 33.6...but  only a win 3.1 hypertext file
with the AT commands for the modem's strings.

Also, the (default) factory string  settings for the Hayes were
poor and  bogus - since  it showed  the port speed  and NOT the
connection speed (31.200) and NOT  whether LAPM or MNP were the
case. That's even more wasted  time in studying the AT commands
to come up with a good initialization command.

The Diamond Multimedia video card,  as I said, also didn't have
any ASCII or TXT manual or  file. Only 4 pages of instructions,
and a number of floppies  with drivers...(at least they came up
with that much!)

What gives?!








+-----------------------------------------------------------
|...Miguel Amorim
|...Internet: mfcam@total.net  - or -  mfcam@geocities.com
|...http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/delta/3065
|...http://members.tripod.com/~mfcam
|...Navigator.Eudora.Agent.mIRC.ws_ftp.NetTerm   Thanks.
|..."It was a Portuguese Lunar Landing...full of shrimp" - FZ
+------------------------------------------------------------
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From: mfcam@bigfoot.com (Miguel Amorim)
Subject: HAYES ACCURA 33.6 MODEM - KILLING THE MOUSE update
Date: 1997/11/21
Message-ID: <34756ea3.1648464@news.total.net>
X-Deja-AN: 291202875
Organization: Internet Service Provider
Reply-To: mfcam@bigfoot.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,alt.comp.dcom.modems,alt.net.and.modem.games,at.fido.modem,comp.dcom.modems,demon.tech.modems,fido.modem