🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <D6LFzw.4IB@telly.telly.org> evan@telly.telly.org (Evan Leibovitch) writes:
> much invective deleted :-)
>
>If you're from Novell, maybe you could tell me just how much work is
>needed to port a 1.1 driver to 2.0, or why a perfectly-good 1.1 driver
>wouldn't even recognize the card under 2.0.

As is usual with broad questions like this the real answer is, it depends :-)

If the 1.1 driver were DDI/DKI compliant there is no need for any work
at all.  The old interfaces are supported.  If the driver were really
a 1.0 driver that just happened to work in 1.1, the answer gets much
more complex since the old driver is probably relying on access to
things like the uarea to get things done.  That particular hack is no
longer supported.  Changing a driver's structure from being non-compliant
to the DDI/DKI to being compliant can be a real chore.  Depending on how
poorly the driver was implemented it can be darn near impossible.

So, my guess in this case would be that the driver that worked is not
really a 1.1 driver but an old SVR3.2 driver that, after suitable
repackaging, just kept working.  If that's the case it may very well
but a large undertaking to port the driver to UnixWare 2.

Mike Drangula                      |   e-mail: drangula@summit.novell.com
Novell - Unix System Group         |   phone: you're kidding, right?
Summit, NJ                         |   disclaimer: I only speak for myself.
copyright 1995, drangula@summit.novell.com. All rights reserved. Permission
for reproduction by USENET and like free facilities explicitly allowed. No
other reproduction rights are granted or implied.

In article <3m2fl9$59k@pulm1.accessone.com>,
Chris Faist  <chris@icss.wa.com> wrote:
>
>
>There are LOTS of good multiport products out there, whith everyone claiming to
>be the best.  I've lost interest in keeping track of who's fasted this week.
>
>What has made us choose a vendor is simple: RESPONSIVE, PROFESSIONAL, SERVICE.
>
>We have found three vendors that help us look good with our clients:
>
>	Corollary
>	Stallion
>	Computone
>
>These folks recognize that we DO know SCO and that when we call it's for a good 
>reason.  No hassle, they cross-ship without making a big production.  They call us
>back quickly when we phone in for support.
>
>None of these things are directly visable to our end users, but without them, it 
>makes life real difficult.
>
>We have had similar experiences with the folks you mentioned and thus 
>do not do business with them.
>
>JUST MY OPINION - I'M SURE YOUR MILAGE WILL VARY...
>
>
    Since we are on the subject of multiport cards, has anyone had any 
experience using Comtrol cards with UnixWare? We have used their cards 
with SCO for some time now with good success, but now that I have
successfully convinced the people I work with that UnixWare is the way
to go for future projects, I need to know about compatibility issues
with our usual hardware choices. They do provide a SVR4 driver with 
their cards, but will this work with UnixWare?

    Thanks,
      Mark

-- 
Mark Tovey         | Real Programmers don't play tennis, or any other sport
Sr. Software Engr. | that requires you to change clothes. Mountain climbing
HK Systems         | is OK, and real programmers wear their climbing boots
tuv@netcom.com     | to work in case a mountain should suddenly spring up
801-530-4287       | in the middle of the machine room.

I promised the real jerks I had to deal with at Consensys several years
ago on a shoestring Xenix project over a powerports "That works fine
under Xenix-286" that I would SLAM THEM EVERY CHANCE I GOT.

***** DO NOT BUY _ANYTHING_ FROM CONSENSYS *****

The company IMHO is worthless, the support is worthless, the people are
rude and unhelpful, and cost me muy $$$, a client and about a weeks
time.

In article <D6LFzw.4IB@telly.telly.org>,
Evan Leibovitch <evan@telly.telly.org> wrote:
>I've been known to get a little irritated from time to time, but I don't
>consider myself too prone to flaming others. One particular issue,
>however, threatens to push me beyond the breaking point.
>
>My problem is not with my Unix, it's with a peripheral vendor. Consensys.

They are a worthless company.  Get rid of their boards, Ignore their ads.
I'll pay the extra $$ for Digiboard any day.

[ Your driver diatribe ]

I have my own 3 page rag on consensys floating around, I'll save the
bandwidth, suffice it to say I called them before I bought an 8-port
card about it working with Xenix-286, and was assured that it worked
fine.  I ordered the card and found the drivers wouldn't install _at
all_.  They told me to upgrade the Xenix TFB for me.  This was _not_ an
option the client had custom software running on the top, untested with
2.3.1.  They wouldn't provide an earlier release of the driver that did
work with 2.2.  This was about 2 months after SCO had released 2.3.1. 
The distributor (a new one for me) did not want to take the card back,
without an OK from Consensys, Consensys wouldn't give it to me, etc ad
nauseum.

I ended up eating much of the card when UPS destroyed it on the way back
to the distributor who was very unwilling to take it back.

>In the meantime, can someone suggest to me a reasonable, inexpensive
>(and supported by UW 2, natch) choice for a 4-port card that can do
>115Kbps with modem control and hardware flow control?

What's inexpensive?

Spend the $$$ buy a digiboard.  They work.

I've used _lots_ of cards, ARNET, WYSE, COMPUTONE, AST/4, SPERRY/4,
etc.  I've never had a driver experience with _any_ of the higher end
vendors that compares with the Consensys experience.

>
>Thanks for indluging me. I've needed to vent.
>

Spend the $$$ buy a digiboard.  They work. (did I say that already?)
They support everything, even linux (sort of).
--
Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com>                  Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
Digital Designs                                   (910) 423-4216/7389/7391
PO Box 85                                                   V.34/V.34/V.32
Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085  ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...

In article <3m2fl9$59k@pulm1.accessone.com>,
Chris Faist  <chris@icss.wa.com> wrote:
>	Corollary
>	Stallion
>	Computone

I have or have used all 3.  Does computone still configure their ports
as freaking DCE devices instead of DTE?  Makes the connection a
nightmare to a modem.  It's much easier to emulate a DCE with a DTE than
the reverse, as the extra inputs are missing (DCD or CD? choose 1)
Their older software used to be confusing as hell with all the trash
they threw in /etc also

I never did get the stallion card to work right on a DELL/486 under SCO.
We sent the whole ball of wax back to DELL.

I've got a set of 4 Corollary concentrators (8-ports Each no modem
control) that are about the most bizarre devices.  The BUS card is an
EIGHT (8) BIT INTERFACE.  Every time someone bumps the power to the
concentrators error messages scroll up the console.  The data wiring
from the card to the concentrators uses a mini-din plug (Like a PS/2
keyboard).  Whoever thought of this should have been shot.  Not to
mention there are only 2 data wires in the thing, the rest are power
from the CPU bus.  Brilliant.

Thanks but I _LOVE_ my C/X, and I'm certian the new EPC/X is just as
nice.
--
Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com>                  Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
Digital Designs                                   (910) 423-4216/7389/7391
PO Box 85                                                   V.34/V.34/V.32
Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085  ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...

evan@telly.telly.org (Evan Leibovitch) wrote:
>
> I've been known to get a little irritated from time to time, but I don't
> consider myself too prone to flaming others. One particular issue,
> however, threatens to push me beyond the breaking point.
> 
> My problem is not with my Unix, it's with a peripheral vendor. Consensys.
> 
> Yes, the same Consensys that fancies itself as a vendor of Unix 4.2
> for PCs (and now Unix tools for NT); long before it was a Unix vendor,
> this company produced a serial board called Powerports. It's a
> well-working, reasonably priced board that's been reliable for me in
> a number of installations I'd done over the years, including Xenix,
> SCO Unix and Esix systems -- as well as my own.
> 
> Their SysVr4 STREAMS driver, the same one that worked for my Esix
> installations, also worked well under UnixWare 1.1.X (even though they
> didn't really like supporting other Unix systems, every time I'd call
> to ask about V4 or SCO drivers they'd always moan that I wasn't selling
> their Unix).
> 
> But I digress -- under UW 2.0, the driver fails to recognize the board.
> 
> I called Consensys (the Canadian head office, not the Texas sales depot)
> and asked when they planned to support 2.0. The answer was "Oh, is 2.0
> out?" At my own expense I linked them up with Novell and told them about
> the developers' program, and when they got the package I fielded
> questions with install problems and various other things.
> 
> Suffice it to say that after many weeks of waiting for a driver, and
> being told there would be one Real Soon Now, I was horrified to learn
> yesterday that there are no plans to port the driver to 2.0 for "several
> months, at least". HOWEVER, one of their salesmen called me with "great
> news": they would be more than glad to sell me one of their NEW serial
> boards, which *will* have 2.0 drivers Real Soon Now, about $500CDN for
> eight ports (special price for me, you see, since I helped them etc....)
> 
> As it turns out, even this special price is *more* expensive than what I
> can buy elsewhere (I only need four ports, and an Equinox SST 4-port is
> less expensive -- there may be others but I haven't looked far).
> 
> But even if the new Consensys board suited me perfectly, I still couldn't
> bring myself to take them up on their offer. I can't help but feel that
> five years from now (or maybe sooner), they'll orphan me once again (or
> try to sell me new drivers for $125, like they once tried when I upgraded
> my Esix installations from 3.2 to 4.0).
> 
> If you have a Consensys Powerports card and would like to see support
> for UnixWare 2.0, please call them and let them know (last I knew they
> did not read Usenet). If you are ever offered one of these new Consensys
> boards (I think they're calling them "Chili" cards or something like
> that), please keep my experiences in mind.
> 
> If you're from Novell, maybe you could tell me just how much work is
> needed to port a 1.1 driver to 2.0, or why a perfectly-good 1.1 driver
> wouldn't even recognize the card under 2.0.
> 
> In the meantime, can someone suggest to me a reasonable, inexpensive
> (and supported by UW 2, natch) choice for a 4-port card that can do
> 115Kbps with modem control and hardware flow control?
> 
> Thanks for indluging me. I've needed to vent.
> 
> -- 
>  Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software Ltd., located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
>         Novell Unix Master Reseller / evan@telly.org / (905) 452-0504
>        Those to my right are extremists; those to my left are heretics


There are LOTS of good multiport products out there, whith everyone claiming to
be the best.  I've lost interest in keeping track of who's fasted this week.

What has made us choose a vendor is simple: RESPONSIVE, PROFESSIONAL, SERVICE.

We have found three vendors that help us look good with our clients:

	Corollary
	Stallion
	Computone

These folks recognize that we DO know SCO and that when we call it's for a good 
reason.  No hassle, they cross-ship without making a big production.  They call us
back quickly when we phone in for support.

None of these things are directly visable to our end users, but without them, it 
makes life real difficult.

We have had similar experiences with the folks you mentioned and thus 
do not do business with them.

JUST MY OPINION - I'M SURE YOUR MILAGE WILL VARY...


Chris Faist
ICS Support, Inc.
SCO APC - Novell Unix Master 
Kirkland, WA

Chris Faist <chris@icss.wa.com> writes:

>There are LOTS of good multiport products out there, whith everyone claiming to
>be the best.  I've lost interest in keeping track of who's fasted this week.

>What has made us choose a vendor is simple: RESPONSIVE, PROFESSIONAL, SERVICE.

>We have found three vendors that help us look good with our clients:

>	Corollary
>	Stallion
>	Computone

>These folks recognize that we DO know SCO and that when we call it's for a good 
>reason.  

Adding to the list....

I have used both Comtrol and Digiboard products on SVr4 ( which SCO is
not ) and have found them to be very solid hardware wise and have good
STREAMS drivers.  In fact, we never could get ttymon to work even
halfway right with asy or sas drivers, but when we first installed the
Digiboard driver, most all our problems went away.

I think Comtrol jumped the gun a bit with their RocketPort boards. When
we bought some, they were still writing the driver. But I have to say
that when they told us hardware flow control would work in two months,
they DID ship us a bugless STREAMS driver in two months. This was quite
a while ago, so I'm sure you can get a complete package today without
waiting.  And the Comtrol driver did made ttymon work too.

But Digiboard sends you a nice T-shirt. 

On the other hand, Comtrol has a nice coffee mug.

-- 
73 de KD3BJ (Chris Nadovich, chris@kd3bj.ampr.org)

In article <3m5a3k$ogb@pulm1.accessone.com>,
Chris Faist  <chris@icss.wa.com> wrote:
>keith@ksmith.com (Keith Smith) wrote:
>>
>> In article <3m2fl9$59k@pulm1.accessone.com>,
>> Chris Faist  <chris@icss.wa.com> wrote:
>> >	Corollary
>> >	Stallion
>> >	Computone
>> 
>> [ Problems & comments about all three ]

>> Thanks but I _LOVE_ my C/X, and I'm certian the new EPC/X is just as
>> nice.
>
>From your description, it's apparent that you have not used ANY of those
>products recently. 

Nope the ARNET cards all worked okay, but when I needed a LOT of ports
for a job I tried a Digi C/X.  The cards were clean, the software
installed clean, the RJ-45's were great against the patch panel (no
extra RJ->whatever adaptors) as long as I used the 'altpin' setting. The
documentation was clear and clean, and everything worked on the first
try.

>I'm sure your C/X is just the cat's pajamas but I would be hard pressed making 
>the statment that the C/X is superior to Corollary's or Stallion's current 
>product offerings. (Equal I will surely admit)

Could be, all three are reputable firms and all three had good technical
support.  The difference was I didn't _need_ the technical support with
the digiboard.

>If you are skilled with SCO then you would not have any trouble with any
>of them.  My point is that you must give ample consideration to the
>company behind the product. 

And my point is I want a product that you don't _have_ to be all that
skilled to get working.  Then when you _have_ a problem and you ARE
skilled the problem is usually much easier to solve.  Those other
products may _now_ be as good as Digiboard.  The only thing I don't like
about digiboard is the price.  Hold onto your wallet.

But I'll say the same thing I told the IBM rep.  Put me in IBM equipment
at about 20% over what I can get something comparable for, and I'd
RATHER have IBM (They weren't even close).  $100 is not worth much
hassle on a serial card, and from what I've seen Computone isn't all
that much less $$$ than digibo.

>After all, if they run for the hills... Who's holding the bag?

Yes, and all of the ones you listed are reputable.  Computone has been
around the block, Stallion was fairly new when I used them, but since
they are still around, and had reasonable support they're probably in it
for the long haul.  Corollary runs multi-port serial as a sideline to
their networking and whatever else.  I just am not that impressed with
their software or cards that I inhereted on a 1YR old Xenix box.

If it takes me an extra day to get a system working because of some
squirlly cable connection DIN->D25->RJ45 because of a bad solder joint
on the DIN->D25 cable, I don't blame the cable, I blame the dummy who
engineered something that requires all of that stuff.
--
Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com>                  Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
Digital Designs                                   (910) 423-4216/7389/7391
PO Box 85                                                   V.34/V.34/V.32
Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085  ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...

keith@ksmith.com (Keith Smith) wrote:

> Thanks but I _LOVE_ my C/X, and I'm certian the new EPC/X is just as
> nice.
> --
> Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com>                  Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
> Digital Designs                                   (910) 423-4216/7389/7391
> PO Box 85                                                   V.34/V.34/V.32
> Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085  ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...

Yes, the DigiBoard EPC/X is very nice.

In article <797310700.7454@ksmith.com>, Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com> wrote:
>
>***** DO NOT BUY _ANYTHING_ FROM CONSENSYS *****
>
>The company IMHO is worthless, the support is worthless, the people are
>rude and unhelpful, and cost me muy $$$, a client and about a weeks
>time.

    I agree.  I had exactly the same experience as Keith relates here!

>I ended up eating much of the card when UPS destroyed it on the way back
>to the distributor who was very unwilling to take it back.

    I still have my card.  I'd like to give it away, but don't know
    anyone I dislike enough.

>Spend the $$$ buy a digiboard.  They work.

    Exactly the course I took!

>--
>Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com>                  Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
>Digital Designs                                   (910) 423-4216/7389/7391
>PO Box 85                                                   V.34/V.34/V.32
>Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085  ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...

-- 
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In article <3m5a3k$ogb@pulm1.accessone.com>,
Chris Faist  <chris@icss.wa.com> wrote:
>keith@ksmith.com (Keith Smith) wrote:
>>
>> In article <3m2fl9$59k@pulm1.accessone.com>,
>> Chris Faist  <chris@icss.wa.com> wrote:
>> >	Corollary
>> >	Stallion
>> >	Computone
>> 
>> I have or have used all 3.  Does computone still configure their ports
>> as freaking DCE devices instead of DTE?  Makes the connection a
>> nightmare to a modem.  It's much easier to emulate a DCE with a DTE than
>> the reverse, as the extra inputs are missing (DCD or CD? choose 1)
>> Their older software used to be confusing as hell with all the trash
>> they threw in /etc also
>> 
>> I never did get the stallion card to work right on a DELL/486 under SCO.
>> We sent the whole ball of wax back to DELL.
>> 
>> I've got a set of 4 Corollary concentrators (8-ports Each no modem
>> control) that are about the most bizarre devices.  The BUS card is an
>> EIGHT (8) BIT INTERFACE.  Every time someone bumps the power to the
>> concentrators error messages scroll up the console.  The data wiring
>> from the card to the concentrators uses a mini-din plug (Like a PS/2
>> keyboard).  Whoever thought of this should have been shot.  Not to
>> mention there are only 2 data wires in the thing, the rest are power
>> from the CPU bus.  Brilliant.
>> 
>> Thanks but I _LOVE_ my C/X, and I'm certian the new EPC/X is just as
>> nice.
>
>From your description, it's apparent that you have not used ANY of those
>products recently. 
>
>I'm sure your C/X is just the cat's pajamas but I would be hard pressed making 
>the statment that the C/X is superior to Corollary's or Stallion's current 
>product offerings. (Equal I will surely admit)


Well I can't speak for the other products, but I have been using the C/X
product at many of my clients locations and under UnixWare 1.1 it works
quite well, and I would recomend them.  I also use the EPC/X version of
the product with my own server (as we wanted to drive our USR Courier V.34
modems at 115.2Kbps) and it has worked well since we were running UnixWare 1.x.

Now under UnixWare 2.x I had to do a little playing with the driver for
the EPC/X to get it installed (talked about in a prior message), but after
that it is working like a champ.  Basically in a nutshell Digiboard needs
to setup the drivers so they work with UnixWare 2's DCU utility, but I 
won't really falt them for that, as the product is really just starting to
hit the streets.  I would assume (hope) that this small technical problem 
will be overcome ASAP.  Other than that I personally stand by the Digiboard
product, and would see it to anyone that was looking for a multiport 
solution for there UnixWare hosts...


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Chris Faist (chris@icss.wa.com) wrote:
: evan@telly.telly.org (Evan Leibovitch) wrote:
: >
: > I've been known to get a little irritated from time to time, but I don't
: > consider myself too prone to flaming others. One particular issue,
: > however, threatens to push me beyond the breaking point.
[lengthy tale of woe with Consensys snipped]
: > 
: > In the meantime, can someone suggest to me a reasonable, inexpensive
: > (and supported by UW 2, natch) choice for a 4-port card that can do
: > 115Kbps with modem control and hardware flow control?
: > 
: > Thanks for indluging me. I've needed to vent.
: > 
: > -- 
: >  Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software Ltd., located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
: >         Novell Unix Master Reseller / evan@telly.org / (905) 452-0504
: >        Those to my right are extremists; those to my left are heretics


: There are LOTS of good multiport products out there, whith everyone claiming to
: be the best.  I've lost interest in keeping track of who's fasted this week.

: What has made us choose a vendor is simple: RESPONSIVE, PROFESSIONAL, SERVICE.

: We have found three vendors that help us look good with our clients:

: 	Corollary
: 	Stallion
: 	Computone

To this list I (hesitatingly) add: Equinox. They have *extremely* good 
hardware that will support hi-baud, etc. They also have super SVR4 
drivers and their driver for UW 2.x is in beta. (I ran it, and it works 
fine.) Negatives are: so-so support with fairly long call-back times; and 
the fact that they have a wonderful multi-screen feature as part of 
their SCO driver which they adamently *refuse* to include with their SVR4 
driver.

: These folks recognize that we DO know SCO and that when we call it's for a good 
: reason.  No hassle, they cross-ship without making a big production.  They call us
: back quickly when we phone in for support.

: None of these things are directly visable to our end users, but without them, it 
: makes life real difficult.

: We have had similar experiences with the folks you mentioned and thus 
: do not do business with them.

: JUST MY OPINION - I'M SURE YOUR MILAGE WILL VARY...


: Chris Faist
: ICS Support, Inc.
: SCO APC - Novell Unix Master 
: Kirkland, WA



--
Gerry Gilmore
Taoist-UNIX Disciple    SCO and UnixWare
Will work for lots of money - I'll buy my own food. 
Atlanta, Ga.      E-mail:   gerryg@america.net

**********************************************************************

  Egypt was troubled by a horrible asp......
  Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask.....
                                  REM 

**********************************************************************

keith@ksmith.com (Keith Smith) wrote:
>
> I promised the real jerks I had to deal with at Consensys several years
> ago on a shoestring Xenix project over a powerports "That works fine
> under Xenix-286" that I would SLAM THEM EVERY CHANCE I GOT.
> 
> ***** DO NOT BUY _ANYTHING_ FROM CONSENSYS *****
> 

> Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com>                  Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
> Digital Designs                                   (910) 423-4216/7389/7391
> PO Box 85                                                   V.34/V.34/V.32
> Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085  ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...

I just had a strange experience with the Consensus Power Port.  We 
had a printer attached to ttyh8.  Under straight Consensus, the
stty command reported everything to be pretty normal, 8 bits, no
parity, 9600 baud and xon/xoff handshake.

Under SCO, even with new drivers, I kept getting garbage on the
printer.  Also, I could not establish reliable terminal activity
at 8 bits.

I discovered that instead of running   -parenb, I had to run with
"parenb" (note no - sign on this).  The printer works just fine
now.

Just a bit of Consensus strangeness I guess.  (Also hate there
mechanism for maintaining ports.)

It did work tho.

|================================================================|
|Lee Penn: DLP Technologies, Cincinnati, OH	 (513) 232-7791 v|
|lee@dlpco.com,SCO ACE                           (513) 232-7801 f|

Hi Evan and all of you out there!

Consider yourself lucky, you got some response out of your supplier.

A few years back I bought myself two Intel Bell ACE boards for about
US$2000 each. They came with drivers for SCO Xenix 286, 386,
Interactive Unix and Intel Unix. about 6 month later we upgraded to
SCO ODT 1.0 but the drivers obviously didn't work any more. My
question to the vendor: when can I have Unix drivers. Answer: NONE!
Ok, called again, same question. This time I was told to speak to
Untel directly ... a bit difficult from here. I eventually sent some
disks off to Intel with the request to provide a driver for me. Guess
what came back? Exactly, NOTHING, nothing at all ... that was about 2
years back when I gave up on the issue. I went to buy a Stallion instead.

Chris
--
----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
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 Software 4 Africa                      | Phone (24h):         +27 82 445-3804
  Shareware, Freeware and PD Software   | Snail Mail:             P.O.Box 2485
   Consultant for Unix, PROGRESS and    |                        Edenvale 1610
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----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

gerryg@atl1.america.net (Gerry Frank Gilmore) wrote:

> : There are LOTS of good multiport products out there, whith everyone claiming to
> : be the best.  I've lost interest in keeping track of who's fasted this week.
> 
> : What has made us choose a vendor is simple: RESPONSIVE, PROFESSIONAL, SERVICE.
> 
> : We have found three vendors that help us look good with our clients:
> 
> : 	Corollary
> : 	Stallion
> : 	Computone
> 
> To this list I (hesitatingly) add: Equinox. They have *extremely* good 
> hardware that will support hi-baud, etc. They also have super SVR4 
> drivers and their driver for UW 2.x is in beta. (I ran it, and it works 
> fine.) Negatives are: so-so support with fairly long call-back times; and 
> the fact that they have a wonderful multi-screen feature as part of 
> their SCO driver which they adamently *refuse* to include with their SVR4 
> driver.
> 
Agreed.  I've used their products with success but did not add them to my list
due to the simple reason that they charge $150.00 to cross ship on defective
equipment.

I find that offensive and not conducive to favorable client relations.  I could 
understand taking a credit card as collateral but $ 150 is pure ransom.

They are also on the east coast.  This creates availability problems after 2:00 PM 
in Washington.  

Thanks for the input.

Regards,

Chris Faist
ICS Support, Inc.
APC - Kirkland, WA

In article <D6xr6L.D9B@sunqbc.risq.net>,
Fraser Hutchinson <fraser@$TIN_DOMAIN> wrote:
>Hey!!! I didn't get a t-shirt from Digiboard!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then you didn't fill out the warranty/registration card. :)

>
>Never mind...

<G>
--
Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com>                  Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
Digital Designs                                   (910) 423-4216/7389/7391
PO Box 85                                                   V.34/V.34/V.32
Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085  ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...

In article <3mb6rc$hui@cheyenne.iac.net>, Lee Penn  <lee@dlpco.com> wrote:
>keith@ksmith.com (Keith Smith) wrote:
>>
>> I promised the real jerks I had to deal with at Consensys several years
>> ago on a shoestring Xenix project over a powerports "That works fine
>> under Xenix-286" that I would SLAM THEM EVERY CHANCE I GOT.
>> 
>> ***** DO NOT BUY _ANYTHING_ FROM CONSENSYS *****
>> 
>
>I just had a strange experience with the Consensus Power Port.  We 
>had a printer attached to ttyh8.  Under straight Consensus, the
>stty command reported everything to be pretty normal, 8 bits, no
>parity, 9600 baud and xon/xoff handshake.
>
>Under SCO, even with new drivers, I kept getting garbage on the
>printer.  Also, I could not establish reliable terminal activity
>at 8 bits.
>
>I discovered that instead of running   -parenb, I had to run with
>"parenb" (note no - sign on this).  The printer works just fine
>now.

Yea, you mean your powerports install didn't change _ALL_ your gettydefs
entries and add parenb.

>Just a bit of Consensus strangeness I guess.  (Also hate there
>mechanism for maintaining ports.)
>
>It did work tho.

You _cannot_ run with parity on a uucp connection.  Under Xenix 2.3.3
(If memory serves me that far back) your just plain hosed, and under
3.2.2.0 Unix I don't think uucico did anything to the termio settings
when invoked.  Basically this shuts down any binary modem transfers.

Junk, Consensys stuff is junk.
--
Keith Smith <keith@ksmith.com>                  Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
Digital Designs                                   (910) 423-4216/7389/7391
PO Box 85                                                   V.34/V.34/V.32
Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085  ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...

C. T. Nadovich (chris@kd3bj.ampr.org) wrote:
: Chris Faist <chris@icss.wa.com> writes:

[deleted for brevity]

and now for the clinching reasons to purchase the particulr vendor's product :)

: But Digiboard sends you a nice T-shirt. 

: On the other hand, Comtrol has a nice coffee mug.


Hey!!! I didn't get a t-shirt from Digiboard!!!!!!!!!!!!


Never mind...

Fraser

In article <CHRIS.95Apr14100106@rupeden.Olivetti.za>
           chris@rupeden.Olivetti.za "Chris Ruprecht" writes:

>We are using some Specialix RIO cards over here and found them the
>most reliable serial boards around.

I've tried Specialix SI and RIO cards but always had problems with flakey ports
I've also encountered throughput and excessive system loading problems with
the RIOs on received data. We're now using Equinox. They did have a few driver
problems which are now fixed (but I have to say getting them fixed was not an
easy job). However the hardware has always been 100% rock solid and I don't
think I have ever encountered a flakey or locked port.

>You can move the RTA (=Remote
>Terminal Adaptor) at least up to 75 meters away from the host. One
>board supports up to 16 RTAs with up to 8 ports or 7 serial and 1
>parallel ports per RTA.

I agree the connectivity and configurability of the RIOs is exceptional
but you are paying a great deal if you don't really need it. Many vendors
can now supply you with 128 remote ports per host adapter. I know Equinox
can.

-- 
-----------------------------------------
Lawrence Kirby | fred@genesis.demon.co.uk
Wilts, England | 70734.126@compuserve.com
-----------------------------------------

Hi all

We are using some Specialix RIO cards over here and found them the
most reliable serial boards around. You can move the RTA (=Remote
Terminal Adaptor) at least up to 75 meters away from the host. One
board supports up to 16 RTAs with up to 8 ports or 7 serial and 1
parallel ports per RTA.

I'm not sure if they make PCI boards yet, ISA and EISA are around for
a while.

my 2c worth

Chris
--
----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------
Chris Ruprecht				| E-Mail:  chris@rupeden.eurassi.co.za
 Software 4 Africa                      | Phone (24h):         +27 82 445-3804
  Shareware, Freeware and PD Software   | Snail Mail:             P.O.Box 2485
   Consultant for Unix, PROGRESS and    |                        Edenvale 1610
    computer networks.                  |                         South Africa
----------------------------------------+-------------------------------------

In article <CHRIS.95Apr14100106@rupeden.olivetti.za>,
Chris Ruprecht <chris@rupeden.Olivetti.za> wrote:

>We are using some Specialix RIO cards over here and found them the
>most reliable serial boards around. You can move the RTA (=Remote
>Terminal Adaptor) at least up to 75 meters away from the host. One
>board supports up to 16 RTAs with up to 8 ports or 7 serial and 1
>parallel ports per RTA.

>I'm not sure if they make PCI boards yet, ISA and EISA are around for
>a while.

The numbers I've seen show listings for ISA, EISA, MCA, and
S-BUS.

-- 
Bill Vermillion - bill@bilver.oau.org | bill.vermillion@oau.org