10. Appendix A: Technical Notes 10.1 Access Servers When you use the access services, you connect to the information server associated with the particular service. The client software programs are already preconfigured with the correct server addresses. The access servers and their respective electronic addresses follow. Server Address ------ -------- ------ ------- Access access.psu.edu Email email.psu.edu News server news.psu.edu Gopher info.psu.edu Phone directory ph.psu.edu World Wide Web www.psu.edu 10.2 Other Network Information If you are installing your own TCP/IP software, this information may be helpful: OTC nameserver: 128.118.25.3 (main PSU nameserver) CAC nameserver: 128.118.58.11 (recommended if dialing in) Backup namservers: 130.203.1.4, 130.203.3.2 Time server: clock.psu.edu For dialup connections, you will be on an 8-bit subnet, so the netmask is 255.255.255.0. For SLIP and CSLIP connections, the server displays a dynamically assigned IP address, the gateway address, and the netmask. Your scripting software should pick out the IP address and gateway address, and reset them. If developing a script for software not supplied by the CAC, it is best todial in with a plain ASCII terminal emulator to see what the server types out. 10.3 UART Specifications for DOS Machines In general it is not possible to run any DOS-based SLIP or PPP package (CACSLIP, Lanera SLIP, PC/TCP PPP, etc.) in Windows enhanced mode unless you have a 16550A UART. Unless you have an IBM PS/2 computer chances are good you have either an 8250 UART or a 16450 UART. What kind of UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter) do you have? Find out by running MSD.EXE (Microsoft Diagnostic; it comes with Windows). Choose the COM port box and it will tell you all kinds of infomation about your COM ports, including the type of UART. If you do not have a 16550A UART your choices are to -- buy one-- it's well worth the money; -- run Windows in standard mode; or -- run SLIP/PPP routines under straight DOS. 10.4 If You Use PSUVM If you have an account on PSUVM, you can use the commands MAIL, NETNEWS, GOPHER, or PHLIST. However, you should be aware that certain PSUVM accounts expire at the end of the semester, whereas your Access Account remains active until graduation or termination of employment. Also, PSUVM does not have the capability to display all the items found on Gopher such as pictures and sound. You may find the microcomputer clients easier to use and more convenient. For example, Eudora, the email client available for Macintosh and Windows enables you to attach a Microsoft Word document or binary file to a mail message. 10.5 Using FTP on PSUVM If you FTP the files to your PSUVM account, you should reformat the files on VM with the CMS command LREC512 before downloading them to your personal computer. An example of the LREC512 command follows: lrec512 nupopf exebin a nupopf exebin e You must reformat the files first because the PCTRANS command on VM (or the PCXYTERM front-end) that is used to copy files to a personal computer running YTerm (DOS) or Tincan (Macintosh) is limited to records of length 512 bytes. "FTP'ing" binary files results in records of up to 8192 bytes. 10.6 Dialup Services Software distributed by the CAC contains up-to-date telephone numbers. As of this writing (8/29/94(, the following numbers were in service: University Park 814-863-7777 Altoona 814-949-6463 Great Valley 610-408-0971 Harrisburg 717-948-9162 Ogontz 215-887-6805 York 717-846-3824 Hazleton 717-450-7451 These numbers are assigned, but are not in service as of 8/29/94: Fayette 412-437-9701 McKeesport 412-664-9208 Mont Alto 717-749-6011 Scranton 717-963-3109 Shenango 412-983-5033 Read the news group psu.cac.access for notices of when those numbers become available for use, and when these locations are added: Allentown, Beaver, Berks, Delaware, DuBois, Erie, Fayette, New Kensington, Ogontz, Schulykill, and Wilkes Barre. All modesm can answer at 2400, 9600, and 14400 baud. However, with compression, your communications port may run faster. V.22, V.32, V.32bis, V.42 and V.42bis communications standards are supported. At locations other than University Park, Xyplex terminal servers pass asynchronous connections through to a serial protocal server at University Park, which is a duplicate of the server that connections via 814-863-7777 use. This may add a slight delay depending on the current traffic to and from that campus.