Text 3446, 74 rader
Skriven 2005-09-28 14:20:40 av Maurice Kinal (1:261/38.9)
   Kommentar till text 3441 av MARTIN ATKINS (1:123/140)
Ärende: software for linspire
=============================
Hey MARTIN!

Sep 28 11:54 05, MARTIN ATKINS wrote to MAURICE KINAL:

 MA> KPPP uses pppd which can be manipulate by various scripts and
 MA> can also be configured by the command line. man pppd.

I don't need or use ppp.

 MK>> hardware-wise. Again, I refer to the gps reciever issue where a set 
 MK>> base baud rate of 4800 is required and is nonnegotiable.  

 MA> gps? Global Positioning System? :-}

Right.  Serial same as a modem except different.  setserial works in
establishing connectivity with them not unlike fax machines, modems, etc.  No
ppp required although it is possible to link them so that a user would have to
login via ppp to see the gps's output.  However it isn't a requirement or
dependancy.

 MK>> setserial is a keeper.  :-)

 MA> What about mgetty? ;)

I've tried that when I used to have a modem.  That was a long, long time ago. 
I don't have a modem anymore so mgetty wouldn't have anything to do here. 
However setserial can and often does and has nothing to do with regard to
modems.  This is why I think Knoppix decided to go with a base baud of 9600
since that makes the most sense for a wider variety of serial hardware,
although for most gps recievers it will still have to be set, usually 4800, and
thus setserial still survives.

 MA> I have never had an internal modem and as far as i'm concerned they
 MA> are all a waste of slots, pci or isa. :-)

Some of the isa ones worked fine and given the bus rate etc. isa makes more
sense then pci does.  Given the other networking options for pci I don't think
a modem stands a snowball's chance in hell in competing with them.

 MK>> What about everything else serial that doesn't require ppp?  It seems
 MK>> Mandrake is suffering from tunnel vision wrt serial hardware and
 MK>> programming.

 MA> Mouse? I think that's handled by the mouse driver. Fax is handled
 MA> by the modem nvram.

Not neccisarily.  Also those would require some simular code to setserial else
they wouldn't work at all.  Also those are far more specific code to certain
applications then setserial is.

 MA> I have never needed anything other than the modem string to control
 MA> serial speed.

Yes you do.  You just aren't aware that you do.  Somewhere along the line your
apps need to establish communications with the hardware itself.  In the case of
harware connected to a db9 serial port, if that particular port is set to 9600
then that is all you will get unless your app can reset it.

 MA> Usually the factory setting AT&F will do, or you can 
 MA> use
 MA> the NVRAM to store customized settings.

Sometimes that works but not always.  There is a tad more to apps communicating
with hardware then meets the eye.  You are thinking of all serial connections
with respect to modems.  I am thinking of things like gps, proton precession
magnetometers, fax machines, etc. which is what I've run across wrt serial
programming over the years.  Same but different and kppp won't help you one
little bit in communicating with them.

Life is good,
Maurice

--- Msged/LNX 6.1.2
 * Origin: The Pointy Stick Society XV - Linux Point (1:261/38.9)