[nos-bbs] JNOS2.0d - NET/ROM / strange behavior

[Barry Siegfried]

["George (Skip) VerDuin" <k8rra at ameritech.net> wrote]:

> I have a query for anyone who has replicated this behavior.
> Am I alone?
>
> As part of shaking out my ver2.0d, I configured netrom.
> Of course I did it wrong the first time - three error messages
> "attach netrom first".
>
> It took a couple more tries to make the msgs go away - they did...
> NET/ROM seemed to work after that - but I never found neighbors...
> Oh well - I may not have any neighbors:-(

You sort of need to know who your Net/Rom neighbors are ahead of
time.

> In this process I found two really strange behaviors:
>
> First, documentation I found says "attach netrom" is an automatic
> part of "start netrom".

Hmmm.  I have never known that to be the case in any NOS.

> My experience negates that information.  A specific "attach ..."
> is required.  WHY?

Because they are two completely separate operations.  Attaching
Net/Rom is telling JNOS to recognize it as a (pseudo) physical
interface (to which you can assign IP routes and ARP resolutions
to ride underneath Net/Rom level 3 (network) support.

"Starting" Net/Rom is telling JNOS to open a Net/Rom level 4
(transport) user path (via a socket) to an application, such as
the JNOS mailbox or convers server.  Many people "attach" Net/Rom
so that it will pass Net/Rom level 3 (network) frames but don't
even bother to compile in the level 4 (transport) support since
they do not have any user application in their machines that can
utilize it (i.e. JNOS programs compiled without mailbox and/or
convers support).  If you don't have a user application then you
have no need to compile in the Net/Rom level 4 (transport) support.

> Second, the "status display" goes nuts.
> 
> The top three lines scroll off the screen and output starts double
> spaced.  Occasional colored fields in the top lines are written -
> never the whole lines.  WHY.

That one I can't help you with.  :(

> But it gets worse...

Ohno!  :(

> Even after abandoning the trial and restoring an earlier autoexec.nos.
> even after re-loggin in, even after rebooting the op-sys,
> 
> > > the status display remains buggered up.  WHY?

Have you tried a power reset on the monitor?  Maybe it could be a
monitor issue?

> I have several months of good results followed by a day of junk
> that won't go away...
> 
> What happened to my defaults?

Maybe they are defaulting to something else?  Maybe an area of screen
memory is being unintentially overwritten after a certain amount of
time?

Also, by definition, a program default for a parameter only applies
when a program is first loaded and before the parameter is configured
on the fly.  After a program has been running for awhile, it is
unlikely that your program defaults are still active.

> So there you have it - NET/ROM leaves some dirty tracks behind a very
> bad experience.

You mean, this only happens after you have attached Net/Rom?

> Nope - I have not found warning to avoid netrom as a feature...
>
> Can anyone make sense of this?
> Time is not an issue - but I'd like my good jnos back...

I don't blame you!

73, de Barry, K2MF >>
           o
          <|>      Barry Siegfried
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