General Hints and Tips, Hotkey, Kermit | Black Box SW925A, SW928C

MODULAR SMART SWITCH

REM The next line activates ADMENU

HOTKEY

REM The next line activates the file-transfer software

KERMIT

8.2 Using the Control Software with File-Transfer Software

The control software supplied with your Modular Smart Switch should be used together with file transfer software. The control software allows you to increase the baud rate for all normal printing and plotting operations,

so you can use the higher baud rates that are supported on many file transfer programs without having to reconfigure the ports on your Modular Smart Switch. Using higher baud rates will considerably reduce the time taken

to transfer files. For more details on the use of the control software, see Chapter 7.

8.3 Transferring Data Between PCs Not Compatible with IBM

To transfer files between computers not compatible with IBM, you will need to send a software command from each computer to make sure that the data is routed correctly. For maximum compatibility, you are advised to send a software command with the format shown below (“port” is a port number from 1 to 12):

The SOFTWARE:SLEEP and TIMEOUT:2 parts of this command are not strictly necessary for certain types of file transfer. For many file-transfer programs such as Kermit, it is adequate to send a single connection command from one of the computers to establish a bidirectional link. For example, when using Kermit to exchange files between a PC and a Macintosh, sending the following command from the PC would establish a suitable bidirectional link.

MODULAR SMART SWITCH

8.4General Hints and Tips

1.Always use the control software when using file-transfer software: Many packages such as Laplink Pro will not operate without the control software installed.

2.File transfer requires a protocol of 8 bits per character, 1 stop bit, no parity, and hardware handshaking. When using RS-232 with hardware handshaking, make sure that pins 4 and 5 are connected on the Modular Smart Switch end of your computer cable. XON/XOFF handshaking may also be used, but overall performance is reduced.

3.When using PC-to-PC file transfer, use similar baud rates on both PCs. For example, combinations of 57600 baud and 38400 baud will be reliable, whereas combinations of 57600 and 9600 are likely to be unreliable. If in doubt, use the same baud rate on both PCs. (Similar baud rates are required because most file-transfer programs do not support handshaking—they do not allow the rate of data flow to be controlled.)

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