Technical Document # - 5542308
____________________________________________________________
Family: Operating Systems
Product: OS/2 Warp BonusPak Internet Connection
Release: 3.0
Syslevel:
Last Updated: 01/07/1998
____________________________________________________________
TITLE
Configuring the "Dial Other Internet Providers" Dialer for Alternate Providers
DESCRIPTION
The IBM Internet Connection for OS/2, when used with the default service provider,
Advantis, provides easy-to-use hard-coded access to the Internet through the IBM
Internet Dialer. This document is for those who have an alternate service provider
and want to use the "Dial Other Internet Providers" dialer to access the Internet.
This is a detailed document, describing the fields in the Add Entries notebook for the dialer and how to correctly add an entry to connect to an alternate provider. Also included is a section on common problems and their solutions.
RESOLUTION
What is SLIPPM?
SLIPPM is an OS/2 Warp object-oriented application that is designed to simplify
connecting to a serial line Internet protocol (SLIP) or point-to-point (PPP) provider.
Basically, a provider makes available a connection point for your modem so that you will
have access to the Internet through the provider.
SLIPPM saves the settings needed to connect to a provider. When you are ready to
establish communications, it uses the SLATTACH command to dial the provider's phone number,
and then sends your user ID and password. When requested, SLIPPM will send your mail ID
and password, and other information such as your WWW server, news server, and gopher server.
SLIPPM can use a response file (.rsp), a REXX program, or simply a wait-for and reply-with
script in the login sequence area of the dialer to handle a static or dynamic SLIP or PPP
connection.
What Do I Need to Connect?
To establish a connection to an alternate provider, you will need to complete the following
fields:
Login Info
* Name: Enter the name of the provider
* Description: Enter an optional description
* Login ID: Enter your login ID
Note: If your provider requires that you put a 'P' or 'S'
in front of your login ID so that it will know to
go into PPP or SLIP, then do not enter the 'P' or
'S' here. Don't forget that your provider's
server may be case-sensitive.
* Password: Enter your password
Note: Ensure that your password does not contain any spaces.
A space is an invalid character and will result in the
dialer failing to dial. Again, don't forget that your
provider's server may be case-sensitive.
* Login Sequence: This is the most important part.
Notes: See section on Forming A Login Sequence. There is no
standard way to connect to a provider. This is where we
need to determine what the server is expecting for their
login. If the provider is using PAP (Password Authentication
Protocol) or CHAP (Cryptographic Handshake Authentication
Protocol), the login sequence must read NONE.
* Connection Type: SLIP or PPP
* Inactivity Timeout Option: This can be set to hang up after a specified time period
or shut off so that the dialer will not hang up due to inactivity. Note that this
does not mean the server can't terminate the connection due to inactivity.
Connect Info
* Your IP Address: Your IP address
This is where you will enter your IP address if you have a static account. If you have a
dynamic account, leave this entry blank. If a provider says that your IP address is X.X.X.X,
then you have a dynamic connection. Leave the entry blank. Do not enter 0.0.0.0 as your
dynamic IP.
* Destination IP Address: The IP address of the provider's server
Enter the IP address of the destination if the dial up is a static
connection. Otherwise, leave this entry blank.
* Netmask: The provider's netmask
If you have a static dial up connection, enter the provider's
netmask. For example, 255.255.255.0 is a standard class C network
and this is the most common netmask.
* MRU Size: Maximum Response Unit
If you are using SLIP, default will be 1006; for PPP the default is 1500.
* VJ (Van Jacobson) Compression: This is to enable header compression.
This must be on if your provider uses header compression or the connection will fail.
Your provider will provide this information.
* Domain Nameserver (DNS): The address of your provider's nameserver
* Your Host Name: The alias for your system on the Internet
For a dynamic connection, this should be left blank. For a static connection, your
dial up host name can be determined from your provider.
* Your Domain Name: The domain name of your provider
This is usually the second part of your e-mail address (just the domain). For
example, your e-mail address is in the format: userID @ domain.
Server Info
* Default Servers / Hosts: Define default servers
This is where you can define the default servers you want to connect to when you logon.
Here, you define a news server, gopher server and WWW server.
* Mail Server Information: Information to connect to your mail server
- Mail Gateway: The name of the provider's SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) mail
server; can be the same as the POP server.
- POP Mail Server: The name of the provider's POP server
- Reply Domain: This is the second part of your e-mail address (the reply_domain),
after the @ sign; for example, userID @ reply_domain.
- Reply (Mail) ID: This is your user ID. Enter only the first part of your
e-mail address without the @ sign.
- POP Login ID: This is your login ID to access the mail server. Usually this is the same
as your login ID, but can be different.
- POP Password: This is your password to access the mail server.
Modem Info
* Modem Type: Select your modem from the list of modems.
Note: If your modem is not listed, select Hayes Compatible.
The correct modem setting is especially important if different
classes of modems are involved in the connection.
* Com Port: Select the COM port that your modem is on.
* Speed: Select the baud rate that you will connect with.
Note: If you are using a 14400 modem, it is recommended that you
set this to 38400. If using a 28800, you'll want to set
this to 57600. An Internet connection requires a
minimum of a 9600 baud connection. Also, setting the
baud rate higher may make the modem connection fail.
* Databits, parity, Prefix: Leave these on their default values.
* Init Strings 1 & 2: The init strings that will be passed to the modem before dialing.
These can be modified manually if needed.
* Call Waiting: Check this if your phone line has call waiting
to disable it before calling out.
Forming a Login Sequence
Of all the information provided in the Settings notebook, the Login Sequence is one of
the most important fields to fill in to establish an Internet Connection with an alternate provider.
The default is NONE which assumes that the provider is starting a SLIP or PPP connection
immediately after it passes the user ID and password. The default can be used for connections that
prompt only for user ID and password and then start either a dynamic PPP or SLIP or a static SLIP.
This cannot be used for a dynamic SLIP connection. If your provider is using PAP or CHAP, the login
sequence must read NONE.
You can also specify the path (in lowercase) to a response file or REXX program here.
Elements of a Login Sequence
The SLATTACH command is very important when logging in, because it is SLATTACH and not SLIPPM that
uses the script or login sequence. It supports the following six escape characters that can be used
in forming a login sequence:
\d - Forces a 2 second delay. This is useful to provide
additional time for servers to handshake before trying to
negotiate.
\n - Generates a carriage return followed by a line feed
\r - Generates a carriage return
\q - Toggles to quiet mode
\s - Generates a physical space when required
^<c> - Sends a control <c>
You can also use:
[LOGINID] - Sends the contents of your login ID field entry
[PASSWORD] - Sends the contents of your password field entry
If your connection is dynamic SLIP, you will also have to use the following in your script:
[$IPADDR] - Parses the text to get the IP ADDRESS returned
[$IPDEST] - Parses the text to get the destination IP
returned
Example of How to Obtain Login Sequence Information from the Provider
You will need to use a terminal communications program such as HyperAccess Lite for OS/2, which comes
with the BonusPak, or any other application that does VT100 or ANSI terminal emulation. If the provider is using PAP or CHAP to authenticate the connection, this type of login does not apply and will not work.
1. Dial up the provider's Internet dial up number.
2. When you connect, note whether it is necessary to press Enter to get a
login prompt or whether it goes to a login prompt right away.
If you need to press Enter, then you'll need to add a \r to the
beginning of your login sequence.
3. Note what the prompts end with as you are logging in. For
example, most prompts end with a colon ":" but if you are
logging into a UNIX server, the prompts will end with a
greater-than sign ">."
4. Take note of each prompt you see and how you have to satisfy
the request.
5. At the end of the requests, the server will then attempt to
start a PPP or SLIP connection. Since you are only using a
terminal program to dial in, it will never complete. Go ahead
and hang-up.
6. Once you have configured the login sequence for a dynamic
PPP or SLIP connection or a static SLIP connection, the dialer
will automatically fulfill these requests.
Example Login Scripts
For a dynamic/static PPP connection:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
\d - A 2-second delay
: - Waiting for a colon, for example, login:
P[LOGINID] - Passing a "P" then the login ID
: - Waiting for a colon, for example, password:
[PASSWORD] - Passing the password
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Another dynamic/static PPP connection:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
\r - A carriage return
: - Waiting for a colon, for example, login:
[LOGINID] - Passing a "P" then the login ID
: - Waiting for a colon, for example, password:
[PASSWORD] - Passing the password
> - Waiting for a ">" prompt
ppp\sdefault - Sends "ppp default"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A dynamic SLIP connection:
----------------------------------------------------------------
\d - A 2-second delay
: - Waiting for a colon, for example, login:
[LOGINID] - Passing the login ID
: - Waiting for a colon, for example, password:
[PASSWORD] - Passing the password
is\s[$IPDEST]\sis\s[$IPADDR] - Parsing in the IP addresses
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The last line of the dynamic SLIP connection deserves a little more explanation; a dynamic
SLIP connection is the hardest connection to properly configure.
Note: It is required that the server echo back both the user's IP address and the
remote/destination IP address. If this does not happen, you will not be able
to establish a connection.
This is what the last line is doing:
At the end of the login, the server will reply with something like:
"The destination address is (X.X.X.X) Your IP address is (X.X.X.X)"
The last line of the login sequence serves to capture only the portions of the text that contains the IP
addresses you want to configure to, and then parse them into the two variables [$IPDEST] and [$IPADDR].
It is looking for an "is" followed by a space; then the destination IP address. Then, it ignores a series of spaces and looks for another "is" followed by a space, then parses the user's IP address.
Common Problems and Their Solutions
Question 1
I try to dial and nothing happens...it changes the icon to hang up, and then right back to dial.
Answer
Either the PPP or SLIP driver cannot start, or there is an invalid entry in the settings that was not detected. A common invalid setting is the netmask. If you see something like 255.255.255.254, change it to 255.255.255.0. Another common problem is placing a physical space in the loginid or password. In the dialer, a physical space is an invalid character and will result in the dialer failing to parse the configuration information and not dial out. To represent a space, remember to use a "\s." Otherwise, you should try to initialize the SLIP or PPP driver from command line. For more information, type PPP -?, or SLIP -? at an OS/2 command prompt.
Examples:
PPP COM1 57600 should result in:
PPP OS/2 TCP/IP Point-to-Point Protocol Driver
2.00 Copyright(c) IBM Corp. 1994, 1995
Revision: 1.17a 29 Mar 1996 14:00:00
notice : OS/2 ppp 2.00 Revision: 1.17a started by OS/2, pid 216
info : Using interface ppp0
info : Setting line characteristics
info : Setting com port baud rate to 57600
notice : Linking: ppp0 <--> com1
and,
SLIP should result in:
SL/IP OS/2 TCP/IP Multiple Interface SLIP Drive
2.00 Copyright(c) IBM Corp. 1993,1994,1995
Revision: 1.28 20 Oct 1995 13:57:56
Current bit rate is 57600
MON ] SLIP Driver Running. Exit with Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Break
Question 2
I tried to initialize PPP from command line and got the following message: "PPP not supported
under this stack."
Answer
You have installed a networking product that has downleveled the MPTS (Multi-Protocol Transport Services) on the system. You need to install the MPTS from OS/2 Warp Connect to update the MPTS to support PPP.
Question 3
The PPP driver has started, but I see errors that say "COMW, only 1 of 52 bytes written."
Answer
Your COM port drivers need to be updated. Updated drivers, with a filename of WARPCOM.ZIP, can be obtained from the following sites:
SDM BBS: (512) 823-0345 in area 3
INTERNET: anonymous FTP site testcase.boulder.ibm.com
in the /ps/fromibm/os2 directory
Question 4
I attempt to start PPP from command line and I get: "Error 22 during DOSDEVIOCTL."
Answer
This indicates that the IBM TCP/IP protocol is not installed in the MPTS configuration for LAN Adapters and Protocols. This protocol must be installed here even if you are not doing TCP/IP over a LAN.
Question 5
It appears that I have connected to the Internet Provider, but I saw "Invalid Protocol 2080"
errors during the connection. What does that mean?
Answer
This notice is fine as long as the connection continues. Basically, it means that either the server or the client started the IP negotiation before the other was ready. If this notice results in losing the connection, then reexamine your login sequence.
Question 6
It appears that I have connected to the Internet Provider, but I see "Invalid FCS" errors. What does that mean?
Answer
Basically, "Invalid FCS" equates to a bad packet received by either the server or
client. FCS stands for Frame Check Sequence. A few of these usually implies a dirty
phone line. If you are getting many of these, examine the COM port drivers used, or the
modem initialization used to connect to your provider's modem pool.
This could also be the result of an incorrect login sequence.
Document Info
Related Docs:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IBM disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, including without limitation, warranties of fitness and merchantability with respect to the information in this document. By furnishing this document, IBM grants no licenses to any related patents or copyrights. Copyright (c) 1994, 1996 IBM Corporation. Any trademarks and product or brand names referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Consult your product manuals for complete trademark information.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________