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Author Topic: mode woes  (Read 10561 times)

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student0101

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    mode woes
    « on: January 20, 2015, 09:21:12 AM »
    Hello all.

    I need a hand with mode command.

    Using MS-DOS 5.0 on an HP 8000 Elite SFF.  Have a Raven 2406 parallel printer attached to COM1 via a 6 foot long Black Box PIO45A DB9 to Centronics serial to parallel converter. COM1 is set in the autoexec.bat file to "mode com1:48,n,8,1,p" and the converter (DIP switches) to flow control=hardware, no parity, 8 bits, stop bit=1, data rate=4800. The printer works just fine for days on end, even after daily shutdowns and restarts, but then nothing is printed. No error messages, it just doesn't print. Nothing is changed in the hardware or software. Tried reissuing the same mode command just before printing to no avail. Several restarts later it works again for days, then nothing. Changing COM1 and adapter settings is not an option, as 7bits (1 or 2 stop bits) results in lost print content.

    My question: Is there a way to get MS-DOS 5.0 to report the current COM1 setting (without issuing a command to change it)?

    Thanks for any help in solving this mystery.



    Squashman



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    Re: mode woes
    « Reply #1 on: January 20, 2015, 09:42:32 AM »
    Did you happen to try typing MODE /? at the DOS prompt and notice any options to display the status of the com port.
    Maybe even try just typing MODE at the dos prompt by itself.

    student0101

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      Re: mode woes
      « Reply #2 on: January 20, 2015, 11:03:14 AM »
      Unfortunately, neither of those options reports the current COM1 setting

      Squashman



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      Re: mode woes
      « Reply #3 on: January 20, 2015, 12:07:05 PM »
      Unfortunately, neither of those options reports the current COM1 setting

      When you type MODE /? at the dos prompt, what do you see?

      BC_Programmer


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      Re: mode woes
      « Reply #4 on: January 20, 2015, 12:07:41 PM »
      My own memory is a bit rusty but to my recollection you cannot actually view the current settings, the "STATUS" shown for it will only include the RETRY=NONE for some stupid reason. Further googling as you've likely attempted as well doesn't reveal anything.

      I was able to see the current COM port settings by running MSD (Microsoft Diagnostics) However this is new in MS-DOS 6 so isn't in MS-DOS 5. I don't know of a in-box way of viewing the settings without a tool like MSD. (MSD also came with Windows 3.x as I recall, possibly other MS Software as well).

      Also, if you are printing, I would expect you are using redirection to redirect an LPT port to the serial port? If that is the case, than it is worth noting that if you change the settings on the serial port you need to re-issue the redirection command. (MODE LPT1=COM1), otherwise printing won't work. (I don't know if it resets the redirection itself or perhaps has it using the old values for the redirect).


      I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

      Squashman



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      Re: mode woes
      « Reply #5 on: January 20, 2015, 12:10:04 PM »
      I unfortunately can't remember that far back to know what the OPTIONS were for the MODE command back then. That is why I have been trying to get him to tell us what it is because he has access to it.

      student0101

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        Re: mode woes
        « Reply #6 on: January 20, 2015, 12:19:28 PM »
        mode /? shows the command syntax and lists available options.

        I'm trying to talk to the com port directly, e.g. "dir > com1". When it works, it prints the directory OK.


        Squashman



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        Re: mode woes
        « Reply #7 on: January 20, 2015, 12:23:29 PM »
        mode /? shows the command syntax and lists available options.
        Yes, but I am LITERALLY asking to the the output of MODE /?.
        I don't have access to any version of DOS anymore so I need to see what the options are.

        student0101

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          Re: mode woes
          « Reply #8 on: January 20, 2015, 12:34:14 PM »
          This is what "mode /?" displays:

          Configures system devices.

          Printer port:      MODE LPTn[:] [COLS=c] [LINES=l] [RETRY=r]
          Serial port:       MODE COMm[:] [BAUD=b] [PARITY=p] [DATA=d] [STOP=s] [RETRY=r]
          Device Status:     MODE [device] [/STATUS]
          Redirect printing: MODE LPTn[:]=COMm[:]
          Prepare code page: MODE device CP PREPARE=((yyy[...]) [drive:][path]filename)
          Select code page:  MODE device CP SELECT=yyy
          Refresh code page: MODE device CP REFRESH
          Code page status:  MODE device CP [/STATUS]
          Display mode:      MODE [display-adapter][,n]
                             MODE CON[:] [COLS=c] [LINES=n]
          Typematic rate:    MODE CON[:] [RATE=r DELAY=d]

          Squashman



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          Re: mode woes
          « Reply #9 on: January 20, 2015, 12:41:48 PM »
          Did you happen to try typing MODE /? at the DOS prompt and notice any options to display the STATUS of the com port.
          Device Status:     MODE [device] [/STATUS]

          Did you try that?

          student0101

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            Re: mode woes
            « Reply #10 on: January 20, 2015, 12:47:16 PM »
            Yes I did. It only says:

            Status for device COM1:
            -------------------------------------
            Retry=NONE

            Squashman



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            Re: mode woes
            « Reply #11 on: January 20, 2015, 12:52:30 PM »
            Yes I did. It only says:

            Status for device COM1:
            -------------------------------------
            Retry=NONE
            Why did it take me 5 posts to get that information out of you? I feel like a Dentist today. Is there any way I could have worded my comments better?

            student0101

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              Re: mode woes
              « Reply #12 on: January 20, 2015, 01:03:56 PM »
              I don't know. I think I detailed my problem and how I tried to solve it sufficiently in my initial post. If the answer were in the DOS manual I wouldn't need to bother you.

              student0101

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                Re: mode woes
                « Reply #13 on: January 20, 2015, 01:41:33 PM »
                My own memory is a bit rusty but to my recollection you cannot actually view the current settings, the "STATUS" shown for it will only include the RETRY=NONE for some stupid reason. Further googling as you've likely attempted as well doesn't reveal anything.

                I was able to see the current COM port settings by running MSD (Microsoft Diagnostics) However this is new in MS-DOS 6 so isn't in MS-DOS 5. I don't know of a in-box way of viewing the settings without a tool like MSD. (MSD also came with Windows 3.x as I recall, possibly other MS Software as well).

                Also, if you are printing, I would expect you are using redirection to redirect an LPT port to the serial port? If that is the case, than it is worth noting that if you change the settings on the serial port you need to re-issue the redirection command. (MODE LPT1=COM1), otherwise printing won't work. (I don't know if it resets the redirection itself or perhaps has it using the old values for the redirect).

                Thanks, BC_Programmer. I was able to download MSD.EXE and run it on MS-DOS 5.0. Under COM Ports it reports COM1 is correctly set for Port Address, Baud rate, Parity, Data Bits and Stop Bits. Carrier Detect=Yes, Ring Indicator=No, Data Set Ready=Yes, Clear to Send=Yes, UART chip Used=16550AF. Printer working OK at the moment. I'll see what it says next time the printer isn't printing.




                Squashman



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                Re: mode woes
                « Reply #14 on: January 20, 2015, 01:48:46 PM »
                If the answer were in the DOS manual I wouldn't need to bother you.
                You must not hang out on a lot of Tech Help Forums.
                If I had a dime for every time someone didn't bother to check the help file or manual for a program, I could quit my day job and do this as my full-time job if they decided to pay me.  Most of the time we act like Dentists trying to extract information from the person posting the question. We can't assume anything about the person posting the question.

                student0101

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                  Re: mode woes
                  « Reply #15 on: January 20, 2015, 02:13:43 PM »
                  You're right, I don't. I try to exhaust all other venues - manuals, search, etc., before I take up someone else's time. And then ask a simple question, in this case, is there a way to get MS-DOS 5.0 to report the current COM1 setting (without issuing a command to change it)?

                  What little experience I do have in forums such as this leads me to believe that a member of the community who knows the answer will simply share it. In this case the answer was a simple .exe file to download and run (see above).

                  Sorry to hear you don't see it that way.


                  Squashman



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                  Re: mode woes
                  « Reply #16 on: January 20, 2015, 02:17:05 PM »
                  I am going to chalk your comments up to this psychology study.
                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

                  Squashman



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                  Re: mode woes
                  « Reply #17 on: January 20, 2015, 02:18:38 PM »
                  Read a few dozen of the threads on the DOS forum and you tell me if it is really that simple!

                  BC_Programmer


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                  Re: mode woes
                  « Reply #18 on: January 20, 2015, 03:31:07 PM »
                  Thanks, BC_Programmer. I was able to download MSD.EXE and run it on MS-DOS 5.0. Under COM Ports it reports COM1 is correctly set for Port Address, Baud rate, Parity, Data Bits and Stop Bits. Carrier Detect=Yes, Ring Indicator=No, Data Set Ready=Yes, Clear to Send=Yes, UART chip Used=16550AF. Printer working OK at the moment. I'll see what it says next time the printer isn't printing.

                  That's good, I was also able to see it change when I used the mode command to change the current options, so if the options were changed by other software in the meantime that will be reflected.

                  of course what software performed the change and why it seems to fail even after immediately setting the mode, that is a bit trickier to diagnose. It's a bit of cop-out but Printers themselves are already pretty finicky, and Serial Printers just add another layer of difficulty. It is also possible that it is failing on the Printer side as well, rather than something involving the computer itself.

                  I'm not certain but if it happens again and the MSD output doesn't give you anything useful, (eg looks identical) you might try doing the redirection I mention. If you redirect LPT1 to COM1, you should be able to do the same direct access by using PRN where you currently use COM1.
                  I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

                  BC_Programmer


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                  Re: mode woes
                  « Reply #19 on: January 20, 2015, 03:51:28 PM »
                  Read a few dozen of the threads on the DOS forum and you tell me if it is really that simple!

                  Threads in the DOS forum quite ironically hardly actually deal with DOS at all. Aside from this one, the first page only has 2 threads that actually involve actual MS/PC-DOS (ntfs4dos and an advertisement for MS-DOS based software). One could rename the forum to "NT Batch Scripting" and end up with a more accurate description of it's content. (This isn't limited to this forum, either- most sites talking about "DOS" are almost always about the NT Command Interpreter.).

                  The OP's only "mistake" was in thinking that the "Microsoft DOS" forum was about MS-DOS and would thus be populated with people who if nothing else, at least had access to a standard MS-DOS installation, if not also some understanding of some of the specifics of MS-DOS operation pertaining to what they are discussing.
                  I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

                  Squashman



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                  Re: mode woes
                  « Reply #20 on: January 20, 2015, 09:45:04 PM »
                  BC_Programmer, I agree with most of what you say.  From a technical stand point you and I know all that to be true.  But it is the other 90% of the people out there that still think cmd.exe is DOS and when you correct them they have no clue what you are talking about.

                  foxidrive



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                  Re: mode woes
                  « Reply #21 on: January 21, 2015, 02:35:55 AM »
                  What might work to solve the problem if it reoccurs is either a tool to reset the COM port involved or maybe even loading a hardware diagnostic program like one of these will initialise the COM port: 

                  Test this in conjunction with powering down the printer to see if it is one, the other, or a combination of the two.  If the cable has circuitry then it may also be involved and need to be disconnected from both ends and reconnected.


                  Code: [Select]
                  --------===­­ agSI 1.2.2 ­­===--------
                  English version of the SystemInfo tool
                   agSI with hundreds of items of info
                     about hardware/system, operating
                  system, memory, software, drives, and
                   configuration files, (running in DOS
                     text mode) with many additional
                    functions, such as changing system
                      settings and disk formatting.
                    >Extensive, detailed online help<
                   New: extensive Intel chipset info,
                     better hard disk bench, several
                                bugfixes,...

                  Code: [Select]
                            System Analyser version 5.2i

                   Gives comprehensive information about your system.:
                   Bios, Network, Dos, CPU/FPU, Cache, Memory, Video, AGP,
                   Monitor, Drives, IDE, ATAPI, CD-Rom, DVD, RPC2, Lpt, Rs232,
                   Mouse, Keyboard, IEEE 1284, Modem, Fax, ISDN, Sound,
                   ASPI/CAM, SCSI, DMI, PCI, PCMCIA, Plug and Play, APM,
                   ESCD, IRQ, DMA, CMOS, Y2K, ... and lots more!!

                   It also gives benchmarks of the Processor, Memory,
                   Harddisks, CD-Rom and the video adapter.

                   Works with: DOS, Win3.1, Win95/98/ME, (Win NT/2000)

                   Hans Niekus
                   http://ourworld.cs.com/jniekus
                   http://home.wxs.nl/~nieku001
                   Email: [email protected]

                  Code: [Select]
                  ¦   Hardware Info Program <SHAREWARE>   ¦
                  Ã---------------------------------------Â
                  ¦ ¦ Recognizes 130 CPUs, CPU info, FPU  ¦
                  ¦ ¦ Processor Number even if disabled ! ¦
                  ¦ ¦ MultiCPU, P.I.ROM and Chipset info  ¦
                  ¦ ¦ PnP, DMI, APM and ACPI information  ¦
                  ¦ ¦ SPD Memory module and cache info    ¦
                  ¦ ¦ ISA, EISA, MCA, PCI, A.G.P. devices ¦
                  ¦ ¦ 421 VGA chipsets, memory size+type  ¦
                  ¦ ¦ Video card, RAMDAC, TIGA, TV tuner  ¦
                  ¦ ¦ VESA DDC monitor identification     ¦
                  ¦ ¦ Sound card, CD-ROM, PCMCIA, Printer ¦
                  ¦ ¦ COM, LPT, HW key, Modem info; 8042  ¦
                  ¦ ¦ ASPI SCSI devices information       ¦
                  ¦ ¦ E-IDE, ATAPI, LS-120, ZIP, DVD info ¦
                  ¦ ¦ CPU Errata Test, IRQ & DMA list     ¦
                  ¦ ¦ CPU, FPU, MMX, Disk, CD benchmarks  ¦
                  ¦ ¦ Temperature, Voltage and FAN status ¦
                  ¦      ... and much, much more ...      ¦
                  Ã---------------------------------------Â
                  ¦ (c)1995-01 Martin Malík, BA, SLOVAKIA ¦
                  ¦              mailto:[email protected] ¦
                  ¦                 http://www.hwinfo.com ¦

                  Code: [Select]
                  Diag, the diagnostic programm (Author D. Marks)
                  -----------------------------------------------
                  Detects, tests and benchmarks your Hard- and Software.

                  Code: [Select]
                  PC-CONFIG V9.30 -Detects all the hardware
                  in your PC and shows them on the screen.
                  One of the best sysinfo-programs ever.
                  With CD-ROM benchmark routine! Finds
                  PCI boards, 6x86, K6-3, NexGen, Athlon
                  and Pentium III CPUs, detects lots of VGA
                  chips, APM functions, Burst Cache, Green
                  boards, Pentium Bug, PCMCIA, EIDE feat.
                  detailed PCI and SCSI info.


                  What you need to realise about question forums these days is that people don't give good details about their question,
                  or give bogus details, and are rude when you ask for further details - and you often don't hear from them when they have their solution.

                  It's a far cry from the days when everyone was an enthusiast and some respect was common.

                  student0101

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                    Re: mode woes
                    « Reply #22 on: January 21, 2015, 11:06:43 AM »
                    Thanks for your help, folks.

                    Went through the application source code (written in DBL – DEC's Dibol variant) yesterday to see if there might be a stranded command that changes the COM port settings. Didn't find any. The only place it talks to the COM port is where it opens a channel to COM1, dumps the data into it, and closes the channel. It does it repeatedly most of the time without “misfiring.” Just to be sure, I reissued the MODE command just before opening that channel. No change.
                       
                    Also spoke with the Black Box people. They say their converter simply takes the 8 data bits from the COM port, reassembles them into a parallel stream, and  sends the stream down to the Centronics plug. The DIP switches on this adapter are set to the same values as the COM port. They also suggested I bring the speed up, so I set it 19200, the max under DOS 5.0. Other than that, they say their converter listens to the printer for send/stop signals. The data streams are short - less than 1Kb total, way below the printer's 14K buffer capacity - so a stop signal is presumably never issued.

                    Further digging revealed that some escape sequences are not passed, the wrong sequence is passed, or are somehow packaged differently. This printer uses the Epson LQ-860 command set. However, symbol set “ESC (s12H” (27,'(s12H') embedded in the application software - and called under certain conditions - for example, locks up the printer whereas its decimal equivalent, 27,77, seems to get through OK. The lockup remains even after an initialize (27,64) string is issued. Don't know what effect other escape sequences might have.

                    So it seems the problem is not with the COM port setting after all. In any case, printer control beyond issuing basic commands is not my forte so, to eliminate the converter as the source, I ordered a serial interface, KX-PS14, for the printer. I'll see how that works and report back.

                    Squashman



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                    Re: mode woes
                    « Reply #23 on: January 21, 2015, 11:28:25 AM »
                    You are certainly bringing back a lot of old memories for us.  But I am pretty sure my bourbon addiction has killed off most of my DOS brain cells.

                    patio

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                    Re: mode woes
                    « Reply #24 on: January 21, 2015, 02:47:29 PM »
                    It's impossible to have a Bourbon addiction because of the nature of it's subliety's...
                    " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

                    foxidrive



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                    Re: mode woes
                    « Reply #25 on: January 22, 2015, 03:23:57 AM »
                    It's impossible to have a Bourbon addiction because of the nature of it's subliety's...

                    and coz it makes you forget how to spell ;)

                    I ordered a serial interface, KX-PS14, for the printer. I'll see how that works and report back.

                    That will be of interest - and thanks for the detailed information.

                    student0101

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                      Re: mode woes
                      « Reply #26 on: January 23, 2015, 12:27:02 PM »
                      I'm also looking at ATEN's AF142 printer switch as a workaround in case my serial interface solution bombs out, too. Their AF152.EXE loads a TSR hard-coded to capture Alt-L-Shift-1 and Alt-L-Shift-2 (or Alt-L-Shift-A and Alt-L-Shift-B) interrupts to select one of two parallel printers connected to the (one and only) parallel port via their AF142 switch. This arrangement isn't practical for batch processing (someone has to be there to physically press these keys together), so I want to simulate it in the application software.

                      Does anyone happen to know if there is an MS-DOS 5.0 command string or prog to simulate a PC-101 keyboard's Alt-L-Shift-1 and Alt-L-Shift-2 inputs? I can call any DOS command string or external prog from the application but assembly language programming to simulate keyboard scancodes is over my head.

                      Squashman



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                      Re: mode woes
                      « Reply #27 on: January 23, 2015, 12:51:30 PM »
                      We got a guy over on the DosTips forum that is pretty good with Assembly.  I will see if I can get him to stop over here.

                      foxidrive



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                      Re: mode woes
                      « Reply #28 on: January 23, 2015, 11:30:54 PM »
                      Does anyone happen to know if there is an MS-DOS 5.0 command string or prog to simulate a PC-101 keyboard's Alt-L-Shift-1 and Alt-L-Shift-2 inputs?

                      I can email any of these if you want to try them.


                      Code: [Select]
                      KeyTap v1.30 - Non-TSR keystroke simulator.
                      Runs application or shell whilst simulating
                      user keypresses. Ideal for automating menu
                      driven programs, or using from batch scripts.
                      Key list may given on command line or read
                      from file. Automatic pacing for slow apps.
                      Delays can be inserted into the key list.
                      less than 3.5K in memory!

                      Code: [Select]
                      KeyPress 3.0 is designed to "stuff" the keyboard buffer.  Unlike
                      other programs, however, KeyPress is not a TSR and does not hook any
                      interrupt vectors to do this.  The result is that KeyPress does not
                      require any memory and does not pose a compatibility problem for any
                      other programs.  The downside is that KeyPress can only stuff in 16
                      characters before running out of space in the keyboard buffer.

                      Code: [Select]
                      AUTOKEY
                      Automatic keyboard entry from a text file.
                      Batch file utility.

                          @echo off
                          :SET-EOF.BAT - Sets evar EOF=^Z  (Ctrl-Z)
                           echo "set eof="F6 CR>temptemp.key
                           echo "rem --- del temptemp.key" CR>>temptemp.key
                           echo "release" CR>>temptemp.key
                           mark
                           autokey temptemp.key
                          :End ------------------------------ -vjf-


                      Code: [Select]
                        STUFFIT 3.21 / STUFFKEY 4.10
                                   ------------------------------------------
                                Stuffit Copyright (c) Terje Mathison 1990 - 1992
                             Stuffkey Enhancements Copyright (c) Juergen Geist 1992
                            Stuffkey 4.10 Enhancements Copyright (c) Mike Smith 1995
                             ------------------------------------------------------
                               Although copyrighted, the described programs are a
                                                 'labor of love'
                                              and completely free!



                      student0101

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                        Re: mode woes
                        « Reply #29 on: January 24, 2015, 11:48:19 AM »
                        Thanks Squashman. Standing by...

                        Thanks for the offer foxidrive. Did these progs work for you? I've tried several of these but they all seem to be limited to 2-byte scancodes.

                        KeyTap and Autokey: Neither seems able to handle 3-byte scancodes (e.g. Alt+L-Shift+1 returns the same 2-byte code as Alt+1).

                        I didn't try Stuffit and Stuffkey because their doc doesn't even list 3-byte codes (e.g. Alt+L-shift+character) (http://files.mpoli.fi/unpacked/software/dos/utils/keyboard/stfkey41.zip/stuffkey.doc).

                        Autokey doesn't work for me because, according to their doc, it can't coexist with TSRs that call the keyboard input.

                        I couldn't find KeyPress 3.3 for MS-DOS 5.0 so if you have a copy that works - or a link to one - I'd appreciate it.

                        Squashman



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                        Re: mode woes
                        « Reply #30 on: January 24, 2015, 04:59:51 PM »

                        student0101

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                          Re: mode woes
                          « Reply #31 on: January 24, 2015, 07:51:51 PM »
                          You could give SCANCODE a try.
                          http://www.resoo.org/docs/dos/free_software/keyb.htm

                          Downloaded scncd590.zip (beta); read the doc files; tried it as a command line; looks promising. Thanks. Ordered a switch. Will let you know how it turns out.  :)

                          foxidrive



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                          Re: mode woes
                          « Reply #32 on: January 25, 2015, 07:16:28 AM »
                          Thanks for the offer foxidrive. Did these progs work for you?

                          I didn't often use those features in the MSDOS days.

                          Look at Scancode here which looks like it handles three-key sequences: http://bretjohnson.us/
                          At least it looks like it in the V5.00 doc I have here anyway.

                          You could give SCANCODE a try.
                          http://www.resoo.org/docs/dos/free_software/keyb.htm

                          EDIT: I was beaten by page 2. :)

                          kbit



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                          Re: mode woes
                          « Reply #33 on: January 25, 2015, 10:45:47 PM »
                           Just dropping some info , my book says " To display the current status of a serial port , enter the MODE COM# command without any parameters . To display the status of all the DOS devices attached to your computer , enter the MODE command alone . "

                          MODE COM# baud, parity, data, stop, retry 
                            #= 1 , 2 , 3 , 4  colon after number is optional
                           baud= 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, or 19200    can enter just first two digits
                           parity= N for NONE , O for ODD , E for EVEN , M for MARK , S for SPACE   default is E
                           data= 5 through 8  default is 7
                           stop= 1 , 1.5 , 2   110 baud default is 2 , otherwise default is 1
                           retry= instructs DOS how to handle timeouts [ B , Return busy when port is busy ][ E , Return error ][ P , Retry until accepted  ][ R , Return ready ]     continuous  retries on dos 5 and up use B , dos 4 and lower use P , might hang computer but can stop continuous retries with Ctrl-Break [ N or NONE take no action , default]

                           Hope it helps , seems like all the important stuff for MODE and serial ports.

                          Squashman



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                          Re: mode woes
                          « Reply #34 on: January 26, 2015, 08:02:05 AM »
                          Just dropping some info , my book says " To display the current status of a serial port , enter the MODE COM# command without any parameters . To display the status of all the DOS devices attached to your computer , enter the MODE command alone . "

                          MODE COM# baud, parity, data, stop, retry 
                            #= 1 , 2 , 3 , 4  colon after number is optional
                           baud= 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, or 19200    can enter just first two digits
                           parity= N for NONE , O for ODD , E for EVEN , M for MARK , S for SPACE   default is E
                           data= 5 through 8  default is 7
                           stop= 1 , 1.5 , 2   110 baud default is 2 , otherwise default is 1
                           retry= instructs DOS how to handle timeouts [ B , Return busy when port is busy ][ E , Return error ][ P , Retry until accepted  ][ R , Return ready ]     continuous  retries on dos 5 and up use B , dos 4 and lower use P , might hang computer but can stop continuous retries with Ctrl-Break [ N or NONE take no action , default]

                           Hope it helps , seems like all the important stuff for MODE and serial ports.
                          All this information has already been established.  Please read a thread to its entirety before posting.

                          student0101

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                            Re: mode woes
                            « Reply #35 on: January 29, 2015, 11:35:19 AM »
                            Hope it helps , seems like all the important stuff for MODE and serial ports.

                            Thanks, kbit. I was actually looking for info beyond documented switches/options. In any case, as Squashman stated, this issue has been resolved.