Category : Network Files
Archive   : WEAKLINK.ZIP
Filename : WEAKLINK.DOC

 
Output of file : WEAKLINK.DOC contained in archive : WEAKLINK.ZIP
















The WEAK Link


Version 1.2a
(Shareware version)





(c) Copyright 1987-1988

Don Jindra
Information Modes
P.O. Drawer F.
Denton, Texas 76202
Phone 817-387-3339
























This product may be distributed freely as long as nothing is added
to, altered, or removed from the disk. This is a shareware version of a
commercial product. It is fully functional but does not include source code.
A registered copy of this product can be purchased from Information Modes.

;page
PAGE 1
INTRODUCTION


This is a simple master/slave serial link-up program. Two standard
IBMs or clones can be linked together via RS232 ports and a null modem cable.
COM1 thru COM4 may be used. The master program is a device driver which must
be included in the config.sys file. It is always resident and always "on".
The slave is a .com program which, when run, allows the master to use any block
device installed on that slave. For instance, if the master has 1 floppy as
A: and 1 hard disk as drive C:, then drive D: can be the slave's drive A:, and
drive E: can be the slave's drive C:, and drive F: can be the slave's RAMDRIVE.
Mapping of the slave's drives to the master can be in any order and can include
or exclude any of the slave's block devices. Mapping is done via a
SHARE:abcd... parameter on the slave program's command line. When the slave
program is running the master has complete control of the computer. This
utility is primarily intended to allow file transfers between two machines with
different or non-removable media. You could transfer from a portable's 3 1/2
inch drives to a 5 1/4 inch drive on another machine. Or you could transfer an
entire directory of one hard disk to another on a different machine. Transfer
speed is selectable from 1200 to 115k baud. Transfer is extremely simple since
the master thinks the slave is a collection of drives. Standard COPY and DIR
commands work equally well on the master or slave drives.



NOTE: Some later model PCs use 82C50 UARTs which have a bug. NEC Multispeed
is one example. This bug causes The WEAK Link to run sporadically.
A fix is in the works.




_______________
[ ]
[ IMPORTANT ]
[ ]
[ PLEASE READ ]
[_______________]


* BE EXTREMELY CAREFULL WHEN MIXING
DOS VERSIONS ON HARD DISK SYSTEMS.
DOS 2.x WILL NOT PROPERLY ACCESS
HARD DISKS FORMATTED WITH DOS 3.x.

* TEST THE READ INTEGRITY OF REMOTE HARD
DISKS. FOR SAFETY, TYPE LONG FILES.
MAKE SURE TEXT IS COMPLETELY THERE.

* NEVER WRITE TO A REMOTE HARD DISK UNTIL
YOU ARE TOTALLY SURE OF READ INTEGRITY.

* NEVER WRITE TO A HARD DISK WITHOUT FIRST
MAKING A BACKUP OF YOUR VALUABLE DATA.

;page
PAGE 2


INSTALLATION



The WEAK Link will work on any IBM PC/XT/AT which has a serial card
installed. The card must follow the IBM specifications as outlined in the
Technical Reference manual. If it uses a 8250 or 16450 communications chip
then it is probably ok. The memory requirements are minimal. DOS 2.0 or
higher is required.






SIMPLIFIED STEPS:


COPY CONFIG.S to the slave's boot disk.
REN CONFIG.S CONFIG.SYS on the slave's boot disk.
COPY NET00000.SYS to the slave's boot disk.
COPY PS.COM to the slave's boot disk.
reboot the slave computer

COPY CONFIG.M to the master's boot disk
REN CONFIG.M CONFIG.SYS on the master's boot disk
COPY PM.SYS to the master's boot disk.
reboot the master computer

run PS.COM on the slave



The master can now use the slave's drives as it's own. These
directions assume both systems have at least one 5 1/4 inch drive to read
this disk.






TRANSFERING TO OTHER MEDIA:


Included on this disk are two short BASICA programs which can be used
to transfer the slave's startup files via a serial link. TMT.BAS should be run
on the machine which can read this disk. RCV.BAS should be run on the other
machine, and will have to be typed in at the keyboard. The program is short
and shouldn't take much time to enter. Once RCV.BAS has been entered on the
other machine, run it under BASICA or GWBASIC. Make sure your null cable is
hooked up. Then run TMT.BAS under BASICA on the main machine. TMT.BAS will
transfer (slowly) the three files you will need to set up the other machine as
a slave. Then you can transfer the rest of this disk mush faster using The
WEAK Link.

If all else fails, other media can be supplied.


;page
PAGE 3



SLAVE INSTALLATION:

The config.sys file must include the line:

device=net00000.sys

The net00000.sys character device is used to setup the internal device
driver list. If net00000.sys is not properly installed the slave program
cannot find the addresses of the DOS device drivers. It should be the first
device in the list so should be the last line in the config.sys file.
Programmers.... any 4 byte read of net0 (the device name is net0, the file
name is net00000.sys ) will return the dword pointer to the net0 device
driver. This dword address can be used to search through the DOS device
driver chain.

Once net00000.sys is installed, you can run ps.com to put the computer
into the slave mode. If the communication port you are using is not COM1 then
you must indicate which port you are using with the COMx parameter on the
command line. If the baud rate you want is not 56k baud then you must indicate
your baud rate on the command line with the /nn parameter. You can modify the
order slave drives are presented to the master by using the SHARE:xxx
parameter. These parameters are described below. When the master/slave link
is no longer needed, just press "q" and the slave will return to normal
operation.

EXAMPLE:

A> PS COM1 /2 SHARE:ACDE






MASTER INSTALLATION:


The config.sys file must include the line:

device=pm.sys

When the system reboots, the master is installed and will display its
sign-on message. Then the master can access the slave whenever the slave is
running ps.com. Necessary parameters are entered on the config.sys command
line. Parameters are just as in the slave device with the addition of an @nn
parameter which tells DOS how many devices the slave will support.

EXAMPLE:

DEVICE=PM.SYS COM2 /2 @4



COMBINATION MASTER/SLAVE:

You can combine the master and slave configuration files. This will
allow you to run the slave program PS.COM on either machine then access that
machine from the other. Both machines would have the master installed:

DEVICE=NET00000.SYS
DEVICE=PM.SYS
;page
PAGE 4


COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS



COMx You can use COM1 thru COM4 as the communications port on
either machine. If this parameter is not given then COM1
is used. If the port specified does not exist then the
program cannot continue and will abort.

/nnn This will specify the baud rate divisor. The "nnn" is any
decimal number from 0 to 199. The default is "/2" which is 56k
baud. Both computers must use the same baud rate, so if this
parameter is entered on one machine, the same value must also
be entered on the other. Some selected values are:

/1 115,200 baud
/2 57,600 baud <-- default
/3 38,400 baud
/6 19,200 baud
/12 9,600 buad
/16 7,200 baud
/24 4,800 baud
/32 3,600 baud
/48 2,400 baud
/96 1,200 baud
/192 600 baud


SHARE:abc... The slave can specify which drives the master may control and
in which order they are presented. "SHARE:ca" would allow the
master to access drives C and A drives only, and in that order.
If the Master had drives A, B, and C installed locally, then
its logical drive D would be the slave's drive C because C was
the first drive in the slave's SHARE: list. The master's drive
E would be the slave's drive A because A was the second drive
in the SHARE: list. There can be no space between the colon
and the drive letters. Up to 16 drive letters can be
specified. The drive letters can be in any order and can be
any valid block device including ram drives. The only
limitation is that the device must use 512 byte sectors. If
SHARE: is not specified then the default used is
"SHARE:abcdefghijklmnop". This parameter is valid for the
slave only.


@nn The master needs to know how many drive units to allocate to
the slave. If this parameter is unused then the master assumes
4 drive units reside on the slave. In most cases this is just
fine, but if the master has too many drives of its own, or if
the master must define some more drives after the slave, or if
the slave has more than 4 drives, then the "@nn" parameter can
be used to limit or extend the number of logical drives used up
by the slave. "nn" can be any decimal number from 1 to 16.
The default is "@4". This parameter is valid for the master
only.




NOTE: The command line parameters may be entered in any order and
in either upper or lower case.
;page
PAGE 5


*** CABLE ***




NULL modem cable, only 5 lines are used:




Computer 1 Computer 2
---------- ----------

13* 13*
*25 *25
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
*-DTR------\ /----------------DTR-----*
GROUND *----------->> \/ <<-----------------* GROUND
* /\ *
DSR *--------------/ \----------------DSR-*
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
RCV DATA *-----------------\ /------------------* RCV DATA
* X *
TMT DATA *-----------------/ \------------------* TMT DATA
*14 *14
1* 1*






6' Ready made cable available for ...........$ 15.00
Programs and source on 5 1/4 inch media .....$ 15.00
Programs and source on 3 1/2 inch media ......+ 5.00
Shipping in U.S. ............................. free

Total package ...............................$ 30.00

;page
9/23/87
3/10/88
7/28/88

APPENDIX


If you find this program to be of value please register your copy for
$15. The WEAK Link is as good as or superior to similar products which would
cost you $70-$150. Your money will directly help fund new products which may
be even more valuable to you than this one. We specialize in high quality
software at ridiculously low prices. Your $15 check can be sent to:

Information Modes
P.O. Drawer F.
Denton, Texas 76202

You can also call me personally at 817-387-3339. You'll never get an answering
machine (I HATE THEM) and I'm always glad to answer any questions 7 days a
week, day or night. If you send me a check, a registered copy of the program,
including all source code, will be sent within 24 hours. You'll find the
support you will get far exceeds the so-called support you get from the major
software companies. Try calling them with any technical question. Here you
can speak to the author direct.




The WEAK Link was actually a spinoff product generated while working
on a far superior program called:
_____________________
[ ]
[ The $25 Network ]
[_____________________]

I had long wanted a network for my two computers but the cost of even the
cheapest setup was prohibitive. I decided to write my own network program
using the RS232 cards I already had. Since networking software was relatively
complex, I thought it would be best to tackle a simpler project first. The
WEAK Link was a "study" to make sure I understood DOS block device drivers. It
took me about 2-3 weeks. I then used some of the concepts I had learned to
develop The $25 Network. It was far more complex because I wanted to be able
to use both computers at any time, regardless of the activity on the other.
This project took about 3 months. But I now have a two or three computer
network on which I can share any device - including disks and printers - at any
time. Its speed is equivalent to The WEAK Link. I am also working on a larger
network which will support even more machines, possible 20-30. It will support
computer to computer links via serial cards, parallel cards, or a cheap network
card of my own design. I also intend to support modem links.

I hope you will register your copy of The WEAK Link. But if you like
the WEAK Link and are considering registering it, you may want to buy The $25
Network instead because it renders The WEAK Link obsolete. Of course, if you
want source code then The WEAK Link will provide you with a good example of how
to write DOS device drivers. I will not offer source to The $25 Network.
Neither will I offer it as a shareware program.

;page
__________________________________________________________________________
[ ]
[ European customers ]
[ ]
[ As of 3/3/88, the registered version of The WEAK Link and a German ]
[ language version of The $25 Network is available from: ]
[ ]
[ Kirschbaum Software GmbH ]
[ Kronau 15 ]
[ D-8091 Emmering ]
[ West Germany ]
[ Tel. (0 80 67) 12 20 ]
[ Fax. (0 80 67) 10 53 ]
[ ]
[ Other versions may be available. ]
[__________________________________________________________________________]






Other software products available from Information Modes:


1) The $25 Network ................................... $25
2) DOS 1.1 Disassembled, fully commented ............. $20
3) DOS 2.1 Disassembled, fully commented ............. $45
4) DOS 3.2 Disassembled, fully commented ............. ??? not yet set
5) Hercules Tools + CGA Emulator (+source)............ $15
6) Technical Manual .................................. $5
7) 8741/2/8/9 Emulator (+source)...................... $15
8) The WEAK Link, (this) serial version (+souce)...... $15
9) The WEAK Link, parallel port version (+source)..... $15


  3 Responses to “Category : Network Files
Archive   : WEAKLINK.ZIP
Filename : WEAKLINK.DOC

  1. Very nice! Thank you for this wonderful archive. I wonder why I found it only now. Long live the BBS file archives!

  2. This is so awesome! 😀 I’d be cool if you could download an entire archive of this at once, though.

  3. But one thing that puzzles me is the “mtswslnkmcjklsdlsbdmMICROSOFT” string. There is an article about it here. It is definitely worth a read: http://www.os2museum.com/wp/mtswslnk/