Enhancements/Bug Fixes Software Release 1.1.2. FIXES o- Flow release causing data loss of xmit data o- Anamolous disconnect when in S16 link state o- Retry-out handling when version 2 of AX25L2 works like table now o- ID doubling fixed (i think -- could not dupe the bug here) o- Sluggish carrier detect repaired, the TNC is much friendlier to other stations now o- Monitor headers aren't displayed for received data from a link when MCON ON and MON ON o- NULLS are handled in int routines, all combinations supported w/o loss o- CTEXT packetized at connect time instead of trave- ling through the queues o- NULL artifact from true-break transparent escape is now captured o- rare corruption of data with "cmd:" repaired o- 10 second timers (BEACON, CHECK) work at 10 sec intervals now o- and finally, a very troubling intermittent that caused innumerable problems like more loss of link state, strange stuff in cmd parameters etc. CHANGES o- ^Y handled much faster (inside async int routine) o- UA responses while in link setup mode are IGNORED if they differ from the attempted path o- Number-only calls allowed to support links to AX.121NA switches... o- The date of assembly (mm/dd/yy) appended to the release number ex: Release 1.1.2 12/03/85 - 16K RAM o- Interrupt handling speeded up at least two times. Support for 9600 both sides, fulldup is guaranteed with standard (2.45Mhz clock). Support for 19.2kbaud also assured with appropriate hardware mods for 4.9Mhz and faster I/O clocks. (My tests used two TNC2's, both running 9600 sync and async, FULLDUP ON MAX 7 PACL 0 in trans and CONV mode (ECHO ON and OFF) could not drop characters thru a link of six fulldup digipeaters and a 28K file.) PS: releases prior to 1.1.2 are NOT gauranteed for 9600 baud, and should not be relied upon in any mode at this data rate! o- The overflow buffer expanded to 256 characters (overflow after XOFF sent) ADDITIONS o- LCSTREAM command o- NOMODE command o- Failure of a CONPERMed link results in a "*** LINK OUT OF ORDER, possible data loss [opt. daytime stamp]" message (this message should be docu- mented with the other messages at the end of the 6- CMDS.MAN chapter. Software Release 1.1.3 FIXES o- When AX25L2V2 is ON, the TNC now answers L2 UI frames with P and C set with either: RR if connected (regardless of rcvr flow control state), or DM if not connected. o- Path for SABM received while in link-setup state is not checked. This corrects earlier operation where a self-connect via an odd number of different digipeaters fails. o- T2 utilization corrected for the 2nd through nth link o- FULLDUP operation restored o- Channel capture during busy times improved o- NOMODE bug, where the 'connect mode' setting was not used on received SABMS has been corrected. This bug may have caused the TNC to enter a state where it seemed like the TNC died, when it actually was in TRANSparent mode. CHANGES o- BEACONS not sent if BTEXT is null o- RESPTIME default now at 5; i.e. 500ms ADDITIONS o- RXBLOCK command o- TNC "Health" feature group installed Fourteen counters have been added to TNC 2. All of them are 16 bits wide, and are ALWAYS initialized to 0000 on power up or "RESTART". o- ASYRXOVR: Increases when the software does not service the asynchronous receiver in time. Indicates data from the user to the TNC is being dropped. This error counter should never become non-zero under supported data rates. o- DIGISENT: Each frame digipeated by this TNC causes the counter to increase. o- HOVRERR: Increases when HDLC receiver is not serviced rapidly enough and data is lost. This counter should never incre- ment at any supported data rate. o- HUNDRERR: Increases when the HDLC transmitter is not serviced rapidly enough and frames are aborted. This counter should never be non-zero at any supported data rate. o- RCVDFRMR: Increases when Frame reject frames are received from a connected station. o- RCVDIFRA: Increases for each reception of an I frame from a connectee. o- RCVDREJ: Increases for each reception of an REJ- ect frame from a connectee. o- RCVDSABM: Each received SABM frame addressed to the TNC causes this counter to be inc- reased by one. o- RXCOUNT: Increases when any frame is received with good CRC (or any CRC if HGARBAGE is turned on). o- RXERRORS: Increments each time a received frame is thrown out due to it being too short, suffering overrun(s), or it having a bad CRC. Latter occurs only when CRC checking is enabled (i.e. HGARBAGE is OFF). This counter will often increment in the presence of noise. o- SENTFRMR: Increments each time a Frame reject frame is transmitted. o- SENTIFRA: Increases by one each time an I frame is sent. o- SENTREJ: Whenever a REJect frame is transmitted, this counter is incremented. o- TXCOUNT: Incremented whenever a frame is correct- ly transmitted. The following information should be inserted into the DISPLAY command. DISPLAY HEALTH The counters just described, and the setting of HEALLED are displayed in response to the health inquiry. New Command Documentation for 1.1.2 and 1.1.3 AX25L2V2 ON|OFF Default: OFF Parameters: ON The TNC will use AX.25 Level 2 Version 2.0 protocol. OFF The TNC will use AX.25 Level 2 Version 1.0 protocol. Some implementations of the earlier version of AX.25 proto- col (e.g., TAPR's TNC 1) won't properly digipeat version 2.0 AX.25 packets. This command exists to provide compatibility with these other TNCs until their software has been updated. During the protocol transition period, you should set AX25L2V2 OFF. After your local area TNCs are updated to the newer protocol version, you should set AX25L2V2 ON. RXBLOCK ON|OFF Default: OFF Parameters: ON The TNC will send data to the terminal in RXBLOCK format. OFF The TNC will send data to the terminal in standard format. RXBLOCK is designed for automated operations, such as packet bulletin board stations. It is intended to help such systems discriminate between data received from the connected station and TNC-generated messages. Correct operation of RXBLOCK is dependant on the AWLEN parameter getting set to 8 (bits) since the character FF hex marks the beginning of a recieved data unit header. When RXBLOCK is on, data from other stations will be sent from the TNC in the following format: ------------------------------------------------------ | $FF | L0 | L1 | PID | DATA | ------------------------------------------------------ ( prefix )( length ) ( pid ) ( data ) The fields above are defined as follows: prefix $FF ::= A character with all 8 bits set length L0 ::= The high order length of the data, length, and pid fields logically ORed with the value $F0 L1 ::= The low order length of the data, length, and pid fields pid PID ::= The Protocol IDentifier byte received for the following data field data DATA ::= [Optional], variable length data For best operation it is suggested that parameters like AUTOLF, MFILTER etc. be set OFF in order to prevent uncer- tanties in the size of the data field. HEALLED ON|OFF Default: OFF Parameters: ON The TNC will "dither" the CON and STA LEDs. OFF The TNC will control the CON and STA LEDs in normal fashion. This command allows the user to redefine the functions of the two CPU controllable LEDs (i.e. the STAtus and CONnect LEDs). When HEALLED is set ON, the two LEDs flash in a seeming random fashion. At a glance, the user may make a judgement on whether the software has crashed, since the LEDs will probably not flash if the software fails catastrophically. With HEALLED set OFF, the LEDs function as before. LCSTREAM ON|OFF Default: ON Parameters: ON The TNC will translate the chareacter immedi- ately following the STREAMSWITCH character to upper case before processing it. OFF The TNC will process the character immediate- ly following the STREAMSWITCH character as it is entered. When operating multi-connect, the user must enter a stream identifier (default A through J) after the STREAMSWITCH character (default |) to select a new logical stream to send data. Normally, the stream identifier must be in upper case, or an error message will result. When LCSTREAM is ON, the character immediately following the streamswitch character is converted to upper case before being acted upon. Thus, the case (upper or lower) becomes insignificant. Use of LCSTREAM is useful if you are typing in lower case and don't want to be bothered with remembering to switch to upper case when changing streams. NOMODE ON|OFF Default: OFF Parameters: ON The TNC will only switch modes (command, converse or transparent) upon explicit com- mand. OFF The TNC will switch modes in accordance with the setting of NEWMODE. When NOMODE is ON, the TNC will never change between CONVERSE or TRANSPARENT mode to COMMAND mode (or vice-versa) on its own. Only user commands (CONV, TRANS, or ^C) may change the typein mode. If NOMODE is OFF, then automatic mode switching is handled according to the setting of the NEWMODE command.