Re: DOS-based software, running in Virtual PC (Windows XP) 7.0 for Mac, can't find Mac modem

tim.mcgaw_at_ualberta.ca
Date: 02/12/05 

Date: 12 Feb 2005 08:06:53 -0800

Thanks for your detailed response, John.

I'll offer a bit more clarification.

When operating when installed on my old Thinkpad.... this DOS software
was not really trying to "communicate with the internet". Instead, it
was using the dial-up modem on the Thinkpad to connect by long distance
telephone line to the dial-up modem of PC in a firm that incorporates
the received data into their weekly "tape" data submission (on behalf
of my clinic and the numerous other clinics that contract with this
firm) to our provincial health care insurer (the public health care
equivalent, in Canada, of an HMO in the US).

Please help me understand the comment in your second paragraph,
regarding a modem.

For example........if I were travelling with my Powerbook and relying
upon my Earthlink dial-up internet connection (rather than the cable
internet connection at home and work).... what does VPC do if:

i) I am not already in the middle of a dial-up Internet session on my
Powerbook, and;
ii) I launch Internet Explorer from Windows in VPC.

I would naively expect that VPC would only be able to establish the
Internet connection, in the
preceding scenario, by means of initiation of a dial-up connection to
my Earthlink ISP provider and that this, in turn, would involve it's
recognizing or communicating with the internal dial-up modem on my
Powerbook.

Not sure if I am making this clear, but I wanted to elaborate... since
my read of your explanation, suggested that you were under the
impressing that this was an e-mail issue or that this involved being
able to use the cable internet connection active on my Powerbook. In
contrast, my issue directly involves being able to use the Powerbook's
dial-up modem for a dial-up connection to a computer in a different
city.

In light of the above clarification.... is there any further advice
that you could offer?

Thanks
Tim

tim.mcgaw@ualberta.ca wrote:
> I'll preface this message by stating that I am an END-user of
software,
>
> without any real intuitive insight into how programming code actually
> works. Therefore the following question/problem will, no doubt,
betray
> my programming naivete.
>
>
> I use Virtual PC for Mac 7.0 (Windows XP) for a single purpose......
to
>
> operate a very old (but for me, essential) custom software
> package.....essentially an antiquated DOS beast.
>
>
> I used to carry around an old Thinkpad-X20 in my briefcase for the
sole
>
> purpose of being able to run this software (everything else I do with
a
>
> computer is on my beloved Powerbook).
>
>
> For the most part, the old DOS-based billing software runs just fine
in
>
> Virtual PC on my Powerbook, and I can enter all of my new weekly data
> without a problem.
>
>
> However..... the problem arises when this DOS-based program tries to
> find, initialize, and use the internal modem on the Mac. It just
can't
> do it..... so I have to copy the datafile to my desktop PC once a
week
> in order to be able to submit my data by modem.
>
>
> Perhaps one of you can look at what the DOS software is attempting to
> do, from within Virtual PC environment in which I am running it, and
> advise whether any subtle changes would let it find the Mac internal
> modem.
>
>
> The modem.dat file that the DOS program is attempting to use has the
> following content/format....
>
>
> 2
> 9600
> N
> 8
> 1
> 1
> 7
> 7785240
> 7785240
> 7785240
> ATDT,1,403
> AT&F&N6Q0L2V1X4S0=1
> 7785240
> MODEM
> ATZ
> 2
> 7785240
> CONNECT 1200
> CONNECT 2400
> CONNECT 9600
> BUSYNO CARRIERNO DIALTONENO ANSWERERROR
> 423
>
>
>
> In looking at the preceding..... can anyone offer some insight as to
> how this message string might possibly be reconfigured to enable it
to:
>
> a) accomplish what it is attempting to accomplish above, but....
> b) accomplish this through finding the internal modem on the
Powerbook
> that is running Virtual PC rather than the Windows-based internal
modem
>
> with which it is impotently attempting to communicate?
>
>
> Thanks!!

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Linux MTU??
    ... > connects to a plain old dial-up MODEM. ... > is used for the connection to the internet. ...
    (alt.os.linux)
  • Modem Firewalled
    ... I cannot connect to the internet using my dial-up modem. ... When I go to My Network Places and then to dial-up I get ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Repeatedly disconnect from internet (Dial-up Problem)
    ... I can not connect to Internet easily. ... Modem make is Multi Tech System, ... to Internet with O.S Windows 98 but with Window XP ... This connection uses the following items: ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
  • Re: Trouble obtaining IP address
    ... I have an old computer connected to internet via DSL modem which used to ... Just how DHCP, and DHCP leases, work. ... address for your connection was already assigned, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)
  • Re: Trouble obtaining IP address
    ... So some internet providers will not ... On newer systems, you have to power cycle the cable modem to make it work reliably, with a pause of about a minute between off and on. ... This is what the "clone MAC address" function on routers is for - you log into the router from the system that was originally connected to the cable modem, ... >said I cannot switch Ethernet cable from one computer to another and>expect ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web)