Dumb Terminal in the Computer Room The ancient "lap top" on the work bench in the Computer Room can be used as a Kronen console terminal, a Terminal Server terminal, or a VxWorks terminal. (Before Kronen's console printer died, it was used exclusively as a Terminal Server terminal logged in to Kronen to set the encoder zero points.) One selects one of the above three possibilities by connecting the corresponding cable to the back of the PC. Note that when connected to the Terminal Server and has the "SMT Term. Servr>" prompt, one must "c kronen" or "telnet kronen" to log in to it. Ordinarily, we choose the Kronen Console cable because in this mode, the terminal can also be logged in to Kronen to set the encoder zero points yet still log the Console messages. But if there's trouble with the Terminal Server or one wants to use it to log into a different system, one could connect that cable. (This cable is the Terminal Server's console port. It puts progress messages on it when it downloads its software from Kronen upon power up.) Or if there's trouble with the Filterbank's VxWorks, one should connect that cable to diagnose the problem. If Kronen needs rebooting, one can log in as user SHUTDOWN with the PC connected either to the Kronen Console cable or the Terminal Server cable. (One should first log out if it is already logged in to Kronen.) The PC must be running VTERM in order to communicate with the unit that it is connected to. When it is first booted, it will get to a DOS prompt. To run VTERM, type cd vterm vterm The VTERM manual cannot be located. The following is an abbrieviated description of how to use it. The screen ordinarily displays a status line at the bottom in reverse video. (ALT-L toggles this off and on.) The normal status line is: VT100 LC ^v<> 1 2 3 4 11% FULL 1-80 ----- ---- ---- --------- ----- ---- - - - - --- --------- ------ ------- ------ a b c d Field "a" will toggle between LC and CAPS with the CAPS LOCK key. Field "b" will have NUM if the NUM LOCK key is on. (It should be off.) Field "c" will be blank if the scrollback buffer capture is off. Otherwise, it shows how full the buffer is. (ALT-B toggles the capture off and on. It should be on.) Field "d" shows which columns of the 132-column screen are being displayed. If it is blank, VTERM is in 80-column mode. (It should be in 132-column mode. Use the w command at an SMTSYS prompt to have Kronen send the escape sequence that turns the 132-column mode on. Or use the Setup Screen [below] and change the Screen Format setting.) In 132-column mode, one can scroll the window left or right with CTRL-left and CTRL-right arrow. Field "d" will change to show which columns are being displayed. If one wants to view lines that have scrolled off the top, first hit ALT-V. The status line will change to something like BUFFER 30% FULL LINES IN BUFFER 325 LINES DISPLAYED 312-312 1-80 ------------------ ----------------------- ------------------------------ ------ Now the up and down arrows, Pg Up, and Pg Down will scroll the screen through the buffer. IMPORTANT: Strike ALT-V again to return to the normal mode so that more lines can be received. To exit VTERM, use CTRL-BREAK. To enter DOS temporarily, do SHIFT-SHIFT. (To return to VTERM do SHIFT-SHIFT again.) How to Save Output to a File. If one is having trouble with Kronen, one might want to save a hard copy of the error messages that might appear on the console. (If it won't boot for example, one might want to save the error messages to send to Tucson.) Since there's no printer attached to the PC, one can only save the messages to disk. (One could either write the result on a floppy or up load it to a file on one of the other computers.) It's unknown if there's a way to get VTERM to write its scroll back buffer to disk. But one can put VTERM in a file capture mode where it records all that it receives to disk. To turn this on hit ALT-R. This pops up a menu where you can change the file name (or use the default name, VTERM.XFR). Another ALT-R will turn on the capture-to-file mode. If the file already exists, you will need to strike O to allow it to be over-written. To turn off the file capture mode, hit ALT-A. How to Transfer the Contents of the Capture File to Another Computer First log in to a computer and put it in a mode where it will save what you type to a file. For example, one could connect to the Terminal Server cable and telnet jever and after logging in cat > foo.bar To get VTERM to "type" the contents of the file, hit ALT-S. This will pop up a window where you can specify the file name (if needed). When ready, another ALT-S will transfer the file. When it is done, one would then hit CTRL-D in the above example to get Jever to finish writing the file, foo.bar. VTERM Setup F5 puts VTERM in the SETUP mode. ESC puts it back in normal mode. The first setup screen should show the following configuration: TERMINAL Type: VT100 (ANSI) COMMUNICATIONS Rate: 9600 New Line: OFF Data Bits/parity: 8 NONE Wrap Around: OFF Receive Parity: IGNORE Scroll: NORMAL Stop Bits: ONE Screen: NORMAL VIDEO Auto xon/xoff: OFF Cursor Type: BLOCK Local Echo: OFF Margin Bell: OFF COM Port: 1 DA Response: VT102 Online/local: ON LINE Status Line: ON Backspace Sends: DELETE Shift-3 Displays: # Screen Format: 132 x 24 132 Column Method: SCROLLING Window Movement: MANUAL Scrollback Buffer: ALLOW OVERFLOW (One could choose another Cursor Type or choose FOLLOWS CURSOR for Window Move- ment. If one is missing some characters, one might try ON for Auto xon/xoff.) Quick Reference: Toggle ALT-B to turn on Scrollback buffer Toggle ALT-V to view Scrollback buffer or not. Up and Down arrows change the lines viewed in the scrollback buffer CTRL-Left and Right moves the view left or right (whether in Scrollback View mode or not) To start VTERM after reboot: cd vterm vterm