I-Comm(TM) FAQ Last Modified: May 20, 1995 ================================================================== 1. What is I-Comm ? I-Comm is a full feature graphical WWW browser which does not require any kind of SLIP/PPP connections. If you have a PC with Windows, a modem and an Internet shell account, then you are ready to surf the Internet using I-Comm. No fancy setup needed. I-Comm has a "Mosaic look & feel" interface and can display pages while background downloading images. I-Comm also has a built-in full feature modem communication program which allows user to switch between a modem communication program and browser by one button click. I-Comm is a shareware. 2. What is I-Comm's minimum system requirements ? a. 386DX running MS-Windows (tm) 3.1 or above with 4MB Memory and 1MB Disk Space; b. 9.6 KB Modem or faster; c. A UNIX shell account with Internet access; d. Z-Modem transfer program "sz" installed in your UNIX shell account search path; e. "icomhost" program from Talent Communications, installed in your UNIX shell account search path; Or Lynx browser installed in your UNIX shell account search path; Or WWW browser installed in your UNIX shell account search path; 3. I-Comm's key features: a. Easy to setup. Easy to use. Get on to Internet in 5 minutes! b. Graphical WWW browser and modem communication program TWO IN ONE c. Switching between browser and terminal window by one button click makes Internet surfing easier and more enjoyable. d. Does NOT require any kind of SLIP/PPP connections e. Supports HTTP, FTP and Gopher protocols f. Complete form support. g. Can save HTML pages to disk with inline images h. Allows user to edit HTML file source i. Supports unlimited number of hot list files and allow user to edit the hot lists. j. Supports batch HTTP, FTP, Gopher file downloading k. Allows user to view HTML pages while background downloading image l. Built-in full feature modem communication program m. Fast Z-modem file upload/download. n. Phone book facility allows user to save Internet dial-up numbers 4. How to install I-Comm using I-Comm ZIP file? a. Create a TEMP directory on your hard disk, unzip (pkunzip) the I-Comm ZIP file under that directory; b. Start MS-Windows; c. Click on the File menu of your Windows Program Manager; d. Select Run, then type C:\TEMP\SETUP (or D:\TEMP\SETUP) and press OK. 5. How to run I-Comm ? a. Click on the File menu of your Windows Program Manager; b. Select Run, then type C:\I-COMM\BIN\I-COMM and press OK. * You also can create an icon for I-Comm by click on File menu of your Windows Program Manager, and select new. 6. What is "icomhost" ? "icomhost" is the Internet World Wide Web service program for I-Comm. If you don't have Lynx or WWW installed, you need place it in your Internet Shell account search path, before using I-Comm to surf the Internet. 7. If I don't have "icomhost" installed in my shell account, can I still use I-Comm ? Yes, if you have Lynx or WWW installed in your shell account, you can use I-Comm with Lynx or WWW. 8. Where can I obtain "icomhost" ? Currently, we have icomhost for Sun4, HP, BSDI, Linux, SCO, Unix System V for IBM PC, IBM AIX RS6000, DEC OSF/1 and DEC Station ULTRIX V4.2A. If you are using other platforms, please let us know, we will try to port it for you. The current version of icomhost is 1.00A. You can obtain it from following ftp sites: Netcom ftp site: * Sun4: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/sun4/icomhost.gz"> * Sun Solaris2: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/sun4-sol2/icomhost.gz"> * HP: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/hp/icomhost.gz"> * BSDI (Berkeley UNIX for IBM PC): <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/bsdi/icomhost.gz"> * Linux: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/linux/icomhost.gz"> * Novell UNIX System V Release 4.2 for PC: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/sysV/icomhost.gz"> * SCO UNIX System V/386 Release 3.2: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/sco/icomhost.gz"> * IBM AIX Version 3 for RISC System/6000: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/rs6000/icomhost.gz"> * DEC OSF/1 version 2.0: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/decOSF/icomhost.gz"> * DEC Station ULTRIX V4.2A(Mips): <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/decstation/icomhost.gz"> Best Internet ftp site: * Sun4: <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/sun4/icomhost.gz"> * Sun Solaris2: <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/sun4-sol2/icomhost.gz"> * HP: <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/hp/icomhost.gz"> * BSDI (Berkeley UNIX for IBM PC): <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/bsdi/icomhost.gz"> * Linux: <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/linux/icomhost.gz"> * Novell UNIX System V Release 4.2 for PC: <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/sysV/icomhost.gz"> * SCO UNIX System V/386 Release 3.2: <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/sco/icomhost.gz"> * IBM AIX Version 3 for RISC System/6000: <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/rs6000/icomhost.gz"> * DEC OSF/1 version 2.0: <URL:"ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ic/icomm/decOSF/icomhost.gz"> * DEC Station ULTRIX V4.2A(Mips): <URL:"ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/icomm/decstation/icomhost.gz"> 9. How to install "icomhost" ? a. Download "icomhost.gz" to your Internet shell account; b. Type "gzip -d icomhost.gz" in your Internet shell account; c. Use "chmod 700 icomhost" to make "icomhost" Executable; d. Place it in your shell account search path; e. Type "icomhost -t" at the command line. If it can download the "icomtest.htm" file properly, that means you have installed "icomhost" program successfully. 10. After I started I-Comm, how can I connect to Internet ? STOP: you have to installed Z-modem program "sz", and one of following programs: icomhost, lynx or www before you using I-Comm to connect to Internet. a. Click on the Communication menu of I-Comm program; Select Com Port Setup, select the correct modem port and its setup; b. Click on the Communication menu of I-Comm program again; Select Phone Book or Manual Dial, connect to your Internet provider, use the terminal window in I-Comm to login your account; c. After login, click on the "Browser" button to bring the HTML window to the front; (Note: you cannot close the Terminal window, but you can icon it) d. Click on the Communication menu, select Internet Host Program choose the host program(icomhost, lyxn or www) you have installed in your shell account. You only need to do this once, ignore this step if you already set it up. e. Now you are ready to do Internet Surfing by click on the text which is underlined. 11. How can I switch to I-Comm Terminal window from the Browser Window ? Or switch to the Browser window from the Terminal Window ? When you are in I-Comm browser window, click on the "Terminal" button to switch to the Terminal window. When you are in I-Comm Terminal window, click on the "Browser" button to switch to the browser window. 12. Can I use I-Comm with a direct serial line connection ? Yes. Select "Communication --> Com Port Setup" menu, setup the com port(at same time, the program will also open the port for you), then you are ready to surf the net. In case you want to send any command through the serial line, you can switch to the I-Comm Terminal Window, type the command directly. 13. How can I STOP a file transfer process ? While I-Comm is downloading a file from Internet, you can click on the "STOP" button to cancel the "remaining file" transfer, and click on the "cancel" button of the file transfer dialog to stop the current file transfer. 14. Does I-Comm save the visited Web pages on my local disk, so I can look at it again later on ? Yes. I-Comm saves all the downloaded pages in the cache directory. Turn on the "Use Local Cache File" flag, click on the links which you already downloaded, I-Comm will automatically load the page from your local disk. If you want to update the current page, just click on the "Reload" button, I-Comm will retrieve that page for you from the Internet. If you want to clean all/some of the cache files, you can select "Options --> Clean Local Cache Files" menu. There is also a file named "index" in the cache directory which contains the HTTP address and local file name mapping. You also can save Web pages with images to other places on your hard disk. For detail, see question #21. 15. Can I edit the current HTML file in I-Comm ? Yes. Select "File --> Edit HTML Source" menu, I-Comm will let you to use Windows Notepad to edit the current HTML file. After finishing editing, you can click on the "Reload" button to see what it looks like. 16. How can I setup my external viewer programs for GIF, MOV, etc ? Select "File --> Edit Configure File" menu will allow you to use Windows Notepad to change the I-Comm configuration file. A simple of the configuration file (i-comm.ini) is included with this distribution. 17. Can I use I-Comm to download a list of files in batch mode ? Yes. Select "File --> Batch Download" menu, I-Comm will pop-up a batch download dialog box. You can use the "Right" mouse button click on the hyper link to add it into the batch download list. 18. How can I use I-Comm with "lynx" or "www" instead of icomhost program as my Internet Host Program ? Select "Communication --> Internet Host Program --> Use Lynx" or "Communication --> Internet Host Program --> Use www" to setup I-Comm to work with "lynx" or "www". 19. How to setup my own home page ? Select "File --> Setup Homepage" menu, in the file dialog, select the HTML file you want to use as home page. 20. Can I have more than one hot list files in I-Comm ? Yes, you can have unlimited number of hot list files in I-Comm. Please use "File --> Setup Hot List File" menu to select the hot list file you want to use. It is a good idea to have different hot list files for information belongs to different categories. 21. How to edit the current hot list file ? Use "File --> Edit Hot List File" menu, I-Comm will let you use Notepad to edit the current hot list file, please keep at least two words per line while you are editing the file. 22. How to save a HTML page to disk WITH IMAGES in I-Comm, and view it later using I-Comm or other browser ? Use "File --> Save As HTML" menu, it is as easy as save a file. 23. How to save a HTML page as a plain text file in I-Comm ? Use "File --> Save As ASCII" menu. 24. What should I do if the "dial dialog" always showing "dialing" message, does not connect ? This is because I-Comm did not catch the "CONNECT" string. Select "Communication --> Dial Setup" menu, in the "Connect String" field, enter "C"(or "c"), or change it to the connect string specified in your modem manual. If this still does not work, try following: . Select "Communication --> Com Port Setup" to open the port; . Click on the "Terminal" button to switch to Terminal window; . Type "atdt <phone number>" in the Terminal to dial out. 25. What should I do if I-Comm cannot retrieve any page from the Internet, showing "waiting response from http server" message ? Please check the selection under "Communication --> Internet Host Program" menu, make sure you selected the right Internet host program. For example, if you have lynx installed in your shell account, you should select "Use Lynx". 26. What should I do if I-Comm cannot retrieve any page from the Internet ? First, in your shell account, you have to have one of the following program: . icomhost from Talent Communications, Inc. . OR lynx . OR www Then you test one of these programs by downloading the page at: http://www.best.com/~icomm/icomm.htm * If you have icomhost, the command you need to type in your shell account is: icomhost -a http://www.best.com/~icomm/icomm.htm -f icomm.htm * If you have lynx, the command you need to type in your shell account is: lynx http://www.best.com/~icomm/icomm.htm -source -dump > icomm.htm * If you have www, the command you need to type in your shell account is: www http://www.best.com/~icomm/icomm.htm -dump > icomm.htm Make sure the program can download the "icomm.htm" file. In addition to the program mentioned above, you also need a Z-modem file transfer program "sz". After you obtained the "sz" program, type "sz icomm.htm" in I-Comm Terminal, click on the "Download" button in I-Comm to download icomm.htm file. Make sure I-Comm Terminal can received the file. 27. What should I do if I-Comm cannot retrieve inline images ? ("Bad CRC" error) This is because the sz program is having some problems to download binary files. Try to use "sz -be" in "Communication --> Host Program Setup Z-Modem Download Cmd." field, this will setup I-Comm to use "sz -be" to download files. You can also use other "sz" options here. It is a good idea to ask your sysAdmin what "sz" options are needed for Z-modem file downloading. 28. How to setup I-Comm to download all the files to a "tmp" directory in my shell account ? This can be done in two ways: a. change to directory "tmp" before switching to I-Comm browser. b. enter "cd tmp" in the "Command Prefix" field under "Communication --> Host Program Setup". This will setup I-Comm to issue the "cd tmp" command every time before it start to download a file from the Internet. * It is a good idea to setup I-Comm to download all the files to a "tmp" directory in your shell account. Because it makes the file cleanup easier in case something goes wrong. 29. How to setup I-Comm to set the "rm" alias back after each file download ? Enter "alias rm 'rm -i'" in the "Command Suffix" field under "Communication --> Host Program Setup". This will setup I-Comm to issue the "alias rm 'rm -i'" command every time after it finishes downloading a file from the Internet. * Don't worry about this setting if you did not setup "rm" alias in your shell account. 30. How to setup I-Comm to keep all the files downloaded to my shell account ? Enter "ls" in the "File Remove Command" field under "Communication --> Host Program Setup". This will setup I-Comm to keep all the files in your shell account. * Don't do this unless you really have a lot of disk space in your shell account. 31. Why register I-Comm ? a. You get the FULL FEATURE "registered" version of the software in which the "registration" dialog will not pop up every time you start and exit the program b. You will get free upgrades until I-Comm version 1.99. c. Priority for adding new features to I-Comm. d. It will support us continuously improving I-Comm. We plan to support HTML3 and Netscape tags before version 1.99. e. You will receive discounts on our other internet related products. (We have an off-line mail reader and a HTML editor coming up) 32. How to register I-Comm ? Please send US $39.95 (for commercial users) or US $29.95 (for non-commercial users) check or money order with following form to: Talent Communications, Inc. P.O.Box 611476 San Jose, CA 95161-1476 U.S.A. * Make check or money order payable to Talent Communications, Inc. in US dollars. * Site license and education discount are also available, for detail information, send your inquiry to: icomm@talentcom.com I-Comm Registration Form =================================================================== Name: Date: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Company Name (if any): ------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail Address (required): ------------------------------------------------------------------- Street Address: ------------------------------------------------------------------- City: State: Zip: Country: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Phone Number (including Country Code): ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fax Number (including Country Code): ------------------------------------------------------------------- Where did you hear about I-Comm: 1. Internet newsgroup, please specify:____________________________________ 2. CompuServe 3. AOL 4. Other online service provider, please specify: ____________________________ 5. I-Comm advertising flyers 6. Newspapers, magazines please specify:____________________________________ 7. From a friend 8. Others, please specify: ____________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------- Where did you obtain I-Comm software: 1. I-Comm ftp sites (from best.com or netcom.com) 2. SimTel 3. CICA 4. CompuServe 5. AOL 6. Other ftp site, please specify: ____________________ 7. From a friend 8. Others, please specify: ____________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------- What kind of Internet account do you have: 1. SLIP/PPP 2. Unix shell account 3. VAX account 4. Freenet account ------------------------------------------------------------------- Please send US $39.95 (for commercial users) or US $29.95 (for non- commercial users) check or money order with this form to: Talent Communications, Inc. P.O.Box 611476 San Jose, CA 95161-1476 U.S.A. * Make check or money order payable to Talent Communications, Inc. in US dollars. * Special: $10 discount for full-time college students. Please send US $19.95 and a photo copy of both sides of your current student ID along with this form. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon receiving this form and payment, Talent Communications, Inc. will send you an I-Comm license file via E-Mail. Please double check you E-Mail address. Thank you for registering I-Comm. =================================================================== How to reach I-Comm's supporting staff ? =================================================================== For Questions, send E-Mail to: icomm@talentcom.com or browse our home page at: http://www.best.com/~icomm/ For discussions on I-Comm, post to newsgroup: comp.infosystems.www.browsers.ms-windows =================================================================== Legal Disclaimer =================================================================== I-Comm(TM) is Copyright 1995 by Talent Communications, Inc. It may not be distributed, licensed, resold, or transferred for any commercial purposes. The software is provided to the user "as is". Talent Communications, Inc. DOES NOT make any warranties with respect to the I-Comm software and/or any associated materials provided with it. Talent Communications, Inc. shall NOT be liable for any claims or damages whatsoever caused, whether from the use of this software or any files created with it. =================================================================== From I-Comm Users: =================================================================== Date: Sat, 20 May 95 21:37:01 EDT From: Gerry Hecht >--------------------------------------------------------------------- > I was having all kinds of > problems getting sz to work on my shell account at school which uses a > SPARC with Solaris 2.3. I finally hacked up the C code for Unix 5 > version 4 to get it to compile on Solaris. Finally, and you might want > to pass this on to other Solaris sz users, I had to use the following > switches in the communications--> setup host menu: "sz -beZl 512 L > 512" with these settings and using the SIO comm drivers under OS/2, > everything works GREAT!!!!!! =================================================================== </plaintext></body></html>