Chip 2001 August - Disc 3/chip_20018103_hu.iso/amiga/chiputil/gg/amitcp-bin-30b2.lha/AmiTCP-3.0b2/doc/AmiTCP-FAQ.txt

Text File | 1994-05-16 | 34.8 KB | 1,027 lines

Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc,comp.sys.amiga.datacomm,demon.ip.support.amiga,comp.answers,news.answers
From: [e-mail] (Neil McRae AmiTCP FAQ Admin)
Followup-To: poster
Reply-To: Neil McRae AmiTCP FAQ Admin <[e-mail]>
Subject: AmiTCP/IP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 021193BETA PL3]
Organization: Domino
Date: Tue, 10 May 1994 07:47:18 +0000

Summary: This post contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions
        (and their answers) about AmiTCP/IP. It should be read by anyone
        who wishes to post about or use AmiTCP/IP.

Archive-name: amiga/AmiTCP-Faq
Posting-Frequency: fortnightly
Last-modified: 1994/05/08
Version: 1.04


AmiTCP/IP Frequently asked Questions and their Answers.
=======================================================

This Document is the AmiTCP/IP Frequently Asked Questions and their answers
(I  hope  ;-).   I  decided  to  create this after I got my Amiga connected
through  AmiTCP/IP,  and  I  found the same questions being asked again and
again, I also found myself to be answering some of them also :-)

This  FAQ  will  be  posted  by  myself  every  2  weeks to:  news.answers,
comp.answers and comp.sys.amiga.datacomm newsgroups.

If you have any suggestions, queries or corrections please email me at

                       [e-mail]

and I will do my best to answer it.  I hope this document is helpful to new
people  and experienced people alike and answers some queries that they may
have.

If you want to flame me, mail to nobody@localhost.

This  FAQ  is not a guide to TCP/IP, for that look for TCP/IP books in your
bookstore  or  search  the Internet for Information, which is where most of
the  information  came  to create this document.  It is also not a guide to
the internet

I  have  explained briefly some of the Internet protocols but they are very
basic  explanation  and  I  have  only included them because they bear some
relevance to AmiTCP/IP.

Mail all spelling errors to [e-mail] :-)

AmiTCP/IP is forewith refered to as AmiTCP.

"SLIP/PPP or other dialup protocol" will commonly be referred to
as "dialup" through out.

Legal Mumbo Jumbo.
------------------

This  document is copyright Neil J.  McRae.  Permission is granted for this
to be freely distributed UNALTERED, as long as all credits are left intact.
If  you plan to use this file, or any part of it, in a publication you MUST
contact  me  first and ask my permission.  Any part of this document may be
quoted on USENET.

Permission  is  given  for  this  document to be posted to USENET and to be
uploaded to any anonymous FTP servers.

If  this document has helped you in some way, then all I ask is that you go
out and purchase a Genesis album and listen to it atleast once :-)

Disclaimer.
-----------

If you screw up it`s your fault and not mine.  This information is provided
as  is  and any damage occuring to you or your equipment is your own fault.
Neil J.  McRae disclaims any liability of any kind of damage that may occur
from use of the information within this FAQ.

Neil  J.   McRae  also  disclaims  any  liability  as  to the information's
accuracy.   While  much effort has gone into providing accurate data, there
is no guarantee that I have succeeded.

Acknowledgments.
-----------------

Just  a few thanks to a few people who helped me in some way while creating
this document.

I`d like to thank the <[e-mail]> who are:

    Pekka Pessi                  <[e-mail]>
    Jarno Rajahalme          <[e-mail]>
    Markus Peuhkuri          <[e-mail]>
    Tomi Ollila                  <[e-mail]>


Thanks for doing this guys! Keep up the good work on AmiTCP.

And thanks also to:

        Oliver Smith                      <[e-mail]>
        Michael B. Smith             <[e-mail]>
        Jake Dias                       <[e-mail]>
        James R Grinter            <[e-mail]>
        Graham Walter          <[e-mail]>
        Wyrd Synapse             <[e-mail]>
        Richard Norman           <[e-mail]>
        Dan Murrell Jnr.               <[e-mail]>
        Matthew Zeier          <[e-mail]>
        Douglas Scott             <[e-mail]>
        Demon Internet                  <[e-mail]>
        Holger Kruse                      <[e-mail]>


All  the regulars on #amiga & #GB and all the posters of FAQ`s that made me
get off my backside and do this :-)

and finally to Genesis for making kewl music, lets see another Album guys!

        ----------------------------------------

Frequently asked Questions.
===========================

Index of questions answered.
----------------------------

 1> What is AmiTCP?

 2> What is TCP/IP?

 3> What is the Internet?

 4> Where can I get AmiTCP?

 5> Where is the AmiTCP Documentation?

 6> Where is the list of AmiTCP applications?

 7> What is the latest version of AmiTCP?

 8> How do I contact the AmiTCP author`s?

 9> I think I found a bug in AmiTCP what should I do?

 10> Is there an AmiTCP mailing list?

 11> Where are the archives of the AmiTCP Mailing List?

 12> What do I need to be able to use AmiTCP?

 13> Are there any alternatives to AmiTCP?

 14> What is SANA-II?

 15> What is C/SLIP?

 16> What is PPP?

 17> What is Ethernet?

 18> What is an RFC?

 19> What is NFS?

 20> I  get  a  message could not open serial device unit 0 when I run AmiTCP
     after  I  connect  to  my  SLIP  server.   I  tried quitting Term but my
     connection  to  my  server is terminated.
     a) Why is this?,
     b) How can I fix it?  and
     c) How do I stay online?

 21> Can I use AmiTCP with a dynamic IP address?

 22> I  have  connected  to  my host fine but I cannot connect to any hosts
     outside my University or Network.  How can I fix this?

 23> What mail and news clients can I use with AmiTCP?

 24> Is there an IRC client for AmiTCP?

 25> What is NapsaTerm used for?

 26> Is there a telnet daemon?

 27> Do I need MultiUser?

 28> How can I see whats happening with my network connection?

 29> AmigaELM  uses  the  HOSTNAME but AmiTCP seems to want the fully
     qualified domain name, How can I resolve this problem?

 30> What is a Domain Name Server? And How do I get one?

 31> What is are "Domain Names to Search"?

 32> What is Mosaic?

 33> Can  I setup a Mosaic Server with AmiTCP?

 34> I've  heard  Mosaic  is only for version 3.0 Amigas.  Why?
     and is there an alternative for version 2.x Amigas?

 35> I only log on for a few seconds to see if I've got mail waiting. Would
     AmiTCP  be overkill for those situations?

 36> I thought Emacs was just a text editor.  I've seen it mentioned in a
     few  posts.  What is it used for?

 37> My internet provider does offer SLIP accounts for a small
     extra charge.  If I change my account to a SLIP account, can I still
     access it the "old" way,
     in case I just want to quickly check my mail or something?

 38> If I'm using AmiTCP, is my mail and downloaded files being stored
     lomy cal hard drive?

 39> Am I correct in stating that I can be connected to several different
     computers using several different applications?

 40> Where can I find more programs for use with AmiTCP?

 41> What should I do if I have a question that is not answered here?


----------------------------------------------------------------------


1> What is AmiTCP?


AmiTCP  is  a set of programs that enables the Amiga to connect to a TCP/IP
network.   AmiTCP  lets the user use commands such as ftp, telnet from your
Amiga.   AmiTCP  also  lets remote users connect to your machine from other
TCP/IP  hosts.   AmiTCP  is  a TCP/IP protocol stack for implementing basic
Internet  protocols  on  top  of any SANA-II network device driver, such as
one for SLIP or Ethernet.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


2> What is TCP/IP?


TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
 TCP/IP  is  a  protocol  that  allows  any  system  on  a  network to talk
"directly"  to any other, by passing packets of information back and forth.
TCP/IP  (and its later relative OSI) is usually used over networks built on
top  of  Ethernet,  Token-Ring,  Starlan and other LANS.  The Internet uses
TCP/IP.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


3> What is the Internet?


An  "internet"  is a network comprised of computers that talk to each other
using  TCP/IP.
The "Internet" is a vast network of hundreds of thousands of machines using
TCP/IP to communicate.
The  Internet  grew out of a US government funded project in inter-computer
communications  that  grew into an enormous network of systems.  One of the
principle characteristics of this network is that machines are addressed by
domain names which identify the destination, rather than addresses that are
constructed out of the route from machine-to-machine-to-machine.

----------------------------------------------------------------------


4> Where can I get AmiTCP?


AmiTCP is available from several places:
Any Aminet mirror :- ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.luth.se
And from: ftp.demon.co.uk, ftp.funet.fi via Anonymous FTP.

    Aminet:comm/net/AmiTCP-bin-22.lha
    Aminet:comm/net/AmiTCP-22to23.lha this patches the above file.

    ftp.demon.co.uk:pub/amiga/amitcp/AmiTCP-bin-22.lha
    ftp.demon.co.uk:pub/amiga/amitcp/AmiTCP-22to23.lha

    ftp.funet.fi:pub/amiga/net

It is also available on Fred Fish Disks:


The home site for AmiTCP is kampi.hut.fi:AmiTCP/ and this is where the
current version is available from.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


5> Where is the AmiTCP Documentation?


The  documentation  is  available  in  several formats from kampi.hut.fi via
anonymous FTP.

                           kampi.hut.fi:AmiTCP/

AmiTCP-dvA-20.lha  DVI A4 page size
AmiTCP-dvL-20.lha  DVI US Letter page size
AmiTCP-psA-20.lha  Postscript A4 Page Size (recommended =>300 DPI printers)
AmiTCP-psL-20.lha  Postscript US Letter Page Size (again =>300 DPI printers)
AmiTCP-txt-20.lha  Docs in ASCII text format


----------------------------------------------------------------------


6> Where is the list of AmiTCP applications?


These are available from gopher:

   <gopher://gopher.tky.hut.fi/00/.publish/puhuri/AmiTCP/NetAppList.txt>

and World Wide Web:

          <http://www.tky.hut.fi/.publish/puhuri/NetAppList.html>

Updates to this list should be mailed to:

                         <[e-mail]>


----------------------------------------------------------------------


7> What is the latest version of AmiTCP?


The latest release version of AmiTCP is version 2.3.
AmiTCP  2.3  is  distributed  as  a  binary patch package to version 2.2 of
AmiTCP.

Please  note  that  you should not use any beta version of AmiTCP unless, of
course you are a beta tester.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


8> How do I contact the AmiTCP author`s?


The  AmiTCP  author`s can be Contacted via email at:- [e-mail]
Please only contact the group on AmiTCP matters, if you have a problem with
a client or a server with AmiTCP contact the author of that program.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


9> I think I found a bug in AmiTCP what should I do?

Check  it  in the newsgroup comp.sys.amiga.datacomm before taking it to the
authors;  make  sure  they  spend their time working on our beloved AmiTCP,
rather than repeatedly answering the same questions by mail.

Then  once  you  are SURE that it is a bug and you can reproduce it several
times  mail  [e-mail]  giving  as much information regarding your
hardware  and  software  setup as possible, with an accurate description of
the bug and the steps needed to take show the bug`s performance ;-)


----------------------------------------------------------------------


10> Is there an AmiTCP mailing list?


Yes, it is meant for developers of software for AmiTCP.  Please consult the
file AmiTCP:README.FIRST. ;-)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


11> Where are the archives of the AmiTCP Mailing List?
(thanks Markus :)

These are available in two places from gopher the URL is:

        <gopher://gopher.tky.hut.fi/11/.publish/puhuri/AmiTCP/list>

and also via Anonymous FTP at:

                 kampi.hut.fi:AmiTCP/amitcp-listYYYY-MM.gz

Where YYYY-MM is the year and month.

----------------------------------------------------------------------


12> What do I need to be able to use AmiTCP?


You need the following Hardware:
                       ---------

An Amiga running AmigaOS 2 or greater, recommended are hard disk and 2MB of
ram.   And  some for of Connection to a Network, e.g.  a Modem for a Serial
connection  or  an  Ethernet  card for an Ethernet connection.  See the FAQ
What is Ethernet?  for information about Ethernet cards.


You need the following Software:
                       ---------

AmiTCP-bin-22.lha  use  the  installer  script  to  install  this, and then
extract  the  files  from  AmiTCP-22to23.lha  and  copy  them  over the old
versions  of  the  files.  See above for information on how to obtain these
files.
You also need a SANA-II Network driver. A SLIP and CSLIP driver is
included. See below for more information on SANA-II

You need the following Information:
                       ------------

NOTE:  This information should be sought from your network provider or your
System/Network Administrator.


1) An IP address allocated for you Amiga.
     for example  my IP address is 158.152.25.117

2) Destination IP address - only applies if you are using a "point
   to point" protocol such as most dialup protocols.
   Usually this is the address of the equipment you connect to.


3) Netmask for you network, usually this only applies for a network such as
   an ethernet or if you are connected to several networks.
   If you are connected via a single dialup connection, e.g.  using SLIP or
   PPP,  you  should  use  a netmask of 255.255.255.254.

Note: If you only have the one connection, like most of us, netmasks
      are purely irrelevant.

4) A name for your Amiga i.e a nodename- my hostname is domino,
   (which  is  taken  from the Excellent Genesis track Called Domino on The
    Invisible Touch Album :)

5) Your domain name - this is usually your providers network name,
   e.g. mine is demon.co.uk, yours may be netcom.net or bbcnc.org.uk

6) The _numeric_ address of a Domain Name Server; eg my nameserver is
   158.152.1.65 this is used to lookup text addresses (e.g.
   domino.demon.co.uk) into dotted-decimal IP addresses (e.g.
   158.152.25.117).  If you don't have access to a name server, you will
   have to use dotted-decimal (or "numeric") IP addresses to connect to
   other hosts, or add regularly used addresses to your AmiTCP:db/hosts
   file.  If you have access to a Unix machine, you can copy their file
   "/etc/hosts".  You are _highly_ recommended to use a nameserver if you
   have access to one, as this saves disk space, and will save you many
   bundles of hair when your favourite host changes it's _numeric_ IP
   address.  (thanks Oliver)

7) Default Gateway Address - if you have ethernet, this should be the
   address of your router (the machine with connections to the outside
   world) - if you are using a dialup protocol, this should be the
   same as your destination address. If TCP/IP doesn't have specific
   information on where to send data, it will send it to the default
   gateway, e.g. if your sending mail to your Auntie in New Zealand,
   mai will pass trough this address :-)


----------------------------------------------------------------------


13> Are there any alternatives to AmiTCP?


The  only  other  freely available TCP/IP stack is AmigaNOS.  There is also
AS225r2  but  as  I  write  this  is only available to registered Commodore
Developers.

There is also AS225r1, which was sold together with the Commodore Arnet and
Ethernet board.  Unlike AS225r2 it is available to the general public -- if
you manage to get a Commodore Arcnet/Ethernet board.
This is not SANA2 compatible and does not drive SLIP or PPP.

Other  networking  programs  include  DNET  and AmigaUnixWindows, these and
AmigaNOS are available on Aminet.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


14> What is SANA-II?


SANA-II   is  the  software  interface  between  AmiTCP  and  your  network
interface.   There are SANA-II drivers for SLIP.  CSLIP, the A2060 card and
the  A2065 card and PPP that are freely available.  If you are purchasing a
card to connect your Amiga to a network, e.g.  Ethernet, make sure that the
card  has  a  a  SANA-II driver if you are planning to use AmiTCP, with the
card.

The  SANA-II  is  the  standard  Amiga  network device driver specification
released by Commodore-Amiga.  The SANA-II specification is available on the
Aminet, fish disks and other forums.
(Thanks Jarno)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


15> What is C/SLIP?

SLIP is Serial Line Internet Protocol
SLIP is used, most commonly, for connecting a computer to a TCP/IP network
using a modem. SLIP lets IP packets be sent up and down a serial line.

CSLIP  is  an  extension  of  the  SLIP protocol, which reduces the typical
TCP/IP  packet-overhead  of  40-bytes  per  packet  to  3  or  5  bytes  by
"remembering"  a  number of active connections and (a) not resending unused
fields  (b)  only  sending  changes  to  the  headers.  Since a compression
algorithm  is  not  used,  it does not impair any compression added by your
modem,  and  thus  presents a significant improvement in packet throughput!
CSLIP  gives  much  better  response  in  interactive  applications such as
Telnet.  (Thanks Oliver and Markus)

If  your  providers  don't  have slip, or if you are your provider, and you
don't  have slip, it is publically available.  Ask you System Administrator
for more information.

Existing AmiTCP CSLIP drivers will only use CSLIP if it is available on the
remote end, otherwise they will gracefully degrade to using ordinary SLIP.

For  a  detailed  description  of  SLIP  and CSLIP consult a book on TCP/IP
protocols.    There  is  a  SLIP  faq  available  in  comp.protocols.tcp-ip
newsgroup.

SLIP is described in RFC 1055
CSLIP is described in RFC 1055 & 1144

A SANA-II C/SLIP interface is included with AmiTCP.


---------------------------------------------------------------------


16> What is PPP?


Point  to  Point Protocol is another way of connecting to your network.  It
is  a  more  robust  protocol  than  SLIP,  and  addresses  many  of SLIP`s
weaknesses.   However  it is much more difficult than SLIP to implement but
the  advantage  over SLIP make it the serial protocol of the future.  (this
is my opinion ;-)

Again for a detailed description of PPP consult a book on TCP/IP or get the
PPP faq available via anonymous FTP from

RTFM.MIT.EDU:/usenet/comp.protocols.ppp/*

PPP is described in RFCs 1332, 1333, 1334, 1376, 1377, 1548, 1549, 1552
and 1570 phew!


As the FAQ was prepared a PPP SANA-II driver was uploaded to Aminet:

                Aminet:comm/net/PPP1_0.lha

This is a non registered version. A shareware version with many more
features is also on Aminet but requires a key file which you must pay the
author $15. I personally plan to register. Consult the documentation for
more details on this.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


17> What is Ethernet?
(thanks to http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/ :)

A  coaxial  cable local area network first described by Metcalfe & Boggs of
Xerox  PARC in 1976.  Specified by DEC, INTEL & XEROX (DIX), Now recognised
as  the  industry  standard.   Data  is  broken  into packets.  Packets are
transmitted   using   the  CSMA/CD  algorithm  until  they  arrive  at  the
destination  without  colliding  with any other.  The first contention slot
after  a  transmission  is  reserved  for an acknowledge packet.  A node is
either  transmitting  or  receiving  at  any instant.  Bandwidth ~10Mbit/s.
Disk-Ethernet-Disk  transfer rate with TCP/IP is typically 30 kbyte/s.  The
cable is a 50 ohm coaxial cable with multiple shielding.

EtherNet  is described in lots of RFCs.  Read the index if you're that keen
to find out.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


18> What is an RFC?


RFC are documents that are used to define the Internet standards.
RFC stands for  Request For Comments.
De facto: Requirement For Conformance. (thanks Michael)

RFC`s   are   available   from  many  FTP  sites  including  ftp.wustl.edu,
ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk  and  ftp.demon.co.uk.   rs.internic.net is the "official"
place  in the United States.  ftp.uu.net is the best connected place to get
them in the USA.

The file "rfc-index.txt" which should be available on every RFC repository,
contains an index of all published RFC's


---------------------------------------------------------------------


19> What is NFS?
(From the Sun NFS documentation:)

NFS  is  a network file system developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.  The Sun
Network  Filesystem  (NFS)  protocol  provides transparent remote access to
shared  filesystems over local area networks.  The NFS protocol is designed
to  be  machine,  operating  system,  network  architecture,  and transport
protocol independent.

Again for a detailed description of NFS consult a TCP/IP book.

There  is  an AmiTCP NFS client in development but it is not completed yet.
Please do not post about this, the author will announce when it is ready.

There  is  however  an  Amiga to Amiga NetFS implemetation that is included
with  AmiTCP.   This is NOT NFS but lets the Amiga share other Amiga's Disk
Drives.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


20>  I  get a message could not open serial device unit 0 when I run AmiTCP
after I connect to my SLIP server.  I tried quitting Term but my connection
to my server is terminated.

a) Why is this?, b) How can I fix it? and c) How do I stay online?

a)
There  are  many  reasons  for  this  problem.  The most common is that the
serial  device  in  use by another program, for example your comms package.
(Term,  Terminus  etc).   If  you are using a terminal package to dial into
your TCP/IP server this will give this error.  And your modem is not set to
ignore DTR, so when you quit term the modem hangs up the phone, thus ending
your Connection.

b)
There  are  many solutions to avoid this problem.  I am going to suggest 2.
The  first  is  to  use  the  Dial  in arexx script that in on Aminet, this
automates  the  entire  connection  process,  Arexx is used to dial up your
Server  enter your account details and startup AmiTCP when it has connected
and  logged  in.   The  script is very flexible and also handles Dynamic IP
assign, you may need to modify the script depending on your setup, however
this is a very straightforward process.

The script is available from Aminet:

                     Aminet:comm/net/amitcp_dial10.lha

Also there is another dialer program caller dialer.  This program acts as a
go  between  serial.device and your PPP/SLIP driver.  This program dials up
your hosts and logs the user in and then puts the SANA driver online.
This is available from Demon:

               ftp.demon.co.uk:pub/amiga/amitcp/dialer_1.lha

I`m currently using this and I find it excellent.

I similar type program is gwcslip. Which is by Graham Walter. This is a
CSLIP SANA driver which dials into your host. It works very similar to the
above program.

This program is available from Demon:

              ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/amiga/amitcp/gwslip#?.lha

Look for the revision number which is part of the filename.

c)
The  other is to set you modem to ignore DTR.  Start your terminal program,
Dial  into your server, login in as normal, issue what commands you need to
start  up  your TCP/IP connection (e.g.  sliplogin).  When you have started
up your serving program QUIT your terminal program leaving the call running
and THEN start AmiTCP by executing AmiTCP:bin/startnet

NOTE:  You MUST ensure that the BAUD RATE your terminal program is using is
the SAME AS the BAUD RATE YOU have configured your SLIP/CSLIP/PPP driver to
use.

PLEASE,  remember  to  set  your baud rate to the configuration file of the
SANA-II device driver you are using. See the documentation inluded with
your SANA-II driver for more information on this file.



----------------------------------------------------------------------


21> Can I use AmiTCP with a dynamic IP address?


Yes.   You can use the Arexx script on Aminet or follow the above steps but
before  you  start  AmiTCP  you  must  change  your  startnet script to you
assigned IP number.  This goes for any other dynamic addresses such as your
hostname etc.


Also the PPP driver on Aminet has special options for connecting to dialup
hosts. Consult the excellent documentation within the archive.

----------------------------------------------------------------------


22> I  have  connected  to  my host fine but I cannot connect to any hosts
    outside my University or Network.  How can I fix this?


This is a routing problem, you must add a route to your default gateway
using the command:

         AmiTCP:bin/route add default your.default.gateways.number

158.152.6.65 is my default gateway.  Ask your system administrator for this
number.  This command should be already in your startnet script if you have
followed the Install procedure correctly.

This  could  also  be  because of a firewall, too.  That is, the IP traffic
from your hosts is not passed to the Internet. Your Network provider will
be able to give you more information on this.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


23> What mail and news clients can I use with AmiTCP?


There  is  only  one  complete  Mail  and  News package called INetUtils by
Michael  B.   Smith,  I  use  these  and  I  recommend  them to all.  These
utilities work as drop in commands for AUUCP and let you use UUCP compatible
newsreaders,  such  as  TIN,  and  UUCP  compatible  mail  readers, such as
AmigaELM.  The faq was posted to USENET using TIN with InetUtils.

GRn  is  also  available for AMITCP which allows direct connection with your
news server.

AmiPOP by Scott Ellis is also included with InetUtils for users who can
connect to POP mail servers.

All the above mentioned programs are available on Aminet:

    Aminet:comm/news/
    Aminet:comm/mail/
    Aminet:comm/net/

Also  Gnus  can  be  used with GNU Emacs (albeit a tad slow) works fine for
reading  news,  For mail with emacs you still require an external transport
unit such as InetUtils.
Gnus was one of the first applications used to test AmiTCP.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


24> Is there an IRC client for AmiTCP?


The  only  IRC  client  that  is  available  is  the Emacs lisp one.  Which
requires  Emacs.   This is available from kampi.hut.fi and works quite well
:-) Emacs is available on Aminet.


A Full Amiga Implemetation of Internet Relay Chat is in development, Please
do not post about this, the author will announce when it is ready.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


25> What is NapsaTerm used for?


Napsaterm is an rlogin program which can emulate a VT terminal.
It lets you login to a host that uses the rlogin protocol, It IS NOT a
telnet client.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


26> Is there a telnet daemon?


Tnserv on Aminet, however it is an active daemon and also does not use
the AmiTCP passwd file for password information.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


27> Do I need MultiUser?


If  you  plan to use a FTP server and want more than anonymous ftp then you
will  have  to install Multiuser at some point.  MultiUser is very handy if
you  plan  to  have  you  machine on the net all the time.  MultiUser is on
Aminet.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


28> How can I see whats happening with my network connection?


The  command AmiTCP:bin/netstat will show you all the active connections to
your machine and where they are from, and which port they are connected to.
For example if you had a connection to port 25 it would mean that your
Amiga was getting new mail.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


29> AmigaELM  uses  the  HOSTNAME  but  AmiTCP  seems  to  want the fully
    qualified domain name, How can I resolve this problem?
    (Thanks to Jarno and Michael)


"You could probably use the variable to "name only", since AmiTCP/IP itself
does  not  use  the  variable  at  all.   Some application programs (e-mail
programs,  etc)  might  have problems, though.  The current standard on the
various  Unix versions is that the HOSTNAME includes the fully qualified
host name
(i.e..  with the domain).

"The  next  release  (3.0)  of the AmiTCP/IP fixes this by implementing the
gethostname()  function  differently  (the  name  is  taken  from  the name
server/host database instead of the HOSTNAME variable if possible).


----------------------------------------------------------------------


30> What is a Domain Name Server? And How do I get one?


A Domain Name Server put simply is a massive address book of the internet,
It enables the user to use hostnames while not having them in their
Amitcp:db/hosts file.

A  named  implementation  is on ftp.demon.co.uk, however as someone who has
setup  his own nameserver, I would recommend that you use someone elses :-)
DNS  is quite a complex system and unless you are running a massive network
you don`t really need your own.


For more information on DNS again consult a TCP/IP book.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


31> What is/are "Domain Names to Search"?
(thanks Jarno :)


"The  "Domain names to search" are the domain names which are appended to a
given  host  name  on  the search.  If you have a name "foo" and the domain
names to search are "bar.edu" and "zip.zop" then the "foo.bar.edu" is tried
first,  and if that fails, the "foo.zip.zop" is tried next.  It the name to
search includes the domain part, it is searched as it is."


----------------------------------------------------------------------


32> What is Mosaic?

Mosaic  is  a  client  for the World Wide Web.  The World Wide Web is a new
application on the Internet which allows pictures, sounds, animations to be
viewed from anywhere on the Internet. Amiga Mosaic in on Aminet.

                   Aminet:comm/net/Mosaic1.1_AmiTCP.lha


----------------------------------------------------------------------


33> Can I set up a Mosaic Server with AmiTCP?

Yes an _excellent_ http daemon (httpd) exists ported by Graham Walter, It
has been included with AMosaic.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


34> I've  heard Mosaic is only for version 3.0 Amigas.  Why?  and is there
    an alternative for version 2.x Amigas?


At  the  moment  Mosaic  is  only  available for version 3.0 Amiga`s.  This
because  the very nature of Mosaic needs some of the features that are only
available in version 3 of the Amiga`s OS. That is Inline Datatypes.

The  developers  are  working  on  a version for AmigaOS 2.x.  It is hoped,
however,  that  Commodore will release version 3 though.  (thats is CBM are
saved ;-)


----------------------------------------------------------------------


35> I only log on for a few seconds to see if I've got mail waiting.  Would
    AmiTCP be overkill for those situations?


In this case yes connecting via AmiTCP would be a bit of an overkill.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


36>  I  thought  Emacs was just a text editor.  I've seen it mentioned in a
     few posts.  What is it used for?


Emacs  is the GOD of all editors :-).  It has it`s own programming language
that  lets  the  user  run  programs  on it.  Emacs has gopher, IRC and WWW
programs that can be used with AmiTCP.  And also Gnus for news reading.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


37> My internet provider does offer SLIP accounts for a small extra charge.
    If  I  change my account to a SLIP account, can I still access it the
    "old" way, in case I just want to quickly check my mail or something?


The only people who can answer that are your Network providers.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


38> If  I'm  using  AmiTCP,  is my mail and downloaded files being stored
    on my local hard drive?


Yes if you use FTP from your Amiga then the files are transferred DIRECTLY
to your Amiga`s hard disk drive. No more ZMODEM!!! The same goes for mail,
news etc.


----------------------------------------------------------------------


39>  Am  I  correct in stating that I can be connected to several different
     computers using several different applications?  (thanks Markus :-)


Yes,  this  is  correct,  however,  the  more connections you have the more
bandwidth  is  required/used  on your link.  For example you could be using
FTP,  while  on  IRC.   OR you could be viewing Mosaic pages while reading
news.
However,  if  there is no traffic on some connections (= are idle), they do
not  use  bandwidth  at  all.   So  it  is  the same if you have ten or one
terminal sessions open if you are just using one (at the time).


----------------------------------------------------------------------


40> Where can I find more programs for use with AmiTCP?


Aminet  is  always  the  place to look, usually in the comm directory, Also
look in ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/amitcp/ this site dedicated to the Internet.

And look in the applications list available via gopher:

   <gopher://gopher.tky.hut.fi/00/.publish/puhuri/AmiTCP/NetAppList.txt>

and On the World Wide Web:

          <http://www.tky.hut.fi/.publish/puhuri/NetAppList.html>


----------------------------------------------------------------------


41> What should I do if I have a question that is not answered here?


Your  best  option  is  to  post  to  USENET in the comp.sys.amiga.datacomm
newsgroup.   Include  as  much  information  as  possible, what system your
running,  what  version  of  AmiTCP your running, What the problem is.  The
more  info  you  give the better the chance you have of your question being
answered.    Alternatively  mail  me  <[e-mail]>  or  the
[e-mail] and we will try to answer your questions.


This is of course after you have read all the AmiTCP Documentation and any
additional documentation that comes with the software that you use :-)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

--
Neil J. McRae <[e-mail]>
AmiTCP FAQ Administrator and contributor.

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