SerialSpeed 230 is a control panel and system extension. It works with the enhanced serial ports (on most Power Macintosh and Macintosh "AV class" computers) to boost your serial port speed.
Your existing applications can use SerialSpeed 230 to speed their operations; they'll talk to your modem or printer up to 400% faster than before!
SerialSpeed 230 is shareware: try it before you buy, inexpensive and
easy to purchase
You get a free 14-day trial period to evaluate SerialSpeed 230; test its compatibility with your computer, applications, and serial devices. Experience the increased performance of SerialSpeed 230 for yourself!
If you choose to become a registered user, the cost is only US $25 per copy. The Register program included with SerialSpeed makes it quick and easy to register using any method of payment, from any country in the world.
System Requirements
You need:
• A Power Macintosh or "AV" Macintosh (i.e. Quadra AV, Centris AV)
SerialSpeed 230 will work on any Macintosh or clone that supports the GeoPort™ modem. Check your computer manual for information on whether your system supports the GeoPort.
• A serial device that can operate at 115Kbps or 230Kbps, for example
a V.34 or "X2" modem. (Note: most V.32 bis modems will not work.)
• Application software that is normally used at the speed of 57.6Kbps.
The first step:
Let's say you have a telecommunications program like MicroPhone Pro™ and a V.34 modem. First you need to set everything up so it works properly at 57.6Kbps. This means using the proper hardware handshaking serial cable, setting hardware handshake mode on your modem and in your
communications program, setting 57.6Kbps port speed, etc.
Instructions on how to do this will vary depending on what kind of modem and application software you are using. I recommend that you set up your modem so that it will give the most detailed status reports (i.e. not only report CARRIER 28800, but also CONNECT 57600 and COMPRESSION V.42,
etc.) Consult your modem manual for details. Once you have your modem
working at 57.6Kbps, it's time to install SerialSpeed 230 and get turbocharged!
Installation Instructions
SerialSpeed 230 is distributed as:
a Self Extracting Archive File (.SEA)
or a Stuffit Archive File (.SIT)
or a BinHex Archive File (.HQX)
Use BinHex or Stuffit™ to convert the BinHex Archive File or Stuffit Archive file into the SerialSpeed 230 folder.
Or simply double-click on the Self Extracting Archive file to create the SerialSpeed 230 folder. Read the License file. It contains the licensing agreement for SerialSpeed 230. If you agree to the terms of this license, continue with the installation:
Copy the SerialSpeed 230 Control Panel
to your Control Panels folder.
Open the SerialSpeed 230 Control Panel.
The control panel gives you the opportunity to set which ports will be accelerated, and to what speed. You have several choices for each port:
• No change to the port speeds
• Set all port speeds to 230,000 BPS or 115,000 BPS
• Leave some port speeds unchanged, and set other port speeds to 230,000 BPS or 115,000BPS (your choice of speeds from the popup menu)
The default settings are:
• Modem port: Set 57,600 BPS to 115,000 BPS
• Printer port: No change
We suggest you leave the default settings as-is for the time being. Some modems support 230Kbps operation, and setting the port speed to 230Kbps may result in a greater performance increase, however, many modems do not support 230Kbps operation.
Examples of modems that don't support 230Kbps: SupraFAXModem 288, US Robotics Sportster, Global Village Platinum.
You will not harm your modem by trying 230Kbps operation. If your modem does not support 230Kbps operation, It will simply refuse to function until SerialSpeed is set to 115Kbps.
Once you have chosen the appropriate settings for your system, close the control panel and restart your computer.
Starting up with SerialSpeed 230
SerialSpeed 230 checks during startup to make sure your computer can
support its capabilities.
If everything checks out OK,
SerialSpeed displays this icon:
If something went wrong,
SerialSpeed displays an "X" in the icon:
You can prevent SerialSpeed 230 from loading by holding down the Shift key
during startup. SerialSpeed will display the "X" icon to indicate it did not
load.
Startup Messages
Once the Finder has loaded, you may see one of several dialog boxes.
The first one is normal during the trial period, it indicates that you have not registered the product.
The second dialog indicates that your system cannot support SerialSpeed 230.
SerialSpeed 230 requires special "DMA" serial hardware in order to operate. This type of serial port works faster and with less demand on the Macintosh CPU than the older, interrupt driven serial ports. Unfortunately, these capabilities are only available on Power Macintosh and "AV" Macintoshes. Not all Power Macintoshes have DMA serial hardware. See the Compatibility Notes / FAQ for a list of Macs that are known to work with SerialSpeed 230.
If you get this dialog, and you don’t have one of the Macintosh models that are known to work, SerialSpeed will not work for you. Remove SerialSpeed 230 from your system by dragging the Control Panel to the trash can. Sorry!
The third dialog indicates that SerialSpeed was not able to open the serial port during startup.
This is a common problem for users who have fax software installed If you
see this dialog, you can solve the problem by following the above steps.
Using SerialSpeed 230
SerialSpeed 230 is activated automatically on whichever serial ports you enabled in the Control Panel. Whenever an application opens the "enabled" serial port at the appropriate speed, SerialSpeed 230 kicks in and boosts the port speed to 230,000 BPS or 115,000 BPS! This means you can configure any application
for 57.6Kbps and use it as you normally would, but up to 2 or 4 times faster.
Configure your applications for the highest speed
If you've had a high speed modem for awhile, you've probably done this already. It's important that you set each application to communicate at the highest possible port speed (recommended: 57,600 BPS). The SerialSpeed 230 control panel should be set to boost the corresponding port speed to 230,000 BPS or 115,000 BPS (it is configured this way by default).
How to get the highest performance
SerialSpeed 230 boosts the speed of the connection between the Macintosh and your serial device (i.e. modem.) This is called the "DTE" rate, as opposedto the "DCE" rate (modem-to-modem speed). It does not boost the speed of your serial device or your application program. It is critically important to make sure
these other components are operating at peak performance. Here are some tips:
Make sure data compression is enabled on your modem. If your modem is not sending compressed data, it’s sending at its basic rate of 28.8Kbps or 33.6Kbps and you won’t see any speed improvement. Most V.34 modems will transmit compressed data to your computer at 115Kbps, and some V.34 modems (i.e. Hayes Optima, USRobotics Sportster) will transmit compressed data at a full 230Kbps!
We suggest installing System 7.5.3 or later system software. If you use an earlier version of system software, we suggest installing SerialDMA 2.0.2 on your computer. SerialDMA 2.0.2 is a completely rewritten serial driver that works on any Macintosh with the DMA serial ports (Power Macintosh or QuadraAV models.) It provides much improved performance and compatibility. It's built into System 7.5.3 or greater, so if you have those system versions, you don't need SerialDMA 2.0.2.
SerialDMA 2.0.2 is available from Apple’s FTP site (ftp.apple.com) as part of the System 7.5.2 Printing Update 1.1.
In addition, Brookline Software has licensed SerialDMA for distribution on diskette and CD-ROM only; registered SerialSpeed 230 customers can get a diskette copy of SerialSpeed 230 including SerialDMA 2.0.2 for a nominal fee. Contact Brookline Software for details.
Use efficient file transfer programs like ZMODEM. These will transmit larger, more compressible chunks of data and allow your modem to operate at a higher speed. Older protocols like Kermit and XMODEM send small chunks of data and performance suffers as a result.
Make sure the computer on the other end is sending data at rates of 115Kbps or 230Kbps. Even if the remote system has a V.34 modem, this is no guarantee that it is sending data faster than 57.6Kbps. Most IBM PC based systems can send you data at 115Kbps or 230Kbps. Most UNIX™ systems can also send
data at these high speeds. If the system on the other end is a Macintosh, you might suggest to the system's owner that they invest in a copy of SerialSpeed to ensure that they are providing the maximum speed for their customers...
Get a 33.6Kbps modem, a 56Kbps (X2) modem, or see if your modem manufacturer offers a high speed upgrade program. Practical Peripherals, Supra Corporation, and US Robotics offer these upgrades
to their customers at a low cost. These modems are faster than 28.8Kbps modems in many cases, so they will provide better throughput with SerialSpeed 230. 56Kbps modems promise exceptional throughput, and SerialSpeed 230 will help you get the most out of this technology!
Consider new technology like ISDN Modems that can send and receive data at 64Kbps or 128Kbps (and with compression, much higher!) One example is the Motorola Bitsurfr™ Pro, available for US $400 or less at discount. ISDN offers tremendous speed increases, even surpassing the 56Kbps modem technology.
Please Register!
SerialSpeed 230 is a shareware product
If you decide to use SerialSpeed 230 beyond the 14-day free trial period, you should become a registered user. It's cheap and easy. It's the right thing to do. See the “How to Register” file for complete instructions on how to register.
Registered owners of SerialSpeed 230 v 1.0 through 1.6, use your existing registration codes to register SerialSpeed 230 v 1.6. This is a free upgrade. If you do not have your registration code, use the RecoverReg program (in the For Upgraders folder) to find your registration code.
Bug reports and other problems
We can't promise that SerialSpeed 230 will work with every system, configuration, and application, but we'll do our best to get it working for registered users.
If you encounter bugs or compatibility problems, send email to
help@brooklinesw.com detailing the problem and how you
encountered it. We'll try to respond to all reports promptly.
Work around a bug in the OT/PPP Serial Arbitrator and ARA Serial Arbitrator that caused system crashes at startup. SerialSpeed 230 is now compatible with systems using OT/PPP or AppleTalk Remote Access. Moved AOL patchers from the SerialSpeed package to the Brookline Software website for more frequent updates.
1/22/97 – Version 1.6
Bug fixes for better compatibility with System 7.6 and recent Power Macintosh computers (for example, PM 6400 and equivalent clones)
Added RecoverReg utility
Updated AOL 3.0 patchers to handle AOL 3.0b, a version distributed with System 7.6 software.
1/20/97 – Version 1.5
Revised the America Online speedup kit for use with AOL 3.0.
8/24/96 – Version 1.4
Added more flexible port settings and the America Online speedup kit.
Revised documentation, removed Microsoft Word format documentation.
1/13/95 – Version 1.3
Added support for SerialDMA, updated payment and email addresses to use Kagi Shareware services. Japanese documentation is now obsolete and has been removed.
7/28/95 – Version 1.2+J
Localized documentation for Japan, added more compatibility info to the FAQ, removed NetCash payment option.
4/24/95 – Version 1.2
Added support for serial driver csCode 8; this fixes MacPPP and other applications. also added checkbox to disable serial driver checks at startup.
4/17/95 – Version 1.1
Added 115Kbps operation, better handling of errors on startup, InfoHaus information, FAQ section.
