Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id SAA01911; Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:07:03 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 18:07:03 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199802202307.SAA01911@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V18 #30 TELECOM Digest Fri, 20 Feb 98 18:07:00 EST Volume 18 : Issue 30 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Digest (Richard Kenshalo) Are You Well? (Chuck Tyrrell) Pat? Are You OK? (Stan Schwartz) Did You Miss Me? (TELECOM Digest Editor) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@telecom-digest.org * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 847-727-5427 Fax: 773-539-4630 ** Article submission address: editor@telecom-digest.org ** Our archives are available for your review/research. The URL is: http://telecom-digest.org They can also be accessed using anonymous ftp: ftp hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) A third method is the Telecom Email Information Service: Send a note to archives@telecom-digest.org to receive a help file for using this method or write me and ask for a copy of the help file for the Telecom Archives. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 08:28:46 -0900 From: Richard Kenshalo Reply-To: rkenshalo@mta-telco.com Organization: MTA Subject: Telecom Digest Pat: Hope everything is ok. Haven't heard from the Digest lately, and trust that all is well with you. Richard M. Kenshalo Matanuska Telephone Association Corporate Planner 1740 S. Chugach Street MS CCP Palmer, Alaska 99645 rkenshalo@mta-telco.com 907-745-9575 FAX 907-746-9676 ------------------------------ From: Chuck Tyrrell Subject: Are You Well? Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 11:14:33 -0500 Pat, It has been quite some time since I have gotten any copies of the Digest. Have you been ill? I know that there is a bad flu going around and I hope that you haven't gotten it. Chuck Tyrrell 248 339 1566 ------------------------------ From: Stan Schwartz Subject: Pat? Are You OK? Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 13:47:58 -0500 Pat, Just checking to see if everything is OK. We get concerned when we don't hear from you for an extended period! Regards, Stan ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 17:15:00 EST From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: Did You Miss Me? An explanation is in order: The past ten days or so have been absolutely frantic for me, as a result of a system crash a week ago Monday, lots of lost files, and other hassles. It all began a week ago Monday, when about noon or so I turned on my new (well, three months old) laptop to discover Windows would not start. Booting up produced one or two different results. Most of the time, I was informed that 'Windows cannot run on less than 7.0'. Other times the disk drive would spin longer than usual and finally just drop me at a DOS prompt. At that point, attempting to start Windows95 by typing the DOS command 'win' would result in the message about it not running on anything less than 7.0. I spent most of the afternoon on the phone with various techs from Toshiba technical support (I have a Toshiba Satellite 220 CDS) and with techs from Comp-USA (from whom the machine was purchased in November, 1997.) Whatever one said would be contradicted by another. They had me do all sorts of specialized things such as 'erd', an emergency recovery program. One of them called into my computer remotely and looked at it from his end via the modem. Finally everyone decided I would need to reload Windows and start over ... Oh, you mean from the 29 diskettes I did not make ... ... The Toshiba rep at that point gave me some very bad advice, but I did not find out how bad it was until later. The rep said to go to where I bought the computer and buy a new copy of Windows. Okay, I went to the local Compu-USA store where there were two types of Windows on sale: the full package for $189 and 'Windows Upgrade' for a mere $89. Then the Comp-USA salesman had to add his own bad advice, saying there was no need to get the full Windows; that all I needed was the upgrade, since Windows had been there before. I paid the $89, came home and reloaded it. Imagine how thrilled I was to see it start up with my wallpaper, my desktop, my icons, etc. By now we are up to sometime Tuesday afternoon. But something was not right ... the sound card drivers were not working, the real player would not work, and a few other things looked strange, but I could not put my finger on what it was. Then the ugly nature of it all began to show through. I would get error messages quite often. Perhaps you have seen them: a little window pops up which says 'this program has performed an illegal operation and will be terminated.' The error message said a problem was present in 'kernel32' and that there was a 'page fault' somewhere or another, and it always offered a core dump if I wanted to read it or show it to someone. I never got just a single error message however; they would come five or six at a time. I would close the first 'illegal operation' window and a second one would pop up immediately. Actually it was just buried under the first one. I'd close it and there would be another; these things were always five or six deep before there were no more of them. Previously I could not talk to Microsoft about it because I was not their customer, but now I had an actual software package of theirs (Windows Upgrade) with a serial number on it and 90 days of free tech support included, so I called them and related the events of the past few days. By now it was late Tuesday sometime, and three or four reloads of Windows Upgrade later. The Microsoft tech listened sort of incredulously to the whole, long sordid tale and then gave his advice which I found really fascinating: You cannot do what you did ... those people at Toshiba and Comp-USA should **never** have told you to 'go buy another copy of Windows and install it' ... full package, upgrade or anything else. The reason is you have the OEM version, called 'OSR-2' installed on your machine, while what we in-house refer to as 'retail Windows' is a different animal totally. It is known as OSR-1. You need '2', not '1' ... you need the OEM version. I asked him where can I get '2'; I'll try over again with that. You can't get it. It isn't sold to the public. And I am afraid that whatever was wrong to start with -- had we heard about it in time and could have corrected it without you having to *completely format the hard disk* -- is now no longer the main issue. Now you need to go to a place which specializes in recoveries and tell them you want the machine restored to its original condition. You'll lose the entire hard disk in a reformat, but you will get back the computer with the icons, files and programs in place as they were when you got the machine. If there is anything else I can do to help you let me know. Have a nice day and thank you for calling Microsoft. Hmmm ... a call back to Comp-USA and a chat with the service technician supervisor, a guy named 'Ed' ... yes, he said, they could do what was requested, there was about a five day turnaround on repairs, and it would cost me $109 -- the standard rate for any sort of technical assistance on a flat rate -- but it could be done. I took the machine over that evening. Is this covered by warranty? I have the standard Toshiba one year warranty plus an extended warranty of three more years (after that) from Comp-USA. Uh, no ... software is not covered under the warranty. You are referring to Windows as software? I would think it is more correctly an operating system. But an operating system *is* software. Why, a few days ago did it just fall apart like a house made from playing cards? Just collapse and stop running? Might there be a hardware-related concern that caused this? Can't you bill Toshiba for it? I've already spent $89 getting a copy of Windows Upgrade based on bad advice from your salesman. Now you want another $109? What I can do is agree to take back the software -- which has been opened -- give you credit for it against the repair charges, and you will owe just $20 more. You can have the machine back in five or six days; don't call us, we'll call you. The payment has to be made in advance. I return home, leaving my precious little laptop in the 'computer hospital' only to discover that my one remaining method of connecting with the net -- an ancient old Qume terminal-- has now also gone to computer heaven; it won't light up or give any sounds of life at all. I call back to 'Ed' the next morning and present him with an offer: Could I meet you sometime soon, pay for a little 'overtime' and get the machine back tonight? By now it is mid-day Thursday. He says the fee for 'priority service' is an additional $70, and although he cannot do it that day, he can have 'someone' work on it Friday morning ... come in late Friday and pick it up. We will call you. Friday about 6:00 pm the phone rings. A technician named 'Moses' now has the laptop on his bench; he says he just got it a few minutes earlier and needs my system password to get in. I have to repeat my password several times, and spell it out for him twice. He does not seem to understand the difference between a hyphen and an underscore. I am starting to get nervous again. He tells me to come over about 9 pm 'but get here before the store closes' and pick it up. I go in the store at 8:45 pm and Moses comes out to the front counter. His story was he is not quite finished and to come back in the morning ... I ask if I can wait but he says the store closes at 9 pm and no customers are allowed to be around after that time. I am in the store the next morning when it opens. Someone brings the laptop to me -- after spending about ten minutes looking all over the back room for it, while I get more nervous -- and sits it on the counter saying look it over; make sure it works. Works?? Works??? It had some bastardized thing in it which probably was some form of Windows with a total of *four* icons on the desktop, one being 'My Computer', another being 'Network Neighborhood', a third being 'Recycle Bin' and last, but not least -- how could you have a computer without it -- 'Microsoft Network Signup'. I have heard it stated that one could take a laptop computer, smash it into a hundred pieces, shovel all the pieces into a barrel, start a fire in the barrel, and when later you went sifting through the ashes in the barrel there near the bottom glowing in the darkness of the soot and ashes would be the Microsoft icon ... ... it just won't go away! I stood there having a terrible fit; the store manager and the general manager came to talk to me. I refused to take possession of the machine and told them 'once again, all I want is to have the macine restored to the way it came out of the store ... pretend like you are selling me a new computer; load it with OEM Windows, the accessories, etc. They assured me it would be handled correctly this time, and that I could go home, return (at this point for the sixth time in a single week) at 5:00 pm, see them personally and pick it up. 5:00 pm comes and I go to the store again. Moses comes out this time -- after some badgering by me insisting to talk to someone besides the tech department clerk at the front counter -- and he tell me as follows: I cannot do a recovery on a Toshiba Satellite 220-CDS. I do not have the recovery disk for that unit. I did however 'find a copy' of Windows around here 'someplace' and loaded it completely. I asked why, as a dealer of Toshiba, they did not have the recovery disk. He said they did have the recovery disk for the 225-CDS, but not the 220-CDS. Anyway, you did not buy this here. Comp-USA retail stores sell the 225-CDS; the 220 was a sort of specialized thing that Compu-USA used to sell, but through a special program and not in the retail stores. Toshiba made the 220 as a 'business machine' instead of a personal computer; they made a deal with Comp-USA and a couple other places to sell it through third parties. Furthermore, the machines we sell here come already loaded from Toshiba; we do not add any software to them. A payphone was nearby and I immediately called the 24 hour Toshiba tech support number and related all this. Tell those fools to recover with the 225 disk, for gosh sakes! There is not one iota of difference between the 220 and the 225 that matters where this is concerned. Same software completely. Yes, the 220 was for a specific promotion, I won't go into the minor differences. I went back to Moses and asked him -- pleaded with him -- use the 225-CDS recovery disk. I will go out for my dinner, try to calm down, and be back in a couple hours. He would not be moved. He would not do it; and said the manager could not make him do it either. I picked up the machine and walked out. The manager was standing there and said to me they would write off the 'difference I still owed' on the tech work. Sunday I was sort of ill with a case of flu and fever. I felt really very bummed out about it. Monday I got a call about 9:00 am -- meaning a mere 7:00 am in Redmond, Washington -- from a man who identified himself as a 'Microsoft employee' and he said: Oh, Mr. Townson ... we heard you were having trouble with your computer, is that right? Troubles, I asked? Nobody knows the troubles I've seen ... nobody knows but Jesus, as the old spiritual goes ... Well I am going to help you get it fixed if you will allow me to do so. Be my guest. What else could go wrong at this point? Those terrible techs! Probably all just got hired recently and should be assigned to more simple tasks. I have a package of stuff for you to download; do you want to do it today? Oh sure, I have time to kill. The last time I visited the Microsoft web site and looked at one simple download it said the estimated time to download it was five hours and ten minutes, but net speeds being what they are, I suppose I could reasonably expect to double that. Oh no, I'll give you a telephone number. Just dial in on that number and use the password I will give you. The number goes direct to a workstation near me; it will take some time but you can call the 800-number version if you wish; then call me back on a different line, or I will call you. I was on the line to that computer in Redmond for about three hours; but a delightful basket of goodies came my way as a result. By late Monday night, I had Windows restored and running .... almost. There was still no audio; I still could not get a full screen, and things were still sort of flaky looking, but at least no more 'illegal operation' messages. The only thing this guy did not replace for me was sndrec32.exe ... the 'Sound Recorder' and the volume control knob which appears on the screen when you press the speaker icon on the task bar. Does anyone have a copy of sndrec32.exe they wish to send me? The Microsoft guy said 'what few problems remain' would go away when Toshiba gave me the necessary instructions for reloading some Toshiba-specific drivers and details on the sound card and video, etc. Tuesday -- now a week and a day following the incident of Black Monday as I shall call it -- Toshiba patiently sat on the phone with me for almost an hour and knitted everything back together, i.e. sound, and video drivers, a couple of things in the BIOS they had me set to a different status, etc. Tuesday about noon, eight days into this saga, things are looking good. I might actually get back on line later today. Oh yeah? ... Just fanciful thinking on my part. Tuesday afternoon a call from my friend at the bus station; a problem with the phones there that rendered them all out of order; could I come and look at it. Of course I could, and that ran from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday resulting in having an Ameritech guy out to swap some pairs in the cable which had gone sour. The usual arguments: are you sure it is not in your modem/fax/credit card machine, etc? After another terrible fit by myself -- my own mental condition was getting pretty unstable at this point -- the Ameritech guy shows up, decides a 'cable guy' has to come out, gets the place up and running sort of half-assed, and splits. Wednesday they did come out bright and early and get new cable pulled. Now we are up to Wednesday night ... now nine days without a chance to work on the Digest (I suppose I could have stayed awake for 48 hours running and done *something* ). Comes very early Thursday morning, I wake up bright and early, detirmined to get on line and get some work done here. A little box comes via Federal Express quite early. In the box, a tiny circuit board with four chips on it entitled 16 Megs of RAM. The Federal Express indicia said it came from Redmond, Washington and the sender, who asked to be nameless included a note which said 'when you dialed in Monday and I was looking over your computer at this end, I noticed there was just 16 M in there; you know you are not doing Windows any favor by running with that little. Add this and get yourself 32 total. I found it laying around here ... this should make things run much, much faster if Windows does not have to constantly swap memory in and out using the hard drive to store stuff. Downloads will be faster, Real Player will not sputter and stall so much (since it will buffer more to start with) and things should just work better in all respects. Oh, one last bit of advice, Mr. Townson: don't f--- up putting this in, or you will have a lot more grief than Windows could ever cause.' This was followed by a couple smileys. I put in the extra memory, and for once in a couple weeks, things went right. When I booted up, there it was in the memory check which occurs each time; a full 32 instead of the 16 I had worked with for the two or three months I had this machine. At least it seemed that way ... Thursday evening a few hours to spare, let's get busy with the Digest mail. About two thousand pieces of mail waiting :( and over half of it was spam, sometimes the same spam from the same person(s) three, four or five times. I spent a couple hours just 'plowing' through it deleting wholesale everything that looked like spam. Gosh, this connection is slowing down a lot I thought ... must be awfully heavy traffic on Compuserve tonight. Click, the modem shuts off. Repeated redial attempts fail. I decide to reboot and the result is the computer is unable to find a modem at all! 'You have to install a modem to use dialup networking' chants Windows. Ah, I knew it was too good to be true. Several attempts to reconfigure it failed. Friday morning I am on the phone to Toshiba again (again?, yes again) and they walk through the entire process of re-establishing the ports, the modem, and the various drivers involved. 'All well now' says the man. Attempting once again to dial out, Dial Up Networking tells me 'another applica- tion is using the telephony device. Try later when it is finished.' Even after re-booting the same response comes back. I am back on the phone to Toshiba absolutely steaming. Toshiba insists it must be the version of Windows now installed. A suggestion is made once again that I go to an authorized service center and have a complete recovery, 'this time using only the proper recovery disk.' I hang up the phone, or more correctly slam the receiver. I think they are tired of hearing from me; as tired as I am of calling them. A call back to Remond to Nameless. His response was 'such crocks they hand out over the tech phone lines at those places ... did you get the extra memory?' I told him I had. Okay he says, do as follows: Shut off the computer. Take the modem out of the slot on the side. Turn the computer back on without the modem card. I did these things. Call Windows' attention to the lack of any modem by deliberatly using Dialup Networking to 'make a call'. I can't find a modem!, screamed Windows. Now shut off the computer, and reinstall the card. Turn the computer back on. As the computer booted up still again, this time a small window popped up saying a new piece of hardware had been found, a 28.8 fax/modem card, can you believe that? ... and Windows graciously said it would be installed for me with drivers, etc. It worked, and I am on line now, although the speed is not that great. But, it is not plodding along, repeatedly disconnecting and making claims about other 'another application using the device.' The Microsoft guy urged me again to not mention his name on the newsgroup. I promised him I would not, but I also assured him if I keep on having problems with this I will damn them all to hell on the newsgroup. Now Friday, almost two weeks after it began, I *seem* to be back to normal. Of course I felt that way after I ignorantly installed the Windows Upgrade several days ago. This time though, I feel it is very very close to being totally restored. If you do not hear from me for a few days, you'll know once again I guessed wrong. The Microsoft guy said whatever I did, I should IMMEDIATLY find some way to back up everything. In particular, all of Windows and the registry. I have no method of doing that short of using about a hundred diskettes. Maybe at least I will back up \windows\system and keep it safe. Also, I no longer have any backup method of getting on the net, which should be obvious by my absence the past several days. My one and only still working terminal finally also gave out. If anyone has a spare terminal (I have modems, cables, etc) they don't need and would like to donate, please let me know. Something like an old Wyse, or Hewlitt Packard or Qume would be ideal. If anyone has an old used 486 with a LARGE hard drive (this laptop has 1.3 gigs of space) large enough to hold the contents of this machine, I would appreciate it also and will pay some token sum for it if requested. Then I will back this all up on the hard drive of the other machine. Anyway, thats where I have been for a couple weeks. Sorry about that. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V18 #30 *****************************