My wife’s work requires connecting to remote equipment using a 1200 baud modem. Obviously, you can’t get those anymore, so we’re using higher speed units and setting lower speeds. For almost 20 years, we’ve been using them without a problem, through DOS and all versions of Windows. It was a struggle to get the system working under Windows Vista (we’re using a Keyspan USB-serial adapter), but it’s been behaving.
Now, her modem fried, and we got a new (well, old refurbished) one. It seems to interface just fine, except that it hangs up approximately 14 seconds after each time I dial. If I call a line with nothing hooked to it, it rings twice and disconnects. If I call the equipment it’s supposed to work with, it connects on the first ring, negotiates speed, and disconnects.
I’ve gone through all of my documentation trying to figure out if this is a register setting I’ve missed. I’ve reset the modem to factory defaults. I’ve tried to force setting rather than allow negotiation. Nothing seems to work. She’s supposed to go live in an hour and a half.
It’s a Practical Peripherals PM144MT II modem, if that makes a difference to anyone.
It’s been a long time since I fiddled with settings.
Some suggestions - Assume you know Hayes AT commands and how to send then to the modem using +++ Also - have you tried the process manually using a terminal program like Hyperterm or PUTTY (download the EXE free from web), or just the wife’s upload program? DO you know what strings the program is sending on setup?
ATV1 - verbose text info - this will tell you what the modem is doing, those more informative messages like “no carrier”.
ATX, Select call progress method
The procedure calling another modem and negotiating about the transfer parameters goes through different stages. The ATX command can be used to select which progress reports should be returned to the calling computer. The command returns “OK” when a valid parameter is supplied. Otherwise the string “ERROR” is returned. The following options are available.
•X0 Hayes smartmodem 300 compatible call progress: blind dial and no busy detect. “CONNECT” message when connection established.
•X1 Blind dial and no busy detect. The connection speed in bps is appended to the “CONNECT” string.
•X2 Dial tone detection, but no busy detection. The return string is “CONNECT”, followed by the connection speed in bps.
•X3 Blind dial, but busy detection. The return string is “CONNECT”, followed by the connection speed in bps.
•X4 Dial tone detection and busy tone detection. The return string is the connection speed in bps appended to the “CONNECT” string.
AT&V0 - view current settings.
S7=? 1-255 seconds default usually 30-60; Wait time for remote carrier - check this; maybe the 30 second instead of 60 sec default is short enough to kill the connection prematurely.
Maybe the refurb is just bad. Try some other dial up numbers (not sure where you can find them nowadays). If it cant connect to those then youre looking at a bad modem.
Does it have to be this model? You can set the speeds on modems with an AT command. There are all sorts of 1200 baud settings (b0, b1, b2, etc). You can probably try these on a modern 56k modem.
Ive had to support old serial modems and we always use US Robitics. If those commands dont work then I’d spring for a USR. A sportster 2400 can be found for a few dollars and will negotiate down to 1200 if the senses a 1200 modem on the other end, if not you can play with the AT commands.
Also, a fried modem can mean a fried serial port or usb dongle or usb port. Best to try a replacement usb to serial or find a computer with a serial port.
I’ve found an old U.S. Robotics and plugged it in. No help. That makes me think the problem’s at the other end. But I tried three different connections at the other end. None of them work. Then I decided “what the heck?” and tried connecting using the built-in modem in the notebook computer, which has never worked before. It works beautifully.
Sigh
I never had this kind of problem when I was running DOS, dammit.
Live realtime closed-captioning for the hearing-impaired. The captioning system connects to a caption encoder at the network (or TV station) using a modem. Since 1200 baud carries (roughly) 600 words per minute, which is faster than anyone can talk–and faster than the captioner can write anyway*–there’s never been a need to upgrade the modem speed. Even though everyone upgraded to digital, there are still 30-year-old analog encoders in the signal path at a lot of stations.
If you’re interested in captioning, there’s more info on my Web site.
My wife is certified at over 250 words per minute on her steno keyboard
I have nothing to add on the modem question itself, but let me say thank you to those like your wife.
Close Captions, along with the pause button on my DVR have saved my marriage! I can watch TV at a sound level that my wife can handle, but still follow along with the dialogue. The pause button allows me to just hit pause when she starts rambling on in the middle of the show.
I can watch TV at a sound level that my wife can handle, but still follow along with the dialogue. The pause button allows me to just hit pause when she starts rambling on in the middle of the show.