FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) SlipKnot V. 1.0 and V. 1.05 (beta) This file is designed for solving SlipKnot problems, not for tips on general usage. Please skim the file for areas of interest before wading in. Updated on Feb. 10, 1995 Updated on Jan. 30, 1995 for Version 1.05 (beta) Updated on Dec. 15, 1994 for Version 1.0 Created on Dec. 4, 1994 by the MicroMind SlipKnot folks. ======================= Problems -- Table of Contents. -- Update news and upgrading instructions -- Introduction -- Section 1. What you need before getting SlipKnot -- Section 2. Problems in getting SlipKnot and running SETUP -- Section 3. Problems when starting SlipKnot for the first time -- Section 4. Configuring SlipKnot Terminal and testing the settings -- Section 5. Problems in "Initializing the Host" or when pressing the World Wide Web button -- Section 6. Problems in SlipKnot Web -- Section 7. Current SlipKnot limitations and peculiarities -- Section 8. Problems, in particular, with Version 1.05 -- Appendix 1. Choosing and setting up a UNIX prompt. -- Appendix 2. If this document does not help solve the problem ======================= UPDATE NEWS ===================================== Jan. 30 update: Version 1.05 (beta) is now available. Upgrading instructions follow below. If you have upgrading problems, or having upgraded, you have any new problems, please see the sections dedicated to "1.05 Problems" below. If you are having any of these problems 1-5 below, please try to upgrade to 1.05. 1. Persistent inability to Initialize Host. 2. You have no modem, but rather connect to UNIX directly via serial port. 3. You have a complicated connection sequence (which may include dial-back from your UNIX host. 4. Problem displaying some documents, particularly from the Yanoff Internet Services list. 5. You need to be able to send the Break signal during the login process, and you are logging in using the manual, rather than script-based process (there is now a menu option under Communications for sending the Break signal). ======================== Upgrading to Version 1.05 beta =============== First a note: please understand that 1.05 is a beta-version, and therefore may have problems of its own. However, it has fixed many problems in 1.0, and now offers a number of new features. === Upgrade Method 1 === If your version of SlipKnot is working and you are normally able to retrieve large documents in SlipKnot Web, then retrieve the SlipKnot What's New Page. There's a link to it in the SlipKnot Local Home Page which you can use, but here's the location anyway: http://www.interport.net/slipknot/whatsnew.html You will find easy upgrade instructions on the What's New Page. ==== Upgrade Method 2 === If you are having problems with SlipKnot, then 1. retrieve the following file using anonymous FTP: site: interport.net directory: /pub/pbrooks/slipknot file: snup105.zip 2. Place the snup105.zip file into your \SLIPKNOT\UPGRADE directory 3. Terminate SlipKnot completely 4. In the Windows SlipKnot group of icons, there is a "NEW" icon, which should perform the complete upgrade for you. If this fails, then unzip the snup105.zip file (making sure that there are no CRC errors, and if there are errors, then *do not* try to fix them in any way -- try to retrieve the file again). Place the unzipped contents of the upgrade file into your \SLIPKNOT directory, overwriting some older files there. Then, using an ASCII editor, edit the \SLIPKNOT\SLIPKNOT.INI file to change the version number inside to 1.05 If you are having trouble upgrading using SlipKnot's NEW icon, then: 1. Unzip the SNUP105.ZIP file into a temporary directory. Make sure that there are NO unzipping errors. If there are, try a different unzipping program (we recommend PKUNZIP 2.04c), or try retrieving the file again in case there were any downloading problems. 2. Copy the resultant unzipped files into your \SLIPKNOT directory. 3. The next time you log in to your Host, press the Setup/Initialize Host menu item to make sure that the Host is initialized with the new scripts that are in Version 1.05. ===================== Introduction If you are having a problem with SlipKnot recognizing your UNIX prompt, please see the Appendix on this topic. Although installation has gone smoothly in most cases, there have, of course, been some problems. This file is designed to address the most common problems in installing and using SlipKnot, and some of its current limitations. We have tried to make this document cover as many as possible of the problems that we have heard of, hence it is long. We urge you to read this FAQ and check with the Usenet group comp.infosystems.www.users before sending us email fo support. If you know of others interested in SlipKnot, we ask your help in posting this document *locally* to help others. If you are in contact with your UNIX system administrator, feel free to send this document to that person. Since SlipKnot tries to run on a large variety of differently configured PCs connected to a large variety of different UNIX systems, many of the problems below are rare, but are listed because someone has reported them. Choose the section below where you are having a problem -- it is not necessary to read this entire document. In any case, we know the frustration of software installations, and apologize in advance if the problem is due to SlipKnot. NOTE: If you are using a beta version of SlipKnot (prior to Version 1.0), then we strongly urge you to upgrade to version 1.0. -- we no longer support any beta versions. Particularly, if you are using Version 0.53, (a version with many problems), your best bet for solving its problems is a complete re-installation. Retrieve the slnot100.zip file using anonymous FTP from: ftp://oak.oakland.edu/SimTel/win3/internet/slnot100.zip then remove all files inside your \SLIPKNOT directory and all of its subdirectories, before re-installing. NOTE: If you are having trouble, one of the best ways of receiving help is to ask other SlipKnot users on your UNIX system (possibly by posting a question to a local newsgroup). Since each UNIX system is slightly different from all others, we at MicroMind may not know about such problems, and local people might already have solved the problem you are experiencing. ======================= Section 1. What you need before getting SlipKnot: You must have a PC running some flavor of Windows, and a subscription (account) on a UNIX system. At this time, you MUST be calling up your UNIX system using a modem (no direct connections are supported in Version 1.0). On your PC: -- A 386, 486, or Pentium PC running Windows 3.1+, or Windows for Workgroups, or perhaps Windows NT, and we are told that SlipKnot does run on one of the Windows 95 beta releases. -- SlipKnot WILL NOT currently run on: -- OS/2-WIN (for reasons having to do with background process control) -- Mac running SoftWindows (because, we are told, SoftWindows emulates a 286 processor, and SlipKnot requires a 386. SlipKnot may run on the hardware-based 386-enahnced "Houdini" processors, but we have not gotten any reports. -- Windows should be running in 386 Enhanced mode. If you are not sure whether yours is, then launch Windows, and in the Program Manager, press the menu item Help and the About Program Manager. At the bottom of that small screen is an indication of the Windows Mode, which should read: "Enhanced Mode". If it does not, you must change the way Windows is launched. On your Host: -- Your Host MUST be running UNIX (SlipKnot will not work with VAX/VMS) -- You must have a shell account with your host. You cannot be trapped inside a menu or inside a program. You must be able to get to a UNIX shell prompt from which you can execute any program of your choice. NOTE: many "freenets" do not offer shell access to their subscribers, choosing instead to provide program access via menus -- SlipKnot will not work with such systems. -- Your Host's UNIX system must have either the lynx or www program available. The lynx program MUST be called "lynx". If your system only has a single World Wide Web program called "www", make sure that it is not really the lynx program in disguise, by trying to execute the following command from your UNIX prompt: www -version If you get a message indicating that you are running some version of lynx, then you must create a "pseudo-command" called lynx which will execute your www program. The reason is that the official "www" program is different from lynx, and SlipKnot will get confused if one masquerades as the other. -- If you are not sure whether your UNIX system has lynx or www available, then execute: lynx -version or www from your UNIX prompt. If either works, then choose the appropriate one in your SlipKnot Terminal Setup/Host screen. -- If you are going to be using lynx, then make sure that it's version is at least 2.2 (and preferably 2.3.7 or later). Versions of lynx prior to 2.2 will prevent SlipKnot from retrieving pictures. Versions of lynx prior to 2.3.7 may, under some circumstances, cause other unspecified difficulties. -- If you are using SlipKnot 1.0, then your UNIX system must have a program to download files using either the Xmodem or Ymodem protocol. If you are using SlipKnot 1.05, then you may also use either Zmodem or Kermit. You will need to know what the correct command is for your UNIX system for initiating a download procedure using the protocol of your choice, for downloading *binary* files. 1.1 -- The "Exclusive in Foreground" setting: In Windows 3.1, there is a setting in the Windows Control Panel that affects SlipKnot's background operations. Go to the Windows Main group, launch Control Panel, go to the "386 Enhanced" settings. There should be a checkbox called "Exclusive in Foreground". This box should be unchecked! If it is unchecked, then everything is OK. If it is checked, then uncheck it, save the setting by pressing OK, terminate Windows, and then come back into Windows and make sure it remains unchecked! We have heard of systems where this is a difficult box to uncheck (it seems to want to remain set). If all else fails (the box insists on remaining checked), then you will have to force this setting manually by using an ASCII editor to edit the SYSTEM.INI file in the \WINDOWS directory. Exit Windows. Edit the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI file. Therein you will find a setting: "WinExclusive=1". Change this to: "WinExclusive=0". Save the file and go into Windows Control Panel to make sure that the box is, in fact, unchecked. On your UNIX system: -- You must have a "shell" account on your UNIX system. This means that when you log in, there is a prompt and you type commands. Menu-based accounts are not supported (where you choose your activities by selecting items from lists). If you have a menu-based system, which allows you access to a shell prompt -- then that's all right -- as long as you can get to a shell prompt. -- Your UNIX system must have either the program "lynx" (Version 2.2 or later) or the program "www" available for your use. How to test: -- Try to execute: "lynx" from the shell prompt. If it works, you should see a page of information, and you can exit lynx by pressing "q". To find out the version of lynx, execute: "lynx -version" from the prompt. If it indicates a version of lynx prior to 2.2, then SlipKnot will not be able to retrieve binary files (e.g. pictures), and you may want to get your UNIX system to upgrade its version of lynx (see next paragraph). You can find current versions of lynx for a variety of UNIX systems at the following site: ftp2.cc.ukans.edu in the directory or subdirectories below: /pub/lynx If you are not quite familiar with your UNIX system, you should probably try to get someone else who is to retrieve and install the appropriate current version. -- If lynx is not available, try executing "www". If it works, please make sure that this "www" is not just another name for "lynx" ("www" is, in fact, a completely different program unrelated to "lynx", but on some systems, "www" just executes the "lynx" program). To test whether "www" has been aliased to bring up "lynx", execute: "www -version". You may get a short explanation which indicates that this a version of lynx. If not, then you are probably working with a legitimate copy of "www", and that's fine. If "www" turns out to be really a version of "lynx", then you must try to find out a way to execute this program by typing "lynx" instead of "www" (this is called "unaliasing"), and if you do not know how to do this, then the best bet is to try asking someone who knows. -- Your UNIX system must be able to send *binary* files to your PC (download) using any one of the protocols: Xmodem, Xmodem-CRC, Xmodem-1K or Ymodem-Batch. NOTE: Zmodem and Kermit are not currently supported. You should also be able to upload files using these X or Ymodem protocols, but it is not absolutely necessary for SlipKnot to be able to do so. If you do not know whether your UNIX system has this capability, try to ask someone knowledgeable, and in particular, ask what the appropriate commands are to launch one of these file transfer programs. Then install these appropriate commands in the Setup/Host screen. If your UNIX system does not have X or Ymodem file transfer programs, there are versions of these programs available on the Internet, but it may require a person knowledgeable with your UNIX system to install a version. ================= Section 2. Problems in getting SlipKnot and running SETUP 2.1 -- Unzipping problems: MOST IMPORTANT: If, after downloading the slnot100.zip file, you have errors in unzipping (say, CRC errors), then the file you have may be corrupted. If so, DO NOT proceed to either install or try to fix up the file (with programs like zipfix). SlipKnot will cause untold errors if its files are corrupted and then installed. -- If you unzipped slnot100.zip on your UNIX system, and then tried to download the resultant files -- don't. Download slnot100.zip to your PC first and unzip there. This is because the unzipping programs on UNIX may not unzip the file correctly. -- If you had unzipping problems on your PC, this may be caused by an incompatibility between your unzip program and slnot100.zip. Try to obtain and use the DOS program PKUNZIP (version 2.04). This program is available on most bulletin boards since the majority of the world's posted PC software is in zipped form using PKZIP as the standard. -- If you have used PKUNZIP, and there are still errors, then the problem occurred in downloading the file (file is legitimately corrupted). The problem either occurred in using anonymous FTP to download the file to your UNIX system (if you retrieved the file from the Internet) or in the process of downloading the file to your PC. -- FTP problems: the transfer must be in binary. Here is a sample session for transferring the file from one of SlipKnot's distribution sites (comments and FTP responses in UPPER CASE, your commands in lower case). ftp open oak.oakland.edu (MESSAGES FROM OAKLAND) LOGIN: anonymous PASSWORD: (enter your email address here) cd /SimTel/win3/internet binary hash get slnot100.zip (PROGRESS REPORT SHOWING FILE COMING IN) quit -- Downloading to PC problems: this process MUST ALSO be in binary mode, not ASCII, and the commands for this process are dependent upon both your PC comm program and the commands to trigger a binary download from your UNIX system. If you suspect that this may be the source of the problem, try to check with someone else on your UNIX system as to which commands to start for *binary* downloads. 2.2 -- SETUP problems: Once you have successfully unzipped slnot100.zip into a temporary directory (say, C:\TEMP), run Windows, and from the Program Manager, press File/Run and indicate there the path and name of the SETUP.EXE file (e.g. C:\TEMP\SETUP). -- Problem: You see "Initializing Setup", and then...nothing happens. The most probable cause of this is a corrupted slnot100.zip file or other problems in unzipping it. See the prior section (2.1) on these problems. We have heard that there may be an incompatibilty between SlipKnot's SETUP program and a program called VSAFE (or vsave?). When VSAFE is loaded, SETUP may not run successfully. Once VSAFE is unloaded, then SETUP may run. -- Problem: You get a message to the effect that DDEML.DLL cannot be copied. This is usually just a warning message and you can go continue installing. If instead, SETUP stops at this point, then: exit Windows, find your existent DDEML.DLL file in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM or \WINDOWS directory, rename the file to some other name (like DDEML.BAK), run Windows again and start the SETUP process again -- SlipKnot should then install its own DDEML.DLL file. -- Problem: You get a message to the effect that either CMDIALOG.VBX or THREED.VBX is out of date. Exit Windows, find the offending file (either CMDIALOG.VBX or THREED.VBX) in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM or \WINDOWS directory, rename the file to some other name (say, CMDIALOG.BAK or THREED.BAK), then run Windows again, and run SETUP again. ================= Section 3. Problems in running SlipKnot for the first time 3.1 -- Problem: a General Protection Fault occurs when you launch SlipKnot. -- Did you have any problems/errors in unzipping? If so, remove all files from your \SLIPKNOT directory and see section 2.1 above. -- Check your \SLIPKNOT directory to see if you have any files there whose names end in "_" (e.g. PDQCOM21.VB_). If so, then SETUP did not successfully uncompress these SlipKnot files. You will have to uncompress them one-by-one (or you can try running SETUP again to do the job). To uncompress the files, use the DOS program EXPAND.EXE (should already be available on your drive). Here's how to uncompress one of these files: Suppose the file to uncompress is PDQCOM21.VB_. Look up the suffix ("VB_") in the list below (you will find: "VBX"), then uncompress this file with the command: EXPAND PDQCOM21.VB_ PDQCOM21.VBX After successfully expanding the file, delete the original (PDQCOM21.VB_). The following is a list of the compressed suffixes and their matching uncompressed suffixes: Compressed Uncompressed ---------- ------------ .BA_ .BAK .BM_ .BMP .DL_ .DLL .EX_ .EXE .GI_ .GIF .HL_ .HLP .HS_ .HST .HT_ .HTM .IC_ .ICO .IN_ .INI .PI_ .PIF .TX_ .TXT .VB_ .VBX .WA_ .WAV 3.2 -- Problem: You get a message to the effect that SlipKnot cannot set your Terminal font to any known font. This is usually caused by a bad or corrupted SNTERM.INI file in your \SLIPKNOT directory. This is what that file should look like (if it doesn't, then copy the section between the two lines and recreate SNTERM.INI): --------------------- start of SNTERM.INI lines [Terminal] FontName=Courier New FontSize=9 BackColor=0 ForeColor=15 FontBold=0 Emulation=4 [Communications] CommPort=2 ModemInit=AT &F E1 V1 L1 S0=0 ModemHangup=,,,+++,,,,,,,ATH^M Connect=CONNECT Disconnect=NO CARRIER IsPulse=0 [Host] HostName=SAMPLE [Global] ------------------ end of SNTERM.INI lines -- If you still get this Font-related message, then make sure you have the "Courier New" font available. If not, then change the line "Fontname=Courier New" to some other font that you do have, and change the line "Fontsize=9" to a size available for the font you have chosen. 3.3 -- Problem: In version 1.05, if you get a "STACK OVERFLOW" message when bringing up the SlipKnot Terminal Setup/Communication screen: see section 8.1 below. ========== Section 4. Configuring SlipKnot Terminal and testing the settings If you have not read SlipKnot Help on Terminal Configuration, then do so (press on the Help menu item, and go to the topic: Terminal Configuration). You will find explanations there that solve many problems. 4.1 -- Problem: You are connected to your UNIX system through a serial line without a modem. SlipKnot does not seem to connect. Reason: SlipKnot Version 1.0 does not yet support direct serial connections. The next version should. 4.2 -- Problem: SlipKnot does not seem to dial correctly, or does not reach the dialing stage. If you have another communuications program that works successfully, then copy the "modem initialization string" from that program into the SlipKnot screen: Setup/Communications. 4.3 -- Problem: After SlipKnot dials and connects with the other modem, you see garbage on the screen. Most likely reason: wrong number of data bits or wrong parity set in the Setup/Host screen. If you are on a 7-bit line connection to your Host, SlipKnot does not yet support 7-bit connections. The next version should. 4.4 -- Problem: You are using the script-based login, and when the script finishes, SlipKnot waits for a while, and then logs off. This is most likely caused by SlipKnot not recognizing your UNIX prompt. See Appendix 1 below for a discussion on setting your UNIX prompt. 4.5 -- Problem: When SlipKnot starts up or when it connects to your UNIX system, you get a General Protection Fault involving PDQCOM21.VBX. If so, try changing the Terminal Emulation (inside the Setup/Host screen) to ANSI if it was VT100. =============== Section 5. Problems in "Initializing the Host" or when pressing the World Wide Web button This is where many problems can occur, because it is only at this point theat SlipKnot is actually trying to do work with your UNIX system. Most of these problems have to do with setting up the screen: Setup/Host. There is a quick way of getting the right settings: try to find another person on your UNIX system who is successfully using SlipKnot, (and doing so with the same shell [Bourne, C-shell, Korn shell, etc.] that you use). If you can find such a person, ask for a copy of that person's Host file. That is a file in the \SLIPKNOT directory with the suffix: .HST that contains all of the settings for this UNIX host. These files are in ASCII-readable format and can be transfered from person to person. NOTE: these .HST files DO NOT contain the login ID and password, so they are safe to copy and distribute. 5.1 -- Problem: an error message occurs: SlipKnot does not recognize your UNIX prompt or your UNIX directory is not writable. -- This is usually caused by one of the two problems mentioned in the error message. For recognizing the UNIX prompt problem, see Appendix 1 below. For the other problem (writable directory), see 5.2 below. 5.2 -- Problem: an error message occurs concerning the "noclobber" setting. See the discussion in SlipKnot Help (topic: "noclobber"). 5.3 -- Problem: SlipKnot tries, unsuccessfully, to initialize your Host, and then presents a message that the Host could not be initialized. -- This is most likely a problem with file downloading (though it could be caused by the "noclobber" issue -- in which case see section 5.2 above). 5.3.1 -- Inside Setup/Host, you chose a file transfer protocol (Xmodem-1K or Ymodem-Batch, or...) and also the UNIX command that starts file transfers using that protocol. It is likely that the command in Setup/Host is not correct for your UNIX system. For instance: if you chose Xmodem-1K, then SlipKnot will try to use the UNIX command "sx -k {filename}" to get your UNIX system to send a file using the Xmodem-1K protocol. Your UNIX system may not have the "sx" program and may be using a different program for Xmodem file transfers instead. If you can find out what the proper command is for this protocol, then install it in the Setup/Host screen (make sure you include the "{filename}" string for where to put the filename when the program actually executes). NOTE: make sure you choose a UNIX command that starts *binary* file transfers. -- You can test whether downloading works by trying to download a small file using the menu item: Communcations/Get File from Host. If that fails, then the transfer command is either incorrect, or your UNIX system does not have any program that supports the chosen protocol. -- If downloading does not work, try a different protocol (if you used Xmodem-1K, try Ymodem-Batch, or vice versa). 5.3.2 -- If downloading works, but Initializing Host does not, then there may be a fix in a patched version of some of the SlipKnot files. These files can be obtained from the following source by anonymous FTP: site: interport.net directory: /pub/pbrooks/slipknot filename: snt100e.zip (or snt100f.zip, or snt100g.zip, or ... whichever is the latest available patch) Retrieve this file, unzip on your PC, and place the files therein into your \SLIPKNOT directory. Then try Initializing the Host again. You can do this by using the menu item: Setup/Initalize Host. This file only contains minor patches -- don't bother to get it unless you are having initialization problems. By the way, SlipKnot's What's New Page will tell you when a new version is available, and how to get it. -- A rare problem occurs on some machines with the two shell scripts that SlipKnot places into your UNIX directory during Initialization. The shell scripts are called: ".slipcommand" and ".slipgeturl". After SlipKnot deposits these shell scripts on your UNIX system, it tries to make these scripts "executable". Please check to see if, in fact, these scripts exist and that they are executable. Here's how: execute the following commands at your UNIX prompt: ls -l .slipcommand and ls -l .slipgeturl In both cases, you should get a line of information indicating that the file in question exists, and at the beginning of each line there should be the string: "-rwx ...". If the files do not exist, then try Initializing your host again (use the menu item: Setup/Initialize Host). If the "x" in "rwx" does not exist, then execute the following two commands at your UNIX prompt: chmod u+x .slipcommand chmod u+x .slipgeturl ================= Section 6. Problems in SlipKnot Web At this point, you have gone through Host initialization successfully, and using, or about to use SlipKnot Web. 6.1 -- Problem: when running SlipKnot Web for the first time, it successfully takes its time in "analyzing your fonts", but then a red windows appears, saying "Analyzing" and nothing else happens. The most probable cause is the "Exclusive in Foreground" Windows setting. See Section 1.1. 6.2 -- Problem: an error message appears: "Cannot analyze document ()". At this point, SlipKnot is trying to display the document SLIPKNOT.HTM which should be located inside your \SLIPKNOT directory. Please check that it is there. If it is not, but you do find a file called: SLIPKNOT.HT_ then refer to Section 3.1. If it is there, then try to remember whether there were any errors in unzipping the original slnot100.zip file. If there were, then see Section 2.1. If there were no unzipping errors, then see Section 1.1. 6.3 -- Problem: you can get some small documents from the Internet, but larger documents fail to come in. Downloading always fails at some particular number of bytes downloaded (say, 12288). If this happens for X or Ymodem protocols, and you are using version 1.0, then upgrade to version 1.05 which now supports Zmodem and Kermit. See the section on upgrading above. 6.4 -- Problem: you get a message: "Unable to display this file as a Web document". SlipKnot does not recognize the beginning of the document as a valid HTML document. Technical note: It currently looks for the following strings: "", "" and "". If these are not found, then SlipKnot concludes (possibly mistakenly) that this is not a valid HTML file, and gives that message. Version 1.05 is now less strict (rejects fewer documents). If you are using 1.0, it would be wise to upgrade. 6.5 -- Problem: SlipKnot Web crashes: if this happens, you will still be able to go back to SlipKnot Terminal by pressing Ctrl-Esc and choosing SlipKnot Terminal or SNTERM. Once back in the Terminal, you may find the keyboard locked (try typing a couple of characters). If so, use the menu item: Debug/Unfeeeze Keyboard. At this point, you should be able to type, or disconnect, or be able to go back to SlipKnot Web (and your previously retrieved documents will still be in your History session, re-dislayable by pressing the icon with the circular arrow). 6.6 -- Problem: SlipKnot Web crashes while trying to display a document and messes up the screen. This can happen when the document has a huge number of pictures in it (sometimes a document author will use a small picture for each bulletted item over and over again). In this case, exit SlipKnot Web, disconnect, exit SlipKnot, exit Windows. 6.7 -- Problem: SlipKnot Web indicates that "you are not connected to the Host" while trying to retrieve a document. Exit SlipKnot Web back to the Terminal, use Debug/Unfreeze keyboard if the keyboard is locked. Try to see if your UNIX system is responding. If not, disconnect and re-connect. Some UNIX systems will log you off if there is no activity for a given period of time. SlipKnot tries to prevent this if you have checked the box in Setup/Host that says: "Tickle host every minute". This does not always work. 6.8 -- Problem: The document title appears twice. This is not really a problem but rather a design choice on the part of the document author. The author has chosen to use the same words in both the document title and its primary header, and SlipKnot displays both. 6.9 -- Problem: you get the message: "Unable to retrieve document". Often this has nothing to do with SlipKnot. This message may result from one of the following possibilities: -- The document address was misspelled (mispelled?), therefore there is no such document. -- The document has been moved, and left no forwarding address. -- The Internet is busy (this happens more and more frequently), and SlipKnot is unable to get through. -- The computer that the document resides on is busy or down. -- The document came through partly, but there was an error in the downloading process. If so, see Section 5.3.1, particularly concerning *binary* file transfers. To test whether the document is really out there, you can go back to SlipKnot Terminal temporarily, and try to retrieve the document using either lynx or www (whichever you chose in the Setup/Host screen). To do this, you'll need to know the document URL (Universal Resource Locator, or simply: its address). You can find out the addresses of the most recent documents you tried to retrieve using the Navigate/Retrieve from Internet menu item, and the drop-down list will show you the last 10 addresses. Copy down the address of the problem document (for instance: "http://service/path/filename.html"), go back to SlipKnot Terminal temporarily, and try to retrieve the document using lynx or www in the following way: lynx http://service/path/filename.html or www http:///service/path/filename.html If lynx or www can retrieve it, try it in SlipKnot Web again. If it fails again, then the problem is somewhere in SlipKnot, otherwise it's an address or Internet problem. 6.10 -- Problem: you get the message: "document too large". Under some circumstances, SlipKnot may not be able to handle a very large document or a document with a very large picture. ========== Section 7. Current SlipKnot limitations and peculiarities. 7.1 -- SlipKnot does not do mail (mailto:), or news, or WAIS. These are available through SlipKnot Terminal using common UNIX commands which are probably already better than SlipKnot would have given you. 7.2 -- SlipKnot does not do gopher. Version 1.05 now supports gopher links (although access to this feature is retricted to registered users). 7.3 -- SlipKnot does not do forms. This is coming. 7.4 -- SlipKnot Web windows are too small. Maximizable windows are coming. ========== Section 8. Problems with Version 1.05 in particular 8.1 -- When bringing up the Setup/Communications screen, the error message: "Out of Stack Space" appears. This is a mysterious problem occurring on some systems as a result of the upgrade to 1.05. All of the settings that would normally appear on this Setup/Communications screen can actually be set with an ASCII editor, editing the \SLIPKNOT\SNTERM.INI file. This screen allows changes to the serial line modem control strings, and if SlipKnot worked in 1.0, you may not need to make any changes to this screen anyway. However, here are the lines in then \SLIPKNOT\SNTERM.INI file that this screen controls: [Communications] CommPort=1 ModemInit=AT &F2 E1 V1 L1 S0=0 ModemHangup=,,,+++,,,,,,ATH^M Connect=CONNECT Disconnect=NO CARRIER IsPulse=0 Ismodem=-1 ModemBusy=BUSY ModemReset=ATZ^M Most of the lines above are straightforward in meaning, except perhaps the IsPulse and IsModem lines. On these lines, "0" means NO, and "-1" means "YES", therefore in the above lines, IsPulse is off (meaning that the telephone line is Touch-Tone, not Pulse), and Ismodem is on, meaning that there is a modem (rather than a direct serial connection without modem). 8.2 -- SlipKnot can no longer connect to the other modem -- it times out too quickly. Try: In the Setup/Host screen, turn off the Retry if Busy check box, then save the settings, and try to connect. If it works, then you should be able to turn that setting back on. 8.3 -- When uploading a file using Communications/Send file to Host, SlipKnot says that it succeeded but the resultant file on UNIX is too small, and just contains a single character: "a". If you asked SlipKnot to upload a file, (for instance, the "REGIST.TXT" file), SlipKnot may create two different files on your UNIX system: "regist.txt" and "REGIST.TXT", where "regist.txt" just contains the "a" character, while "REGIST.TXT" contains the full information that you wanted to send. NOTE: Unlike DOS, UNIX filenames are case-sensitive, so two files with different capitalization in their names can coexist inside a single UNIX directory. 8.2 -- When uploading a file using Zmodem, the file transfer sometimes fails. This is a known bug, and we are working on it. ========== Appendix 1. Choosing and setting up a UNIX prompt. The UNIX prompt that you tell SlipKnot about (in the Setup/Host screen) will be used by SlipKnot to recognize your UNIX prompt when it appears. What you tell SlipKnot need not match exactly your actual UNIX prompt, but it must still be recognizable. The problem usually occurs on systems using shells that change the prompt rom line to line. Say, for instance, that you UNIX prompt is: "peter[1]" when you just log in, but the number changes ("peter[2]", "peter[3]", ...) In this case, the solution is simple: tell SlipKnot (in the Setup/Host screen) that your UNIX prompt is: "peter", and SlipKnot shoud be able to recognize it. WARNING: try, if possible, not to tell SlipKnot that your UNIX prompt is ">" or your login id. This will sometimes confuse SlipKnot. If your actual UNIX prompt IS your login id, or the character ">", then you may have to change your actual UNIX prompt (and tell SlipKnot what the new one is) before SlipKnot will work. =========== Appendix 2. If this document does not help solve the problem If you are having file transmission problems or host initialization problems that are not covered in this document, then you can send us a debugging log file. Here are the steps to doing so: -- See SlipKnot Help topic: "If all else fails" aboout how to create the SLIPKNOT.DEB debugging file. -- Turn on debugging just before the problem occurs, and turn it off just afterwards (this can produce a large file -- so only debug the parts that are failing). -- If you turned on debugging while logging in, SLIPKNOT.DEB may contain your login ID and password. This is an ASCII file and you should delete those pieces of sensitive information before sending. -- Upload the SLIPKNOT.DEB file to your UNIX system, and embed it in the text of the message to us -- DO NOT send it as an attachment because our mailer will not understand it. -- Send the file and your description of the problem. To speed a response, please indicate the fact that you have read this FAQ by typing "**" (two asterisks) as the first characters in the subject line of your message. -- Send to: slpstaff@micromind.com Also, SlipKnot problems, answers and general discussion is held on the Usenet newsgroup: comp.infosystems.www.users. SlipKnot's What's New Page can be retrieved for the latest news on versions and other information (there is a link to the What's New Page from the SlipKnot Local Home Page). ============================================== Again, we are sorry that you are having problems, and hope that this guide helped you through some of them. -- Brought to you by the overworked (and underpaid) MicroMind folks.