Using Kermit over a LAN

[Frank da Cruz]

In response to another query from HP Wei about using Kermit over a LAN:
Kermit can indeed be used over LANs, so long as the PC's connection to the
LAN looks like a serial communication port to the PC.  This would seem to
the case in HP Wei's query, since a terminal connection can be made.

In general, when the Kermit CONNECT command works but file transfer does not,
the culprit is usually (a) parity, (b) flow control, (c) packet size, or (d)
interference:

(a) Check to see if your LAN terminal interfaces are using some kind of parity
and if so, tell BOTH Kermit programs about it, using the SET PARITY command.

(b) It is command for LAN terminal interfaces to want to do xon/xoff flow
control with the PC.  Make sure you PC is set up for this (MS-DOS Kermit 
does this by default in most cases).  If some other kind of flow control is
required (like RTS/CTS) you could be in for trouble.

(c) Some LAN terminal interfaces have small buffers and can't accept a normal
Kermit packet (90-95 characters) at 9600 baud.  Try using SET SEND/RECEIVE
PACKET-LENGTH for smaller packets, or else reducing the baud rate.

(c) Some LAN terminal interfaces intercept a certain character for control
purposes.  If this is a printable character, a Control-A, or a carriage return,
then this will prevent Kermit file transfers from taking place.  In this case,
try to find out how to change the box's intercept character to a control
character other than ^A or CR.  If the ^A or the CR are at fault, you can use
Kermit's SET START and/or SET END to change these.  If it's a printable
character, and it can't be changed in the LAN box, you're out of luck.
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