From owner-freebsd-current Wed Feb 5 19:49:23 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) id TAA02549 for current-outgoing; Wed, 5 Feb 1997 19:49:23 -0800 (PST) Received: from labs.usn.blaze.net.au (labs.usn.blaze.net.au [203.17.53.30]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id TAA02542 for ; Wed, 5 Feb 1997 19:49:15 -0800 (PST) Received: (from davidn@localhost) by labs.usn.blaze.net.au (8.8.5/8.8.5) id OAA26187; Thu, 6 Feb 1997 14:48:11 +1100 (EST) Message-ID: <19970206144811.TF54109@labs.usn.blaze.net.au> Date: Thu, 6 Feb 1997 14:48:11 +1100 From: davidn@labs.usn.blaze.net.au (David Nugent) To: terry@lambert.org (Terry Lambert) Cc: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: getty patches References: <199702050908.UAA12116@nemeton.com.au> <199702052202.PAA15725@phaeton.artisoft.com> X-Mailer: Mutt 0.60-PL0 Mime-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <199702052202.PAA15725@phaeton.artisoft.com>; from Terry Lambert on Feb 5, 1997 15:02:11 -0700 Sender: owner-current@freebsd.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Terry Lambert writes: > > > Right. I guess I was really asking "why does a modem need to be > > > initialized again if it was already initialized? Does initialization > > > (somehow) 'wear off'?". > > > > Yup, a regular problem on some models. (Not one I've seen for a > > while, I admit, but I am very choosy about the modems I buy.) > > UGH. It makes me want to complain that X doesn't support my CGA card. Not even in the same ball park, Terry. Take up residence in a country with a different grade of PTT system, or has government controls and an expensive approval process on what can be attached to a PTT's analog lines, and then have to live with the only available (usually locally manufactured) sometimes broken modems, and you'll soon find how just how limited the choice is. Fortunately, that situation is largely reduced in Australia, but there is still a maximum AU$12,000 penality for attaching non-approved equipment onto Australian Telecom lines. But two things have changed over recent years: the approval process has been relaxed, and modems manufactured in the US and elsewhere are now meeting international standards rather than simply being built for FCC approval and require little or no modification to meet the Australian PTT standards. Even so, in the fight to stay on top in the "fastest" analog communications technology, Rockwell and USR have often released buggy versions of their chips, and that covers over 90% of the modem market. Yes, there is something you can do about that if the modem firmware is easy to upgrade (it often isn't), but my point is that this isn't obsolete technology we're really discussing here - quite often it is bleeding edge. Regards, David Nugent - Unique Computing Pty Ltd - Melbourne, Australia Voice +61-3-9791-9547 Data/BBS +61-3-9792-3507 3:632/348@fidonet davidn@freebsd.org davidn@blaze.net.au http://www.blaze.net.au/~davidn/