Using a Digital DECwriter II and I have questions

[Qmodem]

To things happened on my Birthday this year; 1) I was gifted a M*I*N*T Digital decwriter II terminal to add to my collection, and 2) my first WiModem232 showed up!   

I put a new ribbon in the decwriter, set it to 300 baud (its max speed) and plugged in the WiModem232.  I powered the WiModem232 on, got the White led, and much to my glee the decwriter printed out:

Looking for router...

No router located!


Then I got a red LED.  None of my AT commands work, even though they display on the printer.  If I remove the power and plug it back into the WiModem232, I get the same messages and then nothing.  

I should have saved all my old serial port breakout gear from back when I wrote Qmodem, but I didn't.  I've ordered replacements and should have them this coming weekend.  I just cannot confirm or deny that the decwriter is actually sending data to the wimodem or not.  It is in Line mode and not Local, so I think what I am seeing on the terminal is actually being echoed back from the wimodem, but I am not sure.  

Thoughts?

Cheers!

John "Qmodem" Friel.

[admin]

The WiModem232 itself is what is displaying the message about the router, not your terminal. You get the same messages if you don't have it connected to your terminal at all.

If you have the v4.x firmware on the WiModem232 then you can look at the OLED screen and see anything that you have typed on the display. If you see nothing then the WiModem232 is not getting data from your terminal. MAKE SURE you are using a modem cable and not a NULL-MODEM cable!

[Qmodem]

No, it printed on the decwriter alright, my wimodem232 does not have the OLED option.  Also, it had to be echoing back the characters to the decwriter as I typed on it because it was in LINE mode and not LOCAL.  Without the wimodem232 connected, my typing is not printed so it is definitely not a null modem cable.

I tested the wimodem232 on my IBM 5150 by plugging it into the AST SixPackPlus card directly, and using Qmodem (what else!) I got the same messages on the screen.  However, when I typed ATI it did the correct display of the status, and AT*N gave me a list of available wi-fi access points.  

As soon as I get my breakout kit from Amazon I'll place it between the decwriter and wimodem232 and see what is really happening.  Maybe this weekend I can also get the decwriter over near the 5150 and then use a real null modem cable and see what it does.  

No biggie, just though I would report what I've seen so far.  This is what fascinated me and got me writing software!

Love this guy and ordered one with the OLED yesterday too.  Looking forward to printing the cased for these when I get my 3D printer setup.

Cheers!

John