Modem Information & Troubleshooting
Click for Part II - [Problems]
There are several modem options for connecting a Psion to the internet and sometimes problems do arise. The main options are:
Series 3a
Series 3c & 3mx
Revo, Revo Plus & Diamond Mako
Series 5, 5mx and Ericsson MC218
Series 7 & netBook
Additional options via a PC include:
Modems which cannot be used
Note: PC Card Modem Adaptor
If, after configuring
"Control Panel / Modems"
and "Control
Panel / Internet" the dialup to the ISP fails there are a few things that
you can check out.
[Series 3 devices don't have these applets but are
configured within either PsiMail Internet or eMail-It]
No dial tone
"Wait for dialtone" can be disabled by opening the "Control Panel / Dialling" applet, tapping the "Edit" button, going to the Dial Settings tab and unchecking the "Wait for dialtone" box.
Modems connected with the PsiWin or Revo docking cable
Timing out without dialling when using Cell Phones
No response from modem
If there appears to be no response at all from the modem when attempting to connect to the internet, the simplest way to check if it is functioning properly is to test with the "Comms" application.
[Unfortunately Psion, in their infinite wisdom, chose not to include Comms in the Revo, Revo Plus or Mako]
Open the Comms application and, in the menus, go to "Tools / Communication settings" and select the connection for your modem - Serial / Infrared / PC Card [netBook & S7 only]
Enable only RTS/CTS in the
"Handshaking" tab
[Handshaking cannot be accessed when Infrared is selected]
Tap "OK" to close the dialog box. In the same "Tools" menu, go to "Translate codes" and uncheck the box for "Local echo".
Tap "OK" to close the dialog box.
If you now type AT and press Enter, the modem should respond with OK. You will only see text displayed on the screen if the modem is responding. The screen doesn't show what you type, it shows what the modem echoes (although, of course, they should be identical).
If this hasn't worked, check that it is all connected properly and switched on. Until this basic communication can be shown to work, internet dialup isn't going to work either.
If it has worked, you should be able to dial your ISP. You cannot negotiate the internet protocols with Comms, but you should be able to dial in to the ISP, get and respond to the Username prompt, get and respond to the Password prompt, after which the text is garbled as the ISP switches to the incompatible protocols.
Type
ATZ and press Enter (to reset the modem)
Response OK
Type ATDT08450801000 (using your ISP's number) and press Enter
Follow the prompts for Username and Password. Then hang up [Shift-Ctrl-H] when it becomes garbled. This demonstrates that your modem is working and that it can dial in to your ISP.
Log Files
If the modem is working alright but the dialup from an internet application still fails, create a log file which might give an indication of where the dialup has failed.
Create the file path C:\Logs\Etel\ and, after your next connection attempt, there should be a log file in the Etel folder. With a 'Fixed line' connection, the file will be Etel.txt and, with a 'Mobile' connection, it will be GSMTSY.txt
For a Series 5 'classic', the filepath to create is C:\Logs\Netdial\ and the log file will be Netdial.txt
The "Dialer"
It might also be useful to
install John McAleely's little program "The Dialer". This lets you connect to
the internet independently from any particular application, a bit like Dial Up
Networking on a PC. It will also confirm that a connection has been established
before trying to use an internet application such as Web, Email, Opera, RMRNews
etc.
One thing though if you do decide to use it, make sure that in
"Control
Panel / Internet"
you have a time
entered in the box "On exit, stay online for..." which is sufficient to allow
you to open an internet application (or in the case of Email, open a mailbox),
otherwise the connection will drop immediately.
The Dialer can be downloaded here
or you can visit
John's Dialer page
for
more information.
Mike McC
June 2003