Enhancements/Bug Fixes

Software Release 1.1.2.

FIXES

     o- Flow release causing data loss of xmit data

     o- Anamolous disconnect when in S16 link state

     o- Retry-out  handling when version 2 of  AX25L2  works 
     like table now

     o- ID doubling fixed (i think -- could not dupe the bug 
     here)

     o- Sluggish  carrier detect repaired,  the TNC is  much 
     friendlier to other stations now

     o- Monitor  headers aren't displayed for received  data 
     from a link when MCON ON and MON ON

     o- NULLS are handled in int routines,  all combinations 
     supported w/o loss

     o- CTEXT  packetized at connect time instead of  trave-
     ling through the queues

     o- NULL  artifact from true-break transparent escape is 
     now captured

     o- rare corruption of data with "cmd:" repaired

     o- 10  second  timers (BEACON,  CHECK) work at  10  sec 
     intervals now

     o- and  finally,  a  very troubling  intermittent  that 
     caused  innumerable  problems like more  loss  of  link 
     state, strange stuff in cmd parameters etc.

CHANGES

     o- ^Y handled much faster (inside async int routine)

     o- UA responses while in link setup mode are IGNORED if 
     they differ from the attempted path

     o- Number-only   calls  allowed  to  support  links  to 
     AX.121NA switches...

     o- The  date  of assembly (mm/dd/yy)  appended  to  the 
     release number

     ex:   Release 1.1.2 12/03/85 - 16K RAM

     o- Interrupt  handling  speeded up at least two  times.  
     Support for 9600 both sides, fulldup is guaranteed with 
     standard (2.45Mhz clock).   Support for 19.2kbaud  also 
     assured  with appropriate hardware mods for 4.9Mhz  and 
     faster I/O clocks.

     (My tests used two TNC2's,  both running 9600 sync  and 
     async,  FULLDUP  ON MAX 7 PACL 0 in trans and CONV mode 
     (ECHO ON and OFF) could not drop characters thru a link 
     of six fulldup digipeaters and a 28K file.)

     PS: releases prior to 1.1.2 are NOT gauranteed for 9600 
     baud, and should not be relied upon in any mode at this 
     data rate!

     o- The  overflow  buffer  expanded  to  256  characters 
     (overflow after XOFF sent)

ADDITIONS

     o- LCSTREAM command

     o- NOMODE command

     o- Failure of a CONPERMed link results in a

     "***  LINK  OUT OF ORDER,  possible  data  loss   [opt. 
     daytime  stamp]" message (this message should be  docu-
     mented  with  the other messages at the end of  the  6-
     CMDS.MAN chapter.


Software Release 1.1.3

FIXES

     o- When  AX25L2V2  is ON,  the TNC now  answers  L2  UI 
     frames  with P and C set with either:  RR if  connected 
     (regardless  of rcvr flow control state),  or DM if not 
     connected.

     o- Path for SABM received while in link-setup state  is 
     not  checked.   This corrects earlier operation where a 
     self-connect via an odd number of different digipeaters 
     fails.

     o- T2  <RESPTIME>  utilization corrected  for  the  2nd 
     through nth link

     o- FULLDUP operation restored

     o- Channel capture during busy times improved

     o- NOMODE bug, where the 'connect mode' setting was not 
     used  on received SABMS has been corrected.   This  bug 
     may  have  caused  the TNC to enter a  state  where  it 
     seemed  like  the  TNC died,  when it actually  was  in 
     TRANSparent mode.

CHANGES 

     o- BEACONS not sent if BTEXT is null

     o- RESPTIME default now at 5; i.e. 500ms


ADDITIONS

     o- RXBLOCK command

     o- TNC "Health" feature group installed

Fourteen counters have been added to TNC 2.  All of them are 
16 bits wide, and are ALWAYS initialized to 0000 on power up 
or "RESTART".

     o- ASYRXOVR:   Increases  when  the software  does  not 
                    service  the  asynchronous  receiver  in 
                    time.   Indicates data from the user  to 
                    the  TNC is being dropped.   This  error 
                    counter  should  never  become  non-zero 
                    under supported data rates.

     o- DIGISENT:   Each frame digipeated by this TNC causes 
                    the counter to increase.

     o- HOVRERR:    Increases  when  HDLC  receiver  is  not 
                    serviced  rapidly  enough  and  data  is 
                    lost.   This counter should never incre-
                    ment at any supported data rate.

     o- HUNDRERR:   Increases  when the HDLC transmitter  is 
                    not  serviced rapidly enough and  frames 
                    are aborted.   This counter should never 
                    be non-zero at any supported data rate.

     o- RCVDFRMR:   Increases  when Frame reject frames  are 
                    received from a connected station.

     o- RCVDIFRA:   Increases  for  each reception of  an  I 
                    frame from a connectee.

     o- RCVDREJ:    Increases  for each reception of an REJ-
                    ect frame from a connectee.

     o- RCVDSABM:   Each  received  SABM frame addressed  to 
                    the  TNC causes this counter to be  inc-
                    reased by one.

     o- RXCOUNT:    Increases  when  any frame  is  received 
                    with good CRC (or any CRC if HGARBAGE is 
                    turned on).

     o- RXERRORS:   Increments each time a received frame is 
                    thrown  out due to it being  too  short, 
                    suffering  overrun(s),   or it having  a 
                    bad  CRC.   Latter occurs only when  CRC 
                    checking  is enabled (i.e.  HGARBAGE  is 
                    OFF).  This counter will often increment 
                    in the presence of noise.

     o- SENTFRMR:   Increments  each  time  a  Frame  reject 
                    frame is transmitted.

     o- SENTIFRA:   Increases by one each time an I frame is 
                    sent.

     o- SENTREJ:    Whenever  a REJect frame is transmitted, 
                    this counter is incremented.

     o- TXCOUNT:    Incremented whenever a frame is correct-
                    ly transmitted.

The following information should be inserted into the DISPLAY command.

DISPLAY HEALTH

The counters just described,  and the setting of HEALLED are 
displayed in response to the health inquiry.


New Command Documentation for 1.1.2 and 1.1.3


AX25L2V2 ON|OFF                                 Default: OFF


Parameters:

     ON        The  TNC  will use AX.25 Level 2 Version  2.0 
               protocol.

     OFF       The  TNC  will use AX.25 Level 2 Version  1.0 
               protocol.

Some  implementations of the earlier version of AX.25 proto-
col (e.g., TAPR's TNC 1) won't properly digipeat version 2.0 
AX.25 packets.  This command exists to provide compatibility 
with these other TNCs until their software has been updated.

During  the  protocol  transition  period,  you  should  set 
AX25L2V2 OFF.

After your local area TNCs are updated to the newer protocol 
version, you should set AX25L2V2 ON.



RXBLOCK ON|OFF                                  Default: OFF


Parameters:

     ON        The  TNC  will send data to the  terminal  in 
               RXBLOCK format.

     OFF       The  TNC  will send data to the  terminal  in 
               standard format.


RXBLOCK is designed for automated operations, such as packet 
bulletin  board  stations.   It  is intended  to  help  such 
systems   discriminate  between  data  received   from   the 
connected station and TNC-generated messages.

Correct  operation  of  RXBLOCK is dependant  on  the  AWLEN 
parameter getting set to 8 (bits) since the character FF hex 
marks the beginning of a recieved data unit header.

When  RXBLOCK is on,  data from other stations will be  sent 
from the TNC in the following format:

   ------------------------------------------------------
  |  $FF   |  L0  |  L1  |  PID  |       DATA            |
   ------------------------------------------------------

  ( prefix )(  length   ) ( pid ) (      data            )

The fields above are defined as follows:

prefix    $FF  ::=  A character with all 8 bits set
length    L0   ::=  The  high  order  length  of  the  data, 
                    length,  and  pid fields logically  ORed 
                    with the value $F0
          L1   ::=  The  low  order  length  of  the   data, 
                    length, and pid fields
pid       PID  ::=  The  Protocol  IDentifier byte  received 
                    for the following data field
data      DATA ::=  [Optional], variable length data


For  best  operation it is suggested  that  parameters  like 
AUTOLF,  MFILTER etc.  be set OFF in order to prevent uncer-
tanties in the size of the data field.


HEALLED  ON|OFF                                 Default: OFF


Parameters:

     ON        The  TNC  will "dither" the CON and STA LEDs.

     OFF       The  TNC will control the CON and STA LEDs in 
               normal fashion.


This  command  allows the user to redefine the functions  of 
the two CPU controllable LEDs (i.e.  the STAtus and  CONnect 
LEDs).

When  HEALLED  is set ON,  the two LEDs flash in  a  seeming 
random fashion.   At a glance, the user may make a judgement 
on  whether  the software has crashed,  since the LEDs  will 
probably not flash if the software fails catastrophically.

With HEALLED set OFF, the LEDs function as before.


LCSTREAM  ON|OFF                                 Default: ON


Parameters:

     ON        The TNC will translate the chareacter immedi-
               ately following the STREAMSWITCH character to 
               upper case before processing it.

     OFF       The TNC will process the character immediate-
               ly following the STREAMSWITCH character as it 
               is entered.


When operating multi-connect,  the user must enter a  stream 
identifier  (default  A  through J) after  the  STREAMSWITCH 
character (default |) to select a new logical stream to send 
data.   Normally,  the  stream identifier must be  in  upper 
case, or an error message will result.

When LCSTREAM is ON, the character immediately following the 
streamswitch  character  is converted to upper  case  before 
being acted upon.   Thus,  the case (upper or lower) becomes 
insignificant.   Use of LCSTREAM is useful if you are typing 
in lower case and don't want to be bothered with remembering 
to switch to upper case when changing streams.


NOMODE ON|OFF                                   Default: OFF


Parameters:

     ON        The  TNC  will only  switch  modes  (command, 
               converse  or transparent) upon explicit  com-
               mand.

     OFF       The  TNC will switch modes in accordance with 
               the setting of NEWMODE.


When  NOMODE  is  ON,  the TNC  will  never  change  between 
CONVERSE or TRANSPARENT mode to COMMAND mode (or vice-versa) 
on  its own.   Only user commands (CONV,  TRANS,  or ^C) may 
change the typein mode.

If NOMODE is OFF,  then automatic mode switching is  handled 
according to the setting of the NEWMODE command.

