How to use Arachne with PPP or SLIP


Arachne uses DOS packet driver interface to enable TCP/IP connectivity. (Note: This technology is not very simple to understand, but it's the only standard DOS offers just know. xChaos software is in touch with Caldera, company developing OpenDOS operating system, which will come with new definition of TCP/IP interface for DOS.) The packet driver is resident program (TSR), simillar to utilities like mouse driver or VESA driver. TCP/IP applications access packet driver using software interrupt - usually it is 0x60 (60H). The packet driver for ethernet card (LAN) is small freeware program (named like ODIPKT.COM, or so). If you are using dial-up connection, you need program to "emulate" ehternet card controled by packet driver.

There are following ways to dial Internet from DOS known to me:


DOSPPPD

DOSPPPD is a single program - PPPD.EXE. Arachne offers loading DOSPPPD if
ARACHNE.CFG file contains line Connection @PPPD.EXE.

DOSPPPD is port of Unix PPP daemon to DOS enviroment. It's probably the best PPP solution available in DOS. It consumes less memory than EtherPPP or KlosPPP. Author of DOS port, Toni Lopez, permitted me to include this dialer to Arachne package. The only problem I experience with it is that it refuses to work with certain remote systems, like Worldgroup BBS system by Galacticom.

If you don't want to use Arachne built-in configurator, you can study DOSPPPD documentation, which was created by merging files README.TXT and PPPD.MAN. You don't have to care about connection, because Arachne uses it's own dialer - MINITERM.EXE, configured in ARACHNE.CFG. IP address is passed by option IP_Address PPP.

If you are user with only average knowledge of TCP/IP and DOS, I suggest using graphical PPP setup. Just fill in the correct values, click Ok, save and than restart Arachne. Arachne will create configuration file PPPDRC.CFG for DOSPPPD automaticaly.


EtherPPP

EtherPPP is a single program - PPP.EXE. Arachne offers loading EtherPPP if
ARACHNE.CFG file contains line Connection @PPP.EXE parameters>PPP.LOG.

EtherPPP uses CONFIG.PPP file. Arachne create this file for EtherPPP automaticaly, from file ETHERPAP.TPL (or ETHERPPP.TPL - without PAP). If you don't want to use Arachne built-in configurator, you can study EtherPPP documentation. But remember, the redirection to PPP.LOG file is the only way to pass IP address to Arachne when you use IP_Address PPP option. And you must use either fixed IP address or this option, because EtherPPP is not able to emulate BOOTP.

Before calling PPP.EXE, Arachne will use it's own dialer, MINITERM.EXE, configured in ARACHNE.CFG. You don't have to care about file DIAL.PPP (created by Arachne from template LOGIN.CFG) as in earlier versions of Arachne.

If you are user with only average knowledge of TCP/IP and DOS, I suggest using graphical PPP setup. Just fill in the correct values, click Ok, save and than restart Arachne.

You cannot use graphical setup in following two cases:

  1. Non-standart IRQ of your modem. You have to udpate the Connection keyword in ARACHNE.CFG manualy. For example if your internal 28800 bps modem is on COM3 and uses IRQ 7, you have to use Connection @PPP.EXE /c 3 /i 7 /s 38400 /d script>PPP.LOG.
  2. Insufficient low DOS memory. If you cannot optimize your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS (try QEMM packege or Dos 6.2, EMM386 and MEMMAKER utility - not included in Win95), and you don't have cca 425 kB for Arachne + 125 kB for EtherPPP, you will have to use different dialer (like Klos PPP).

Klos PPP

Many people complained, that
EtherPPP consumes too much low DOS memory. On some machines this can be problem. There is other dialer called Klos PPP, which can be loaded to high memory (in case that you modify ARACHNE.BAT; you must know how to work with high memory area). The Klos PPP dialer comes with utility that updates WATTCP.CFG and since pre-release 1.0 beta 8, Arachne automaticaly loads KlosPPP if it is installed and calls the utility to modify WATTCP.CFG after connecting, so your ARACHNE.CFG can look simply like:

Connection @PPPMENU.EXE
Hangup @PPPMENU.EXE
DialPage file:DIALINIT.HTM
IP_Address WATTCP
TCP_Config WATTCP.CFG

You must get uncrippled self-extracting archive pppshare.exe available at http://www.klos.com. The license agreement doesn't allow us to include the archive directly to Arachne package. Place the pppshare.exe to Arachne directory and go to the Klos PPP setup page to install and configure it.

Klos PPP offers program PPPMENU.EXE as interface to PPP dialer. After connecting with PPPMENU.EXE, you must select "Exit PPP connect" menu option to return to Arachne.


UMSLIP, SLIPPER.EXE, CSLIPPER.EXE:

I have recieved e-mail, that UMSLIP and CSLIPPER both correctly emulate BOOTP, so you can call one of them as
external dialer or you can dial with them first and then use Arachne exactly the same way as on Local Network. Freeware SLIP programs can be found on many anonymous FTP sites.
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