DaveDDS wrote on 2025-02-28, 17:04:

Ok, I've updated/uploaded DDLINK.ZIP on my site to include DDCM

Hey, I was just using DDCM and noticed/realized that selecting ".." doesn't work to go up from a
top level directory to the root (#%&# trailing '\' that has to be removed from everything BUT
root!) - hey.. I did say it was something I "ripped out fairly quickly"!

Anyway, I've corrected it and uploaded the fixed version to my site!

@DaveDDS I had some trouble extracting DDLINK.ZIP an Linux Mint 22. Caja file manager reported "ERROR: Incorrect reparse stream : errno=2 : No such file or directory : DDMODE.COM". No files were extracted.
Then I tried Engrampa archive manager included with Mint. Same error, but files were extracted, including DDMODE.COM.
Unzip in a terminal session had no problems. (Caja/Engrampa use 7-Zip 23.01 behind the scenes.)

Anyway, thanks for creating DDLINK. 😀

bttr wrote on 2025-03-14, 19:50:

@DaveDDS I had some trouble extracting DDLINK.ZIP an Linux Mint 22. ...

My .ZIP files for my DOS software are created with:

1PKZIP (R)   FAST!   Create/Update Utility   Version 2.04g   02-01-93
2Copr. 1989-1993 PKWARE Inc.  All Rights Reserved.  Registered Version

I've never seen/had problems with any of them (including this latest DDLINK.ZIP),
and I think PKZIP kinda defined the .ZIP format - I'm pretty sure the .ZIP is good!

FWIW: I do tend to use -ex (extra compression)

I had no issues unzipping the file on a Mac 15.3.1 or a Fedora 41 server.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-02-23, 07:32:

Did you try File Maven 3 (DOS) already? It's a nice tool. It supports 3-wire and 7-wire null-modem cables an can do up to 115200 […]
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voidstar wrote on 2025-02-23, 07:26:

I happened to be testing some classic RS-232 serial port performance.

Did you try File Maven 3 (DOS) already? It's a nice tool.
It supports 3-wire and 7-wire null-modem cables an can do up to 115200 Baud.
....
Edit: For testing purposes, I mean. Not as a substitute to DDLINK.

I did recently try File Maven - on a modern 2003 Centrino system (Pentium M laptop, like Dell Precision M60 at 1700MHz), it got over 20Kbps across 7-wire serial. I'm not exactly sure how- that Centrino system is some Intel 855 chipset which its legacy "super I/O" support does include supporting 230Kbps across its serial port (it's one of the systems I got that still had parallel/serial ports). I suspect FileMaven sync's (or searches) across baud rate dividers, so maybe it can "discover" the best rate available? (this was a pair of M60 systems)

I got the newest DDLINK a few days ago and am having trouble with it on this 1700 MHz Pentium M system from ~2003. It part does a transfer, but then suddenly aborts. On the serial side the error was "Unable to send/No response" (across server and client sides), on the parallel connection it said "handshake failure" (both were part way through the transfer)

DaveDDS wrote on 2025-03-14, 20:30:

My .ZIP files for my DOS software are created with: […]
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My .ZIP files for my DOS software are created with:

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1PKZIP (R)   FAST!   Create/Update Utility   Version 2.04g   02-01-93
2Copr. 1989-1993 PKWARE Inc.  All Rights Reserved.  Registered Version

I've never seen/had problems with any of them (including this latest DDLINK.ZIP),
and I think PKZIP kinda defined the .ZIP format - I'm pretty sure the .ZIP is good!

FWIW: I do tend to use -ex (extra compression)

Found this bug report and added my notes: https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/bugs/2354/

voidstar wrote on 2025-03-15, 06:27:

I got the newest DDLINK a few days ago and am having trouble with it on this 1700 MHz Pentium M system from ~2003. It part does a transfer, but then suddenly aborts. On the serial side the error was "Unable to send/No response" (across server and client sides), on the parallel connection it said "handshake failure" (both were part way through the transfer)

I've see "handshake failure" on parallel - during transfer of a VERY large file ...
I'm looking into it - but to be honest, I almost never do parallel transfers any more as it
only works DOS<>DOS, and takes such a large fie it's not fast to test!

I've not seen trouble with serial.
Try with no background (TSRs) running,
Try with lower baudrate/higher timing-factor.
Let me know results as I'd like to improve it if possible.

If you happen to have an extra system with two serial ports (and are willing to make
a special cable), I can give you a tool to log the transfers which would enable me to see
exactly how it's failing.

bttr wrote on 2025-03-15, 08:49:

Found this bug report and added my notes: https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/bugs/2354/

Took a look - it's talking about "7zip"

I've not updated 7zip in years - the one I have has worked well for me, and
I'm someone generally not keen to update things not giving me problems
"If it ain't broke - don't fix it!"

Mine is: 7zip 9.20 1999-2010

Just tried it with the DDLINK.ZIP that I recently uploaded to my site
(the one we've been discussing) - it extracts with no problems!

and FWIW, Winblows opens DDLINK.ZIP just fine, shows it like any directory
and lets you drag files out of it etc...

... and also no problems unpacking with ...

1UnZip:  Zipfile Extract v5.0 of 21 August 1992;  (c) 1989 S.H.Smith and others
2Versions 3.0 and later by Info-ZIP.  Bug reports ONLY to zip-bugs@cs.ucla.edu

Also, if you want to do some testing....

I'm using a "registered" version of PKZIP 2.04g (I bought it from PKWARE back-in-the -day),
but I still have a copy of the Shareware version 2.04g which I can make available.

DaveDDS wrote on 2025-03-15, 09:14:

bttr wrote on 2025-03-15, 08:49:

Found this bug report and added my notes: https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/bugs/2354/

Took a look - it's talking about "7zip"

Sure. It's a problem with 7-Zip, so I reported there.

DaveDDS wrote on 2025-03-15, 09:23:

Also, if you want to do some testing....

I'm using a "registered" version of PKZIP 2.04g (I bought it from PKWARE back-in-the -day),
but I still have a copy of the Shareware version 2.04g which I can make available.

Thanks, I already have these here, but it's very unlikely I will do further testing.

Just in case anyone else wants test it:

I've not been able to find the actual PKWARE distribution, but
I did find the shareware versions of PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE

I've put them in the "Drop" area of my site:
https://dunfield.themindfactory.com/Drop/PKZIP.ZIP

This might also be relevant:

Since I'm using a "registered" version of PKZIP, I also tend to use the -! option

which adds the authentication string!"Dunfield Development Systems"!

DaveDDS wrote on 2025-03-15, 08:59:

I've not seen trouble with serial. Try with no background (TSRs) running, Try with lower baudrate/higher timing-factor. Let me […]
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I've not seen trouble with serial.
Try with no background (TSRs) running,
Try with lower baudrate/higher timing-factor.
Let me know results as I'd like to improve it if possible.

I did forgot to mention I was using FreeDOS 1.3. The systems normally boot to XP, which as you've mentioned gets in the way of these kinds of transfers. The drives are over 32GB, so I have to boot them up from floppy and use something past DOS 6.22 in order to access the file system. Other than loading HIMEM, then I'm not sure what "stock" FreeDOS does with interrupts. Also as mentioned, it seems still to be true that MS-DOS InterLnk doesn't work under FreeDOS (it wouldn't even load/boot when attempting to put intersvr.exe in the config.sys).

How to adjust timing-factor?

The file size I was using was about 3-4MB (the game Tyrian comes with a single large .ANM file that is a good test, about 3MB; not a tiny file and generally large enough to stress test any buffers going on). If you do have an install of XP on the system, then another good test file is under windows\drivers\i386 is generally a couple large .CAB files (>20MB)

voidstar wrote on 2025-03-15, 15:12:

How to adjust timing-factor?

You can set the speed with C=port,speed
There's also a T= option to set an internal timing factor which sometimes affects
transferts. Have a good look at DDLINK.TXT and DDLINK ?

A meg should work fine on parallel - I've only seem problems on much bigger
transfers (like a gig) - for parallel, it seems to depend a fair but on the relative speeds
of the systems ... and don't forget quality of cable - yes as short and good
cable as possible.

Like I said, for me it takes quite a big file and a long time to see any
problems - I might put together some sort of test program which
you could run on both ends to get more information about what exactly
is going in...

Assuming you have a network on that system, if you could find a packet driver
for it - that would be much faster - and uber reliable.

@DaveDDS Would you mind to add a second set of keyboard shortcuts à la Volkov Commander to DDLINK?

Left/Right = Tab
A = Ctrl+A
C = F5
D = Alt+F2
E = F8
N = F7
O = F9
R = F6
V = F3
Esc = F10

As there seems to be no conflict with the existing set, both could work at the same time and it will probably enlarge the DDLINK binary only by <100 bytes.

Ok, I found a slight issue which could in some cases cause LPT handshake failure.
(I don't see it even on very big file transfers now)

I've updated DDLINK.ZIP on my site -please let me know if this helps!

bttr wrote on 2025-03-15, 19:03:

@DaveDDS Would you mind to add a second set of keyboard shortcuts à la Volkov Commander to DDLINK?
...

I don't really see a reason to do that - DDLINK is not "Volkev Commander"

The keys you suggest don't "make obvious sense" - the only way someone could use them
would be to remember them. The keys I have chosen are much easier to remember as they are
the first letter if the corresponding command word - and can be summarized on the lower status
line in the space available.

DDLINK was/is all about packing much needed functionality into a small single executable
that you can easily moved around and could run from a floppy disk.

It was never about trying to be like "something else".

DaveDDS wrote on 2025-03-16, 03:14:

The keys you suggest don't "make obvious sense" - the only way someone could use them
would be to remember them.

Exactly. Dual-pane file managers modeled after Norton Commander, e.g., Volkov Commander, are used widely on many systems and all have this set of shortcuts, from Midnight Commander and Krusader over Double Commander and FAR Manager to Total Commander. So, a lot of people already know these shortcuts by heart. In contrast, we need to learn DDLINK keys, which don't "make obvious sense", when you already know dual-pane file managers for decades. 😉

DaveDDS wrote on 2025-03-16, 03:14:

The keys I have chosen are much easier to remember as they are
the first letter if the corresponding command word - and can be summarized on the lower status
line in the space available.

That's true for the English language, but not for many others.

Okay, here is a DDLINK.KEY file for your KEYSUB.
Can be loaded as a TSR using KEYSUB.COM DDLINK.KEY -T before running DDLINK.

13F00 2E63
24200 1265
34100 316E
44300 186F
54000 1372
63D00 2F76
74400 011B
80F09 4B00
91E01 1E61

Note: I excluded Alt+F2 (Change Drive), because it would be in conflict with the global 'Run application' shortcut on my Linux Mint system.