Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 22

Web access and scripts

Hello...

I'm attempting to access the internet w/my prism and thinmodem. I have AOL bring your own access and was able to successfully check emails and such. However, being that I (a) want to get rid of AOL altogether, and (b) want to check out a few web sites as well, am looking for an alternate method.

My broadband cable company, Time Warner, has just started providing limited dial-up access to their customers. I attempted to set up a Network connection to use this dial-up access. No luck. Called their Tech support and was told that it wouldn't work. The service wasn't configured for handhelds (only desk- and lap-tops) and required a special script.

SOOO, long story short, I hunted down the script...found the 'script' button within the NETWORK setup page...and entered it the best that I could. The Visor is trying use the script...but eventually times out. Am I way off base here? Is there no way that this is going to work? Feedback is much appreciated. The script that is required is:

[B]waitfor
"ANSNet" then DoANSNetLogin,
"Sprint-IP" then DoSprintLogin,
"UU.Net" then DoUUNetLogin,
"UQKT1" then DoANSNetLogin,
"UQKT2" then DoSprintLogin,
"Saturn.BBN" then DoUUNetLogin
until 20

DoANSNetLogin:
waitfor "login" until 20
if $SUCCESS then
transmit prefix + $USERID, raw
transmit "^M"
goto DONE
endif

DoUUNetLogin:
waitfor "login" until 20
if $SUCCESS then
transmit prefix + $USERID, raw
transmit "^M"

waitfor "Password"
transmit $PASSWORD, raw
transmit "^M"
goto DONE
endif


DoSprintLogin:
waitfor
"Login" then DoSprintConnect,
"Username" then DoSprintConnect
until 20

DoSprintConnect:
transmit prefix + $USERID, raw
transmit "^M"

waitfor "Password"
transmit $PASSWORD, raw
transmit "^M"

waitfor "Network User" until 5
if $SUCCESS then
transmit "PPP"
transmit "^M"
endif
goto DONE

DONE:
transmit "^M"

endproc[B]

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK
Posts: 92

I'm not sure what that scripts written for, but the Visor manages something a little simpler, a you can see when you look at the options on the script button.

It's largely a case of choosing a sequence of wait for and send commands to match the prompts you get.

The script you posted looks like it's designed to cope with several different prompts, and my guess would be that those will depend on which dialup number is used, so TimeWarner only have to give one script to people, and it works if they use a different number to connect.

Now, if we assume that's right (it could be wrong, but it's the most logical way to set this up) then you need to pick one number that you'll dial with your Visor. Use a program like HyperTerminal on a PC and connect to it, then see which prompt you get, and use that as the basis of a PalmOS script.

Looking at the stuff there, it looks like you can use 'waitfor' to look for Login, then send the username, and so on.

If you follow the logic through, it shouldn't be too hard to make up a new script, using this as a basis - and it looks like you can use the same script for everything except Sprint, which requires the extra "Network User" prompt to be responded to.

Good luck !

Nigel

Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 22

Thank you so much, Nigel, for your response -- I've been trying to play around with the script (using your hints) to see what I can figure out. Looked up some info on HyperTerminal and will probably experiment with that and see what secrets it exposes. Keep your fingers crossed ... being that I already pay for Cable access at home, using the dial-up provided by the same company is my most cost-effective option. Thanks again ... and if anyone else has any ideas (or hints for how I should enter the script -- I'm neither a programmer, nor do I play one on T.V....you know the old saying...), I'm definitely open.