Problems getting Platoterm to work

[Lord Thag]

Finally got all my gear unpacked from the move and I'm attempting to get Platoterm to work to explore PLATO, which is something I've always wanted to do. I can get the software to connect to IRATA.ONLINE on port 8005, no problems, but it's a mess once I do. Corrupted graphics, missing text, weird lines drawing everywhere. It's unusable.

Now, it's been ages since I've messed around with telnet, modems, BBS etc, so it's probably something I am doing. But I've tried it every way I can, and I get the same issue. There are not many options to tweak on the APE side. I've tried this on my main U1mb 800xl, a stock 1200xl, and a 130xe... all have the same issue.

Here is the setup I am using:

Atarimax SIO2PC cable w/ latest registered APE using the built in APE R: internet modem

.ATR booting under APE autoloading the R: handler (I've tried every R Handler on the ICE-T disk)

Platoterm cart image running on an Ultimate cart at 9600 baud. Have also tried the .xex version as well -same result.

No matter what I do, I get corrupted graphics and missing text. I've also tried running the cart without a disk at all, as the APE software says it automatically loads an R: handler, but Platoterm does not detect this and exits.

Any ideas? I've tried every speed/setting I can tweak with no luck.

 

 

[Justin Payne]

My best guess, and it's a guess fer sure, is that you need to lower your baud rate to like 1200. I remember Thomas Cherryhomes telling me this was the speed I had to use. Other than that, you might just reach out to Thomas directly. I think he goes by tschak909 on here. I'm going to assume you did some GoogleFu to see if anyone has reproduced your method? If not, I think it would be helpful to others to share that process when you get it resolved.

 

Good luck.

[+Stephen]

I seem to recall a new version of APE was released which fixed a bug in the baud rate config.  Perhaps you need the latest version to allow the slower connect speeds.

[_The Doctor__]

yeah, I recall that as in issue both in APE and in emulators.... the fix was a metered flow of data as apposed to full on chunks of data.... if you still have issues select aternative internet modem type identifiers such as RAW etc. from within APE config.

[Lord Thag]

4 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

yeah, I recall that as in issue both in APE and in emulators.... the fix was a metered flow of data as apposed to full on chunks of data.... if you still have issues select aternative internet modem type identifiers such as RAW etc. from within APE config.

I've tried connecting at 1200 baud, but no dice, it still does the same thing. I suspect you're correct about the metered data, but there are no settings in APE that I can see that allow a switch to RAW data that I can see. There are only a few AT commands as well, and I've tried all of them.

I'll PM Thomas and see if he has any insights. Thanks for the suggestions, all.

[_The Doctor__]

what version APE are you running?

[Lord Thag]

19 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said:

what version APE are you running?

3.0.4, which seems to be greater than the required 3.0.14 that Thom tested... but I'm suspecting that it's different, and that the downloadable version (even though I have a registration disk that can register it) is the issue. Thom PM'd me and confirmed I'm doing the correct things.

I've emailed Steve at Atarimax... hopefully I'll hear back from him this time about an upgrade to my old registration disk.

[tschak909]

3.0.4 is way behind 3.0.14. (revision 14 vs revision 4), you...need...to get the latest one.

 

-Thom

[_The Doctor__]

That's way older, so contacting Steven is definitely needed for your update...

[Lord Thag]

Yeah, I was misreading 3.0.4 as 3.0.40, i.e., later than 3.0.14 which is definitely the issue. I've got an email in to Steve, we'll see if he can assist. Thanks for the help all.