First of all I'm assuming that you were able to previously log into Duke using the Trumpet Winsock provided by the computer assist center at Duke.

A. I try to log in and the modem doesn't initialize or gives me an error message.
The first thing to do, of course, is to check and make certain that your modem is configured correctly. Go to Control Panel and modems and check the settings. Refer back to the setup instructions if necessary. (link at bottom of this page) If your modem is configured correctly here are some other things that may occur.

Problem: No dial tone
Solution: Call GTE from a pay phone or your car phone.

Problem: Nothing happens when you try to make a connection (Failure to reboot after making changes).
Solution: Reboot and try again.

Problem: Incorrect winsock version. ("Trumpet" directory in path statement in your Autoexec.bat file may be being found before the 32 bit version)
Solution: Remove the Trumpet Directory from the path and Reboot.

Problem: No 42K Winsock.dll in Windows directory
Solution: Rename any other Winsock.dll to another name that will allow you to easily identify it later. Rename the Winsock.old or Winsock.000 (the 42K one) to Winsock.dll. Reboot.

Problem: Error Message "Modem already in use by another program."
Solution: This happens with some software programs that will not release the modem if it is set to auto-answer fax, data or voice calls. Disable auto-answer. If this is unsuccessful you may have to "turn off" the software program. Unfortunately, each time you reboot you may have to do this if you wish to use the 95 TCP\IP, if the program is in your startup directory.

B. The modem initializes OK but I don't connect.

The first question to ask is if you are manually logging in or using a script. My first suggestion is to try a manual login first.

Problem: The terminal window just shows some gibberish after the "command=>" when I dial in manually.
Solution: Try to manually log in again. Press enter. This should reset the signal. Continue with your manual login.

Problem: The terminal window shows all gibberish when I log in
Solution: Try another Manual Login . If the problem persists, recheck your modem settings (especially data, parity and stop bits).

Problem: After I type ppp and hit the enter key, I get a lot of gibberish
Solution: None. This is a normal occurrence. (Congratulations).

Problem: Characters are all caps
Solution: Turn off Caps Lock...geez..

Problem: I was able to login before but I can't now. Solution: If you haven't changed any of your settings, all I can tell you is to be patient. If your settings were working before and it doesn't now then it is almost always a server problem and not a configuration problem. (you may get a Cli Server not found message).

Problem: Duke server busy or down
Solution: Sorry, I can't do anything about this.

C: I can manually login but the script doesn't work.

Problem: The program just stops.
Solution: This is almost always the cause of a simple character being out of place or typed incorrectly. Return to the dial up scripting tool and select "Step through script" Select Apply.
Return to Dial up Networking and try again.
At some point (give it 5 or 6 seconds) you should see the running "your.scp" on the task bar. Select it from the task bar and select Restore. This will bring up the terminal window and show you where the program halted. Take special note of this location.
Select Cancel.
Correct the error with the scripting tool and run the script again.
A couple of the most common errors are:
a. Typing your login or password with one or more capital letters.
b. Only one or no quotation marks in a command.

D. Problem: I can log in but I get disconnected suddenly.

This is almost always the result of "line noise." A simple way to check for line noise is to pick up the receiver. Dial 1 and listen for any "Rice Crispies®" sounds on the line. Contact the phone company and tell them you have a lot of static on the line. I've actually had pretty good luck with them coming out to correct this problem. Another, problem may be that the Duke Server itself is having difficulties. It usually corrects itself after a few hours...

E. Problem: I updated to a new 32-bit version of netscape, I can log in but when I go to use netscape it doesn't load the netscape home page.
Just a recent problem I found when a friend told me they couldn't go anywhere in Netscape. Seems that the version of Netscape we get from Duke has the "old" Netscape address and because it saves your bookmarks\configuration settings it attempts to load this page when you initiate the browser. If this happens, just click OK (to get rid of the error message)
Go to Options.
Select General Preferences.
Select Appearance.
In the Startup section where it gives the home page location type in the following:
http://home.netscape.com
Select OK (returns you to the Netscape browser)
Select the Home button.
Browse away.

F. My Problem isn't listed

Basically we're running out of options here.
If you've tried all the options and you're certain your problem isn't listed, please e-mail me with as much detail as possible in describing your problem......
Not only will this help me but, it may help others in the future.
Until then..the easiest solution is to restore your Pre-95 settings. (Lord knows we can't live without some type of net connection :)
This includes:
1. Renaming the trumpet winsock to winsock.dll
2. Renaming the win95 winsock to winsock.old
3. Placing Trumpet back in your path statement (if it was there originally).
4. Rebooting.

Return to the Duke Setup Page
Return to my homepage
e-mail me.

Revised Wednesday, October 16, 1996