Re: WINAPPC and WINDOWS 95

[Jeff Crosby <jlcrosby@xxxxxxx>]

Mike Kenney wrote:

> 
> We have recently purchased a site license for the 16 bit version
> of WINAPPC lite  from SYNAPSE communications. I have deployed the
> product to a select Windows 3.1 population with no apparent problems.
> However on my own machine running, WIN95, I am occasionally
> experiencing problems where the product will hang up indefinetly.
> When I Hit CTL-ALT-DEL to see what is hanging up I see that the
> program Wtghost3 is Not Responding (This program is supplied by
> SYNAPSE) .  We are running it under TCP/IP.
> 

I'm using WinAPPC 32-bit from Synapse via APPC, and CA/400 for
Win95/NT.  I don't have a help for your problem, but can tell you you're
not alone.

Synapse has always been technically excellent, but I'm not sure what's
happening there recently.  To wit:

1) Last November Jerry Draper told me over the phone the release date
for the 32-bit virtual device driver (VDD) for twinax was "imminent".  I
have called once a month like clockwork and talked to Dick Heath.  It's
still not ready.  It wasn't until the 5th call about it that Dick even
remembered my previously asking about it.

2) If I have even 1 WinAPPC session open, CA/400 data transfer will not
work.  Data transfer hangs, and displaying the Win95 task list shows all
WinAPPC sessions as "not responding".  (Aside:  once this condition has
occured, I must _power down_ my PC in order to get the sessions to start
again in a stable manner.  The "zero footprint" of the Synapse card is
wonderful except in the case of a problem.  All electrical power must be
removed before the card will get completely reset.)  If I close the
WinAPPC sessions first, then data transfer will work.  Synapse says the
problem is the version of the Netsoft router that's in CA/400.  IBM says
that since it works when WinAPPC is closed, it's a WinAPPC problem.  My
gut feel is it's a little of both.  What _really_ torks me off however,
is every single time I have called Synapse about it, I have to explain
it to Dick all over again.  Then Dick asks why I don't just use the
WinAPPC transfer.  Then I explain to him that I am the only user with
WinAPPC and the data transfer must be usable at other PCs, not just
mine.  (This has happened 6 times:  Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, and May.)

3) A recent posting by Jerry Draper made some comments about the use of
the Synapse card, twinax, WTAH.COM, NSTWINAX.EXE.  His post was that
WTAH.COM and NSTWINAX.EXE needed to be loaded in AUTOEXEC.BAT, not
WINSTART.BAT because it wouldn't work in WINSTART.BAT.  I replied that
my setup was just the opposite (i.e. it works in WINSTART.BAT, but not
AUTOEXEC.BAT).  Even though Jerry has posted several times in that
thread since my post, he has not responded to this.  

Bottom line?  My take is that Synapse is having some real problems
technically right now and is trying to be real hush-hush on it.  I base
that on the fact that every time I call Dick, I get told it's being
worked on, then basically get put to the back burner and ignored until I
call the next month.  Couple that with Jerry's non-response to a direct
contradiction here and I'm beginning to think Synapse has something to
hide.

IMO.

-- 
-Jeff

jlcrosby@fwi.com
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