SUPRA TECHNICAL SUPPORT BULLETIN STATUS AND ENHANCEMENTS TO V32BIS ROM (1.2G) 8/29/92 Supra Corporation 7101 Supra Drive SW, Albany, OR 97321 General (503) 967-2400 / Sales (503) 967-2410 / Fax (503) 967-2401 Supra Tech Support (503) 967-2440 8:00am - 5:00pm PST, M-F Supra BBS........(503) 967-2444 24 Hours CompuServe.......76004,565 BIX..............SupraCorp America Online...SupraCorp2 GEnie............SupraTech AppleLink........D2456 UseNet EMail.....supratech@supra.uucp Supra is doing the final beta testing on its latest rom for the SupraFaxModem V32 and V32bis. Provided that this testing is completed with no problems, Supra will be ready to ship this rom to its current customers in a few weeks. Many of the enhancements are unique to the Supra V32/V32bis modem and are not available from other manufactures who are using Rockwell's v32/v32bis chipset or other v32/v32bis modems/fax modems that are on the market. The new rom is currently reved as 1.2G and will include the following features: Enhances Busy Detection Fixes several Lock Display/Modem problems Improved Speed Renegotiation (Fall Back) upon bad line conditions Implements Fall Forward upon better line conditions Fixes Adaptive Answering (allows data/fax determination) Implements ECM (Error Correction Mode) Note: Must be supported by fax software Implements BFT mode (Binary File Transfer) Note: Must be supported by fax/terminal software Fixes problem with DCD line turning off if modem configured with &C &Dx and &Cx settings are respected when in fax mode Fixes problem connecting with some fax machines Added S-Register S109 Added S-Register S110=3 Implements Silent Answer (allows voice/fax determination) Note: Must be supported by fax software Implements Caller ID Supra will be sending an upgrade offer to all registered owners. This offer will be for either a free ROM which has all of the above features, except silent answer and caller ID, or for a charge of less than $30, a rom which has all of the above features, including silent answer and caller ID. Oversees customers will be able to get the roms from the overseas dealer that sold it to them. If they purchased the modem from a US dealer or Supra, they will need to order the rom from Supra, but there will be a shipping and handling charge. You will be able to order either rom from Supra via its BBS. We are currently working on the software to allow this, plus to allow you to enter your warranty card or change your warranty card online. Once this is working, it will be activated and you can immediately enter your order. The quickest way to order the rom will be via the BBS. Until then, please do not contact Supra to order either rom. The above information is subject to change or modification. At this time, this is all that is known. As soon as costs and other information is known, we will let you know via the Supra BBS. UPCOMMING FEATURES AND NEW PRODUCTS: The following features and new products are being worked on. We do not have any information on dates, technical information, upgrade costs, or product cost. As soon as we have the information, we will post it on our BBS. Internal version Certifiable International version MNP10 V23 Voice digitization in modem Voice software DTMF encoding/decoding MORE INDEPTH INFORMATION ON 1.2G ENHANCEMENTS Enhances Busy Detection Some people had several different problems with busy detection. All calls would return BUSY or only certain calls would return busy. All known problems have been fixed. This problem only happened to a small percentage of users. Fixes several Lock Display/Modem problems The Supra v32bis modem is running several different processors and tasks at one time. If the right timing sequence or events happen, the modem could lockup. The only way to fix the problem was to power cycle the modem. This problem only happened to a small percentage of users. Improved Speed Renegotiation (Fall Back) upon bad line conditions The 1.2C rom was our first rom to implement this feature. We have continued to improve our code to better handle bad line conditions, especially at connect time. Implements Fall Forward upon better line conditions Once the phone line conditions improve, the modem can initiate a step up in baud. Fixes Adaptive Answering (allows data/fax determination) A mode which allows the modem to connect with either a fax or a data modem. Once it makes the connection, it will return a result code indicating which one it connected with. It is then the software's responsibility to route the call to the proper program. Some "front door" software for BBSes and terminal programs have this ability. "Front door" software has control of the serial port and waits for an incoming call. When it receives a call, it may present a prompt to the user asking which program they want to run, or based upon the modems result code decide which program is to be run. (Thus it functions as a call router.) The "front door" software then wakes up or runs the correct program, which than takes over control of the serial port and thus the modem. When the call is ended, the program quits or shuts down and lets the "front door" regain control of the serial port/modem. AT +FCLASS=0 AT +FAA=1 (if using class 2) or +FAE=1 (if using class 1) AT S0=(1-255) or ATA Result Codes: CONNECT XX if data call FAX if fax call NOTE: This sequence must be sent before every answer Implements ECM (Error Correction Mode) Allows the fax software to resend a block of information if it is not received correctly by the other modem. This feature MUST be supported by the fax software in order to be used. Implements BFT mode (Binary File Transfer) Allows the user to send a file to another fax modem as if it were a fax instead of a file. This feature MUST be supported by the fax software in order to be used. This allows the user to use the fax software to send the file instead of using a terminal program. Fixes problem with DCD line turning off if modem configured with &C If the modem was configured with the &C, especially during a disconnect, the modem would toggle DCD line. This problem only affected a small percentage of users, generally those running BBSes on the Apple II. &Dx and &Cx settings are respected when in fax mode The CCITT TR29.2 committee has not defined how the modem should react to the &D and &C settings when in class 2 fax mode. While the committee has not defined this, there is a strong sentiment for respecting the &D and &C settings as it is handled in class 1 and when the modem is in data mode. This also allows the modems to work better under fax mode in the Unix enviorment. Fixes problem connecting with some fax machines The 1.2C roms had a few problems making connections to some fax machines. The fax machine used a slightly different tone when answering. This resulted in the two machines toning back and forth, not making a connection and then eventually hang up. This problem only happened to a small percentage of users. Added S-Register S109 Controls speeds available for V.32bis carrier handshake, or the carrier rate to negotiate error correction, if S-Register S110=3. Decimal Value Explanation 1 reserved 2 4800 bps 4 7200 bps 8 9600 bps 16 12000 bps 32 14400 bps 64 reserved 128 reserved Added S-Register S110=3 V.32bis standard negotiates carrier speed at 4800 baud then jumps to the agreed carrier speed to negotiate error correction/data compression. On noisy lines this can cause various connection problems. Supra's solution is to set S-Register S110 to 3. This causes the modems to connect at the slowest possible V.32 or V.32bis speed. Once this is done, as long as the line is clean enough, the modems will up-shift to the next possible carrier rate. The slowest possible carrier speed can be limited by the use of S-register S109. NOTE: Some modems can only up-shift a few times and then they will lose the connection (especially Supra V.32 and V.32bis with ROMs < 1.2C). The solution is to change S-Register S109 so that it does not need to up-shift as many times. NOTE: This only works when the modem is originating the call. Implements Silent Answer (allows voice/fax determination) When the phone rings, the modem will start monitoring the telephone line after the 2nd ring. If it detects a fax tone, it will do one of two things: 1. If S-Register S0 - 0, the modem will immediately answer the phone and attempt a fax connection. 2. If S-Register S0 = 0, the modem will quickly issue up to 9 RINGS messages, expecting the fax software to issue an ATA. This eliminates the need for a $150 voice/fax black box. NOTE: DO NOT plug the answering machine into the telephone jack on the back of the modem. The modem should be plugged into the answering machine. This also also works if a telephone is in the circuit before the faxmodem. NOTE: This mode must be supported by the fax software. Implements Caller ID This is a feature is only available in some areas of the country. In between the 1st and the 2nd ring, the phone company will send information on who is calling you. If you ere in terminal mode and had told the modem to answer on the 3rd ring, you would see: RING DATE = 0321 TIME = 1405 NMBR = 5039672400 NAME = SUPRA CORPORATION RING CONNECT 19200 To enable CALLER ID: AT#CID=1 Enables Caller ID in formatted format AT#CID=2 Enables Caller ID in unformatted format (ASCII printable hex numbers) AT#CID=0 Disables Caller ID In addition to the enhancements and corrections noted above, Supra's new 1.2G ROM release also includes modifications that were implemented in the previous 1.2C ROM release. They are as follows: %G0 disables Rate Renegotiation on V.32bis %G1 enables Rate Renegotiation on V.32bis enables Rate Renegotiation and Retrain on V.32 %E has not changed, but if both %G1 and %E1 are set, then the modem will Rate Renegotiate during a Retrain. This is also the only way the V.32 modem can Rate Renegotiate. AT&F1 and AT&F2 defaults now include %G1 S-Register S110: 0 causes connect at V.32 only 1 enable V.32bis on V.32bis modems 2 enable V.32bis and automatic rate renegotiation. Fixed several problems on the fax side of the modem