WHY DOES MY MODEM KEEP ACTING UP? And other information on your modem Author: Paul Lodge AKA The Bike Man INTRODUCTION You just finished purchasing your new US Robotics 28.8 or 33.6 Sportster Modem and you are now experiencing problems. Why and what do I do now? Hello, My name is Paul Lodge otherwise known as The Bike Man. I run a Bulletin Board Service called -=[ Crystal Gate ]=-. After getting constant pages and being sent messages telling me about their modems not working properly and acting up constantly I decided to write this file in hopes of reaching people who are experiencing problems as well and would like to know what to do about it. I will also talk about connection speed of your new 33.6 modem and why you are very rarely if ever connecting at 33.6. And finally, Did you know you can ** UPGRADE YOUR MODEM ** from a 28.8 to a 33.6? I'll tell you how much, and how to find out whether you are compatible for the upgrade and much more. DISCLAIMER The information I am about to give you comes from a mixture of personal experience and reading 100's of messages on the USRobotics Modems Echo on the FidoNet network. I am NOT to be responsible for any damage resulting from using there tips and techniques. Nothing should ever happen but if anything did, I am not to blame. All I guarantee is that this file will take up space on your hard drive, nothing more and nothing less. LETS BEGIN There has been a known BUG in the *ROM* Chip in a lot of the USR modems for some time now. Mostly the older 28.8 modems will have this bug however some of the newer 28.8's and including the 33.6's are known to be unfortunate as well. HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE THIS *ROM* BUG? WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS? The Bug that I will be talking about is in the USRobotics 28.8 and 33.6 Sportster modems. There are 2 symptoms of the *ROM* bug for the Internal modems and 3 for the External. Internal/External (28.8): 1. The modem will experience short delays (freezes) that last anywhere from 5-15 seconds or so while online. 2. The modem will suddenly hang up (DROP CARRIER) for no apparent reason. Example: Chatting with someone such as the sysop and suddenly the modem freezes for a few seconds and hangs up. Internal (33.6): 1. The modem will experience delays that last as long as a minute or more. More delays than 28.8's and last longer. 2. The modem will suddenly hang up (DROP CARRIER) for no apparent reason. Example: Chatting with someone such as the sysop and suddenly the modem freezes for a few seconds and hangs up. External (33.6): 1. The modem will experience delays that last as long as a minute or more. More delays than 28.8's and last longer. 2. The modem will suddenly hang up (DROP CARRIER) for no apparent reason. Example: Chatting with someone such as the sysop and suddenly the modem freezes for a few seconds and hangs up. 3. The lights on the external modem mysteriously begin to flash out of control. WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP PREVENT THESE? You can do a number of techniques to help prevent the bug from showing itself but there is only one way to Prevent it completely. I'll talk about that a little later, right now i'll talk about how to help prevent it. 1. Locking your baud rate at 19200 will prevent you from logging in from 24.4-33.6. (The Hangup symptom has NEVER, that I know of, shown itself). This also means you lose out on your 28.8/33.6 advantages. Logging in a bbs at 19200 or below will assure you, again, has always worked for me and everyone i've spoken to, that you won't experience this problem with the modem suddenly hanging up. Unless of course Call Waiting is online, then that is a whole different story :-) 2. Add "&K0" to your init string. This will disable Data Compression however you will have more of a chance for errors during transfers due to less error control. You will also have a lower error efficiency and slower than normal transfers due to the fact that the data being transmitted won't be compressed as usual. 3. The ONLY solution to prevent the bug %100, that I know of at time of writting, is contacting USRobotics and seeing if they will give you a ROM Patch Kit (Chip). However not everyone is liable for this chip and some of you may be at a disadvantage. AM I COMPATIBLE? There are a number of things you need to look for to see whether or not you are compatible for the ROM Patch Kit. 1. If you have an Internal modem then take off the computer cover and pop the modem out of the expansion slots. Use regular precautions when removing the card (Turning off the computer and unplugging the cords from the wall as removing Static electricity from yourself to prevent blowing circuits, etc). Then take a look at your modem. The ROM chip is located in the middle of a big brown holder (Socket Type). With the card turned to the chips and sockets are visible and the modem brackets and dip switches are on the right hand side, the brown plastic socket is located at the far lower left hang corner (Internal Modem). If you have a socket type chip then there is a chance that you may be compatible (Cheaper) and if it is soldered then again you may be compatible however may cost more to fix. With the socket type you can simply get a replacement ROM chip and you remove the old chip and pop in the new one. If you have the soldered type then you would have to send the entire modem to USRobotics Co. which would result in a much higher S/H than a single 1" x 1" chip. 2. If you have an External modem then unplug the phone cords computer cable and power cords from the modem. Turn the modem case face down and unscrew the two screws on the bottom half of the modem. Remove the circuit board from the case and turn the board so that the chips and sockets are visible and the volume control knob is on the left hand side. The ROM chip is located in the middle of a big brown holder (Socket Type) approximately 1" to the right of the volume control knob. If you have a socket type chip then there is a chance that you may be compatible (Cheaper) and if it is soldered then again you may be compatible however may cost more to fix. With the socket type you can simply get a replacement ROM chip and you remove the old chip and pop in the new one. If you have the soldered type then you would have to send the entire modem to USRobotics Co. which would result in a much higher S/H than a single 1" x 1" chip. HOW DO I GET THIS PATCH ROM CHIP? There are a number of ways you will have to perform before you order your chip. There is No Longer a 1-800 Technical Support line for USRobotics. There is a Long Distance (To Me anyway; here in Vancouver British Columbia) however I will tell you a 1-800 number that will give you direct contact to a co-company that supports USRobotics products along with many other product lines. 1. Call Technical Support 1-847-982-5151 (8AM TO 6PM Central Time, Mon-Fri) 2. Call Technical Support for USRobotics: Keaton Technology at 1-800-565-3284. 3. Send E-Mail to their internet address of "support@usr.com". Make sure the subject line of the message is "SRO". Include your Name and address, the serial number from your modem (usually located on a sticker on the chip), the date of the supervisor code in your modem (issue a ATI7 while in your terminal program), description of the problem and if your chip is SOCKETED or SOLDERED. WHAT DO I NEED BEFORE I CALL? Before you call either USRobotics Inc. or Keaton Technology Inc. you will need some information to tell the representative. 1. You will need to tell them exactly what you are experiencing. 2. Your Supervisor Date (ATI7) 3. ROM chip serial code (Usually found on a white sticker on top of the chip). 4. Know ahead of time whether your ROM is Socketed or Soldered. RECEIVING YOUR NEW ROM CHIP (SOCKET TYPE) When you receive your new ROM Patch Chip you will receive the following with your kit. 1. Instructions on how to "Remove" the Old Defective chip. 2. Special Metal tool for which is used to "pry" the chip out. (Follow Instructions EXACTLY or you can seriously destroy your chip) 3. The new ROM Patch Chip in a Static Electricity proof bag. The bag is there for a reason as static electricity can blow the chip. So MAKE SURE you touch something metal to discharge yourself before handling the chip. CAUTION: When using the supplied tool to pry the chip out be sure to insert the hook as far as you can carefully under the corner of the chip. CAREFULLY and SLOWLY ease the chip one corner then move to the opposite side. It may take quite a few LITTLE pry's but that is perfectly fine. DO NOT RUSH or you will ruin the chip. Take your time and everything should come out smoothly. INSERTING THE NEW CHIP AND WHAT HAPPENED TO ME! You will notice the instructions that are included with your kit Only shows you how to remove he chip and Not how to insert the new one. I found out after and was EXTREMELY lucky. I'll talk about this a little later on. Now on to how we insert the chip. 1. Once the old chip has been removed Discharge yourself using the steps in #2 (above). Then carefully remove the chip from the Anti-static bag. Hold the chip in the center and NOT the prongs to be on the safe side of things. Just in case you may have some static left that may blow your new chip. 2. CAUTION: The chip has some small hidden secrets that can go undetected (As I know from experience). The chip you receive has one corner chopped off and a DOT of one side of the chip. See Figure 1. ___________ | | | | --> | o | | | | | --> \__________| Printed in your instructions is a diagram our your modem showing you where to place the chip and what way it is to face. The diagram is in my opinion, Very Lousy. The diagram has a Pin size hole to show you the dot on the chip and a Small little cut on the corner. The hole is so small that if there was a little big of toner or dust left when it was printed you would not see it. As I did and I almost ruined my $60 33.6 Upgrade chip. There are no instructions on how to install the new chip, so like me, I figured just to pop in the new chip and all was fine. However not know there was even a Dot nor a corner sliced out of the chip would tell me that I had already put the chip in backwards. I plugged in the modem and went to run it but the computer could not detect a modem at all. I didn't know what was wrong so I turned off the computer, disconnected all the cords and removed the modem. Took out the new chip and thinking it may have been defective, removed the chip and replaced my buggy 28.8 (original). Again, the computer could not locate a modem at all. Which didn't make any sense to me. So again I removed the modem and studied the instructions to see if I may have missed something. All was done properly (I thought). Then I took a look at the chip where I discovered the dot and the corner. Looked the instruction's diagram and it showed the dot and corner facing to the left (Internal). I assumed my chip (both for that matter) were not blown since I placed them both backwards and turned the power on. Most usual a regular IC chip would be blown if you insert it in the wrong way and supply power. As well as capacitors (We all know what that leads too) :-)) But after replacing the old chip once again (facing the right way as shown in the diagram) it worked like a charm! So I crossed my figured and replaced it with the NEW chip and it was perfectly fine. To this day i don't know why neither of my chips were blown because of the incidence but DON'T TAKE A CHANGE YOURSELF. 2 Cont. Carefully lay the chip on the Plastic socket so that the dot and the sliced corner faces in the direction as shown in the instructions that came with your kit. Then gently press the chip into the socket making sure the prongs line up. Keep pressing until the chip can go no further down (Usually is level with the socket). 3. Take out a minute or two and check that you did EVERYTHING EXACTLY and then plug in your modem and computer in the usual way. WHY DON'T I CONNECT AT 33.6? As you may have already discovered, you most likely are never connecting to your local boards at the full 33.6 Baud except for maybe the internet. But why you ask when you bought the 33.6 to connect at 33600 and NOT 28800 or 31200 but the FULL 33600. I was very disappointed when I was told that I most likely will NEVER connect at 36600 unless I connect with EXCELLENT Noise Free connection which would be extreamly rare. And that I most likely will connect at 28800 most of the time and maybe 31200 at some times but rarely. * Origin: -=[ Crystal Gate BBS [604] 430-4487 ]=- (1:153/757.3)