ZZNET & NMRNET

G. Pearson (gpearson@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu)
Fri, 9 Jun 1995 17:12:57 -0500


Rudi Nunlist & Ron Garber asked me some questions about the hardware &
software. I'm posting my answers & comments here, in case anyone else might
find the info useful.


Rudi asked:

> How reliable is ZZNET?

Fairly decent. The software is not bullet proof, but works OK if you don't
try doing something "stupid". You'll crash if you try to use a "?" Adakos
wild card, for example, but the "*" wild card works fine. Filenames with
extensions work as expected, but for files _without_ extensions, the software
cannot find them unless you specify a ".*" extension. I've sometimes seen
things hang after about a dozen files when I told the program to "get" a bunch
of stuff with a wild card. 2D .SER files transfer OK. We are using version
5 (ZZN5.EXE).

An error message that you don't have enough disk space for a transfer probably
means that you have some unlinked clusters. Use CHKDSK to clean them off the
PC's hard disk. It's possible to occasionally get the hardware so locked up
that the only way to get ZZNET working again is to power down both computers &
re-boot. With over 100 users typing really creative stuff into the software,
I'm surprised that I don't see it happen more often than about once every few
weeks.

We're using it on our AC-300, WM-360, and MSL-300. We use it not only to
transfer data, but also to back up stuff like automation programs, job-
parameter files, shim files, etc.

Incidently, ZZNET is probably considerably LESS reliable for us than in a
"normal" situation. The thing is that we've been swapping ZZNET and FASTRAN
cables several times a day while the computers are running. Both ZZNET and
FASTRAN are _far_ more "stable" when you just plug things together once and
for all, and then leave the hardware alone.

I haven't tried out NMRNET (uses the same hardware). I don't know if it's
better, worse, or the same. ZZNET does _not_ work for executable Aspect
programs, but NMRNET claims that it does this OK. ZZNET apparently drops some
critical information about starting or load address or some such. Both
program packages are the same price -- FREE.

ZZNET (but _not_ NMRNET) byte-shuffles binary files relative to the normal
Kermit order. I use R3 (my son wrote it) to unshuffle the byte order. R3
executes like a shot, so it's not a speed bottleneck.


> And how fast is it (kbyes/sec).

85 seconds to transfer fifteen (15) 64K FIDs, using a single command with a
wild card ".*" for the extension. This includes 5+ seconds for the Aspect
computer to locate the files on disk. This works out to roughly 34
kbytes/sec, which is equivalent to something like 300,000 baud. PC = 486/50.


> If ZZNET is well behaved, we might want to switch.

Why not try it out, and see how you like it? You could also try out the
NMRNET software. If you decide that you don't like either one, then you're
only out about $100 for parts, plus the time to make up one end of a cable.
(Plus a few hours messing around with the software.)

Besides, it doesn't have to be an either/or choice between ZZNET/NMRNET and
Bruknet. You could use either one, and leave the other installed as a
backup.

If you decide to try out either one, check with me about software. You can
probably ftp both ZZNET and NMRNET, but you _still_ might want to look at some
of my custom stuff. I can send you copies of the DOS .BATch files I use to
make things transparent to the users, and I can also email you uuencoded .ZIP
files of all the software that runs on the PC.


The one logjam is the issue of getting the _Aspect_ software on the Aspect. I
could snailmail you a 8" floppy, or you could get the software from someone
else.


Ron asked,

> Do you have the wiring plan for the chip? If so, could you send me a copy.
> Thanks, Ron.

Circuit diagrams for the cable-with-a-chip can be found in:

Zolnai et.al., J.Magn.Reson. 88, 511-522 (1990)

The chip is a 7404 TTL hex inverter. (A useful chip to have with you when you
happen to be in the company of witches or worlocks :-)

If you're referring to the 8255 chip, that one has been around for many years.
It's a 24-bit digital I/O chip originally designed to interface to the bus of
a computer with an Intel 8080 CPU. Sorry, I don't have the pin-out, logic, &
timing specs easily available. (I _do_ have the info in the 15+ year-old blue
book on microcomputers by Osborn, which I haven't referred to in 8+ years,
which book is buried _somewhere_ among the 1000+ books which I have at home,
which home is located 45 miles from my office.)



SOURCES OF SOFTWARE & INFO:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For ZZNET:
==========
Dave Vander Velde <dave@kunmr.chem.ukans.edu>
Ross Mair <rmair@stan.xx.swin.OZ.AU>

Dave is "keeper of zznet" in the USA. Ross Mair is the guy to contact in
Australia. Both of them have copies of R3. I _think_ that they have both set
up things so you can ftp the stuff.

For NMRNET
==========
Charles E Cottrell <ccottrel@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>

> From: Charles E Cottrell <ccottrel@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
> Date: Fri, 24 Jun 94 14:22:06 EDT
> To: ammrl@bloch.cchem.berkeley.edu (Association of Managers in Magnetic
> Resonance Laboratories)
> Subject: ASPECT CONNECTIVITY
>
> I have written a program, NMRNET, which is used to transfer nmr data and
> ascii files between an Aspect computer and a PC. The data is transferred
> bidirectionally between the two computers by connecting the high-speed
> paper tape reader--punch port on the back of the Aspect computer to a
> Keithley Metrabyte PIO-12 card in a PC. This software uses the same
> hardware as ZZNET which was developed at NMRFAM.

-- Gerry
---------------------------------------------------------------
Gerald A. Pearson INTERNET: gerald-pearson@uiowa.edu
Chem. Dept., Univ. of Iowa VOICE: 319-335-1336
Iowa City, IA 52242-1219, USA FAX: 319-335-1270
---------------------------------------------------------------