Arachne fails to launch

[kishy]

Hi all

I'm attempting to run Arachne (1.95;GPL,286-) on my 286. 10MHz CPU, 2.6MB of RAM (640KB on the mobo, 2MB on ISA card). MS-DOS 6.22. Adaptec SCSI card with 1GB HDD (partitioned appropriately).

D-Link packet driver installed and working (verified with MTCP).

Output of mem says I have the following amounts of free memory: 585K conventional, 0K upper, 0K reserved, 960K extended XMS (largest executable program size 584K).

When running the Arachne extractor, it extracts/expands all files and then attempts to launch Arachne in "setup mode". This seems to be a batch file, setup.bat.

My problem is that I get the message "Arachne V1.95;GPL,286- is taking off..." and then it seemingly hangs. There is brief disk activity at the beginning and after a small delay, but after that it seems to be stuck (I've let it sit for 7 minutes with no disk activity and no error messages). However, unlike other types of hang, CTRL+ALT+DEL still works, so it seems to be Arachne hanging up, not the system overall.

Attempting to run setup.bat manually after a reboot gets me the same thing. Same goes for running Arachne directly (I'd expect it to not work properly based on not yet being set up, but would expect at least some kind of different symptom...apparently not).

Anyone have any ideas? Do I simply not have enough RAM? I figured that since it will work on 8088's (which in a typical scenario have not more than 640K of RAM) the footprint must be low...perhaps not low enough?

Thanks

Edit: have now had it sitting over an hour (just in case it really was THAT slow). No progress.

I'd be content to work with Bobcat/Lynx if someone can do a step-by-step walkthrough of the configuration. The documentation is a bit of a disaster (so wordy it completely obscures the actual instructions, if they were even there to begin with).

 

[Ole Juul]

I'm running 1.7 and don't know specifically about 1.95 but I'm pretty sure that you have enough memory. I'm guessing it is either a video problem or more likely a mixup with the connection type.

Remember that Arachne is a Wattcp application. When I set mine up I just told it to use the WATTCP.CFG file and that was it AFAIR. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think that the only thing that needs to be changed is the TCP/IP section in ARACHNE.CFG. Two lines:

IP_Address WATTCP
TCPconfig WATTCP.CFG

You will need a working WATTCP.CFG file in Arachne's root directory or set in the environment.

Regarding Lynx, that is easy to set up, but I agree that the config file is a nightmare of verbosity. It actually requires very little to get going. I just had a look at my file and can't remember (or find) what (if anything) that I changed. I can post my whole setup if you want.

PS: Don't forget that there is also WGET which brings down pages like a charm. I've used that on a very minimal single floppy setup with a plain html viewer.

 

[kishy]

Thanks for the input.

I noticed that there are multiple profiles...each is a version of arachne.cfg, just with different filenames (in my case, the desired one is slowpc.acf). I took the appropriate actions to make that the arachne.cfg file without wiping out the earlier one.

Then I found the section you described and made the appropriate changes, and set up the WATTCP.CFG file appropriately (or so it seems. Filled in the blanks with numbers that fit my network - side note, would be nice to make it ask mtcp's dhcp for an IP). Still no go...



The setup batch file seems to set up this CFG file...I wonder if it also creates/alters other files? As it runs automatically after extraction, there's no way for someone who it works properly for to be sure that someone who it doesn't work properly for isn't missing any steps it seems.

 

[Ole Juul]

I looked in my setup for possible useful hints. I noticed that in the ARACHNE.CFG there is also a section right at the beginning which specifies the profile. Do you have that line as slowpc.acf?

As far as setting up WATTCP is concerned, try pinging something to make sure that part is working before you move on to Arachne.

 

[kishy]

I looked in my setup for possible useful hints. I noticed that in the ARACHNE.CFG there is also a section right at the beginning which specifies the profile. Do you have that line as slowpc.acf?

As far as setting up WATTCP is concerned, try pinging something to make sure that part is working before you move on to Arachne.

Re: profile, I transferred the entire contents of slowpc.acf (if you compare you see they are the same file but with different values, including profile name. I suspect the setup batch file normally does this for you based on a GUI-provided option when the setup batch file succesfully starts).

Ping? Forgive my ignorance please but I was under the impression that WATTCP is not initialized/activated/whatever until after starting Arachne itself...obviously this is not correct so how might I go about starting WATTCP first?

 

[Ole Juul]

Ping? Forgive my ignorance please but I was under the impression that WATTCP is not initialized/activated/whatever until after starting Arachne itself...obviously this is not correct so how might I go about starting WATTCP first?

No, you got it right. However there are lots of WATTCP utilities and you probably have a bunch of them already if you're playing with DOS internet. They will run if only you have a valid WATTCP.CFG file available. One essential utility is ping. I'll post a bunch of stuff for you later if you like. For now I just put PING.EXE here for you.

 

[kishy]

No, you got it right. However there are lots of WATTCP utilities and you probably have a bunch of them already if you're playing with DOS internet. They will run if only you have a valid WATTCP.CFG file available. One essential utility is ping. I'll post a bunch of stuff for you later if you like. For now I just put PING.EXE here for you.

Alrighty, thanks, gave that a go. Filled in information that was not present in my WATTCP.CFG file (and which the internet suggests belongs there) such that it is now:

my_ip = 192.168.2.15
netmask = 255.255.255.0
nameserver = 192.168.2.2
gateway = 192.168.2.2
domain_list = belkin
hostname = 8530

Where .2.15 is a free IP on my network and .2.2 is my router/gateway, and belkin is the domain name (by default) set on the router.

Pinging isn't working, so I presume I have a configuration issue relating to WATTCP.CFG (missing required value maybe?)

C:\>ping 192.168.2.2
Pinging [192.168.2.2]
sent PING #1
Ping Statistics
Sent     : 1
Received : 0
Success  : 0%
There was no response from 192.168.2.2

 

[Ole Juul]

Your WATTCP.CFG looks fine except for the nameserver which I doubt is your router. Use the same one as you normally use with your ISP or just use OpenDNS for now. Their numbers are 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.

You pinged your router, and although using numbers you would not need a nameserver, I think it is possible that your router is set up to not respond to pings. Fix the nameserver in the wattcp.cfg then try it again and use the name of your ISP or google.com, or some number which you know works. Google.com resolves to 74.125.127.99. If it still doesn't work, then make sure that the wattcp.cfg file is in the same directory as the ping.exe file.

Hope this helps,
Ole

 

[kishy]

Regarding ping blocking, the router has a configurable option for WAN-side ping blocking, but not LAN. I am able to ping the router from my laptops and (modern) desktop, and the other PS/2 (386/Win95), and this PS/2 (286) when using the MTCP ping.exe. I cannot, however, ping the router with the WATTCP ping.exe. Odd.

I am however able to ping my laptop from the 286. Pinging 'google.com' is also successful (with wattcp.cfg being unmodified). Having my router as the nameserver is how MTCP's CFG file is set up also and it seems to do DNS lookups without issue.

Do you have a wattcp-based DNS lookup utility?

Thanks

 

[kishy]

Weehee! As a consequence ("prosequence" if ever there was one) of working on that WATTCP.CFG file, then tossing that in the Bobcat directory, Bobcat now works!

Still want to know why Arachne is being the angry kid in the corner...

 

[mbbrutman]

You said that mTCP picks up your router as your nameserver? And it works?

Is your router actually running some sort of nameserver (or a proxy) on it? mTCP just uses what it gets via DHCPD, so I have no reason to suspect it is wrong. But usually the nameserver is something that your ISP owns, not your router. (Unless it is proxying the requests.)


Mike

 

[kishy]

I suspect, yes, proxying the requests. It's a relatively cheapo Belkin Wireless G router, nothing special.

TBH I haven't paid attention to what your DHCP tool picks up. I had originally set it up statically to verify functionality and used the router's IP when doing that. DNS requests resolved so apparently it worked. However, DHCP is very likely getting the "actual" nameserver IP. After that, I tried the DHCP tool, found it still worked and saw no reason to investigate what it found.

 

[jmetal88]

You said that mTCP picks up your router as your nameserver? And it works?

Is your router actually running some sort of nameserver (or a proxy) on it? mTCP just uses what it gets via DHCPD, so I have no reason to suspect it is wrong. But usually the nameserver is something that your ISP owns, not your router. (Unless it is proxying the requests.)


Mike

My router is a 2WIRE that came with my SBC (now AT&T) DSL, and it has you set the router's address as the nameserver. If you look under the router configuration, it shows the real nameservers operated by AT&T, so in my case it's acting as a proxy to the real nameservers.

It's probably doing the same thing in kishy's case, as he suspects.

 

[kishy]

As you can see, Bobcat is handling (reading) VCF posts OK (true, though, that it complained of running out of RAM viewing this thread). My website is also OK, being very simple in nature.



Facebook, in their own words, simply isn't cool enough.

 

[jmetal88]

You're running a 286 on a flat panel monitor? I went to a flea market and bought a 17" CRT after I built my recent 486 build.

 

[kishy]

I have a more period-appropriate IBM 6318 VGA (well, SVGA) monitor, but I genuinely hate CRTs as computer monitors.

TV, different story entirely.

Consider also that it's impossible to photograph a CRT screen because the flash will always reflect back (as the screen surface is not flat).

 

[Ole Juul]

Do you have a wattcp-based DNS lookup utility?

I have never seen one. Mike B seems to be the only one who has taken the trouble to write one. DHCP is relatively new.

Too bad about Arachne, I don't have any more suggestions right now, except perhaps to try one of the myriad older versions.

 

[kishy]

I'm having a heck of a time finding older versions.

Thanks, for sure, for the assistance to this point. Perhaps someone will happen upon the thread and know the solution.

In the meantime, are there any other graphical browsers for MS-DOS that could survive on my hardware?

 

[Ole Juul]

I've got a whole bunch of Arachne 1.4x versions up to 1.49 and I've got 1.70. Perhaps I should zip up the whole shebang for you. Let me know. There are a couple of other browsers, but they are not really graphical. I might be able to find Knots for you you. If you install MS-Windows, I don't know if it will run on 3.0 but 3.1 works, then Cello is one of the very first browsers for Windows. I have that somewhere. Let me know what you want in DOS internet stuff (PM or preferably e-mail) because I've collected a lot of stuff over the years.

 

[kishy]

Bump...

New issue: attempting to run on XT box. IBM 256-640 mobo with 640K, 4.77MHz 8088. Paradise VGA. XT-IDE.

Actually got further than the other problems in this thread...took me to the first two setup questions (swap type and video type). Hooray I guess? This does mean the 286 issue isn't too little RAM though.

Now, new problem: doesn't matter what video mode I select, I'm told "Unable to initialize video mode - please run setup.bat !"

Ideas?

Edit: doesn't seem to be Paradise-specific. A member in the IRC channel tried with his XT clone with a C&T VGA card and had the same failure. I swapped my card out for a 16-bit Cirrus Logic that works in 8-bit slots, and found the same issue persisted.

Has anyone had this version of Arachne work at all on a machine this old?