My Compaq 8086 configured to get the time via the net...some pics.

[Klee]

I hated having to type the time in EVERY time on boot up on my 8086 Compaq Deskpro so this is how I fixed it .

Pic of my autoexec.bat



Batch file to configure DHCP.



Batch file called from within first batch file to connect to a internet time server.



Booting up with XTide



Testing the 2 mb memory card and then loading the packet driver and TCP software.

 

[Klee]

Running DHCP



Showing time was set via the internet!!

 

[Klee]

I know I could have cleaned up the autoexec.bat and batch files a little but it works great as is.

 

[mbbrutman]

That was one of the reasons for writing the SNTP client - setting the time on my older machines. My AUTOEXEC.BAT loads the packet driver, runs DHCP, and then calls SNTP to get (and set) the time from pool.ntp.org.

You probably should update mTCP though - I couldn't help but notice the date and it looks to be close to 10 months compared to the newest code. I'm sure there are some bug fixes and features you could benefit from.


Mike

 

[k2x4b524[]

klee, could you post a guide on how you did that? though the pictures are pretty detailed, i'm sure a written guide would help

 

[mbbrutman]

It is a few lines in a batch file. Most of which come from the SNTP documentation:

• Load your packet driver (NE2000 0x60 3)
• Set the mTCP configuration variable (SET MTCPCFG=C:\MTCP\TCP.CFG)
• Run DHCP if you do not have a static address (DHCP)
• Set a timezone variable (SET TZ=CST6CDT)
• Run the SNTP program (SNTP -set pool.ntp.org)

After that, your machine will get an IP address and set the time every time it boots.


Mike

 

[Klee]

That was one of the reasons for writing the SNTP client - setting the time on my older machines. My AUTOEXEC.BAT loads the packet driver, runs DHCP, and then calls SNTP to get (and set) the time from pool.ntp.org.

You probably should update mTCP though - I couldn't help but notice the date and it looks to be close to 10 months compared to the newest code. I'm sure there are some bug fixes and features you could benefit from.


Mike

Well the pc has not been turned on in about 5 or 6 months until yesterday and works great so i'm not in a big hurry to update anything. I did download the latest version and with the HUGE 200mb IDE hard drive, well compaired to the original 20mb MFM one LOL, I guess I have plenty of room to backup everything and do it when I get a little time.

 

[Klee]

klee, could you post a guide on how you did that? though the pictures are pretty detailed, i'm sure a written guide would help

I need to do that but it was about 11 months ago so id have to work on it when I get a little free time.

 

[Klee]

Updated autoexec.bat



I removed the setclock.com command , I just added it to prompt to reset the time during testing and never removed it until now.

Pic of the old 8086 Deskpro.

 

[Great Hierophant]

What kind of RAM footprint does the packet driver take? Is it possible to unload it after it has done its job?

 

[Trixter]

Packet drivers usually have a footprint in the 4K to 12K range -- I use FTP to get files on/off my older computers so I just leave it enabled. If I know I'm going to be computing with non-network memory-hungry stuff, I swap in a new config.sys/autoexec.bat and reboot. (I use AUTOCON (autoconx.zip) to do this, but a few batch files could easily do the same thing.)

For automated load/unload, most packet drivers have a command-line option to unload. For drivers that don't, you can either use the old mark/release utilities (mark, run tsrs, then later you can type release and all tsrs after the the first "mark" are unloaded) or you can use RESPRO (freeware TSR unloader with a menu that allows you to deactivate/reactive TSRs as well).

 

[Klee]

What kind of RAM footprint does the packet driver take? Is it possible to unload it after it has done its job?

The packet driver uses 4,944 bytes of ram , its for a 3com 3c503 card.

 

[Klee]

It is a few lines in a batch file. Most of which come from the SNTP documentation:

• Load your packet driver (NE2000 0x60 3)
• Set the mTCP configuration variable (SET MTCPCFG=C:\MTCP\TCP.CFG)
• Run DHCP if you do not have a static address (DHCP)
• Set a timezone variable (SET TZ=CST6CDT)
• Run the SNTP program (SNTP -set pool.ntp.org)

After that, your machine will get an IP address and set the time every time it boots.


Mike

This is pretty much it except I had to use SLEEP.EXE to pause the bootup for 2 seconds in order to let the packet driver finish loading.