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For anyone Considering buying a Lanronix MSS-100 or other device from Lantronix

salamontagne

Experienced Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
245
Location
Harwinton,CT
Spent close to an hour on the phone with their "technical support engineer"
only to learn that the advertised "Modem Emulation" is not, in fact, modem
emulation.

As it turns out, while you can configure the device to dial-out via standard AT
commands, you need a special piece of software (a hack of the registry in windows only) to
allow you to "dial in" via telnet to the device. Why "modem emulation" does
not fully emulate a modem, I do not know.

I figured I'd throw this out in case someone else was trying todo
the same thing. Dont waste your money on this or any other
product from them. Sadly, I purchased three already that are
now the equivalent of doorstops.
 
I've been thinking of picking up a few of these for my older systems so they can have connectivity to my local network and the rest of the world via ethernet.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "dial-in"? Are you saying that it's not possible to have it "auto-answer" for you when someone telnets in?
 
Sorry, I should have been more clear...

Essentially, if you want to use the device to telnet to another system, your fine. It will accept standard AT commands, eg AT ip.address.

you can enter the ip address in where the phone number would normally go

HOWEVER, if you want to actually receive calls via telnet, its useless. It can be configured to that "ring" appears on
the terminal screen, but, in doing so, it will not respond to at commands. I was able, just once, to type ATA while the "ring" was
going on, and estabilish a connection with the telnet program "dialing in" However, i had to switch modes while the terminal program
was running.

Essentially, you get one choice or the either. You can dial out from it with no prolbem, but you need to create a com port redirector on
the system thats "Dialing in" in order to use it. It can be a hardware terminal/modem to telnet adapter, but it cant do telnet to a modem
interface without useing their specialized com port redirection software, found HERE:

http://ltxfaq.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/928

In other words, it can't be used (as i thought it Could be) to run any kind of bbs software (DOS,Amiga, Commodore, Atari)


Below is the email I received from lantronix after wasteing an hour of my time on tech support:

Hi ****,

The MSS100 does emulate a modem on its own. There is no requirement for proprietary software to use it in the place of a modem. It does exactly what it states it does, allow a serial device to use AT commands to initiate a connection to an IP host and, in receiving an IP connection, provide the appropriate result codes for the serial device an answer an incoming IP connection.

What you have to understand is that modem emulation means that a serially attached device will think it is connected to a modem. But rather than dialing a phone number and going over a POTS phone line, it goes over an IP connection. What happens on the other side of the connection is up to you.

A real modem has to have something to connect to. In its case, it is another modem. A serial device server, like the MSS100, also has to have something to connect to. Being an IP based device, it would be some sort of host with an IP address and a listening port. It can even be another MSS100 operating in its normal mode or modem emulation mode.

The MSS100 also emulates a modem from the perspective that if it receives a network socket connection, it can output the appropriate result codes to the serially attached device. Like a modem, that behavior is configured using AT commands from that serial device.

The MSS100 is not a software modem emulator. That is a different animal all together. If you want a virtual device on your PC that looks like a modem, but "dials" an IP address, it does require a specific type of middleware. We do not make middleware, and you will find companies like Tactical Software (who makes a software IP modem) does not make hardware. It is a very specialized type of software for a very specific audience.

I apologize that this distinction was not clear. Unfortunately, in the world of technology, a given term can often be understood to mean more than one thing.


(Author's further note: Please excuse my lack of clarity and conciseness. I'm far too angry at this point to make any better sense)

(Edit: I found the following link that should do a better job of explaining things. As it turns out it will only emulate a modem on one side of the
connection, not both)

http://ltxfaq.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9/kw/Error%3A%20Autostart%20is%20incompatible%20with%20Access%20Remote
 
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Update - I've got egg on my face and was completely wrong. These do, in no way require software. Ive been talking it over with tech support (whom is being very patient with me, and i'd recommend hands-down)

Sadly, The mss-100 is not fully geared to serve a bbs. In case anyone is trying todo the same, I'll keep ya'll update on my adventures. The biggest thing is configureing the communications software to "release" control over the port. The command for this is "ATC LOGOUT" after which it will wait for a telnet session (use the command 'CHANGE TELNETDEST SERIAL' while you are logged into the telnet port 7000)

Below is the email responses Ive gotten on the matter:

Hi *,

If you are getting a login prompt, it is probably because you telnetted to port 23. To telnet to the serial port over the network, you need to connect to the IP address and port 2001. In modem emulation mode, the MSS should then send a RING out the serial port. The attached serial device would then reply with an ATA and the MSS would complete the connection.

To set up the MSS to send the RING, you need to enter the AT command ATS0=0 (which turns autoanswer off). You should also issue an ATV1 to assure that the result code is text.

Note that we just receive the connection and have no control over the application making the telnet connection.

Regards,

Michael Lyon
LANTRONIX
Senior Technical Support Engineer
167 Technology Drive, Irvine, CA 92618

Hi *,

The appropriate setting for the port is Dynamic. This allows both incoming and outgoing connections. But not at the same time.

From a default configuration, the only thing you need to enable on the port is:

change modem emulation enable
change autostart character "A"

You do not need to enable autostart, that is implied in the modem emulation setting.

Now, once modem emulation is enabled, it uses the autostart character to put the serial port into command mode. This is the equivalent to getting the Local prompt on the serial port when you are not using modem emulation. In that state, the port is in "Local Mode". In that mode, it is awaiting a connection command and will not allow incoming IP connections.

Once it is in Local Mode, it needs to go back to Idle before it will accept incoming connections from the network. There are a few ways to do this.

One is for the serial device to toggle its DTR pin, which toggles our DSR pin. This is the normal way a modem is reset using hardware lines.

Another is to set an idle timer and enable it on the serial port. This will automatically log out the session after a set amount of time. The commands for this are:

change inactive timer 1
change inactive logout enable

The third is to issue an AT command of "ATC logout" from the serial side to reset the port.

It is also important to look at the wiring information on page 5-10 of the User Guide. Since the MSS is a DTE device, its CD pin is outgoing. In order to mimic a DCE serial port as closely as possible, the incoming CD functionality is mapped to the DSR pin. This requires wiring changes from a typical null modem cable.

Let me close with this. The MSS is the first product from us, and perhaps any manufacturer to implement modem emulation on a serial device server. It was added a short while after the product was originally released 13 years ago. Given that modems are DCE devices, there is a cabling factor to deal with. But wiring it as recommended will allow it to behave, from a wiring perspective, more like a DCE modem serial port.

That being said, for future reference, we do have a couple of products that are much more suited for modem replacement. The UDS1100 and EDS1100 have DB-25 DCE serial ports, just like a modem. In addition, they both have much more developed modem emulation functions, as they were designed with it in mind from the start. In addition, both are considerably less expensive than the MSS100. The UDS1100 is the low cost alternative (MSRP around $150); while the EDS1100 is more powerfull and feature rich, more on par with and even superior in many ways to the MSS100, while still coming in a lower price.

You may want to look into those devices for any future projects.

In the mean time, let's see if we can get this setup running.

One last thing. I still do not have a completely clear picture of the whole setup. Do you have the physical setup diagrammed or flow charted in some way, so I can get a better understanding of what is talking to what and what they are expecting to see and do?

Regards,

Michael Lyon
LANTRONIX
Senior Technical Support Engineer
167 Technology Drive, Irvine, CA 92618
Phone: 800-422-7044 or 949-453-7198
 
Yeah, between cabling issues and AT commands these things can be tricky, but I'd be very surprised if it couldn't answer an incoming Telnet "call"; that'd make it pretty useless as an end-to-end RS-232 over IP 'replacement'.

I haven't used a Lantronix, but I have used software that effectively does the same on a PC and it took a while to sort out the cabling and configuration issues.

Assuming that like most people you bought these used off eBay, I'd say that their tech support is actually unusually good for such an old product...
 
Hi please can someone help me? I have a lantronix uds-10 and i have this connected to a winxp laptop via a lantronix 500-163 serial cable.I can open hyper terminal and power the lantronix on at the same time and hold down x to get to the setup mode.I can do telnet configuration to the setup mode on any pc on the network and i can web configuration too!
When connected in hyper terminal i can type AT and i get OK as a reply and i can type ATDT and go in to monitor mode ***nodeset 2.0*** and in there i can type PI 192.168.0.1 which is my router and it pings back.I can ping all my devices on the network BUT i can't ping back the lantronix ip address? If i try i type ATDT 192.168.0.2 and i get Unreachable??? If i try to type a bbs ip address i type ATDT 173.80.198.175:23 and then i get No Carrier?
I have set the lantronix up with all kinds of settings and i always get No Carrier? If i change the connect mode to anything other than D6 i don't get anything on the screen and i can't type anything in hyper terminal so i know i must have connect mode set to D6 which is Full Vebrose with Character Response! but i still get No Carrier?

I have had 2 emails back from lantronix giving me some settings and instructions but nothing will let me dial out to a bbs site? I always get No Carrier?

If someone can help me get past this issue of No Carrier i am good to go as i am able to communicate to the lantronix from hyper terminal but can't ping the ip address but if i go in to my router and ping from there i can get a ping back from the lantronix?
So something between the lantronix and my winxp laptop is stopping me from dialing out as i have No Carrier? all other commands like the AT and ATDT all work ok?
 
I'm unfamiliar with the uds-10. However, on the MSS-100, i had to change the settings via ethernet connection. The MSS-100
had a nice internal web server that allowed me to alter it to everything I needed. If the device is getting an IP (check your router) type it in a browser window (just the IP, no :port)

Are you trying to use it to telnet online bbs from a dos or other vintage machine? The MSS-100 might be a better fit. Thankfully, i was able to get mine to not only "dial out" but also to allow me to "dial in" to my bbs when i had it setup.

These devices are quite difficult, so be patient
 
Thankfully, i was able to get mine to not only "dial out" but also to allow me to "dial in" to my bbs when i had it setup.

These devices are quite difficult, so be patient
Can you review what all you did to get your Lantronix working?

For some time now I've been fighting with a Lantronix MSS100 that I bought off eBay. To go over the list, I've done the following :
Manually set the IP, disabled DHCP
Verify ping to the device
Login via DeviceIP port 7000
set priv, change primary port to 23
Can telnet to device port 2001, 3001, & 23 (also 7000 for admin)
Can access device via port 80 with web browser
Set Serial Port Settings 9600 8,1,none,dynamic,none
Check Box enabled : DSR Logout, DTR Wait, Modem Emulation, all other settings empty.
Local Switch, Forward Switch, Backward Switch : All none
Break Control None
AutoStart with Chars unchecked, no auto start characters are set.

The device sits in "IDLE" & I can attempt to dial by telnet to the device, if refreshed the status shows "Job Service" until the attempt times out. If I have BBS software running, or ProComm in host mode, I can see (as per Lantronix documentation) the five "RING" attempts. However sending ATA to the request does nothing. From a client side, using ProComm if I attempt to Dial "ATDT 192.168.1.134:23" which is another local pc with running synchronet, I see nothing on either PC. I've initializing with a basic string such as AT&F&C1&D2, as well as many, many other combinations like AT&S0=0&V0&E1&X0 as per documentation I've looked at on line.

As far as cables, I have 2 serial cables, a null modem cable, & a gender changer. The lantronix has a male DB25, connected to the gender changer, connected to the serial port DB 25 to DB 9 to the PC &/or introduced the DB9 to DB9 null modem cable. One of my serial cables seems to also be a null modem cable, as I get different results from each, which can be duplicated by adding the null modem cable (if that makes sense).

Is there anything obvious that I'm missing here? Why can't I get the device to work as a client or a server? Do I need to look into something else? I've tried switching the com port settings in BIOS, as well as an I/O card with a com port. Seems nothing is working in either direction.
 
Thank you for your reply. That's one of the guides I've been using, the one with the red circles. I think at this point I'll issue a factory reset (again) to remove any assumptions, & just start over from the beginning.
 
In Linux, has anyone enjoyed success with reading DCD status from a USB to RS232 tty port?

Specifically, I'm running the Probe (by datafile) scanner (radio) automation DOS app in DOSBox and I'm trying to extend DCD status from a terminal server, having given up on USB to serial adaptors.
 
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In Linux, has anyone enjoyed success with reading DCD status from a USB to RS232 tty port?

Specifically, I'm running the Probe (by datafile) scanner (radio) automation DOS app in DOSBox and I'm trying to extend DCD status from a terminal server, having given up on USB to serial adaptors.

Okay, after trying several USB to RS232 adaptors, I finally tried a second Prolithic PL2303 device and with:

pi@raspberrypi ~ $ statserial /dev/ttyUSB0

I can see a DCD transition change:

Device: /dev/ttyUSB0

Signal Pin Pin Direction Status Full
Name (25) (9) (computer) Name
----- --- --- --------- ------ -----
FG 1 - - - Frame Ground
TxD 2 3 out - Transmit Data
RxD 3 2 in - Receive Data
RTS 4 7 out 0 Request To Send
CTS 5 8 in 1 Clear To Send
DSR 6 6 in 1 Data Set Ready
GND 7 5 - - Signal Ground
DCD 8 1 in 1 Data Carrier Detect
DTR 20 4 out 1 Data Terminal Ready
RI 22 9 in 0 Ring Indicator

The other adaptors included a Lindy branded DB25 cable and a Keyspan box.

Now to work out how to get this transition into DOSBox
 
If the usb serial port is ttyUSB0 on your Linux machine, you need a line like this in DOSbox config
Code:
serial1=directserial realport:ttyUSB0
HTH
 
If the usb serial port is ttyUSB0 on your Linux machine, you need a line like this in DOSbox config
Code:
serial1=directserial realport:ttyUSB0
HTH

This is a little off-thread, however DOSBox cannot see the DCD transitions. The serial port works, as per your setup which I already had, however it appears the DCD register is not emulated by DOSBox.
 
Someone on Lemon64 made a guide for the MSS-100 configuration. There are also links in the post to configuration settings that I use. They will probably answer all your questions. :thumbsup:

http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50586&sid=ae5f45acec38cec0f6577bc89e3c5ae8

Good luck! Feel free to send me a PM if you have any other questions.

Heather

For the last 2 months or so, I've been messing with this MSS100 on the weekends & getting no where. I've followed that walkthrough you suggested, actually had done so previously, prior to posting. I don't understand why I can't get any data across the serial connection. I am using multiple cables, as I previously stated, all of which give me no results. I have reviewed numerous documents on configuring the MSS100 device, I've reset it to factory defaults, gone through the configuration, & am using multiple computers & multiple cables that I can use other serial devices such as modems without any issue. At what point is it safe to assume this thing is defective, & I wind up dumping more money into another one?

Currently I have a USB->Serial adapter on Linux, I've used minicom, syncterm, & cu to attempt to connect, each time power cycling the lantronics & re-configuring the USB->Serial adapter to avoid any configuration or lock-creep.

Local> show port

Port 1: Username: Port_1 Physical Port 1 (Idle)
Char Size/Stop Bits: 8/1 Baud Rate: 9600
Flow Ctrl: None Session Limit: 4
Parity: None Modem Control: None
Access: Remote Break Ctrl: Remote
Local Switch: None
Forward: None Backward: None
Port name: Port_1 Terminal Type: None
Autostart char(s): --/-- Datasend char(s): --/--
Save chars (AS/DS): none/none Timer: (none)
Dedicated Service: TCP: 192.168.1.131

Characteristics: Autobaud DSR Logout Telnet Pad Dtrwait
MdmEmulate

Sessions: 0 Current Session: None
Input/Output Flow Ctrl: N/N DSR/DTR/CTS/RTS/CD: N/N/N/Y/N

Seconds Since Zeroed: 208 Framing Errors: 0
Accesses Local/Rem: 0/0 Parity Errors: 0
Flow Control Violations: 0 Overrun Errors: 0
Bytes Input: 0 Bytes Output: 0
Input Flow On/Off: 0/ 0 Output Flow On/Off: 0/ 0

I am initializing on Linux with :
stty -F /dev/ttyUSB0 9600 -cstopb -ixon -ixoff -crtscts -parenb echo
Reviewing with stty -a -F /dev/ttyUSB0 gives the following :

speed 9600 baud; rows 0 columns 0; line = 0;
intr = ^C; quit = ^\; erase = ^?; kill = ^U; eof = ^D; eol = <undef>;
eol2 = <undef>; switch = <undef>; start = ^Q; stop = ^S; susp = ^Z; rprnt = ^R;
werase = ^W; lnext = ^V; flush = ^O; min = 1; time = 1;
-parenb -parodd -cmspar cs8 hupcl -cstopb cread clocal crtscts
ignbrk -brkint ignpar -parmrk -inpck -istrip -inlcr -igncr -icrnl -ixon -ioff
-iuclc -ixany -imaxbel -iutf8
-opost -olcuc -ocrnl -onlcr -onocr -onlret -ofill -ofdel n10 cr0 tab0 bs0 vt0 ff0
-isig -icanon -iexten -echo -echoe -echok -echonl -noflsh -xcase -tostop -echoprnt
-echoctl -echoke

The reason that I'm using Linux is this gives me the most troubleshooting information, & the most control over the device. The DOS machine that I intend to use this on leaves me blind, only wondering why I get init failed back. I have yet to find a way to "initialize" the mss100 as a modem, & successfully issue AT commands to it. I'm kind of at my wits end with this... as the serial port is giving me nothing out, yet the tcp/ip side has been working fine from day one. It's incredibly frustrating as nothing I'm doing is giving me any indication of life (other than RING when telnet in, & sending ATA does nothing), despite following walkthroughs of others getting it to work. However, of the walkthroughs I'm following, these people are using 8bit Atari/C64 machines, & not 16bit DOS. Does this matter for RS232? I would think not, but what about the pinouts? Just so many inconsistencies, & all I know is that it's not communicating.

Just to add to the cable confusion :

http://www.lantronix.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/MSS_UG.pdf

6: Troubleshooting
--The MSS completes its power-up and boot procedures, but there's no noticeable serial activity.
--Check the terminal setup and the physical connections, including the cable pinouts (see Pinouts). Try another serial device or cable, or cycle power on the MSS.

Then under section 7 is the pinout diagrams. I'm trying to compare those pinouts vs what would be in a generic null modem cable referencing here : http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Serial-HOWTO-19.html
 
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It sounds like you've done about everything that you can. I'd be happy to test it for you if you like but it wouldn't be worth the cost by the time you sent it here and I sent it back. Probably best to pick up another one.

Good luck,

Heather
 
Just to follow up on this thread with my resolution, it was a cabling issue. I currently have WAFFLE working on DOS taking telnet OR dialup. Currently working on getting multiple com ports configured.

Thank you (SkydivinGir)SO MUCH for your picture example walkthroughs of configuration for the LANTRONIX MSS 100
 
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