This chapter covers the following topics:
The QNX Users Interactive Conferencing System (QUICS) runs 24 hours per day on a computer that you may access to:
Our software refresh policy provides prompt response. We provide updates to released versions of all programs, including operating system modules, for download. Along with these, we provide a list of all changes made to the system. You may want to sign on once a month and make a log of this list.
We also maintain a growing list of free software that may be of interest to you. You'll find utilities, games, and megabytes of source provided by ourselves and by our customers. This source can often help you understand some of the intricacies of QNX.
Please note that the software available from the free software section is not supported by QSSL.
You can use the private mail facility to communicate with our employees or with any other user of QUICS.
If you'd like to make a comment or ask a question that you think other users may be interested in, then you'll want to use our conferencing system.
All QSSL staff are members of the conferencing system, as are most of our more active third-party developers. It's not unusual to pose a question and have several comments on it within a few hours. You'll find topics on realtime issues, hardware, utilities, C, and so on.
At the time of this printing, the QUICS computer supports seven modem lines and an Internet connection.
All modems support a variety of baud rates and data compression protocols. The modems are on a hunt group with the following primary number:
613-591-0934
On the update system, we maintain an up-to-date listing on the number of modems, their types, and phone numbers. You can read this when you give us a call.
Since qtalk is shipped with every system, we describe how to contact us from within qtalk (see Utilities Reference). We assume that your modem is connected to the QNX device /dev/ser1. If it isn't, you'll have to tell qtalk where your modem is.
Phoning us via modem involves two steps:
To phone us via modem, follow these steps:
Set your serial port settings to the following values. Refer to the section on configuring modems in the Connecting Serial & Parallel Devices chapter if you need help with this.
par=none bits=8
You'll also need to set your baud rate to whatever rate your modem will support.
If you're in North America and have a Hayes-compatible modem, you can use qtalk's dialing directory capability. The default dialing directory, /etc/config/dial.dir, provides an entry called qtalk, which contains our phone number. For more information, see qtalk in the Utilities Reference.
qtalk [-m modem] quics
The -m modem option is needed only if your modem is not connected to the /dev/ser1 device. If you're using another device, replace modem with the name of the associated device.
If you have an Internet connection, you'll likely want to connect to us via telnet. The telnet utility provides a terminal session similar to what you'd get if you connected to us via modem. To establish this connection, you'll be using a telnet client process. On a QNX (or UNIX) machine, this client is usually started from the shell prompt:
telnet quics.qnx.com
If you get an error message like “Host name lookup failure,” try our IP address instead:
telnet 198.53.31.1
To transfer files between quics.qnx.com and your machine, you must connect via ftp. Just as with telnet, you'll be using a client process to connect:
ftp ftp.qnx.com
At the time of this writing, ftp.qnx.com and quics.qnx.com will connect you to the same machine. For more information about ftp and its usage, please see your TCP/IP manuals or contact your Internet service provider.
Once you have successfully established a connection with QUICS, you'll be able to log in. If this is your first call, you can create an account for yourself by logging in as a new user:
Login: newuser
At this point you'll be prompted for some information about yourself and your company, as well as the name you'd like to use for your personal user ID. Since there are thousands of QUICS users, we recommend that you select a user ID that consists of your first initial, middle initial, and your last name.
For instance, “Alan Ian Trembly” would choose a user ID of “aitrembly.”
Each time you call QUICS, log in with your selected user ID. You'll be prompted for a password and the profile program will start.
If you have a service plan, now would be a good time to register it online. Simply choose the “Join a service plan” menu option. You'll be prompted for your service plan ID and your service plan password.
You may also register your QNX serial numbers while the profile program is running. To do this:
Registering your serial numbers gives you access to all of the product updates available for those products. These updates can be found under the /updates directory once you've logged in.
Once you're connected to QUICS, typing help at the $ prompt will give you comprehensive help that explains the various commands. You can also get an overview of how the system works.
Newsgroups are accessed online via the tin command. The tin program is a full-screen, Usenet news reader. Online help is available within tin — simply press h for help. A QUICS user's guide is available on QUICS.
If you have any difficulty with QUICS, please let us know:
e-mail: support@qnx.com
Voice: 613-591-0941
We look forward to seeing you on QUICS!
Please feel free to visit our home page on the World Wide Web:
http://www.qnx.com/