This manual covers installation and operating instructions for the following U.S. Robotics modems: · Sportster Voice 56K internal and external modems U.S. Robotics, the USRobotics logo, and Sportster are registered trademarks and Connections, Total Control, Courier, RapidComm, x2, and the x2 logo are trademarks of U.S. Robotics. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe Inc. America Online is a registered trademark of America Online Inc. Any other trademarks, trade names, service marks, or service names owned or registered by any other company and used in this manual are the property of their respective companies. © 1997 U.S. Robotics 7770 North Frontage Road Skokie, IL 60077-2690 All Rights Reserved IMPORTANT! This modem is 56Kbps capable. However, current FCC rules limit download speeds to 53Kbps. See page 3 for details. TABLE OF CONTENTS U.S. Robotics: The Intelligent Choice in Information Access Welcome to x2 Information Access Product Features Read This First! Part I - Internal Modem Installation Section A: Internal Modem Installation with Windows 3.x A Word about COM Ports and IRQs How to Use ComTest to Determine Your Modem's Settings What to Do with ComTest's Recommendation How to Change the Factory Settings How to Insert the Modem Installing RapidComm Voice with the Setup Wizard Sending Your First Fax Section B: Internal Modem Installation with Windows 95 Plug and Play Installation How to Prepare for Plug and Play Installation How to Insert the Modem How to Move Through the "New Hardware Found" Screens Installing RapidComm Voice with the Setup Wizard ii 1 2 4 6 6 7 8 9 13 16 17 24 37 40 40 41 42 46 49 TABLE OF CONTENTS Sending Your First Fax Part II - External Modem Installation Section A: External Modem Installation with Windows 3.x How to Determine Which Serial Cable to Buy How to Hook Up the Modem Installing RapidComm Voice with the Setup Wizard Sending Your First Fax Section B: External Modem Installation with Windows 95 How to Determine Which Serial Cable to Buy How to Hook Up the Modem How to Move Through the "New Hardware Found" Screens Installing RapidComm Voice with the Setup Wizard Sending Your First Fax Part III - Beyond Setup Section A: Installing Other Fax/Data/Voice Software Type of Modem Initialization String Flow Control UART (External Modems Only) Section B: Troubleshooting and Online Help Resources iii 63 66 67 67 69 70 83 86 86 88 89 92 106 109 110 110 110 111 111 112 TABLE OF CONTENTS Internal Modem Users Only If You Are Running DOS 6.0 or Higher Online Help Resources Are You Still Having Problems? If You Must Return the Modem to Us RapidComm Voice Troubleshooting Tips A Note to Users with Older Versions of RapidComm on Their Systems Section C: Glossary Section D: Technical Quick Reference Front Panel Lights Command Summary DIP Switches (Modems with DIP Switches Only) S-Registers The Serial Interface Section E: Regulatory Information Manufacturer's Declaration of Conformity Caution to the User IC (Canada) UL Listing/CUL Listing Connecting to the Telephone Company iv 118 118 119 123 123 124 125 126 139 140 141 156 158 169 171 171 172 172 173 173 TABLE OF CONTENTS Fax Branding Radio and Television Interference For Canadian Modem Users Limited Warranty Index 173 174 175 179 181 v U.S. ROBOTICS: THE INTELLIGENT CHOICE IN INFORMATION ACCESSTM C ongratulations! You have just purchased the Sportster® Voice 56K faxmodem. Since 1976, U.S. Robotics has grown to become a key manufacturer and developer of information access technology. U.S. Robotics' advanced technology allows you to use your faxmodem to open up a new world of information access. And now you can take advantage of the highest transfer rates available today with our new x2TM technology! As an innovator in the data communications field, U.S. Robotics has a history of bringing the latest technology to market at an affordable price. U.S. Robotics owns the core technology, known as the data pump, that works in its access products. This allows U.S. Robotics to bring new technologies and features to market faster and at a lower cost while passing the savings on to you. Be sure to read the following section to learn more about the latest U.S. Robotics breakthrough, x2 technology. Your new Sportster takes advantage of this technology to make connecting over analog lines faster than ever before. For more information on U.S. Robotics, visit the U.S. Robotics World Wide Web Home Page at: http://www.usr.com. 1 WELCOME TO X2TM INFORMATION ACCESS However, due to FCC rules which restrict power output of your service provider's modems, current download speeds are limited to 53Kbps. This modem is easily upgradable to new features and enhancements as they become available. An integrated end-to-end solution from the leader The latest breakthrough in online communications Until now, 33.6 Kbps was thought to be the practical limit for speed over standard phone lines. Now, x2 shatters that barrier, to bring you download speeds of up to 56 Kbps. 2 U.S. Robotics is well positioned to bring you x2 technology. Our Sportster modems are the world's number one seller, and our Total ControlTM and CourierTM product lines are favored by many Internet service providers. This widespread acceptance allows U.S. Robotics to offer x2 technology to virtually anyone. WELCOME TO X2 INFORMATION ACCESS Taking advantage of the modern telephone network x2 technology uses the increasingly digital telephone network to bring you faster downloads, by eliminating the analog-to-digital conversion in the downstream path. x2 takes advantage of the typical network configuration found when an analog subscriber connects to a digitally connected server. Because it bypasses the analog-to-digital conversion in the downstream path, x2 can use nearly all of the available 64K network bandwidth. (Upstream data, typically less speed sensitive, travels at the standard V.34 rate.) The result is a completely new kind of transmission technique. Based on "encoding" rather than "modulation," it can give you download speeds that you never thought possible. What's more, with standard V.42 bis compression, x2 can download at speeds up to a blistering 115.2 Kbps. The new standard for online speed U.S. Robotics has already submitted x2 to the ITU-T standards committee for acceptance as the next online standard. For more information on U.S. Robotics' x2 technology, see our World Wide Web page at http://x2.usr.com. 3 PRODUCT FEATURES Your new x2 modem provides many advanced features. Here are just a few: MNP 2-5 V.34+ Link Rates 4800, 7200, 9600, 12000, 14400, 16800, 19200, 21600, 24000, 26400, 28800, 31200, 33600 Fax Modulation Schemes ITU-T V.17 ITU-T V.29 ITU-T V.27ter ITU-T V.21 Modulation Schemes x2 technology ITU-T V.34+ ITU-T V.34 ITU-T V.32bis ITU-T V.32 ITU-T V.22bis ITU-T V.22 ITU-T V.23 Bell 212A ITU-T V.21 Bell 103 V.32bis Link Rates 4800, 7200, 9600, 12000, 14400 Fax Standards EIA 578 Class 1 FAX EIA 592 Class 2.0 FAX Additional Link Rates 300, 1200/75 (V.23), 1200, 2400 Front Channel Link Rates 33333, 37333, 41333, 42666, 44000, 45333, 46666, 48000, 49333, 50666, 52000, 53333, 54666, 56000, 57333 Fax Link Rates 2400, 4800, 7200, 9600, 12000, 14400 Back Channel Link Rates 14400, 16800, 19200, 21600, 24000, 26400, 28800, 31200 Error Control and Data Compression Schemes ITU-T V.42 ITU-T V.42bis 4 PRODUCT FEATURES Speakerphone With the addition of an inexpensive set of externally powered speakers, your new Sportster Voice modem provides all the convenience of a full-duplex speakerphone. Unlike many half-duplex speakerphones, your Sportster allows you to converse normally without annoying echoes and distortion. Simply plug the speakers into the SPEAKER jack on the modem and you're ready to go. With Personal Voice Mail, you can record custom greetings, receive messages, and set up multiple voice "mailboxes". You can even access your voice messages remotely. Your modem will automatically detect incoming fax/voice/data calls and route them appropriately. The included fax-on-demand feature allows callers to select information from a list and have it automatically faxed to them. Personal Voice Mail Personal Voice Mail turns your modem into a full-featured messaging system. Enjoy the convenience of professional voice mail in your home or office for a fraction of the cost. If you have an internal modem and are using the Windows 3.x operating system, start at 5 PART I - INTERNAL MODEM INSTALLATION READ THIS FIRST! Part I, Section A: Internal Modem Installation with Windows 3.x (page 7). If you have an internal modem and are using the Windows 95 operating system, start at Part I, Section B: Internal Modem Installation with Windows 95 (page 40). If you have an external modem and are using the Windows 3.x operating system, start at Part II, Section A: External Modem Installation with Windows 3.x (page 69). If you have an external modem and are using the Windows 95 operating system, start at Part II, Section B: External Modem Installation with Windows 95 (page 89). Section A: Internal Modem Installation with Windows 3.x (page 7) Section B: Internal Modem Installation with Windows 95 (page 40) This part of the manual covers the installation of your internal Sportster and the accompanying fax/data/voice software. The instructions are provided for both Windows 3.1/ 3.11 (hereafter jointly referred to as Windows 3.x) and Windows 95 users. Please refer to the section dealing with the operating system you use. The two sections are: 6 SECTION A: INTERNAL MODEM INSTALLATION WITH WINDOWS 3.X You'll need these items from your Sportster box: THIS FIRST SECTION WILL WALK YOU THROUGH THE STEPS INVOLVED IN CONNECTING YOUR SPORTSTER TO YOUR COMPUTER. modem phone cord HARDWARE SOFTWARE TESTING Connections CD manual microphone Plus: a screwdriver (not included) 7 PART I: SECTION A: INTERNAL MODEM INSTALLATION WITH WINDOWS 3.X A Word about COM Ports and IRQs Most computer accessories -- a mouse, sound card, enhanced graphics card, scanner, etc. -- require a special connection through which they can communicate with the computer. For an internal modem, it'scalled a communications (COM) port. Most computers have 1 or 2 COM ports but can have up to 4. On an internal modem, the COM port is represented by the modem itself. Each COM port uses an IRQ (interrupt request). An accessory uses an IRQ to get the attention of your computer's CPU (central processing unit) so that the accessory can perform a task. The computer stops what it's doing, depending on the priority of the request, to help the accessory perform its task. When two accessories share an IRQ, it's like two people asking different questions in unison to a third person. Just as the person being asked the two questions cannot understand either request, a computer can lock up or otherwise fail to communicate properly with your modem when there is an IRQ conflict. 8 PART I: SECTION A: INTERNAL MODEM INSTALLATION WITH WINDOWS 3.X D KEY POINT: Accessories cannot share COM ports and should not share IRQs. When accessories try to share settings, they will either not work properly or not work at all. This section of the manual will help you understand the COM/IRQ settings on your new Sportster. U.S. Robotics has set your Sportster to use COM 2 and IRQ 3. This is the industry standard for modem settings. In most cases, these settings will work. In some instances, however, these settings are already being used by another accessory, such as a sound card or another COM port. We recommend that you run the ComTest program (on the Connections CD) to determine what settings your modem should use. NOTE: Some communications software programs require a particular setting for your modem. (RapidComm Voice, which shipped with your modem, does not.) If you wish to use a program other than RapidComm Voice, now is a good time to read that software's manual to determine what setting is required. How to Use ComTest to Determine Your Modem's Settings 1. Insert your Connections CD into your CDROM drive. 2. In the Windows Program Manager, select Run from the File menu. Enter the file name as d:\comtest.exe. This starts ComTest, 9 PART I: SECTION A: INTERNAL MODEM INSTALLATION WITH WINDOWS 3.X the program that determines which COM ports and IRQs are available for use by your modem. 3. The screen at the top of the next page appears when ComTest starts. · If there is a modem in your computer which you are replacing with your new Sportster, you need to go to "Testing an Installed Modem" on page 13 to determine which options to select so that ComTest can detect what the older modem's COM and IRQ settings are. · If a modem is not currently installed in your computer, choose the Recommend settings for a new modem option. 4. Then click on the Next button. If it's not already selected, choose the Internal Modem option. ...