This is the second in our series of features on InJoy--The Modern Way to the Internet. In the first article, we saw how InJoy's fundamental design--interacting with OS/2 at the TCP/IP level instead being a PPP extension--gives it a unique power and stability.

This week we're going to look at how to actually set up and use InJoy. First, let's look briefly how to to install InJoy. It's a very simple two-step process:

1. Unzip the distributed .zip file into the directory from which you want to run it; if you're using pkunzip2, be sure to use -d to retain the directory structure. Unzip does this by default.

2. Run Install.cmd from that directory to create the Desktop objects.

Constructing the Default Host

1. Terminal Mode Window
   1. To Register or Not to Register
      1. If you have paid for InJoy, press the [Tab] key until a bar appears over "Misc. opt.", and press [Enter]. Alternatively, you may left-click on "Misc. opt."

      2. Press [Tab] until "Register Injoy" is highlighted and press [Enter]; or left-click on "Register InJoy".
         1. Type in your name and key EXACTLY as specified on your email message or receipt.

         2. Tab to "OK" and press [Enter] or left-click on "OK".

      3. Left-click on "ESC=Go back", or [Tab] to "ESC=Go back" and press [Enter]. All the features for your version of InJoy should now be enabled; however I found in at least case the options would not enable until I exited InJoy and then restarted it.

   2. Now, left-click on the Default entry in the Host menu. The list background will change colour.
      1. Press the [Tab] key again three times to bring the bar to "Change," and press [Enter]. Alternatively, you can left-click with the left mouse button on "Change".

      2. Both procedures bring up the "Host setup" window.

2. Host Setup
   1. Left-click on "User ID" box;

   2. Fill in User ID or Login ID for most commonly used ISP or other Internet connection.

      If you don't wish to have your User ID hard coded in your computer, you may enter a question mark (?) here. This will cause InJoy to prompt you for the user id each time you dial in.

   3. Fill in Password for ISP or Internet connection.

      If you don't wish to have your password hard coded in your computer, you may enter a question mark (?) here. This will cause InJoy to prompt you for the password each time you dial in.

   4. Tab to OK and press [Enter], or left-click on OK. (Hereafter mouse operations only will be specified unless none are available.)

3. PPP Setup
   1. IP address configuration
      • In nearly all current ISP's, the IP are determined from the dial-up dialogue with the server (i.e. CHAP, PAP) and so the IP address configuration should not be changed.

   2. Domain nameserver
      1. Set the Nameserver and Backup nameserver to the 32 bit numeric addresses supplied by your ISP when you signed up with them. If you have multiple ISP's, choose the addresses for the one you use most often.

      2. IBM's Dial Other Internet Provider (DOIP) searches for an environment called HOSTNAME in the CONFIG.SYS file when it starts, and appears to run faster if it is defined. If you have such a variable in your CONFIG.SYS, plug it in here. However InJoy's documentation says it is not required and may be left blank.

      3. Domain name

         Enter the main domain name of your ISP or other provider. For example, URL of my ISP is http://home.golden.net. Therefore their domain name is golden.net, which is what I entered here.

   3. Left-click on "Save as default" to save what you've done so far.

   4. Left-click on "PPP options" to set specific PPP parameters.

4. PPP Options

   Unless you have advanced knowledge of PPP, or are having specific problems with InJoy, it's probably best to leave the settings as they are for now. Once your system is running, you can return and adjust some of these either to overcome any problems or to speed up your system. Some settings worth experimenting with are:

   1. "Make fast" button - alters the default settings to produce faster results for many computers. See if it works for yours.

   2. FCS checking - if you have a very clean (i.e. noise-free) line, de-selecting this item will save some time and may not get you into trouble.

   3. Priority % - too small means communication won't get enough processor time; two big means it will take over the computer.

   4. UI priority % - If the InJoy User Interface feels too sluggish, you can try increasing this number. Note that increasing it too much will reduce communication speed, so be careful!

   5. Check the User Guide for additional fine tuning ideas.

   6. Click on "OK".

5. Communication Setup
   1. Port Setup
      1. Port Number
         1. Click on the highlighted portion at the right of the box. A drop-down menu will appear, listing several COM choices. Choose the one you wish to use; typically it's the one connected to your modem.

         2. Press [Esc] to fix your choice.

      2. Port speed
         1. Access the drop-down menu by clicking on the highlighted portion, and click on the port speed you wish to use. Note: This is the port speed, not the connect or the modem speed: on modern Pentium class computers it is almost always determined solely by the computer and is usually 115200 or more. 115200 is usually a good choice in a modern computer.¹

         2. Fix the setting by pressing [Esc].

      3. Hardware flow control.
         1. Make sure it is it selected.

      4. Dial timeout

         Leave at default (45 seconds). However, if a lot of your calls are to foreign countries, especially if they are overseas, you may want to make this a bit longer.

   2. Modem & Dialing
      1. Phone number #1 (aka the Primary Phone Number)

         As mentioned in last week's article, InJoy allows any number of phone numbers that can be called in a variety of orders. However the phone number you enter here is the ISP's primary number in that it is always dialled first. Moreover, it cannot be deleted until all other numbers, if there are any, have been deleted.

      2. Modem init strings
         1. The good thing about InJoy's init string implementation is that it allows for two strings, with no apparent limit on the length;

         2. The bad thing about the implementation is that the string windows is only 8 characters wide, making it an exercise in frustration trying to get long modem strings in correctly. I have two different modems, one of which is built into my notebook and requires almost 50 characters in the INIT string! In addition I have several Host configurations, several of which, but not all, require this monster string. I'm just waiting for the day when a proper modem setup dialogue is added to InJoy. Then, InJoy will be, well.... almost perfect!

         3. If you don't already have a working init string for your modem, see the Advantis link on this site.

   3. Redial/Reconnect
      1. Redial

         Select if you wish InJoy to automatically redial. Choose number of attempts and delays below. Note that "More phone numbers..." box changes colour.

      2. Reconnect

         Select to have InJoy automatically redial if ISP disconnects you. Generally a good idea.

      3. Click on "More phone numbers".

   4. Phone Number List
      1. Phone number
         1. Note that the Primary Phone Number is copied into the list from the preceding screen.

         2. Phone numbers added to the list are considered backup phone numbers and are always dialled after the Primary Number.

         3. The Primary Phone Number cannot be deleted from this window: it can only be deleted from the Communication Setup Window.

      2. What to dial?
         1. If "Selected numbers only" is chosen, then only those numbers in the "Phone numbers" list that are prefixed by a bullet will be called. The Primary Phone Number is always prefixed by a bullet (i.e. selected); others may be selected/deselected by clicking on the number with the mouse button.

         2. If "All numbers in list" is selected, then all phone numbers are always selected and dialled. The selection/deselection feature is inoperative.

      3. "Exit InJoy at redial fail"

         In some locales, you may be charged for calls whether or not the call is completed. In such a case, you may want to select this option to prevent unnecessarily high phone bills when a ISP is down.

   5. Click on OK to return to Communication Setup; click on OK again; and click on "Save as default" to save your work so far. Click on "...Disconnect actions".

Next time: We'll conclude looking at the initial setup of InJoy, and look briefly at some special configurations.

¹The advantage of setting the port speed as high as possible is that doing so allows the port to take full advantage of the buffering built into the hardware, which often allows the transmission speed to exceed the modem speed, at least in short bursts.