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Why is comms so f***ing hard?

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    Why is comms so f***ing hard?

    Why is it that getting two computers to talk to one another is still so bloody difficult? Why hasn't this sort of thing been sorted out yet?

    Be it NetBIOS, IPX, IP, BlueTooth, USB, RSnnn, XON/XOFF, DCD or whatever, it is always a painful struggle that results in one or both machines being so badly mangled that it is tempting to rebuild it from scratch.

    Whether it is networking, file sharing or setting up printers, WHY IS IT ALWAYS SO DAMN F***ING HARD?

    Ever since I was at school pissing about with RAIR black boxes and a Research Machines 380z and a TSR80, I have hated comms.

    I hated comms when failing to download games from cassette onto my Spectrum.

    I hated comms when trying to get a printer hooked up via an RS232 cable - WTF were the crossovers all about? And why was it sometimes DCD and sometimes XON/XOFF and sometimes it worked with neither?

    The first networked boxes I used, the CP/M based DMS HiNet, made networking easy, they said. Did it bollocks. The software house had to recruit someone especially to manage it.

    I brought down a network of 3 ICL mainframes by trying to access the 1st via the 3rd via the 2nd when already logged into the 1st. The buggers had to be rebooted to get them working again.

    I have yet to work on a client site where remote access actually worked properly.

    I thought VNC was good for remote access until the XP firewall came along. Can I configure it to get through it? Can I f**k.

    I bought WinGate some years ago to simplify sharing of a dial-up line but they lost the plot and it has not worked for years, so even commercial solutions are f**ked.

    My broadband modem is autoconfigured remotely by the ISP to not work so I have to change it manually.

    I have a 8Gb USB stick that can be read by Linux or Windows ME but it locks up XP machines.

    I have got XP machines that can read/write shares on my ME machines but the ME machines have never even been able to ping the XP machines, unless the built-in firewall is completely disabled. WTF is that all about?

    Now it's Ubuntu "the operating system for the rest of us". Trying to set up directory shares and printer shares between it and XP and Windows ME has been driving me absolutely mad for the past two f***ing weeks. Ubuntu is sold on the concept it is easy - is it f**k. Setting up printers in Ubuntu is the same baby-stamping abortion of pain as it has always been in Unix. And you can shove Samba back up the Devil's arse where it came from.

    It didn't please me when I had to go out and by a DVI cable to hook up the monitor. £40, FFS. Oh, and is that DVI-A, DVI-D or DVI-I and single link or dual link? 29 pins on a f***ing monitor lead, FFS. Why not just use a 25-pin RS232 lead and take us all the f***ing way back to the 1970s you bunch of bastards?

    20-odd years ago, ICL had a poster campaign saying
    We should be talking to one another.
    Whenever I saw them, I'd write on the bottom:
    Because the f***ing computers won't.
    And nothing seems to have changed.



    COMMS IS TULIP AND I HATE IT
    44
    Eh? It's a piece of piss, loser. I can connect anything to anything first time, every time
    25.00%
    11
    You need to get a contractor in. Give Zeity a call
    9.09%
    4
    Uh-hu. So you'll be a software man, then
    11.36%
    5
    The IT industry loves standards. That's why we have so many
    15.91%
    7
    It's because it is designed by the same ******* as design domestic electronics
    2.27%
    1
    Oh, I know. I had to get the 12 year old next door to configure my wi-fi
    2.27%
    1
    IEEE: a monopoly of thieving bastards who make it hard on purpose to maximise shareholders' profits
    9.09%
    4
    I bet AndyW could have fixed it
    25.00%
    11
    My all-time favourite Dilbert cartoon, this is: BTW, a Dumpster is a brand of skip, I think.

    #2
    I can connect my 2 macs in a matter of seconds....
    "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark Twain

    Comment


      #3
      It is not what you do it's the way that you do it.

      I do actually sympathise.

      Had quite a few issues in Chez Minestrone getting vista to talk to a XP box. DO not know how many times I have typed net view into that control prompt.

      Comment


        #4
        Ditch Ubuntu and use Linux Mint, make sure you understand how Samba works (there are plenty of tools out there to help config).
        Me, me, me...

        Comment


          #5
          Ironically we are all discussing this topic in nearly real time from different places in the UK.

          Comment


            #6
            <cue sy01 with some patronising BS about comms and how he's a god>

            <placeholder>

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by RichardCranium View Post
              Why is it that getting two computers to talk to one another is still so bloody difficult? Why hasn't this sort of thing been sorted out yet?

              Be it NetBIOS, IPX, IP, BlueTooth, USB, RSnnn, XON/XOFF, DCD or whatever, it is always a painful struggle that results in one or both machines being so badly mangled that it is tempting to rebuild it from scratch.

              COMMS IS TULIP AND I HATE IT

              USB? You can’t connect two computer with USB, only a PC and peripherals.

              Anything connected to XP, Vista, or Win7 ; I would check for security settings as these tend to be the common blockers of connections.


              Try to use TCP/IP and ping for starters using a loop back and ping 127.127.127.127 and then ping to the other PC using a cross-over cable.

              NetBIOS is crap, but I have a Sniffer to run traces if need be.

              BlueTooth, the probe here is that standards are ignored.

              If it was easy, we would not have work as contractors.
              "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices," George Orwell

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Paddy View Post
                USB? You can’t connect two computer with USB, only a PC and peripherals.
                Another example of why I hate comms. All the assumptions are wrong. Link1, the cable. Link2, the how-to.

                Originally posted by Paddy View Post
                Try to use TCP/IP and ping
                I can get way beyond that and have the Linux box verify the printer connection is available, then get a CIFS or CUPS error when I try to print. I can get a share working one way, yet the other way the box is invisible.

                Originally posted by Paddy View Post
                If it was easy, we would not have work as contractors.
                Fairy nuffski.
                My all-time favourite Dilbert cartoon, this is: BTW, a Dumpster is a brand of skip, I think.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Yip had some problems with this. Couple of questions. Is there a windows domain? Or a workgroup?
                  If the share works one way but not t'other this is almost certainly a permissions problem.

                  I know a little bit about this topic so by all means give me a PM and we can arrange a call tomorrow to chat about it. Help is at hand Dick so try and chill this evening and we'll get it sorted tomorrow.
                  Knock first as I might be balancing my chakras.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Windows ME? Is this post from 9 years ago?
                    "A life, Jimmy, you know what that is? It’s the s*** that happens while you’re waiting for moments that never come." -- Lester Freamon

                    Comment

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