Lesson 4 Any Problems?

Lesson 4 presents sources of information and some hints for solving common terminal problems.

Sometimes things don't go as expected.

Sources of information

Two places provide detailed information about the way your terminal works:

The documentation or instructions that came with your particular terminal.
Other people. Often they are the fastest route to an answer.

When you need help with the computer, and you can't seem to find the answer on your own, certain persons can help you:

Account Manager: If it's a "how to" question, your account manager, sometimes called the AM, probably has an answer. Your AM creates groups in your account and gives you your passwords. (The importance of accounts and groups is presented in module 4.)
System Operator: The system operator (or operator or manager of operation) has charge of the console at any particular time of the day. If your terminal locks up on you and nothing that you do seems to help, talk to your operator. If you can't log on, or if your session or job is behaving oddly, the operator can probably find the answer.
System Manager: The system manager (or manager) is responsible for ensuring that the computer is set up to meet the needs of the users. Unless you have problems that need some modification of the system itself, you probably won't need the help of your system manager.

Terminal not responding

Nothing appears on the screen.

Some terminals take a moment or two to warm up and run through a self-test.
Press the Return key a couple of times.

If nothing appears on the screen after 15 or 20 seconds, do some investigating:

Is the terminal plugged in and turned on?
Are all of the right cables attached?
Is your connector line working?

If you are not sure how to turn on and connect your terminal, talk to the operator, or consult the documentation that came with your terminal.

Terminal on but not responding

You can type on the keyboard. Letters and numbers appear on the screen, but it looks as though the computer is not responding.

The terminal is probably in the wrong mode. The terminal has two working modes:

Local: In local mode, your terminal is completely on its own. It does not interact with the computer. What you type appears on the screen, but none of it goes to the computer for processing. This is sometimes called standalone mode. You do not want local mode now.
Remote: In remote mode, your terminal talks directly to the computer and shows you the computer's responses. You want remote mode.

Changing modes with the softkeys




	NOTE: If you have an HP personal computer connected to an HP 3000, your softkeys may behave differently from the discussion that follows. If you are not using an HP 2392 or an HP 700/92 Series terminal, consult the documentation that came with your terminal.

Log on again. Enter:

   HELLO your logon identityReturn

Figure 3-3 Video Screen at Logon

Note that these boxes correspond to the f1 through f8 keys of your keyboard in figure 2-3.




	NOTE: Some keyboards may have an additional set of function keys running vertically on the left side; some have twelve function keys instead of eight. For this exercise, focus on the function keys f1 through f8 running horizontally across the top of your keyboard.

On the HP 2392 and the HP 700/92 Series terminals, two more keys sit between f4 and f5:

     User

Menu System

Initial display

Compare the screen to the illustration in figure 2-3.

If the boxes along the bottom of the screen look different from those in figure 2-3, press the key labeled like this:

User

System

That should make the row of boxes on the screen look like the ones shown in figure 2-3. (If you are having trouble, talk with your supervisor or account manager.)

Right now, concentrate on the fourth box on the screen:

modes

It is controlled by the key labeled f4. Press the key labeled f4.

The eight boxes across the bottom of the screen should change to look like those in figure 2-4.

Figure 3-4 Softkey Function Display

Notice that some keys change the label (and purpose) of other keys.

Once again look at the fourth box:

REMOTE

MODE

Does an asterisk * appear inside the box, like this?
REMOTE MODE*
If it does, your terminal is already in remote mode and is ready to communicate with the computer. Do not do anything more.
Or is the asterisk missing?
REMOTE MODE
If the asterisk is missing, you are in local mode — the terminal is cut off from the computer. You do not want that. Press the key labeled f4.
That should change box 4 to this:
REMOTE MODE*
An asterisk (*) appearing in a softkey box tells you that the function displayed there is switched On.
If no asterisk appears in a softkey box, you know that the function displayed there is switched Off.

When you have set your terminal for remote mode, press the key labeled:

User  

System

You should see the original eight boxes that you first saw when you logged on.

The other softkey keys

You may have guessed already that you can use the softkeys to make other changes to other boxes.

These keys and the boxes they affect allow you to change the configuration of your terminal. The configuration settings tell your terminal how to behave:

what to display
how to display it
whether to communicate with the computer
how to communicate with the computer
how to communicate with other devices

If you want to know more about configuring your terminal, or if you feel you need to change the configuration, consult the documentation that came with your terminal.




	NOTE: Unless there is very good reason for doing so, do not change the configuration of your terminal without first getting advice from your account manager or your supervisor. Without knowing the effect of the changes you are making, you could configure your terminal in a way that makes it completely unworkable for you. You can recover from configuration mistakes, but it's a nuisance.

Is the terminal locked up?

Sometimes the terminal screen seems to "freeze up."

You type something and press Return, and nothing happens.
You type and nothing at all happens.

You may have a hung terminal. There are remedies.

It is difficult to say exactly what happened. Most likely you accidentally pressed CTRL at the wrong moment, or you pressed a combination of keys that sent an unexpected signal to the computer.

Remedies

First, wait a few seconds. The computer may be busy executing a high-priority program.

Next, ask others on your system whether they are having the same problem. (There might be a power shutdown or a system shutdown.)

If you still have no solution to the problem, there are four remedies you can try, in this order:

Soft reset.
Hard reset.
Turn the terminal off, then back on.
Talk to your account manager or supervisor.




	NOTE: If you have an HP 150™, an HP Vectra™, or some other personal computer connected to an HP 3000, some of your keys may behave differently from the discussion that follows. If you are not using an HP 2392 or an HP 700/92 Series terminal, consult the documentation that came with your terminal.

Soft reset

Always try this first. It causes the least interruption to your work.

Hold down Shift. While holding it down, press Reset/Break.

This reset does not work if you press one key, let go, and then press the other key.

Did anything change? Using a soft reset is the "gentle" way to regain control of a hung terminal. You are still logged on, and all of your work is intact.

Hard reset

If a soft reset does not work, a hard reset may.

Press Shift and CTRL simultaneously. While you hold them down, press Reset/Break.

Try that now.

Did the screen clear? Did you find the cursor in the upper left corner of the screen?

Press Return to get the system prompt back.

Turn the terminal off

If a soft reset and a hard reset have no effect, turn off the terminal and turn it back on. If you have trouble finding the power switch, consult the manual for your terminal or ask someone who uses the same kind of terminal.

Talk to your account manager

If your terminal is still hung, it is time to talk to your account manager or your system operator.

Remedies - the pros and cons

Soft Reset: This never disturbs any of the work that you are doing, but it may not solve the problem.
Hard Reset: This might erase your current work (what you have been doing on the screen), but it usually frees a hung terminal. It cannot be used to log off.
Turn Off/On: This might erase some of your work. If your terminal is not wired directly into your computer, this method could log off your session. It usually frees a hung terminal. Your operator knows whether your terminal is wired directly.
Operator: The operator may have to abort your session (force a logoff). If your operator cannot remedy the "hang," your terminal (or the line connecting it to the computer) may need some kind of maintenance.




	NOTE: For the work that you will do in this tutorial, soft reset and hard reset work equally well and cause you no serious interruptions, although a hard reset does require you to press Return to get back the system prompt.

Table 3-2 Soft Reset Versus Hard Reset

EFFECT	HARD RESET	SOFT RESET
Unlocks a hung terminal	X	X
Clears the screen	X
Can erase terminal memory	X
Does not erase any of your work		X
You stay logged on	X	X
Not the same as logging off	X	X

Lesson 4 Exercises

Match the following terminal key(s) with the function(s) listed below.
- Numeric Keypad
- Cursor Control Keys
- Function Keys
- Break/Reset Keys
1. These keys, labeled f1 through f8, perform different functions depending on what is displayed in the lighted boxes at the bottom of your terminal screen. These keys are also user programmable.
2. These keys may be used when your keyboard does not respond.
3. These keys let you move the cursor around the terminal screen.
4. These keys are arranged similarly to a standard office calculator and are used for high-speed entry of numeric data.

For each item below, put an X in the appropriate column(s) to show whether the statement is a characteristic of a hard reset, a soft reset, or both.

	Hard Reset	Soft Reset
1. Can be used to Unlock your keyboard.
2. Destroys information on your screen.
3. Does `not` destroy information on your screen.
4. The "gentle" way of regaining control of a hung terminal.
5. After this has been performed, the user still remains logged on.
6. Should `not` be used as a means of logging off.

In which mode is your terminal when it is communicating directly with the HP 3000?
In which mode is your terminal when it is acting as a standalone terminal?