TinyTERM is incompatible with the HSP56 Micromodem, sometimes called the HSP Micro Modem 56, as shipped from most PC manufacturers. It will refuse to connect, or lock up when dialing that modem.

The problem is in the Windows modem driver. Updating that driver to the most current version will fix the problem.

CR 162

Sometimes your emulation display will have extraneous characters mixed in with readable text. You might also see a situation where none of the characters are readable.

When you connect using a modem or direct serial cable, but none of the characters are readable, this always means the communication settings are off. Check for the correct baud rate, word length, parity and stop bits, based on the host port configuration. Change the settings in TERM or TinyTERM to match.

If all the settings match, then there is an incompatibility between the two modems. If possible, update the drivers for both. Otherwise, one or both will need to be replaced.

If the login prompt comes up correctly, but not everything is readable after you log in, this means the terminal emulation type is set wrong. Usually there will be extra nonsense characters between the correct ones. You may also have alignment problems with text.

Check your .profile or equivalent on the host for the correct terminal type. If it’s not there, check the host application’s documentation for the correct emulation. Once that’s set properly, the display will be correct.

When connecting over the Internet with a telnet or SSH connection, occasionally temporary network drops happen. TinyTERM can normally recover from these if you don’t type while the network is down. However, since it’s hard to tell that the network connection was temporarily lost until you type something, you’ll normally notice the failure when TinyTERM appears to lock up.

It has not actually locked. Instead, it has lost the network connection it had to the server. In most cases the menus will work normally, and you can exit TinyTERM gracefully.

Some versions of TinyTERM do not handle the connections as well. In those cases, the only thing you can do is close TinyTERM from the Task Manager. Typing Ctrl-Alt-Delete will bring that up in any version of Windows.

CR 126, disconnect handling improved in TinyTERM 4.10.
CR 159, intermediary system disconnects

This error usually means the specified serial port does not exist on the system. If the serial port physically exists, check to make sure the drivers are loaded. It’s possible the operating system doesn’t recognize the port. That might also indicate a hardware problem in the port itself.

This error comes from invalid port binding in the rlogin connection type. TinyTERM versions 4.00-4.13 will dynamically assign a port, but it is usually out of range for the rlogin protocol.

CR 127, fixed in TinyTERM 4.20.

When connecting to a serial device or modem, this message means another application is using the same port. This can include mouse drivers, fax software, or another terminal emulation program. There are more programs that might be using a serial port, but these are the most common.

If nothing else should be using the specified port, close all your applications and reboot your PC. If that does not clear up the problem, you’ll need to check the active processes on the PC, looking for those that might be accessing serial ports.

On Windows NT, 2000 or XP, TinyTERM 4.x will sometimes hang after a modem connection disconnects normally. There are two possible solutions:

1. Open TinyTERM’s Session Properties and go to the Login tab. Click the Logout radio button. Delete any text in the 1st Send, Wait for, Then Send and Retry fields on that same tab. Save the changes.
2. If that does not work, update the modem drivers on the PC.

There are circumstances where neither of these solutions works. In that case, the only fix is to kill TinyTERM from the Task Manager. To get to that, right-click on a blank area of your taskbar. Select Task Manager from the popup menu. Click on TinyTERM in the list of applications, then click the End Task button. That will close TinyTERM.

Please note that there is no way to get rid of the “Remote party disconnected” message. It will come up any time the remote system closes the telephone connection. This also alerts you to premature connection losses.

CR 117
CR 187

When you’ve set up an RS232 (Serial) connection, but aren’t getting a login prompt, there are several things to check:

1. Make sure you’ve chosen the right serial port. For example, TinyTERM defaults to COM2. If your PC only has one serial port, COM1, you’ll need to change the default.
2. Verify the communications settings. The baud rate, parity, word length and stop bits all need to match the port settings on the host computer, for the host port your PC is connected to. Each port on the host can have a different communication setup, though that’s uncommon.

If everything is set correctly, but you’re still not seeing a login prompt, you need to test the connection with another application. For example, there is a program included with Windows versions up to XP (but not Vista) named HyperTerminal. Regardless of the application or operating system you use, configure the connection the same as in TERM or TinyTERM.

If everything is set correctly in the other application, but you still don’t get a login prompt, then the problem isn’t in the terminal emulation software. It may be a problem in your PC’s serial port, in the cable connecting you to the host, or in the host’s serial port. You’ll need to test the hardware for failures in that case.

This error means that TinyTERM isn’t detecting a dial tone. When you get this error, first check to see if other Windows programs — HyperTerminal, a dial-up Internet connection, etc. — can use the same phone line.

If not, then check to make sure the telephone line is properly plugged into the modem and the wall. If it is, try plugging a telephone into the same line. That will tell you whether the problem is in the line or the modem itself.

If other Windows applications can use the modem, first try updating your modem driver. After updating the driver, if TinyTERM still can’t use the modem, there’s a compatibility problem. You’ll need to dial the modem manually. Instructions are in our knowledge base here.

This error indicates either a file version conflict, or damage to a TinyTERM file. The first thing to try is deleting everything in the temporary directories in Windows. To check that path, open a command prompt and type “SET”, then hit Enter. A list of environment variables will display. The directories indicated by the TEMP and TMP variables need to be cleaned out before using TinyTERM.

If that does not fix the error, one or more TinyTERM files is damaged. Uninstall TinyTERM through Control Panel. Delete the C:\Program Files\Century folder, then reboot the PC and reinstall TinyTERM.