CCN Userhelp FAQ
Here are three commonly asked questions to CCN's Userhelp, in no particular order.
How do I reduce my quota when I'm over? Your CCN account has two kinds of quota: a limit on how much space can be taken up by emails in your inbox and a limit on how much space can be taken up by files. You can check your quota within CCN by typing in the g)o quota shortcut when in Lynx. That is, 'gquota' (without the quotes). The actual amount of your quota will vary upon what type of membership you have and if your quota has been increased due to participation in volunteer activities or some other reason. If your mail quota has been exceeded, you must delete emails from your inbox. To do this, highlight the email to be deleted and press 'd' (without the quotes). When you quit PINE you will be prompted whether you want these deleted emails to be expunged. Saying yes here will erase them for good. Should you want to save letters instead of expunging them, you can highlight the letter to be saved and press 's' (without the quotes). You will be prompted for a file name to save the letter to. If the name you give is for a new file, you will be asked if you want to create the file. Answer yes here. If the file name you give is for an already existing file, your letter will be appended to the end of it and in both cases the letter will be marked deleted after being saved. The saved messages files don't count against your mail quota, but are counted against your other quota. This second kind of quota is your file quota. You have a limit on how many different files you can have and a limit on how much space they can take up. To answer the question everyone always asks here; no, you cannot transfer one type of quota to the other. File quota and mail quota are two different things. To get to your files, when in Lynx use the g)o files shortcut. Type in 'gfiles' (without the quotes) to get to your file area. Now you will see a list of files and directories containing files. You can erase files or download them to your home computer then erase the copy in your Chebucto account to keep under quota. To erase a file, highlight the file name and type 'r' for remove (without the quotes) and 'y' (without the quotes) for yes to confirm this. Be certain you want the file deleted before saying yes as there is no way for you to get it back. If you were over your quota and want to check if you have removed enough files to put yourself under, use the go quota shortcut again and when it comes up hit '^r' (that is the Ctrl key and the letter r key at the same time - without the quotes) to reload it and get a fresh updated copy.
How do I download a file? To download a file, highlight the file name in the directory listing or the link going to the file and press 'd' (without the quotes) to download it.
A new screen will come up with a number of options on it.
There are two ways Chebucto can send your home computer a file: Kermit and Zmodem. Kermit is slower but more reliable, particularly if you live in an area with a lot of phone line noise or your connection to CCN is a bit dodgy. Zmodem is much faster, but vulnerable to phone line noise. Your terminal program must support the protocol you choose. You would use the second type of Zmodem listed here if you were connected to CCN through telnet and not a free-standing dialer. In other words, connected with a PPP connection like Chebucto Plus or sympatico and using a telnet program to connect to CCN. If you have selected Kermit, you would highlight the Use Kermit link and hit Enter. You would see something like this on the bottom of your screen: Return to your local Kermit and give a RECEIVE command
KERMIT READY TO SEND... This is Chebucto signalling that it is ready to send the file. You must now tell your terminal program that it should receive the file using Kermit. Exactly how you do that will vary from terminal program to terminal program and you should consult your program's documentation for more on this, but in general you are looking for a menu item labelled 'Transfer' or something similar. Once you have told your terminal program to receive the file, Chebucto will start to send it. Zmodem is similar - select the appropriate Zmodem link after pressing 'd' (without the quotes) to download then hit Enter. You will be prompted to enter a file name and the current file name will be given as the default choice. If you want to keep the same file name just hit Enter here, otherwise put in the name you wish to give the file and then hit Enter. You will see something like this on the bottom of the screen: ¤*B00000000000000 This is Chebucto signalling that it is ready to send the file. You must now tell your terminal program that it should receive the file using Zmodem. Exactly how you do that will vary from terminal program to terminal program and you should consult your program's documentation for more on this, but in general you are looking for a menu item labelled 'Transfer' or something similar. Once you have told your terminal program to receive the file, Chebucto will start to send it. The file will now be in your home computer in whatever directory you have told your terminal program to download to. If you have not told your terminal program where it should download to, and you can't remember what you selected when telling the program to receive the file, try looking first in the directory the terminal program itself is in.
How do I upload a file? Uploading a file is very similar to downloading (see above) except to upload you must first go into your Chebucto account's files area. You can do this using the g)o files shortcut as described above. Once there, select the directory you want the file to go into by highlighting it then pressing Enter. If you don't want to put the file in one of these directories, you can just upload it to your main files directory. Next, hit 'u' (without the quotes) to Upload the file. You will be presented with the same choices as for downloading:
[1] Using Kermit Like downloading, you must choose the method most suited for you. Your terminal program must support the protocol you choose. See the downloading answer above for more. If you select Kermit, you will be prompted to enter a file name. Type in the name of the file you are uploading and hit Enter. You will see something like this on your screen: Return to your local Kermit and give a SEND command. KERMIT READY TO RECEIVE... This is Chebucto saying it is ready to receive your file using Kermit. Now go into your terminal program's menu and tell it to send the file you wish to upload using Kermit. You will have to check your terminal program's documentation on this as each is slightly different, but in general you are looking for a menu item labelled Transfer or something similar. Select Kermit as the protocol and select the file you are uploading from your computer to Chebucto. You should see some indication that the file is getting sent and received and this will differ slightly from program to program. To upload using Zmodem, type 'u' (without the quotes) for Upload and select Zmodem as the protocol. Like Kermit, you will be prompted to type in the name of the file you are uploading. Hit Enter and you will see something like this on the bottom of the screen: ¤*B0100000023be50 This is Chebucto saying it is ready to receive your file using Zmodem. Now go into your terminal program's menu and tell it to send the file you wish to upload using Zmodem. You will have to check your terminal program's documentation on this as each is slightly different, but in general you are looking for a menu item labelled Transfer or something similar. Select Zmodem as the protocol and select the file you are uploading from your computer to Chebucto. You should see some indication that the file is getting sent and received and this will differ slightly from program to program.
You may direct comments or suggestions about this column to: |