When you start Phindows, it displays a Connect dialog where you can specify the type of connection (TCP/IP or direct-connect serial), compression type, cache settings, and whether to connect to an existing Photon session. Various connection options are available, but the defaults usually work well.
Once you've chosen the connection parameters, click Connect to cause Phindows to connect with these parameters. To record these settings permanently before making the connection, click Save. These saved settings become the defaults for all future Phindows sessions.
If you check Connect to Existing Photon Session and select List, you'll be prompted with a list of existing sessions on the target machine. These sessions may include the main /dev/photon, and any other sessions created by phrelay. Private photon sessions keep running if a Phindows connection is unexpectedly terminated (if phrelay, Phindows or the network connection crashes, for example), or if you choose to not terminate the session when exiting Phindows normally. Active Photon sessions are listed in /dev, named ph followed by the process number of the phrelay that created them.
If you request a TCP/IP connection, you must also specify the Internet address of the Neutrino computer you're connecting to (e.g. 198.53.31.1), or the hostname. If the remote computer has been configured properly, you should see a Photon login prompt, at which point you're connected and running Photon.
If you request a serial connection, you must specify the COM port (e.g. COM1 or COM2). If you don't specify a baud rate, Phindows uses the current Windows default settings. With a serial connection, Phindows initially acts as a simple text terminal that lets you type commands directly to the modem (e.g. ATDT1-613-591-0934). Once connected, log into Neutrino and then issue the command:
This command causes Phindows to drop out of text-terminal mode and begin acting as a Photon graphical terminal. A Photon login screen should appear at this point.