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Text File | 1994-01-01 | 15KB | 340 lines

=========================================================================== === === === INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS === === === =========================================================================== MONEY-SAVER: You do not have to install Sapphire on a "powerful" machine! Sapphire is written very efficiently, which means you can run it on an old, second-hand computer. A 2400 baud Sapphire BBS works fine on an 8 MHz XT. A 9600 baud machine will do fine on a 12 MHz machine. Save your expensive, high-speed system for yourself; Sapphire doesn't need all that horsepower! If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Sapphire, please install this copy in a separate directory (and try it out, if you wish) then refer to the upgrade section, which appears later in this document. ------------------------- INSTALLATION ON HARD DISK ------------------------- ------- STEP #1 Check your CONFIG.SYS ------- When you start up your computer, it looks for a file named CONFIG.SYS in the root directory of the boot drive (i.e. A: on a diskette-only system, or C: if you have a hard disk). This file contains information about how the system should run. CONFIG.SYS is a text file, so you can edit it (or create it, if it does not already exist) using a text editor program such as DOS EDLIN, a programmer's editor, or a word processor in non-document (generic DOS text) mode. The CONFIG.SYS file should contain the following line: FILES=30 If it does not, you should insert this on a separate line, starting in col- umn one. (If a higher value is shown, such as FILES=40, you can leave the file the way it is.) For more information about this step, see the explanations of CONFIG.SYS and EDLIN in your DOS manual. If you found it necessary to create or change the file, restart your computer so that it can read in the new values you have specified. ------- STEP #2 Copy the files into their home directory. ------- IF YOU RECEIVED THE INSTALLATION DISK FROM PINNACLE SOFTWARE, you will have already done this by inserting the diskette in the A: drive and typing A:GO (or B:GO if you used the B: drive). IF YOU RECEIVED THE INSTALLATION DISK FROM SOMEONE ELSE, you should copy all the files on that disk into a directory on your hard disk -- preferably named SAPPHIRE. Read the label on the diskette carefully -- some shareware vendors use Pinnacle Software's GO program, or something similar, to do the necessary copying for you. AT THIS POINT, ALL THE FILES SHOULD RESIDE IN A DIRECTORY ON YOUR HARD DISK ------- STEP #3 Try out Sapphire in demonstration mode. ------- At the DOS prompt, type SYSOP. Then select the "DEMO" option. This will run Sapphire in demonstration mode. When you are finished with Sapphire, enter the BYE or CLOSE command, either of which close down Sapphire when it is running in demonstration mode. If you run into problems, refer to the trouble-shooting guide, available via SYSOP:INFO:TROUBLE. (Enter SYSOP at the DOS prompt, select INFO, then select TROUBLE) ------- STEP #4 Read the operations manual in SYSOP:INFO:MANUAL:BASIC. ------- At the DOS prompt, enter SYSOP. Select INFO. Select MANUAL, then BASIC. You should familiarize yourself with basic operations, such as signing on as sysop, and changing the sysop's password. ------- STEP #5 Configure Sapphire, using SYSOP:CONFIG. ------- For this step, you will need your modem's user manual. At the DOS prompt, enter SYSOP. Select CONFIG. Go through all the items one at a time. If you don't understand any of the configuration items, you can press the F1 key to pop up a detailed explanation. ------- STEP #6 Run Sapphire locally (SYSOP:LOCAL). ------- At the DOS prompt, type SYSOP. Select LOCAL. This runs Sapphire without referring to the modem. This lets you check out its basic operations and become more familiar with its commands without running into modem problems, which are the most common source of difficulty for any new BBS. To sign on as sysop, press the spacebar to "wake up" the BBS. When asked for your name, press the spacebar, then hit Enter. When asked for a password, type "SYSOP". When you are finished, enter the CLOSE command to shut down Sapphire. ------- STEP #7 Run Sapphire remotely (SYSOP:STANDARD). ------- At the DOS prompt, enter SYSOP. Select STANDARD. This runs Sapphire in the standard mode, using the modem. If you have any problems with the modem, refer to the trouble-shooting guide in SYSOP:INFO:TROUBLE. When Sapphire starts, you should see it having a brief dialog with the modem. Once Sapphire displays "Waiting for Visitor", call in using another modem and try signing up as a new user. When you are finished, press ALT-X while Sapphire is waiting for a visitor. This will shut down Sapphire and reset the modem. ------------------------- INSTALLATION ON DISKETTES ------------------------- Earlier versions of Sapphire were designed to allow a diskette-based system, and this version retains the code written to support diskettes. For example, the maximum length of messages is reduced to allow you to store an entire message base on a 360K drive. Also, the file-transfer system is disabled, since it would be risky to allow uploads to diskettes -- they could easily fill up the remaining space on the disk. It is quite difficult to make Sapphire v4.08 or later run on a system with two 360K drives. If you must run from floppies, try to install the largest capacity drives your machine can use -- especially for the main programs diskette (i.e. the diskette where SRUN.EXE resides, not the message-base diskette; that one can safely use a 360K drive). Sapphire decides that it is running from diskettes if it sees A: or B: in the paths of the configured directories, or if it finds itself (i.e. SRUN.EXE) on the A: or B: drive. You can defeat this behaviour by using the DOS ASSIGN command (see your DOS manual for information about ASSIGN). Since there are now many different types of diskette drives, it is not possible to recommend a single approach. In general, you should configure your smallest drive as the "message drive". (Remember that it must contain a directory for the messages -- the root directory has a limit on the number of files it can hold). On your larger diskette drive, put all of the Sapphire files that you need, following these guidelines: 1. All documentation files (*.DOC) can be removed. This will disable the INFO section of the SYSOP utility. You can also remove the READ.ME and READ.ME2 files. 2. The SYSOP.BAT and INFO.BAT files can be removed IF you understand enough about batch files to follow what they were doing. If you remove them, you can also remove the following files: GO-MENU.EXE, SEE.EXE, SAPPFIVE.EXE, SOUND.EXE, SEARCH.EXE, CHKFILES.EXE FNAMES.FIV, SYSOP.MNU, INFO.MNU, MANUAL.MNU, MISC.MNU These files should be kept handy on a separate diskette, since they contain much useful information. With SYSOP.BAT removed, you must run CONFIG.EXE directly from the DOS prompt when you need to configure Sapphire. You will also start Sapphire directly from SAPPHIRE.BAT, as follows: Standard: SAPPHIRE Local: SAPPHIRE LOCAL Demo: SAPPHIRE DEMO 3. Modem-testing software can be removed: MODEM.EXE and TERM.BAT. Keep them handy, though, in case you have to call us for support. 4. Since file transfer is disabled on a diskette-based system, you can removed DSZ.ARC and ARCE.COM. If you have already installed the DSZ archive, refer to the data file FNAMES.FIV for a list of the files it contained. 5. Once you've got a registered copy of Sapphire, you can delete the files ORDER.FRM and REGISTER.XXX. Do NOT delete these files from an unregis- tered copy; it will stop working. 6. As a last resort, if you are very short of space, you can remove the GRA files (*.GRA) -- except for CKGRAPH.GRA, which is used by the GRAPHICS command. This will mean that your system will look basically the same whether a user turns graphics on or off. ------------------------------- UPGRADING FROM EARLIER VERSIONS ------------------------------- If you are upgrading from Sapphire v3.xx, refer to the section entitled "Upgrading from Sapphire v3.xx" before reading this section. The article in SYSOP:INFO:MANUAL:NEW is the best place to find out what is required when upgrading to the latest version. If you've skipped a few versions, though, you may wonder what steps are required. Here is a summary of the requirements to upgrade to Sapphire version 4.08: LAST VERSION SPECIAL ACTIONS REQUIRED ------------- ------------------------ 4.07 None 4.06 None 4.05 None 4.04 None 4.03 Contact Pinnacle to get a serial (registration) number 4.02 The SAPPHIRE.CFG file is not compatible with later versions, so do a "print screen" on each of your CONFIG data screens, so you can re-enter them later. The document HISTORY.DOC (provided in the optional SAPPHC file collection -- usually distributed as SAPPHC.ZIP) describes, in detail, all the improve- ments we have made to Sapphire in the past few years. Apart from the "Special Actions" (see above), upgrading from an older v4.xx to a newer version involves these steps: 1. Install the new version in a NEW directory. Do NOT install it in your old directory (i.e. "on top of" your old Sapphire). 2. Make a backup of your old Sapphire directory. 3. Using our files database (SYSOP:INFO:FILES) as reference, determine which stock files you have modified in the OLD directory, and copy them to the NEW directory. 4. Unless the "Special Actions" table above indicates that a particular file is not compatible, copy over your data files: FILE NAME PURPOSE FILE NAME PURPOSE ------------ --------------------- ------------ --------------------- SAPPHIRE.ACT ACTIVITY data SAPPHIRE.CFG Configuration data SAPPHIRE.CTL Door/event scheduling SAPPHIRE.MSG Message time data SAPPHIRE.NXT Next-message data SAPPHIRE.LOG OBSERVE data SAPPHIRE.USR User data 5. Keep the old version around for a few days, in case you forgot to move anything over. Bear in mind that if you copied over the old SAPPHIRE.CFG to the new directory, it will point to your OLD file and message directories. You may find it convenient to copy the contents of these directories to another directory (off the root directory, perhaps) and point to them using SYSOP:CONFIG in the NEW Sapphire. ----------------------------- UPGRADING FROM SAPPHIRE v3.xx ----------------------------- If you are upgrading from Sapphire v3.x or earlier you will find that this version is largely compatible. To upgrade, follow the steps listed below. NOTE: If you had a registered version, the upgrade will NOT carry forward your registration. See the order form for information about our low-cost upgrade policy. 1. Install Sapphire in a new directory. (See "Installation on a Hard Disk") 2. Test-run it and make sure it functions properly. Do not skip this step, because it is needed to ensure that all directories are present. 3. Copy the following files to the new directory: NAME IN OLD NAME IN NEW FILE FUNCTION DIRECTORY DIRECTORY COMMENTS ───────────── ─────────── ─────────── ───────────────────── Messages B* Same See Note #3.1 Upload files *.* Same See Note #3.1 Activity SACTI.DAT SAPPHIRE.ACT Control SCTRL.DAT SAPPHIRE.CTL Message times STIME.DAT SAPPHIRE.MSG Next message SNEXT.DAT SAPPHIRE.NXT OBSERVE data SSSYL.DAT SAPPHIRE.LOG Users SUSER.DAT SAPPHIRE.USR Software SSOFT.DAT SAPPHIRE.SOF See Note #3.2 NOTE #3.1: As an alternative to copying, you can point Sapphire at the original directory, using SYSOP:CONFIG. NOTE #3.2: SSOFT.DAT will be present only if you have installed the file transfer system. 4. Copy your text files. Earlier versions of Sapphire had some text in external text files, such as SHINT.TXT. This text is now stored in the STD files. NAME IN OLD NAME IN NEW FILE FUNCTION DIRECTORY DIRECTORY COMMEMTS ───────────── ─────────── ─────────── ───────────────────── Sign-on logo SLOGO.TXT LOGOXX.STD See Note #4.1 New user info SNEWH.TXT NEWHXX.STD INFO SINFO.TXT INFOXX.STD GIMMICKS SGIMM.TXT GIMMXX.STD HINTS SHINT.TXT HINTXX.STD GET SGETF.TXT GETFXX.STD GIVE SGIVE.TXT GIVEXX.STD NOTE #4.1: In previous versions of Sapphire, you were able to put some spare logos at the end of the SLOGO.TXT file. This is not supported in the LOGOXX.STD file, which must contain only the logo that will be displayed when the user logs on. 5. (Optional) Copy over your command levels data. The file COMMANDS.LEV is the same as the old SCMDL.DAT file, except that it contains more information. Print out your old SCMDL.DAT file, then use a text editor on COMMANDS.LEV to set it up your way.