Cream of the Crop 11

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Text File | 1996-01-26 | 20KB | 525 lines

TIPS AND TRICKS FROM T&J SOFTWARE Revised: 10/11/1995 Section I - Display Problems Section II - DigiBoards & Fossil Drivers Section III - Overflow Errors Section IV - Miscellaneous Errors ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SECTION I - DISPLAY PROBLEMS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ANSI Control Codes on the LOCAL monitor: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you encounter screen fulls of garbage on the local monitor when running a T&J Software Door, please follow these simple directions: NOT RUNNING DESQVIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are not running DESQview, you need to add ANSI.SYS to you CONFIG.SYS file. Do the following: 1. Add this line to your CONFIG.SYS file (placement is not important). DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS 2. Reboot the machine. RUNNING DESQVIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are running DESQview, you need to run DVANSI.COM in EACH node batch file. DVANSI.COM can be found in your DESQview directory. Here's an example of my CAT1.BAT file: @echo off :cat cd\dv dvansi SET WCNODEID=1 SET WCPORTID=2 SET WCIRQID=3 CD \Wildcat WILDCAT if exist c:\wildcat\wcwork\node1\event.bat c:\wildcat\wcwork\node1\event.bat if exist c:\wildcat\wcwork\node1\dropdos.bat c:\wildcat\wcwork\node1\dropdos.bat if exist c:\wildcat\wcwork\node1\door.bat c:\wildcat\wcwork\node1\door.bat if exist c:\wildcat\wcwork\node1\postcall.run c:\wildcat\wcwork\node1\postcall.bat IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO CAT REM END atsend z 2 Note line 3 and 4. That's all you need to do! ANSI under OS/2 (prepared by Mark Ingenito) - Thanks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OS/2 does not automatically install ANSI support. However, it's easy enough to add this support, and you can find what you need to accomplish this in your \OS2\MDOS directory. You need just one file - ANSI.SYS. There are two methods you can install ANSI.SYS on your OS/2 system: 1. This method will enable ANSI support for this particular DOS session ONLY: - On your desktop, right click on the DOS session icon you're using for your BBS node. - Left Click on SETTINGS - Left Click on SESSION tab - Left Click on DOS SETTINGS - Left Click on ALL DOS SETTINGS - Left Click or move highlight bar to DOS_DEVICE - In the text box that will appear to the right, type the following: "x:\os2\mdos\ansi.sys", without the quote marks, where "x:" is the drive where OS/2 resides. - Now, Left Click on SAVE button at bottom of window, ALT-F4 to close settings box. Now, when you open this DOS session, you will have ANSI support! By the way, a reboot is NOT necessary when using this method of adding MDOS device drivers. 2. This method will enable ANSI support in ALL DOS sessions: - From your desktop, Double-Left Click on OS/2 SYSTEM icon. - Double-Left Click on PRODUCTIVITY - Double-Left Click on ENHANCED EDITOR.(You can use any OS/2 editor you wish, actually) - Open your CONFIG.SYS file and page down to the section of the file that contains the device driver lines for DOS sessions. These lines normally begin with and follow the line "SHELL=C:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM C:\OS2\MDOS". - Insert the line "DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\ANSI.SYS", without the quotes, on the next line following the SHELL= statement. - SAVE your changes. - Close your editor. You will now need to perform a SHUTDOWN and reboot your system for this change to take effect. Garbled Information on Remote ============================= * If the door seems to operate fine on the BBS end but the remote cannot receive or receives garbled information, check and make sure you are passing the correct IRQ to the door (if you are running a non standard IRQ). TRIBBS v5.02+ ============= * Color ANSI checking will not work if you use TRIBBS.SYS drop file. Set the doors up using the PCBOARD.SYS drop file. Graphic Cards (general) ======================= * ATI Graphics Ultra Pro card - do not use the ANSI.SYS driver that came with the card. Use the normal DOS ANSI.SYS for the screens to show correctly. * Trident SVGA Cards - You should have a utility disk with a file called TANSI.SYS, use this ansi driver instead of the standard ANSI.SYS. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SECTION II - DIGIBOARDS & FOSSIL DRIVERS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SearchLight BBS and DigiBoards ============================== To set up on a SLBBS with a DIgiboard.... E D I T C O M M A N D Press F1 to Change Command Type 1. Command Name .................. STUD's 2. Command Key ................... U 3. Description ................... Become the alltime STUD on the board 4. Event Logging ................. No 5. Access Levels & Graphics [...] 6. Door Command .................. c:\slbbs\door\stud\studs.bat %O 7. Directory Path ................ . 8. Communications Support ........ Fossil 9. Abort Method .................. None 10. Write Protection .............. No 11. Parameter File ................ DOOR.SYS 12. Pause After Door .............. No 13. Pass Username As .............. Login Name 14. Pass COM Port As .............. COM1-COM4 REM ( DFTSR loads in your AUTOEXEC.BAT no other subcommands needed with it, REM as long as your Digiboard 4, 8 or 16 starts at 0 for the first channel.) DFTSR This is for multi-node Node 1 below..... REM ( Batch file called out from BBS door with Node command %O for SLBBS.) @ECHO OFF c: cd \slbbs\door\stud stud%1.bat REM ( this would be STUD1.BAT ) DF FOSSIL-LOCK 12 (turns fossil driver on at channel 12) c: CD \slbbs\DOOR\STUD STUDS! studs1.cfg /FD DF DIGI 12 (turns fossil off so it can return to the DIGIBOARD) c: cd \slbbs1 REM ( This would be STUDS1.CFG ) C:\SLBBS1\DOOR.SYS The Bart Stop BBS Bartman S. DigiFossil Information ====================== DIGIFOSSIL V2.2 - Jun 6, 1995 FOSSIL Driver for Digi-Boards & DIGIBOARD Driver for FOSSIL ============================= Technique Computer Systems Victoria, BC CANADA BBS: (604) 361-1541 FAX: (604) 361-4789 email: scott@plywood.bcbbs.net What is DIGIFOSSIL? ------------------- DIGIFOSSIL is the program (DFTSR) you need in order to get a huge number of applications written for FOSSIL systems working on your BBS, if your BBS uses an intelligent Digiboard (such as the PC/Xe, PC/Xi or COM/Xi series). (if you need a FOSSIL for a nonDigiboard system, try either X00 or BNU, which are available from many BBSs). DIGIFOSSIL also includes a program (FDTSR) to run your Digiboard based BBS on a non-digiboard (FOSSIL) setup. This allows you to use a product such as Wildcat! IM (where they haven't implemented FOSSIL support). Legal Stuff ----------- DIGIFOSSIL is Copyright 1992-1995, Technique Computer Systems, all rights reserved. This product is provided "AS-IS" without warranty of any kind. RENEGADE BBS ============ * If you are using BNU fossil driver and having problems with the doors, try using X00 v1.50+. Several Renegade systems have reported problems using BNU with the doors. WILDCAT ======= * Wildcat! IM Version Setup using DigiFossil v2.x: All of our doors will run on the Wildcat! IM version using DigiFos v2.x. I have received TWO different setup routines concerning the IM version, here's an example: DF LOCK%WCNODEID% -OR- DF ON CD\WC30\DOOR\STUDS CD\WC30\DOOR\STUDS STUDS! STUDS!.CFG /FD STUDS! STUDS!.CFG CD\WC30 CD\WC30 DF OFF DF OFF Comments on either setup would be greatly appreciated! The following instructions will help you run these doors on a multi-node system using a Digiboard card for multi-line capability. First, you will need a copy of Digifossil, a freeware fossil driver which was written specifically for use with a Digiboard. Digifossil can be found on many BBS systems under the name DFTSR.EXE or can be obtained from this BBS. Secondly, make sure that digifossil is in your root directory and in your autoexec.bat so that it becomes resident at boot-up. Digifossil consists of two files, df.exe and dftsr.exe, both must be located in your root directory. Third, you must edit your doorx.bat or doorx.run file to turn the Digifossil on and lock the baud rate when the door is accessed. Below is a sample of my doorx.bat file. cd\wc30\doors\game <-------------- The directory where the door is located. df lock <-------------- Turn on the digifossil and lock the baud game game.cfg df off <-------------- Turn off the digifossil cd\ <-------------- return to the board Its really that simple. Everything remains the same except for the two lines that turn the digifossil on and off. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SECTION III - OVERFLOW ERRORS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── WILDCAT! 4.x ============ * Problems may develop using the DOOR.SYS drop file if you have a LARGE number of conferences. I would suggest picking up a copy of a file called FDOORSYS.ZIP written by Tim Rider (Tim can be reached on The Source BBS at 310-371-3737). Here is what Tim's documentation states: "WildCat! v4.0 allows up to 32,000 conference areas. Due to the specifications of DOOR.SYS, all the conferences that a user is joined to are written to line #23 of DOOR.SYS. 32,000 conferences takes up a lot of room, and some SysOps have a DOOR.SYS file that may end up to be over 100k. Some doors have been choking on the large DOOR.SYS, so I wrote this small utility to remove that line." from FDOORSYS.DOC by Tim Rider * More recent versions of Wildcat allow you to select the option to use the "short" form of DOOR.SYS to correct this problem. This can be toggled in MakeWild. Remote Access v2.0+ ================== * Using DOOR.SYS may result in an OVERFLOW error -- try using a different caller drop file such as DORINFO1.DEF. This is currently being examined! Overflow Errors =============== * Overflows can occur if you are running under DESQview and your tick counts are set too low -- try raising the tick counts. * If you're running Wildcat! v3.9+ and are getting OVERFLOW errors, make sure NONE of your security level definitions have the MAXIMUM DAILY DOWNLOADS set to more than 32,000 -- anything over that will cause an OVERFLOW ERROR in ANY door using DOORFRAME. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SECTION IV - MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── RANDOM LOCKUPS ============== * If you are getting random lockups with your BBS, check your FILES= section of your CONFIG.SYS file. My recommendations would be settings this to 45 + 20 for each additional node. This may vary from BBS package to BBS package. RENEGADE BBS ============ * If you are getting out of memory errors. Go into the System Config section, [E] System Toggles, then [U] to turn the SWAP FILE 'ON'. TRIBBS v5.01+ ============= * If you use DOOR.SYS, TriBBS reloads this file and will deduct twice the amount of time that was actually used. Try using another drop file, or copying the DOOR.SYS to a seperate directory and then telling the door to look there for it. * NOTE: This only applies to doors that you adjust the users time in the door such as Bordello, Studs, and Studette. T&J Raffle ========== * An ILLEGAL FUNCTION CALL will result if you enter a "closing date" that is not valid. If you want the door to lock at the end of the month, then put in the first of the month. Keyboard Timeouts ================= * If you are operating on a 486 computer and getting a "keyboard timeout", you will need to set the following environmental variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. SET NO87=ON This will turn off your co-processor and allow the door to function properly DESQview Users ============== * Make sure you have the MATH COPROCESSOR flagged ON even if you don't have a math coprocessor. Lockups on certain COM PORTS ============================ * If you're running on a non-standard IRQ, be sure you are passing the IRQ on the command line!! Example: STUDS! STUDS!.CFG /5 Studs! will now run on IRQ 5. Spitfire BBS's ============== * If you're having trouble with the doors dropping carrier on exiting back to the BBS, switch to using DOOR.SYS instead of SFDOORS.DAT. On some Spitfire configurations this will happen when using SFDOORS.DAT. Bulletin PATHS and FILENAMES ============================ * When specifying the bulletin path, be sure to also select a name for the bulletin! This could cause lockups when using Bordello, Strip Poker, and Video Poker. If you don't want bulletins created, simply enter the word NONE for the path and filename. REGISTERED KEYS =============== * Distribution of a registered key is against copyright laws, which carries significant penalties. If a registered key is found being distributed, all keys purchased from us (by the person distributing the keys) will be invalidated and the matter will be turned over to our attorney's. We do share this information with other shareware authors. SHARE.EXE ========= * SHARE.EXE must be loaded in order to play the doors on multi-node systems. Here a segment of my AUTOEXEC.BAT showing how I load SHARE.EXE: C:\QEMM\LOADHI /R:3 C:\DOS\SHARE /f:4096 /l:60 SYNCHRONET BBS DOOR SETUP ========================= Hi Tom, Here is the Synchronet config for Money Market. What follows is a completed entry for it in the Synchronet v2.10 Configuration Program. A few items (those marked with a `*') are not present in v2.00. If you are setting it up for that version, just ignore these. NAME Money Market INTERNAL CODE MONEYM START-UP DIRECTORY C:\SBBS\XTRN\MM COMMAND LINE MONEYM.EXE MONEYM.CFG CLEAN-UP COMMAND LINE COST IN CREDITS 0 * EXTRA MINUTES 0 * SUSPEND [FREE] TIME NO ACCESS REQUIREMENTS EXECUTION REQUIREMENTS MULTIPLE CONCURRENT USERS YES INTERCEPT I/O INTERRUPTS NO SWAP BBS OUT OF MEMORY YES MODIFY USER DATA NO EXECUTE ON EVENT NO BBS DROP FILE TYPE DOOR.SYS PLACE DROP FILE IN NODE DIRECTORY Here is a more detailed description of what each entry does, so that you may have a better understanding when you are assisting someone in setting up a door on a SBBS system. NAME: Name of the program to be displayed on-line INTERNAL CODE: A unique code used by Synchronet to identify the program. May be just about anything. START-UP DIRECTORY: Directory where door files are located. COMMAND LINE: Exact command line to execute door. May be a batch file if necessary. Also may contain variables to pass parameters to the door. Some are as follows: %a User Alias/Name %d Connect Rate %m Minutes left %# BBS Node # %p Com Port # CLEAN-UP COMMAND LINE: Executed immediately after door is completed. Usually not used. COST IN CREDITS: Used to charge users additional credits for running the door. *EXTRA MINUTES: Used to give users sxtran time for running door (Only in version 2.10). *SUSPEND [FREE] TIME: Time spent in door does not count towards users time online (Only in version 2.10). ACCESS REQUIREMENTS: Limits who is able to see the door on the menu screens. May be set to a particular flag, security level, Ansi only, local only, user number, etc. EXECUTION REQUIREMENTS: Limits who is able to run the door. MULTIPLE CONCURRENT USERS: Set to yes if door supports multiple nodes simultaneously or no if door supports only single nodes. INTERCEPT I/O INTERRUPTS: Allows many DOS programs not intended for BBS use to run on SBBS. Always set to no for actual door programs. SWAP BBS OUT OF MEMORY: Frees system memory to run large programs. I generally set it to yes although most programs don't require it. MODIFY USER DATA: Will allow changes to user info within SBBS to be made based on info within the drop file. If set to no, only time online is updated. If set to yes, other user stats may be modified, depending on which drop file is used. EXECUTE ON EVENT: Will allow a door to be executed as a logon, logoff, or user birthday event. BBS DROP FILE TYPE: Select from DOOR.SYS PCBOARD.SYS USERS.SYS CHAIN.TXT DORINFO#.DEF EXITINFO.BBS SFDOORS.DAT CALLINFO.BBS DOORFILE.SR UTIDOOR.TXT PLACE BBS DROP FILE IN: Select from NODE DIRECTORY or STARTUP DIRECTORY (as entered above). I hope that this info is what you needed. If you or any other users have questions about SBBS, please feel free to refer the questions to me through e-mail or give me a call. I will be glad to help any way I can. Shawn O'Brian ERROR Codes (general) ===================== * ERROR #53 - This error means a file was not found. If this occurs right when the door is opened, please check the PATH to the caller drop file (i.e. DOOR.SYS), or make sure the caller drop file is being created properly! QuickBasic Error codes DoorFrame uses the QB error codes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Syntax Error 61 Disk full 5 Ilegal Function Call 62 Input past end of File 6 Overflow 63 Bad record number 7 Out of memory 64 Bad filename 11 Division by Zero 67 Too many files 13 type mismatch 68 Device unavailable 24 Device Timeout 69 Comm-buffer overflow 25 Device fault 70 Permission denied 52 Bad filename or number 71 Disk not ready 53 File Not Found 72 Disk media error 55 File Already open 74 Rename across disk 57 Device I/O error 75 Path/File access error 58 File already exists 76 Path not found 59 Bad Record length The most common error that you will see is #62. This is usually caused by the CFG file not having enough lines. I have included this list so that you may be able to fix a problem that occurs with a T&J Software door. Error #75 is usually an incorrect path and/or filename in the CFG file.