This document is intended to answer the most Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ's) about Tribal Voice's PowWow software. This FAQ is a supplement to the PowWow User's Guide. The PowWow User's Guide is included in the PowWow distribution .ZIP file and comes in two formats: A POWWOW.DOC file for Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0+ and WordPad users, and a POWWOW.WRI file for Microsoft Write users. Microsoft Write is included with Windows 3.x in your Accessories group.
If you have not read the PowWow User's Guide please do so before proceeding. It contains crucial information about installing and configuring PowWow as well as helpful troubleshooting information that can be used to resolve the most common technical issues.
This FAQ is constantly being updated as new versions of PowWow are released and new questions arise. The most recent version of this FAQ can always be found on Tribal Voice's ftp server from the following URL:
Click here to download the latest PowWow FAQ from ftp://tribal.com/pub/ftp/pw-faq.htm.
Please email any comments about the FAQ to powwow-faq@tribal.com. Questions about PowWow should go to powwow-support@tribal.com instead. Do not send email to both addresses. If you are not sure which email address is best pick one. We will forward your email to the appropriate person(s) at Tribal Voice.
Aryeh Goretsky
Technical Support
This FAQ mentions many product names and trademarks from companies. Rather then mention each one specifically we will acknowledge their use here.
Version 0.48 - Jun 16, 1996. Revised entries A4, B24, D1 and D6.
Version 0.47 - Jun 12, 1996. Revised entries B24 and D6.
Version 0.46 - Jun 6, 1996. Added entries B24 and D6, revised entry D1.
Version 0.45 - May 31, 1996. Revised entries A5, A7, B23, C4, D1, D3, and E.
Version 0.44 - May 15, 1996. Added entry B23 (Thanks Thumper!), revised entries A7, B2, B3, B5, B6, C1, C4, D2 and E.
Version 0.43 - May 1, 1996. Revised entries B5, D1.
Version 0.42 - Apr 22, 1996. Revised entry C4.
Version 0.41 - Apr 18, 1996. Revised entry C4.
Version 0.40 - Apr 11, 1996. Revised entries C4 and A8.
Version 0.39 - Apr 10, 1996. Added entry C4, revised entry D3.
Version 0.38 - Mar 27, 1996. Revised entry A5, A9, and B9.
Version 0.37 - Mar 22, 1996. Added entry D5, revised entry A4.
Version 0.36 - Mar 14, 1996. Added entries B15 through B22.
Version 0.35 - Mar 12, 1996. Added entry A10, revised entry A2.
Version 0.34 - Mar 4, 1996. Revised entries A4, B14, D1, and D4.
Version 0.33 - Feb 20, 1996. Revised entries A8 and D1.
Version 0.32 - Feb 13, 1996. Revised Preface, entries A2 and A4.
Version 0.31 - Jan 23, 1996. Revised entries A4 and A5.
Version 0.30 - Dec 22, 1995. Added anchors, revised entries B5 and D3.
Version 0.23 - Dec 13, 1995. Added entry B14, revised entry B13.
Version 0.22 - Dec 5, 1995. Added entry D3, revised entries A5 and A8.
Version 0.21 - Nov 16, 1995. Fixed URL links on question D3. Removed non-ASCII characters from glossary.
Version 0.20 - Nov 10, 1995. Added entries B10 through B13. (Thanks Arvid and Zach!)
Version 0.12 - Nov 1, 1995. Fixed mailto: links on question A2. (Thanks Dan!)
Version 0.11 - Oct 26, 1995. Fixed spelling mistakes. :-)
Version 0.10 - Oct 25, 1995. Initial release with some HTML formatting.
PowWow is a MS-Windows-based communications program for the Internet
that allows up to seven (7) users to chat via typing or voice,
send files, view personal home pages and JPEG pictures, and cruise the
World-Wide Web (WWW) together.
A listing of useful addresses can be found at http://www.tribal.com/mailroom/ on our World-Wide Web server. Point your World-Wide Web browser there for a comprehensive listing of email addresses.
Do not send email to multiple addresses. If you are not sure which email address is best pick one. We will forward your email to the appropriate person(s) at Tribal Voice.
PowWow requires a Microsoft Windows 3.1, Windows NT, or Windows
95 computer with a TCP/IP and Internet connection for chatting.
A World-Wide Web browser is required for cruising the web together.
A 486DX-33 or faster CPU, 14,400bps or faster Internet connection,
and Microsoft Windows compatible sound card are required for voice
chatting.
PowWow has been tested with the following operating systems:
PowWow is not available for the MacIntosh, Unix, or OS/2 Presentation Manager (native mode) operating systems nor are there any plans to port PowWow to these operating systems any time in the near future.
You can, however, try running it inside a Microsoft Windows emulator on Apple MacIntosh or Unix systems. We've had reports that PowWow runs fine under Insignia Solutions' SoftWindows for Power Macintosh 2.0, SoftWindows for UNIX Workstations 2.0, and Reply Corp.'s DOS on Mac cards. However, we are unable to test this ourselves or offer any configuration advice. Insignia Solutions' World-Wide Web site can be reached at http://www.insignia.com and Reply Corp.'s World-Wide Web site can be reached at http://www.reply.com, respectively.
NOTE: Please do not email technical support questions about the availability of MacIntosh, Linux, etc. versions. Technical support cannot provide you with any other information except what is in the FAQ.
We have had reports that PowWow can be used with OS/2 Warp with WIN-OS2 support and IBM TCP/IP 2.0 provided a replacement WINSOCK.DLL and other TCP/IP drivers are installed. The APAR for the update is APAR IC11173.
However, we are unable to test this ourselves or offer any configuration advice.
PowWow has been tested with the following TCP/IP stacks:
The following TCP/IP stacks do not work with PowWow:
If you are unsure which TCP/IP stack you are using or if it is
WinSock 1.1-compliant, try contacting your network administrator
or your Internet service provider's technical support department
for further assistance.
No. PowWow works by registering your PowWow Local User I.D. and IP address
with a registration server. If you run PowWow with a SLIP/PPP emulator such
as SlipKnot, SLiRP, TIA, TwinSock, or Virtual TCP/IP your computer will not have
an IP address assigned to it and other people using PowWow will be unable to reach
you.
PowWow works with AAttachmate Emissary 2.0beta 3 or later, Netscape Navigator 1.1N or later (16-bit and
32-bit versions), Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows 95 Version 4.40.308 or
later, and Softronics Softerm browser 4.00.08 or later. The latest version of Attachmate
Emissary is available from ftp://ftp.attachmate.com.
The latest version of Netscape
Navigator is available from ftp://ftp.netscape.com.
The latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer is available from ftp://ftp.microsoft.com. The latest
version of Softronics' Softerm+ is available for download from ftp://ftp.softronics.com.
PowWow has been tested with the following sound cards:
However, any Microsoft Windows-compatible sound card should work.
PowWow has been tested with Internet connections ranging from dial-up SLIP and PPP connections at 9,600 bps up to direct network connections using a T-1 data line. Naturally, faster network connections allow PowWow to operate faster.
In order to use the voice chat feature of PowWow, an Internet
connection of at least 14,400bps is required.
No. PowWow's voice chat is built-in and does not require a DSVD modem.
If you are using a DSVD modem with PowWow make sure DSVD is disabled to
allow PowWow the full bandwidth of the modem connection.
Each time PowWow is run it sends your PowWow Local User I.D.,
IP address, and password to the Tribal Voice PowWow Registration
Database Server for verification. The "Attempting
to register…" message, followed by "Registration
accepted by PowWow server" is what you see of this process
on your computer once registration is complete.
Your PowWow Address can be up to 199 characters long. Specifically,
your individual name can be up to 49 characters in length and
your domain name can be up to 150 characters in length (including
the at "@" sign).
Up to seven people (six people and yourself) can chat together using
PowWow Version 1.6beta 1 or later. If you have PowWow 2.0beta 1 or
later you can use the Conference Mode to allow fifty people to chat
together.
If you try to page someone who is connected to the maximum number of
users, or if joining them would bring you over the maxumum number of
users, the connection will be refused.
To change your PowWow Address, go to Setup||Local Info and enter a new PowWow Address into the Local Username: field. You may also want to change your password by entering a new password into the Password: field.
If you have a White Pages entry you will need to remove the old one first by using the PowWow White Pages Update Form at http://www.tribal.com/wpchange.htm. You need to enter your Password in order to update your White Pages information. If you are not sure what your password is you can use the PowWow Password Query at http://www.tribal.com/password.htm.
Once you have done this you can create a new White Pages entry by using the PowWow White Pages Add Form at http://www.tribal.com/wpadd.htm on our Wolrld-Wide Web server.
Yes, you can make your PowWow Address different from your email
address, however we do not recommend doing this. If you do make
your PowWow Address different than your email address we
will be unable to lookup or change your password for you for security
reasons. See B7) below for details.
To change your password, use the form at
http://www.tribal.com/password.htm. If you do not have a
forms-capable World-Wide Web browser, send email to
password@tribal.com instead.
NOTE: Response time to email will vary greatly based on the
amount of email received by our staff. Please use the form above for
fastest response.
At the Tribal Voice PowWow White Pages server, you can find other users to chat with or add yourself so that others may chat with you. To reach the White Pages server, go to the following URL:
http://www.tribal.com/wpsearch.htm.
or click on Utilities||White Pages from the main menu (PowWow
Version 1.6 or later only). After finding user(s) you wish to
chat with, double-click on their PowWow I.D. to page them.
To use the voice chat feature, you need at least a 14,400
bps connection to the Internet. At 9,600 bps the connection
rapidly gets worse until you can't hear anything intelligible.
For best results:
This message appears when the person you are trying to reach receives your chat request but does not reply before a time-out occurs at your end. A time-out occurs after sixty (60) seconds. To increase the time, add the line
TIMEOUT=120
to the [PowWow] section of your C:\WINDOWS\POWWOW.INI file.This will increase the time to 120 seconds. If the this does not work, the person you are trying to call has probably left their computer and not turned the answering machine on. Try sending them email with the date and time you tried to call them.
This occurs when PowWow cannot reach the person you are trying to contact
before a time-out occurs. Reasons for this include:
You may increase the time-out connection time by following the steps
listed in B10), above.
This message is displayed when the person you are paging declines your chat.
Try sending them email with the date and time you paged them instead.
This message appears for three reasons:
PowWow stores the names (Sound I.D.'s) and locations (path and filename) of
.WAV sounds files in the [SOUNDS] section of
your C:\WINDOWS\POWWOW.INI file. If a bad entry is in this
section PowWow will not display or play sounds correctly (you may hear
your default Windows sound instead). Entries in the [SOUNDS]
section should look like:
[SOUNDS] ABLE=C:\POWWOW\ABLE.WAV Bravo=C:\PowWow\Bravo.Wav charlie=c:\powwow\charlie.wavand so forth…
If you find any blank lines, lines missing either a name or a location, lines with garbage characters, or other malformed entries in the [SOUNDS] section you must remove them before PowWow can play the sounds. Examples of bad entries:
[SOUNDS] = (missing name and location) Bravo= (missing location) =c:\powwow\charlie.wav (missing name) DELTA=C:\POWWOW\DELTA.WAV!@#$%^ (garbage characters in filename) ECHO=C:\POWWOW\WAV (missing filename)and so forth…
To fix this use a text editor such as Notepad or Write to remove
the bad entries from the [SOUNDS] section of your
C:\WINDOWS\POWWOW.INI file.
After making the changes to the [SOUNDS] section go to the
the [PowWow] section and change the SOUND_COUNT
value to the current number of sounds you now have in the [SOUNDS]
section of your C:\WINDOWS\POWWOW.INI file. Save the file
and re-run PowWow for the changes to take effect.
Conferencing is a new communications mode introduced in PowWow 2.0 beta 1. It
allows up to fifty (50) people to chat together. Conferences can be run by a
moderator or left un-moderated. If the conference is moderated the person
running it can display pages on each attendee's World-Wide Web browser as well
as selectively allow people to talk.
Conference Mode requires PowWow Version 2.0 beta 1 or newer. You can download
the latest version of PowWow from
http://www.tribal.com/powwow/download/default.htm on our World-Wide Web server.
Personal Conference Mode allows up to seven (7) people to chat together as a
group. If you are in Personal Conference Mode you can chat via keyboard, voice,
cruise the World-Wide Web, play .WAV files, and transfer files.
Conference Mode allows up to fifty (50) people to chat together as a group or
listen to a speaker or speakers and view the moderators World-Wide Web page
links. When people chat in Personal Conference Mode, their text is streaming,
e.g., sent immediately to the other people they are chatting with keystroke-by-keystroke.
When people chat in Conference Mode, their text is in block-mode, e.g.,
sent only when the enter key or send button is pressed.
Conference Mode can be used when you want to speak with more than seven people
at a time, or need to be able to control who can speak.
Conference Mode can be used for providing online presentations, lectures,
training, and other discussions.
For a listing of conferences that are available 7-days-a-week, 24-hours-a-day
go to http://www.tribal.com/conferences/default.htm
on our World-Wide Web server.
You can add your conferences to the listing by filling out the form at http://www.tribal.com/conferences/confadd.htm on our World-Wide Web server. Only conferences that are running 7 days a week, 24 hours a day are listed.
You don't have to. However, we will only list conferences that are available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. At the current time, we do not have the resources to list conferences which are not continuously available.
You can remove sounds by editing the [SOUNDS] section of your C:\WINDOWS\POWWOW.INI file. Now count the number of sounds remaining and change the SOUND_COUNT value in the [PowWow] section to the new number of sounds. Save the file and re-run PowWow for the changes to take effect.
If you are running PowWow Version 2.2 or later you can remove sounds by going into QuikSound, clicking on them with the left mouse button and selecting Remove.
In Version 2.2, Tribal Voice compressed the bitmapped images for buttons, mini-icons, custom windows, and so forth in PowWow. This caused garbled images under Windows 3.1. Version 2.3 fixed this by removing the compression.
In the meantime, you can fix this by upgrading your video drivers to a newer version which handles compressed bitmaps.
You can find out which video drivers you have by going into Program Manager, opening the Main Group, and running Windows Setup. Your current video drivers will be listed under Display:.
See D6) for a list of video card manufacturers' World-Wide Web sites.
Yes, PowWow chats can be started from a World-Wide Web browser provided both PowWow and a compatible World-Wide Web browser are running. To page someone, enter their PowWow Address into the URL (location) field of the web browser using the following format:
powwow:user@domain.org
Note that unlike most URL's, PowWow does not use two slashes "// " in the location field. For example, typing:
powwow:powwow-support@tribal.com
into the Location field of your web browser would connect you
with Tribal Voice's technical support department. This function
may be used by World-Wide Web administrators to communicate directly
with a person who is viewing a given web page.
Yes. The following HTML tag creates a link to PowWow:
<A HREF="powwow:user@domain.org">
The following HTML tag creates a button (form) to PowWow:
<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="powwow:user@domain.org"><INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Click here to PowWow"></FORM>
Remember that PowWow must be running on both computers, and the
user selecting the PowWow link must be using a compatible web
browser (see A5).
A copy of the PowWow icon is available from the following URL:
http://www.tribal.com/images/powwow.gif
You can use it to indicate a link to the Tribal Voice World-Wide
Web server, your PowWow link, and so forth. Most World-Wide Web browsers
will allow you to save it by clicking the right mouse button on the
picture.
A bug in Netscape Navigator 2.0, 2.01, and 3.0b2's (Atlas Public Release 1) caching algorithm prevents Navigator from reloading documents correctly after the Daylight Savings Time switchover on April 7, 1996. This has been fixed in Netscape Navigator 2.02 and 3.0b3 (Atlas Public Release 2) which are available for download from http://www.netscape.com/.
Navigator stores data in the cache and indexes based on the time it was received from the World-Wide Web server. When you reload a document Navigator checks the date of the information on the World-Wide Web server against the the cache and displays only the newer information. In order to maintain the cache over the Daylight Savings Time switchover, Netscape changed Navigator to treat all data in the cache was one hour older. Unfortunately, this change did not stop after the switchover and Navigator now treats all information in the cache as one hour older than the information stored on the WWW server.
You can fix this by going into Netscape Navigator, clicking on Settings||Network Options||Cache and make sure Verify Documents: is set to Every Time. Clear the disk and memory caches and exit Navigator. Add the line SET TZ=GMT0 to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file under Windows 3.x/95 and reboot your computer. If you are not in the Greenwich Mean Time Zone, specify a different time zone such as PDT7 for Pacific, MDT6 for Mountain, CDT5 for Central, EDT5 for Eastern, and so forth.
Netscape is aware of the bug and has implemented a fix in Navigator 2.02 and "Atlas Public Release 2" (Netscape Navigator 3.0b3) which were released in May 1996.
Disabling the memory and disk caches in Netscape Navigator 2.xx and 3.0b2 by setting them to 0 and clearing them will fix this as well, although caching will no longer occur.
You can also use Attachmate Emissary 2.0beta 3 or later, Netscape Navigator 1.1N or 1.22 (which do not exhibit this bug), Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 for Windows 95, or Softronics Softerm browser 4.00.08 or later with PowWow. To change your World-Wide Web browser in PowWow click on Setup||Browser Selection and select a new browser, and then click on Setup||Save Settings to save your changes.
There are several places you can find sound card manufacturer's device drivers on the Internet. Here's a partial listing of WWW sites:
Advanced Gravis http://www.gravis.com Analog Devices http://www.analog.com Aria (Sierra chip) http://www.wi.leidenuniv.nl/aria/ ATI Technologies http://www.atitech.ca Aztech http://www.aztech.com.sg/ Boca Research http://www.boca.org Cirrus Logic http://www.cirrus.com Creative Labs http://www.creaf.com Diamond Multimedia http://www.diamondmm.com Ensoniq http://www.ensoniq.com Genoa Systems http://www.genoasys.com Media Vision http://www.mediavis.com MicroSolutions http://www.micro-solutions.com Miro http://www.miro.com Reveal http://www.reveal.com Turtle Beach http://www.tbeach.com Zoltrix http://www.zoltrix.com sound cards FAQ ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/PCSoundcards
Many PC makers which include sound cards with their PC's also have WWW sites:
Acer America http://www.acer.com ALR http://www.alr.com AST http://www.ast.com Compaq http://www.compaq.com Dell http://www.dell.com Gateway 2000 http://www.gw2k.com Hewlett Packard http://www.hp.com IBM http://www.ibm.com Micron (ZEOS) http://www.micron.com NCR http://www.ncr.com NEC http://www.nec.co.jp/index_e.html Packard Bell http://www.packardbell.com Toshiba http://www.tais.com Unisys http://www.unisys .com
You can also check with the manufacturer's technical support BBS, forum on CompuServe, AOL, Prodigy, and so forth.
There are several places you can find the latest updates for TCP/IP (WinSock) software. Here is a partial listing of TCP/IP vendors:
Attachmate http://www.attachmate.com FTP Software http://www.ftp.com IBM http://www.ibm.com Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com Netmanage http://www.netmanage.com Novell http://www.novell.com Softronics http://www.softronics.com Trumpet http://www.trumpet.com.au WRQ http://www.wrq.comIf your TCP/IP (WinSock) software came bundled with your computer or from your Internet service provider contact them for assistance in upgrading your TCP/IP software.
There are several places you can go for more information about TCP/IP (WinSock):
Stardust Technologies http://www.stardust.com Stroud's Consummate WinSock Apps List http://www.cwsapps.com The Ultimate Collection of WinSock SW http://www.tucows.com Webreference.COM http://www.webreference.com Win95 Networking FAQ http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~llurch/win95netbugs/faq.html Windows95.com TCP/IP Setup http://www.windows95.com/connect/tcp.html Windows95.com Internet Troubleshootinghttp://www.windows95.com/connect/trouble.html Windows Sockets Network Programming http://www.sockets.com WINSOCK-L Home Page http://papa.indstate.edu:8888
PowWow works with American Online for Windows Version 2.5. If you are using an older version, you must first upgrade to Version 2.5. You can download the latest version of the AOL software by going to Keyword: upgrade or visiting ftp://ftp.aol.com. After you have upgraded, connect to AOL and go to Keyword: winsock. Follow the instructions provided for setting up your AOL software to work with the Internet.
NOTE: Tribal Voice cannot assist you in setting up your AOL software to work with the Internet. Questions about setting up your software must be directed to America Online. PowWow does not work with AOL's World-Wide Web browser. You will need to obtain a compatible World-Wide Web browser if you wish to use it with PowWow. For a list of compatible World-Wide Web browsers see A7), above.
No, .WAV and .JPG files are data files and contain no executable code a virus could attach itself to or spread from. You can use PowWow to transfer executable files, however, which you should treat as any new program you have received.
There are several places you can find video card manufacturer's device drivers on the Internet. Here's a partial listing of WWW sites:
ATI Technologies http://www.atitech.ca Boca Research http://www.boca.org Cirrus Logic http://www.cirrus.com Creative Labs http://www.creaf.com Diamond Multimedia http://www.diamondmm.com Genoa Systems http://www.genoasys.com Hercules http://www.hercules.com Miro http://www.miro.com Neomagic http://www.neomagic.com Number Nine http://www.nine.com Orchid Technology http://www.orchid.com Reveal http://www.reveal.com S3 http://www.s3.com STB http://www.stb.com Western Digital http://www.wdc.com
A list of computer manufacturers who bundle video cards with their computers can be found in section D1) above. You can also check with the manufacturer's technical support BBS, forum on CompuServe, AOL, Prodigy, and so forth.
cruise leader - see Leader
domain name - The "name" of a particular network of computers attached to the Internet. For example, all of Tribal Voice's networked computers have a domain name of tribal.com.
dynamic IP address - An internet protocol address that changes each time a connection is made to an Internet service provider. This type of connection is usually used with dial-up Internet accounts accessed via modem.
fixed IP address - An internet protocol address which remains the same. Networked computers and other computers with a dedicated connection to the Internet typically have fixed IP addresses.
Internet Service Provider - The company responsible for providing your Internet access.
IP address - A numeric address used to identify a computer or other device (printer, router, and so forth) over the Internet. IP addresses are composed of four sets of numbers with values of 0-255. For example: 204.227.15.1 is the IP address for the Tribal Voice's World-Wide Web server.
ISP - See Internet Service Provider
Leader - The person who first initiates a Cruise session in PowWow. The Leader has control of cruising the World-Wide Web. Wherever the Leader goes the other people follow in their World-Wide Web browsers.
Local User I.D. archaic - see PowWow address.
PowWow Address - the address used to identify and contact people running PowWow. PowWow Addresses follow the same conventions as email addresses.
PowWow Server - The PowWow server is the computer PowWow registers itself with. Tribal Voice runs a PowWow Server which all copies of PowWow attempt to register with. You can also install your own PowWow Server to allow PowWow to register with your own private server.
Remote User I.D. archaic - see PowWow address.
SLIP - stands for Serial Line Interface Protocol. A common method for connecting to the Internet using a modem.
static IP address - see fixed IP address
TCP/IP - stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The method by which computers communicate with each other over the Internet.
URL - stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A standard method of displaying the name of a FTP or World-Wide Web server.