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- by Mike Bilow, N1BEE
- July 13, 1991
-
-
- GRINOS: KA9Q 910618/PA0GRI 910709v1.7d/N1BEE 910713v0.50
-
- I. KA9Q/PA0GRI changes
-
- This release uses an updated release from PA0GRI, 910709, which
- remains based on the same KA9Q release, 910618.
-
- The "delete" key has been restored to correct operation.
-
- Another attempt has been made to get RSPF working.
-
- There are some corrections to the mailbox code that should correct
- forwarding problems encountered with W0RLI BBSs.
-
- The "ax25 heard" filter, which was written by me and included in
- my last release, has now been cycled back into the official PA0GRI
- release. The undocumented debugging trace code for the filter has
- also been removed.
-
- The fixes for the ttylink split screen display, which were in
- my last release, have also now been cycled back into the PA0GRI
- release.
-
-
- II. N1BEE changes
-
- GRINOS v0.50 makes several important changes. The use of the TMP
- environment variable has been restored. If no TMP environment variable
- is set, temporary files will be created in the root directory. If the
- TMP environment variable is set to a proper pathname, then temporary
- files will be created in that directory; this directory must exist, as
- NOS will not create it.
-
- The watchdog timer, which was causing reboots during harmless DOS
- operations, has been fixed. It was set too short by a factor of 18.
- (Reported by KA1XN.)
-
- The "tcp status" and "tcp kick" commands will accept the first four
- digits of a TCB address, instead of requiring all eight to be typed. The
- last four digits are always "0008" under the current memory allocation
- scheme. It must be remembered that this shorthand is unique to these
- two commands only, and is not available elsewhere at this time.
-
- The RLOGIN system, which no one was using, has been removed from
- the large version of GRINOS. It was never in the small version.
-
- Drivers for the HAPN internal card are now included in the large
- version, in addition to DRSI and generic SCC support.
-
-
- III. Future plans
-
- There will be an opportunity to use reverse video instead of high
- intensity during split screen operation. This has been requested by
- Justin, KA1ULT, who runs NOS on a laptop with an LCD display.
-
- I am going to try to put in a third trace mode, in addition to the
- normal "on" and "off" modes. The idea would be to have NOS in trace mode
- whenever the screen is at the "net>" prompt, and have it automatically go
- out of trace mode on session screens. I am not quite sure how to do this
- yet, but I am working on it.
-
-
- IV. Known problems
-
- The memory allocator still has a fairly serious problem in that it
- cannot do garbage collection. If you run coreleft sufficiently low, then
- GRINOS will be forced into garbage collection and will corrupt memory;
- "invalid free" error messages will likely be seen on the screen and in the
- log. My "mem stat" display never shows any garbage collects. Shelling out
- to DOS or the external mailer with the "mail" command will immediately set
- coreleft to zero, which will crash GRINOS if it tries to make a request for
- more core. Therefore, shelling out should not be done until NOS has been
- running a while, about 10 to 15 minutes, and is stable.
-
- The internal mailbox, which is accessed with the "bbs" command, has
- an odd characteristic of sending a CC message when the SR (send reply)
- command is used. This CC is addressed to whatever is in the "To" field
- of the original message to which the reply refers. This has the effect
- of sending oneself a CC when replying to personal mail, but it can cause
- serious unintended effects when reply, say, to mail addressed to "allne."
- I really cannot fix this because the mailbox code is being heavily revised
- outside my control, and every release I get looks nothing like the last.
-
-
- -- Mike Bilow, N1BEE @ KA1RCI.RI.USA.NA (AX.25)
- mikebw@idsvax.ids.com (Internet)
- n1bee@n1bee.ampr.org [44.104.0.20]
-