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readme.wc4
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1994-09-21
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****************************************************************
* *
* Before you run the Wildcat! program, first run the *
* configuration program MAKEWILD to set up your data files. *
* If you are upgrading from a previous version of Wildcat! *
* you should follow the directions in the Upgrade Booklet! *
* *
****************************************************************
This file contains information that became available after the manual was
printed. Please review it carefully.
Wildcat!
- Additional command line switch, added /D for DEBUG mode, displays memory
available and stack available in the lower right of the status line.
- An additional field was added to MAKEWILD Modem Settings. We now
allow you to control how many characters are TRANSMITTED (during
caller downloads) with each interrupt if a 16550 UART is in use.
Previously only the RECIEVE FIFO was configurable to prevent UART
overuns during uploads. The new transmit FIFO setting can be changed
from the default of 1 (the v3 standard) to increase performance in
many systems. It is absolutely required for operation under Windows
and OS/2 (see additional notes later in this document), and we
encourage you to experiment with settings of 1, 4, 8 and 14 on your
system. DESQview systems using 16550 UARTS may not operate as
efficiently with a setting of 14.
Trigger level for receive FIFO buffer : 4
Trigger level for transmit FIFO buffer : 1
- There is now an option to encode user passwords so that no one can
view them, from within Wildcat! or by looking at the ALLUSERS file on
disk. Encoding is a ONE-WAY process. Once you have encoded your user
passwords you will not be able to return to un-encoded passwords
without having all users log on again as new users! This option is
specifically for installations where the user record file is
accessible by a number of individuals, and the sysop does not want
them to be able to know the passwords of everyone on the system. If
encoded passwords are enabled the sysop can change any user password
but cannot view the password.
- There is now an option to allow duplicate user names in the system.
Every user name is associated with an internal user ID, allowing
duplicate names, if desired. However, duplicate names cause
significant problems for mail notification on QWK-based echomail
networks and support for QWK echomail is removed if duplicate names
are enabled. If you want to use any QWK-based echomail do NOT turn on
duplicate name support!
- Added an option to force the BBS to stay in RIP mode when it has been
detected at logon rather than change back to ANSI or TTY if the
caller's settings are not for Autodetect or RIP. Enabling this option
is encouraged if you make use of the custom RIP prompts since it
forces the caller into Novice mode (so that he can see the menus),
turns off keep header in the message bases, turns off hot keys and
enables the Full Screen Editor. These settings are NOT made a
permanent part of a user record, but are in effect for a single RIP
call only.
- The HELP files that are sent to callers end in the extension .BBS and
are located in the directory for help files as indicated in the manual.
Do not confuse these files with those ending in .HLP which are the
program help files when the F1 key is pressed, and belong in the same
directory as the program files to which they belong.
- Changes were made in the display files for wcCHAT to be consistent
with the wcMAIL display file operation. CHAT.BBS is the display file
that is sent immediately when a caller selects the wcCHAT program,
before he enters the program. WCCHAT.BBS is the display file that is
sent by wcCHAT.EXE when a caller actually gets into the program.
The wcDRAW program properly references these changes, however the
display file table in the manual is not correct for these two files.
- Changes were made in the display files for wcMAIL to be consistent
with the wcCHAT display file operation. MAIL.BBS is the display file
that is sent immediately when a caller selects the wcMAIL program,
before he enters the program. WCMAIL.BBS is the display file that is
sent by wcMAIL.EXE when a caller actually gets into the program.
The wcDRAW program properly references these changes, however the
display file table in the manual is not correct for these two files.
- Added a new program to replace WAIT! and WAITFOR!
wcWAIT
The functionality of this program has increased. It now performs all
the tasks of both WAIT! and WAITFOR!, as well as acting as a 'check'
program to determine when all nodes have come down for maintenance.
The new command line options are:
Usage: wcWAIT [options]
Options are:
/R:n Wait "n" minutes for nodes to report MAINTENANCE mode.
/R:F Wait forever for nodes to report MAINTENANCE mode.
/S:n Wait "n" seconds before continuing.
/T:hh:mm Wait until "hh:mm" before continuing.
/? Display this help screen
Errorlevels returnd are as follows:
0 - Exit normal, all nodes cleared with /R, /S:n expired or /T reached.
1 - Exit because of a keypress
2 - Exit because /R:n time reached before nodes cleared (/R only).
With the /R switch wcWAIT polls continuously to open the Wildcat!
configuration files in EXCLUSIVE mode, which will only be successful
after all nodes have either been taken down or are at the MAINTENANCE
prompt. It is designed to be used in a batch process to continue some
activity after all nodes have come down. For example, an event batch
file might look like this:
WCNODE /R /A ; take all nodes to maintenance mode
WCWAIT /R:120 ; wait for them all to go down, or 2 hrs.
IF ERRORLEVEL 2 GOTO SKIP ; timeout exit with level 2, skips PACK
IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO STOP ; keypressed exit with level 1, exits
REM It's ok to pack now! ; success exits with level 0
WCPACK [pack options]
:SKIP ; here if it didn't get clear to pack
WCNODE /A /W ; starts them up again
:STOP ; exits w/o starting up again on keypress
- Added a new program CNVUINFO.EXE used to convert the new USERREC.BIN
to the v3 format of USERINFO.DAT. This is a one-way conversion for
doors that cannot use the new USERREC.BIN or DOOR.SYS. If used, it
should be located in your home directory where it was installed, and
run from the node work directory where the user data file is located.
Placing the command in the door batch file just before calling the
door program will work just fine.
- Note that the DOORTEST program can only be used on serial ports 1-4,
not digiboards, fossil or other com ports.
- Note that the TIMEOUT program can only be used on serial ports, not
digiboards, fossil or other com ports. It will accept any valid com
port number.
- The DOORWAY program itself is only distributed with the MultiLine
Platinum version of Wildcat!. It will work with serial ports,
DigiBoard ports or Fossil drivers. It uses the same basic commands as
the commercial release direct from the author, except that the port
command line argument is disabled. Our release of DOORWAY gets the
port information from the DOOR.SYS file, and must also have one of the
following command line arguments, depending on the TYPE of port being
used:
SYS - for standard serial ports, i.e.,
DOORWAY SYS [other command line arguments]
SYSD - for DigiBoard ports, i.e.,
DOORWAY SYSD [other command line arguments]
SYSF - for fossil driven ports, i.e.,
DOORWAY SYSF [other command line arguments]
LOCAL- for local access, no serial port, i.e.,
DOORWAY LOCAL [other command line arguments]
See the manual for full documentation.
- Windows
Microsoft Windows can be used as a multitasking environment for both
serial port sessions and DigiBoard sessions. Windows does not
multitask as well as DESQview from Quarterdeck Office Systems but can
handle multiple sessions. The number of lines that can be
successfully run depends on the speed your PC hardware, memory, and
connection speed. Most 486/33 systems are capable of handling up to 4
lines. Beyond 4 lines system performance begins to deteriorate and
become noticable to callers above 9600 baud, unless a faster CPU and
other hardware are installed.
The following settings within Windows are needed for either Serial or
Digi configurations:
BOTH SERIAL & DIGI
CONTROL PANEL/386 Enhanced options - Set Device Contention to NEVER
WARN, and Scheduling to 20 each for Forground and Background. Set
Minimum Timeslice to 22 on most systems. The Minimum Timeslice can
be lowered to 10 on faster systems such as 66 MHz models.
For EACH NODE you must create a .PIF file. Set the paths correctly
for each file and configure the Advanced Options as follows.
Under Multitasking Options for Forground Priority and Background
Priority, set them equal at 20 each. Do NOT select Detect Idle
time!
Under Memory Options only select Lock Application Memory.
Under Display Options do not select any options.
Under Other Options you can select Allow Fast Paste but should not
select Allow Close When Active. You do not need to reserve any
shortcut keys.
The settings above are needed for all Windows operation.
SERIAL (under Windows)
Serial port sessions are limited to 2-4 per PC and require a very
fast CPU to avoid slowdown of the communications sessions if multiple
nodes are installed. A 486/33 or faster is suggested. We strongly
recommend using Windows v3.11 (Windows for Workgroups) because of the
enhanced serial port drivers included with that version. If you use
version 3.1 you may need to replace the Windows communications
drivers with an aftermarket product such as TurboCom or KingCom.
Serial port operation can be enhanced by adjusting the FIFO trigger
levels in MAKEWILD.
Trigger level for receive FIFO buffer : 4
Trigger level for transmit FIFO buffer : 1
The TRANSMIT FIFO is especially important under Windows and should be
tried initially at a value of 14 or 8 if Windows is being used. If
running under DESQview you may need to leave this set at 1. Depending
on your hardware configuration this option can have a pronounced
effect on performance.
DIGIBOARD (under Windows)
Digiboard includes a Windows driver with the newer PC/8e and PC/8i
boards which should be installed according to the instructions. The
DigiBoard is capable of handling additional lines under Windows, but
performance falls off between 4 and 6 lines, depending on the speed
of the CPU and other hardware.
If your machine already has serial ports installed you should set the
START PORT NUMBER to the highest numer already in your system. For
example, if you already have both COM1 and COM2, set the starting
Digi port to 2 (Digi assigns your serial COM1 as port 0 and your
serial COM2 as port 1). This is done to allow other communications
programs to take advantage of all ports, both serial and Digi.
Review the section in the Wildcat! manual for DigiBoard setup under
DOS as the same precaustions about memory addresses and IRQ settings
apply.
The Port Setup screen is where you configure each line of a multiline
system. Under Windows the intelligent DigiBoard cards can be
addressed through the internal Digi Int 14 interface (Wildcat! must
be set to DIGI) or they can be set to be addressed as standard serial
ports if each port is given a unique I/O address. In fact, you can
use a combination approach and have Wildcat! address the ports
through the Digi interface and have all other doors, etc address
ports as if they were standard serial ports.
The PORT SETUP determines how the card is used:
Digi Windows Virtual Base Virtual CHR Alt
Port Port I/O Address IRQ Ready Pin
---- ------- ------------ ------- ----- ----
1 COM3 3E8h 5 ON OFF
2 COM4 2E8h 5 ON OFF
3 COM5 3E0h 5 ON OFF
4 COM6 2E0h 5 ON OFF
5 COM7 disabled disabled ON OFF
6 COM8 disabled disabled ON OFF
7 COM9 disabled disabled ON OFF
The Windows Port column is only used by Windows applications to
address the port. QmodemPro for Windows will make use of this
setting.
The Virtual Base I/O Address column can be disabled if you are
setting Wildcat! to use DigiBoard as the port type. Serial Doors
will not be able to talk to the port if this setting is disabled. If
you want to allow DOS programs to talk to the port as if it were a
standard serial port you must enter an available I/O address for each
port in this column. The DigiBoard documentation contains a list of
available I/O address ranges. Likewise, the Virtual IRQ can be
disabled unless you want to address the port as a standard serial
device from DOS. For standard port addressing you should enter the
same IRQ used by the board for each channel (shared IRQs). We
recommend that you set each port manually and do not use the Auto
Enumerate option.
The bottom section of the Port Setup screen is used to set the
Virtual ports for DOS. Check the box only if you want to enable the
ports in DOS and want to set up the proper Virtual Base addresses and
IRQs.
- OS/2
SERIAL (under OS/2)
In order to operate Wildcat! under OS/2 you must make use of
replacement communications drivers. Install the latest SIO drivers
from Ray Gwinn, available for download from the MSI HQ BBS. The
standard OS/2 COMM drivers will not handle high-speed connections
correctly.
Edit your CONFIG.SYS file (OS/2 version) and make the following
changes/additions. Note that the last line is an undocumented
setting and MUST be included:
MAXWAIT=1 ;the default is 4
PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO ;the default is YES
PRIORITY=ABSOLUTE ;undocumented(!)
Next, modify your DOS boxes options, found under Settings/Session
for the BBS as follows:
DOS_BACKGROUND_EXECUTION=ON
DOS_BREAK=ON
DOS_FILES=30
DOS_HIGH=ON
EMS_HIGH_OS_MAP_REGION=32
EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT=2048
HW_ROM_TO_RAM=OFF
HW_TIMER=ON
IDLE_SECONDS=10
IDLE_SENSITIVITY=75
INT_DURING_IO=ON
If you need to run a FOSSIL driver in a DOS box for other programs
add the following (from SIO):
DOS_DEVICE=C:\OS2\MSDOS\VX00.SYS
Finally, edit the CAT.BAT file, or the batch used to start Wildcat! 4 and
add the /T command after Wildcat in the batch file like this:
WILDCAT /T
This enables OS/2 time slicing code which makes running OS2SPEED or TAME
unnecessary.
DIGIBOARD (under OS/2)
Although some PCs are capable or initializing the DOS DigiBoard driver
multiple times under OS/2 (once in each DOS session), there are many
hardware configurations that are not capable of doing so. We do not
recommend operating the DigiBoard under OS/2 until an OS/2 driver is
made available that can be addressed from DOS sessions.
- X.25 PAD support
Wildcat! 4 can be operated with a packet switched network using many
packet assemblers/disassemblers (PADs). The configuration of each PAD
is different depending on the manufacturer. The Wildcat! manual
contains information about the signaling needed for PAD operation and
this section contains very specific product settings for installing
the Microtronix CSI-X.25 PAD. For additional information contact
Microtronix at:
Microtronix
200 Aberdeen Drive
London, Ontario N5V 4N2
CANADA
519-659-9500 voice 8:30-5pm EST
519-659-8500 FAX
What follows is some brief information related to the setup of the
Microtronix CSI-X.25 PAD for operation with Wildcat!.
For customer service and additional questions about setup contact
Microtronix Customer Service at the number listed above, x225 or x226.
Each port can be configured identically for the various port
parameters. Examples follow each command shown.
PORT # 3
PROTOCOL=USER, SPEED=9600, PARITY=ASIS, ENCODING=NRZ, DUPLEX=FULL
FLOW=SIGNAL, MODEM=11, MTIMER=1, DEBOUNCE=10, STATUS=ENABLE
In order for the asynchronous ports to pass data transparently, a
default profile HOST is copied to the ports that will be used.
HOST = 1:0 2:0 3:0 4:3 5:1 6:0 7:21 8:0 9:0
10:0 12:1 13:0 14:0 15:0 16:127 17:24 18:18 19:1
20:0 21:0 22:0 40:0 41:0 42:0 43:0 44:0 45:0
46:0 47:0 48:0 49:0 50:0 51:0 52:0 53:0
A second profile, created by the user, overlays the first to adjust
for such things as signal flow control and idle timer. It also sets
the Microtronix extended parameters to issue commands on call connect
and parameters that allow I/O transparent mode.
MUSTANG = 4:5 5:2 12:0 41:160 50:128
The final parameters for the HOST ports should look like this:
TERMINAL # 3
1:0 2:0 3:0 4:5 5:2 6:0 7:21 8:0 9:0
10:0 12:0 13:0 14:0 15:0 16:127 17:24 18:18 19:1
20:0 21:0 22:0 40:0 41:160 42:0 43:0 44:0 45:0
46:0 47:0 48:0 49:0 50:128 51:0 52:0 53:0
A parameter change on the remote DTE is required when the call
connects and is accomplished using a command to send a profile named
X29.
X29 = 2:0 3:2 4:4 9:0 13:0 21:0
TERMINAL # 3
RPROF=X29 AUTOCALL= LFPAD=0 CRPAD=0 LDSP=18 LDEL=24 CDEL=127
EDIT=OFF WIDTH=0 TABS=OFF ECHO=OFF ECHOMASK=0 TYPE=TTY PUBLIC=OFF
MBIT=OFF PAGEWAIT=0 CTEXTEND=0 CTATEMPT=0 CTIMER=0 LINK=0 LOOPBACK=OFF
All ports are configured and ready to accept all calls via the routing
table. One entry is entered at the end of the routing table.
Name Match Route to
---- ----- --------
RC Data=RC_PASSWORD RC,CLEAR /reverse
TO_NMC Data=NMC NMC /reverse/strip
TO_202_217 In on port=0 data=2 1 /reverse/strip
FROM_2 In on port=1 0 /reverse
TERM_2 Data=02 2 /reverse
TERM_3 Data=03 3 /reverse
...
MUSTANG 2,3,4,5,6,7,8