home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
BBS Toolkit
/
BBS Toolkit.iso
/
wildcat
/
win3cat3.zip
/
WIN3CAT3.TXT
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-01-17
|
13KB
|
258 lines
Windows 3.0 and Dos 5 Setup for Wildcat version 3
--------------------------------------------------
Revised : 01/17/92
Before you start
------------------
This version of Win3cat3.txt superceedes all previous versions. If you
have a previous version, and you find some statements that contradict
each other between the two, believe this one! (g) I just means that I've
learned something that I didn't know before. Not an exact science, this
learning process.
Also, all responsibility and liability for using these tips rests with
the user. I will not be held accountable for any kind of damages incured
by you when you use this document. I will tell you that I have tested these
tips on my machine, and they do work on my machine. I haven't destroyed
anything yet. I fully expect them to work on just about any 386 machine
that generally equals or exceedes my configuration. However, no guarantees
are made.
Setting it all up...
--------------------
I have been running Wildcat V3.02s under Windows 3.0 for about a month now
quite successfully. I am running it on an Fast Data 386/25 DX with 4 Meg
of Ram, and MS-Dos 5.0. This document explains my implementation.
There are three support files provided with this package:
CAT1.PIF - This Windows PIF runs CAT1.BAT in 386 Enhanced mode under
Windows 3.0. I set it up to run full screen in background and foreground
mode. I also set the multi-tasking options to 100,100. This gives Wildcat
the same percent of CPU time regardless of whether its the forground task
or a background task. Generally your users will not notice any performance
degradation if you are running another task with Wildcat in background.
The reason for the "1" in the name is easy: This will eventally be Node 1
of a 3-node multi-line BBS. Its is an easy way to identify which node is
which under Windows, as well as keeping everything separated that has to
be separate for each node.
CAT1.BAT - This is the batch file to run Wildcat Node 1. Its pretty
straightforward. The only changes to this file for starting other nodes
should be the environment variables, and uncommenting the other two batch
files, so that they will run when Windows runs CAT1.BAT.
WCSYSOP.GRP - This is a program group for the Wildcat MAKEWILD, MAKEWILD
READ ONLY, MAKEQUES, WCPRO, WCREPAIR, WCFILE and CATCOLOR utilities, plus a
few other goodies. You can add this program group by using the Windows
PROGRAM MANAGER FILE option and select "NEW..." and then select "Program
Group". On the next panel enter whatever title you choose and then enter
C:\WC30\WCSYSOP.GRP if you put it in the C:\WC30 directory.
Some configuration notes:
For Dos:
---------
Here is my config.sys file for Dos 5:
FILES=40
buffers=50,8
device=C:\dos\himem.sys
device=C:\dos\emm386.exe 384 d=48 ram
DOS=high,umb
DEVICEhigh=c:\DOS\ansi.sys
devicehigh=C:\dos\smartdrv.sys 1024 256
stacks=0,0
Some quick notes here - The d=48 on the EMM386 line. Ths increases the size
of the DMA buffer used to communicate with the EMS and UMB areas. It speeds
everything up, and may allow you to run some applications under Windows that
wouldn't run otherwise, like Fastback 2.x. Also, the 50,8 on the buffers
line. Even though the Windows book says you can get by with as little as 10
buffers with Smartdrive in place, I found this not to be true. I multi-task
a lot of Dos applications, and some of them just won't go without a goodly
amount of buffers. The ,8 enables "look ahead" buffers for disk access, and
should always be included. This option first appeard in IBM PC-Dos 3.3
(undocumented) and was also in some versions of Dos 4.0. Ms-Dos 5.0 should
have it in all versions. It does quite a job in speeding up disk access,
especially when you have older, slower components.
Here is my autoexec.bat file for Windows and Wildcat:
@echo off
cls
path=c:\;c:\dos;C:\WINDOWS;c:\mouse;c:\fastback;d:\wildcat
set fastback=c:\fastback
set TEMP=c:\temp
set TMP=c:\temp
loadhigh share /f:4096 /l:40
prompt $v$_$p$g
win /3
Notice the LOADHIGH SHARE line. Be sure to ALWAYS load SHARE when in a
multi-tasking environent. When running Wildcat 3, be sure to provide 40
locks because Wildcat can have up to 40 files open at once. And, since
you're doubling the number of locks over the default of 20, its best to
double the size of the area to hold those locks, hence, the /f:4096 switch.
A quick note on the WIN command line. I put the /3 on there just to be sure
that Windows always starts up in 386 Enhanced Mode, or dies in the attempt.
Even though Win is smart enough to determine startup mode by itself, based
on machine configuration, I take no chances. If for some odd reason Windows
comes up in Standard Mode (like on a 286, or a 386/486 with only 1 meg of
ram), then it only multi-tasks Windows aplications. Wildcat is a Dos
application, so if you switch away from Wildcat in Standard Mode, it
freezes. Not good for the caller on the other end of the line!
If you've seen pervious versions of this file, I used to have CAT1.BAT on
the WIN /3 line. If you really want to run Wildcat in a window, this is the
only way I know of to make Wildcat start up properly. If you run Wildcat in
full screen mode, by setting the correct PIF option, you can start Wildcat a
different way. Put CAT1.PIF in your WIN.INI file, on the LOAD= line to run
minimized, or on the RUN= line to run non-minimized.
For Windows
------------
First (and foremost) the PIF!
If there's a heart to Windows, the Program Information File is it. The
options you set in the PIF will determine whether an application runs well,
poorly, or not at all! Yes, the book says you can run programs without
defining a PIF, but in that case, Windows will use either its default
internal settings (from the Control Panel) or the settings in
_DEFAULT.PIF. So either way, your program WILL be using a PIF of some
sort. Might as well take a few minutes and create a PIF that matches your
program's operation as much as possible. You'll get the most out of it
(your program AND Windows) that way!
CAT1.PIF in detail: (start the PIF editor and look at CAT1.PIF if you want)
First screen of the PIF editor - The first few boxes pretty much explain
themselves. CAT1.BAT tells Windows what file you're going to run, Wildcat
Node 1 names the icon when its on the screen, and the directory tells
Windows where to find CAT1.BAT. The next few items get interesting.
Here's what they say:
There must be at least 128k free conventional memory to start Wildcat, and
the Dos session that runs Wildcat can take up to 640k conventional memory
(important for Dos shells, doors, Tomcat, etc.).
We are going to run Wildcat full screen, and we want it to run constantly,
even if its in the background.
Close the window when Wildcat is shut down. Always check this box. No
sense clutering up your screen with inactive items.
Second screen of the PIF editor (Advanced Options)
Multi-tasking Options: The default priorities are 50 and 100. I set the
background priority to 100 also, so that Wildcat will get the same
precentage of system resources regardless of whether its running foreground
or background. Exactly what that percentage will be is hard to determine,
since it will depend on what other tasks are running with Wildcat, whether
they are Windows or Dos applications (because of the way Windows does time
slicing) and what forground / background priorities they have. The
important thing is that Wildcat always needs to get its fair share of time,
while not slowing your work down too awfully much at the keyboard. This is
why Detect Idle Time is set, so Wildcat will return resources to the system
while he's not doing anything (like while the caller is reading a message
or looking at a list of files). All of your other PIFS should have Detect
set on too, so they can give resources to Wildcat when THEY aren't busy.
Memory Options: The 275k EMS memory is for Wildcat's overlay file. This
is for the "Hold overlay in EMS if available" question in Makewild.
Keeping the overlay in EMS is always a good deal, because it speeds Wildcat
up a lot. In the Windows environment, the faster an application runs,
especially a Dos application, the better. The 256k XMS memory is a new
wrinkle for Wildcat 3.02 and later. The Makewild questions about enabling
swapping Wildcat out of memory and where (DISK, EMS, XMS) prompted this. I
used to have all "extra" memory assigned to EMS, but I picked the XMS
option for v3.02 because Windows likes to use XMS memory over EMS whenever
possible. Since making the change, Wildcat takes less system resources and
seems to run much smoother under Windows with other tasks running at the
same time. I set the High Memory option mainly because the Windows book
suggested it. It supposedly will free up some more conventional memory in
the Wildcat session, and I'm all for that. Notice also that I set all of
the LOCK options. This ensures that all of Wildcat is in main memory at
all times. This is VERY important for any communications type program.
Even though it takes only a few milliseconds to swap a program page in from
disk, a comm program or BBS just can't afford the time to wait. So lock
Wildcat in and let everything else swap around it. It will cost you
memory, and maybe some speed on other tasks, but when the modem speaks,
Wildcat just HAS to be there with an answer. If locking Wildcat in memory
really kills your system's performance, about all I can suggest is another
meg or two of memory. Sorry, fortunes of war.
Video Options: Its VERY IMPORTANT that you set Low Graphics here, and run
Wildcat in 80x25 screen mode. I know, if you're running Windows, you've
most likely got a VGA monitor, and you're itching to run Wildcat in 43 line
mode with the Fireworks screen blanker. But remember - Windows will only
run a high-res graphics application as a full-screen, forground task. If
you try to put high-res stuff in background or in a window, you get that
neat little Windows message about the application being frozen untill you
switch back to it. Once again, not good for the poor person hanging on the
other end of the phone line. To avoid this, run Wildcat in 80x25 mode
always, and use a screen blanker other than Fireworks. The Fireworks are
high-res too, as far as Windows is concerned! I use the ol' reliale Box
myself. Also, don't select any of the Monitor Ports options. You'll just
slow down BBS operations, because Windows will be in there port checking
every time a local screen update is made. No need to Emulate text mode or
retain video memory either.
Other Options: I left this section set at the defaults. Fast paste is ok,
but I wouldn't allow closing the window while Wildcat is active. Never
tried it myself, but I'm a little nervous about letting Windows close a Dos
application. Especially if it has lots of files open. I defined the
CTRL-W shortcut key to switch directly to Wildcat. You can change it if
you want.
For Wildcat
------------
I've pretty much covered this stuff already, but here's a qiuck review:
In Makewild: Set things up like you are going to run in native Dos. Be sure
to set the Swap options to Y and swap to XMS on version 3.02 or EMS in
earlier versions. Also, hold the overlay in EMS. Do NOT use the Fireworks
screen blanker. For multi-line, set the Network type to Dos Share.
Opertaions: When running Wildcat, keep it in 80x25 screen mode. Wheter
you run it in full-screen mode or a window is up to you, but there does
appear to be some overhead for local screen writes when Wildcat is
windowed. This seemed to slow down response for callers with high-speed
modems. Don't put Wildcat into 43 line high-res mode under Windows in any
case.
Be carefull about poking around in the Wildcat direcories while someone is
online. Share should keep you out of any real trouble, AKA trashed files
and the like, but what happens if you are in a full-screen application,
like a text editor? You're working on a display screen that Wildcat wants
to send to the caller. Ooops - sharing violation - but you don't know it,
because your editor has update rights to the file. The caller doesn't know
it either, because Wildcat is hung up waiting on you to answer the Abort,
Retry, Fail message from Share on the local screen - the local Wildcat
screen - that you can't see, because your editor is in full-screen mode!
When in doubt, shut Wildcat down, even when you run single line.
That's about it - hope this is of help to some of you. I'm running a
single line Wildcat at this point, but I'll be evolving this into a multi-
line setup over time. I'll let you know how it all works out when I get
there myself. I'm sure it will prove to be "interesting".
Joe Rhinehart
The Comm * Port BBS
614-870-6544
HST 14400 non-v32, v42