BBS Toolkit/BBS Toolkit.iso/wildcat/wincattd.zip/WINCATTD.TXT

Text File | 1992-06-18 | 14KB | 287 lines

Windows 3.0 and Dos 5 Setup for Wildcat Test Drive
--------------------------------------------------

Revised : 06/16/92

Before you start
------------------

This version of Wincattd.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) It 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 run Wildcat Test Drive under Windows 3.x quite successfully.  It
will run on a 386 with 4 Meg of Ram, and MS-Dos 5.0 with ease.  This
document explains my implementation.

There are some support files provided with this package:

CAT.PIF - This Windows PIF runs CAT.BAT in 386 Enhanced mode under Windows
3.1.  I set it up to run full screen in background and foreground mode.  I
also set the multi-tasking options to 125,125.  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.

CAT.BAT - This is the batch file to run Wildcat TD.  Its pretty straight
forward.  It looks very similar to the one that comes from Mustang.

WCTD.GRP - This is a program group for the Wildcat MAKEWILD, ADDFILES,
MAKEQUES, FIXMSG, FIXUSERS, FIXFILES, and CONVERT utilities.  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:\WC\WCTD.GRP if you put it in the C:\WC
directory.

Some configuration notes:

For Dos:
---------

Here is my config.sys file for Dos 5:

FILES=40
buffers=99,8
device=C:\dos\himem.sys
device=c:\WINDOWS\EM386.EXE noems
rem device=c:\dos\EM386.EXE 1024 d=48 ram
DOS=high,umb
DEVICEhigh=c:\DOS\ansi.sys
devicehigh=C:\dos\smartdrv.sys 1024 512
stacks=0,0
lastdrive=d

Some quick notes here - The d=48 on the EMM386 line.  This 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 99,8 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.  Besides, Windows REALLY took off when
I maxed the 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.  The EMM386 line that is
currently used is for Windows 3.1, the one commented out is for 3.0.

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;d:\wildcat\protocol
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 do
the same to 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 previous versions of this file, I used to have CAT.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 CAT.PIF in your WIN.INI file, on the
RUN= line in WIN.INI to run non-minimized.  This brings Wildcat up on your
screen immediately on Windows startup.


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!  The PIF included is a Win 3.1 PIF.  You may have to
load it into the Win 3.0 PIF editor and save it to convert it back to Win
3.0 format.

CAT.PIF in detail: (start the PIF editor and look at CAT.PIF if you want)

First screen of the PIF editor - The first few boxes pretty much explain
themselves.  CAT.BAT tells Windows what file you're going to run, Wildcat
Test Drive names the icon when its on the screen, and the directory tells
Windows where to find CAT.BAT.  The next few items get interesting.  Here's
what they say:

There can be 0k free conventional memory to start Wildcat (which means try
to start Wildcat no matter what), 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 them
to 125,125, so that Wildcat will get the same precentage of system
resources regardless of whether its running foreground or background.
Exactly what the 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:  These should be set to 0, because Wildcat TD doesn't use
XMS or EMS memory.  Also, the LOCK options for XMS / EMS should not be
checked.  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 since TD doesn't swap out of memory when external
protocols are useed, you will need all the space you can get.  Notice also
that I set the LOCK APPLICATION MEMORY option.  This ensures that all of
Wildcat is in main memory at all times.  Remember, Wildcat doesn't swap out
to disk, but Windows will do it for you if you allow it.  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.  Even
though Wildcat TD doesn't have the capability to run in VGA mode, we don't
want Windows thinking it can.  Remember - Windows 3.0 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.

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.  Select Emulate Text.  It should speed up the
display.

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-Q shortcut key to switch directly to Wildcat.  You can change them if
you want.

Create a Permanent Swap File:  Its always a good idea to do this.  It
speeds up Windows considerably, and saves disk sace.  If you have 8 megs of
memory in your machine, pick a size of 2048 for the swap file.  If you have
only 4 to 6 megs, chose a size of 4096.  Set up the swap file by starting
Windows in Real Mode (WIN /R).  Pick File, then Run.  Enter SWAPFILE for
the program, and don't run minimized.  Pick "create a new swapfile" if you
don't have one already, or "delete and create a swap file" if you want to
reset to my suggested values.  The Swapfile program will pick a value for
the swapfile size, but ignore it and key in the vaules I've suggested
above.  After the swapfile is created, exit the program and restart Windows
in 386 mode.  You will see and increase in speed, AND free disk space!  The
procedure for Win 3.1 is a little different.  See WINCAT31.ZIP for details.

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.  Set
the Video Adapter type to Color.  This will make Wildcat & Windows think
you have a CGA monitor, and force low-res graphics mode.

Opertaions:  Wheter you run Wildcat 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.

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!
Windows will probably alert you that the violation has occured, but don't
always count on it.  When in doubt, shut Wildcat down.

Hardware Notes
---------------

Bus Mouse - If you have one of these, you should set the IRQ jumper so it
will use 5 instead of 3. Doing so will allow you to use Com2: for a second
modem or other device. It will make things easier for installing multi-line
Wildcat later, or using a comm program while someone is on line now. DO NOT
use IRQ 1! This causes most systems to generate a false "battery low"
condition, and loose all the CMOS settings (type of hard drive, date/time,
etc.). Not the thing to do...

A quick note on Comm Port selection: Unless you have a Micro Channel machine,
don't use Comm 3 or 4 for your modems under Windows unless you absolutly must.
It just works better with comm 1 or 2. Micro Channel Sysops can enable IRQ
sharing in Windows (see the Sysini.wri file) to use these ports properly.


In Conclusion
--------------

That's about it - hope this is of help to some of you. The nice thing about
Wildcat Test Drive is that you don't have nearly as many options to worry
about as version 3. This makes insallation under Windows much easier.
Version 3 isn't all that hard, but TD is easier. If you have any questions,
drop me a note on the MSI BBS or call my board:

The Comm * Port BBS
614-870-6544
HST 14400 non-v32, v42

Also, if you find this archive valuable, a donation would be welcomed,
mainly as a thank you for the SEVERAL hours of work I've put in on this
not-so-little project. Send $5 to:

Joe Rhinehart
760 Cherryhurst Dr.
Columbus, Oh 43228