PC Online 1997 November/PCO1197.ISO/FilesBBS/DOS/QKED241.EXE/MAXIMUS.ZIP/DOORMAX2.ZIP/doors.faq

Text File | 1996-02-04 | 12.1 KB | 273 lines

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   ║█▓▒░      DOS DOORS RUNNING UNDER OS/2 AND MAXIMUS/2            ░▒▓█║
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                       A suggestive document by:

                            Peter W. Lazenby
                             The Back Door
                          60 Starling Street
                          Kitimat, BC V8C 1K5
                                 Canada

                       Phone: [phone] BBS
                              [phone] BBS
                              [phone] BBS (private node)
                              [phone] BBS (private node)
                          [phone] Voice

                           FidoNet 1:359/520
                                   1:359/521

                           Internet  [e-mail]
                                     http://www.sno.net/plazenby

    DISCLAIMER:

    This is one SysOp's approach to using running dos doors with
    with Maximus/2 v3.xx (Max). It is not the only way, just the
    way I do it. The ideas outlined herein are what I have found works
    best for my purposes.

    You will find other approaches to the same ends in various other
    documents and files. Give them all a try, and use whatever suits
    your application.

    This document assumes a working knowledge of Maximus, and the
    MECCA script language. It is in no way intended to be a tutorial
    on the workings of same.

    I cannot promise that using these methods will be the answer for
    you, nor can I guarantee that using these methods won't break your
    system. I do know that everything described herein works as I have
    outlined it on my system. To date, nothing bad has happened to my
    setup.

    CONTENTS OF THIS ARCHIVE:

    DOORS.FAQ    - This document.

    MENUS.CTL    - A small portion of my menus.ctl file showing the
                   door games sections.

    DROPFILE.ZIP - The dropfiles for The Back Door/2. These are intended
                   primarily as an example, but if you wish to
                   incorporate them into your own setup, please feel free
                   to do so. The beginning of each one is commented to
                   explain the difference in naming conventions. Note
                   that I have only included the dropfiles that I
                   actually use.

    BATFILES.ZIP - These are my working batch files.

    CONFIG.ZIP   - My config.sys file (compressed into .zip format so as
                   not to cause anyone undue problems).

    MECCAS.ZIP   - Mecca loaders for various reasons. Most should be
                   self-explanatory.

This isn't really a FAQ... the question is how to run dos doors with
Maximus/2. This is just one big answer (and it is only my solution...
there are other methods, but I like to keep things simple).

Programs needed: Maximus/2 (redundant... if you didn't have Max/2 you
                 probably wouldn't be reading this)

                 Ray Gwinn's Sio drivers. As of this writing, the
                 current version is 1.53

                 Some doors (redundant again, I know)

First of all, install the Sio drivers. This is fairly painless... the
install program will do most of the work for you. Next, edit your
config.sys to add the proper com port definitions to the lines that were
just added with the install program. The '-' parameter at the end of the
example below is the important part for running dos doors... it allows
dos to share the com port with OS/2. This MUST be the fourth parmater
for each com port. Example:

DEVICE=C:\SIO\SIO.SYS (COM1:38400,,,-) (COM2:38400,2F8,IRQ5:IRQ3,-,F) (COM3:3840
0,3E8,IRQ7:IRQ4,-,F) (COM4:38400,,,-,F)

(note that the above is all on one line)

You may want to add a line after the two sio lines (I've only shown the
first of the two here) to install the fossil driver that comes with Sio
(then again, you may not):

DEVICE=C:\SIO\VX00.SYS

I've found I prefer loading the fossil in this manner. True, it loads
for every dos door, but most of them require a fossil anyway, and the
ones that don't will allow the use of one (or say 'fossil not installed'
for those games).

While we are on the subject of Sio drivers, there's a neat little trick
that can be done with non-standard IRQ's within the Sio com port
definitions themselves, rather than having to muck with door
configuration files and the like. I run 4 nodes, with two running
on standard IRQs.

The IRQx:IRQx is like the old dos 'assign' command. Any dos program
that's looking for standard IRQ's will get them, thanks to Sio. See the
enclosed config.zip (config.sys) for working examples.

Next, you have to edit your dropfiles. The 'canned' versions that come
with Max won't work with OS/2. These dropfiles have the line:

[write]COM%P

If you are running a single node system, you just have to replace %P
with the actual com port number, and it'll work:

[write]COM2 [comment The bbs uses com port 2 only]

If you're multi-node, there's two options. If you are lucky enough to
have all com ports corresponding to task numbers, replace the %P with %k
(that's a lower case k) and it'll work. If your task and com port
numbers differ, use the following example:

[iftask]1 [write]COM2 [comment These are my com ports, yours will]
[iftask]2 [write]COM4 [comment probably differ]
[iftask]3 [write]COM3
[iftask]4 [write]COM1
[iftask]5 [write]COM0 [comment node 5 is my local node]

Do this with all dropfiles you plan on using (dorinfo.mec and
doorsys.mec for sure... these are the two most used), and meccap them.

Your menus.ctl only needs to call the door's batch file (as is usually
provided by example with the door). Here's a snippet from my menus.ctl:

NoDsp    Display_File    Misc\doorsys      Disgrace "1"
         Xtern_Dos       batch\Usurper.bat Disgrace "1:Usurper"

(I keep all my batch files in d:\max\batch for easy access) Re-siltp max
and you should be all set.

I've also found that some doors need some special treatment, so I use a
mecca loader in these cases (I imagine it could also be done with MEX, but
to date, I've not looked into doing any MEX stuff... more of that laziness
<G>). Anyway, some doors don't check for the presence of another player online
and are not multi-node, so I create a mecca loader to write an 'inuse.flg' in
the door's directory, and check for the presence of same before allowing a
user into the door. Also, I have some games that are restricted to only
certain users, so I use a mecca to check for a key before allowing access.
Lastly, I have had a problem in the past where a user would enter a door
just before another node did the maintenance, and the result was not a
pretty sight. Anyway, the MECCAS.ZIP file included covers all these bases.

If anyone finds any errors or omissions, please let me know and I'll fix
up this FAQ wannabe.

List of doors that are currently running for me (or were running at one
time or another):

2151                    Majyk Empires
ArrowBridge                MiniBBS
Assassin                Mad King's Dungeon
Axe and Fang                Outpost Trader
Business Cards Online            Galactic Overlord
Barren Realms Elite            Rip Sweeper
Carribean Contraband            Rip Puzzle
Jet Combat                RipVersi
BBS Crash                Castle Seige
Double Solitaire            Spiked!
Diamond Dice                Star System Space
Domain DataLink                Swords of the Lost
Dragon's Yen                Planets: The exploration of space
Dr. Dread                The Pit (not the new one)
Excalibur                Thunder Valley
Fileit File request door        The Lost Lands
Future Runner                Tracker
Godfather of Crime            Ultimate Universe
Mines of Gorr                Usurper
iMMortal                VGA Planets
Jewel Thief                Don't wake the Sysop
Lords of the Irongate            Global War
Legend of the Red Dragon        Yahtzee (Triple Yahtzee)
LORE                                    Tradewars 2002 b7
Falcon's Eye                            Battle of the Arts
Primal Chaos                            Zatij Inc.
The Pit (the new one)                   Exitilus
Across the Wire                         Dragon's Claw
Hubble Space Telescope                  Vampire Knights
Vampires: Children of Darkness          Simon Sez
Don't wake the Sysop                    Spaceship of Death

List of doors that I can't get to work under OS/2 (any help
would be appreciated... about half of these are the registered versions)

Tradewars 2002       - I can't get this one to do anything but lock up
                       the system - both the B5 version, and the one prior
                       that required a different registration code (yup...
                       I have registrations for both versions).
                       *UPDATE* Tradwars 2002 B7 works just fine :)
Thabean Knights      - also wants com 1
Operation Office     - May work for you, as a fellow sysop up here is
                       running it successfully. This one quit on my as
                       soon as I applied the registration code.
Smurf Combat         - Same thing... registered it and it quit, but the
                       other sysop is running it no problem.
Cripple Smash        - I forget why... maybe it does work.
The Simpsons         - same thing.
Trevor Herndon igms  - They all want com1. I sent a netmail to Mr. Herndon
                       regarding this, but got back a rather snotty reply
                       about how he doesn't program for OS/2. I didn't want
                       him to, as the majority of dos doors seem to be
                       functioning quite nicely for me...
    FOOTNOTES:

    I've tried to keep things as simple and straight forward as
    possible, but I've had plenty of experience running dos doors
    with Maximus/2, so I may have made some assumptions that
    could cause confusion. If you do need any help, feel free to drop
    me a note, either Netmail @ 1:359/520, or in the Fido MUFFIN, MECCA,
    or OS2BBS echos (which I read daily), or you can call my
    BBS - The Back Door/2 - [phone] Node 1
                            [phone] Node 2
                            [phone] Node 3 (private, but you can
                            log on to this node using the name 'visiting
                            sysop' and the password 'guest'. However, if
                            you do call node 3, you must leave me a
                            message stating who you were, and what board
                            you run. Otherwise I'll have to remove the
                            guest account. I have enough problems with
                            users trying to gain advantage in the door
                            games by trying to use alternate accounts.
                            [phone] Node 4 (same restrictions as node 3)

    or send me internet e-mail at [e-mail]

    I have spent a great deal of time and effort producing this
    document. If you find it of use, please let me know. I'd like to
    feel that my efforts have not been wasted.

    If you have any comments or suggestions pertaining to this document
    or the example files, please forward same to me.

    SPECIAL THANKS TO:

    My loving wife for not ragging on me too much about the hours I
    spend at the keyboard.

    The users of The Back Door/2 for putting up with my experiments
    without too much complaint.

    Scott Dudley for the best BBS package on the market today, namely
    Maximus/2-CBCS v3.0x

    The folks at IBM for developing OS/2 without which, I would not have
    been able to run multi-line.

    All the door authors who have brought so much pleasure to my users.

    My apologies to anyone whom I may have overlooked. There have been
    so many people involved in my experimenting that it's easy to
    overlook a few.

    *** This document, and the suggestions contained within are the
    sole property of Peter Lazenby. Permission is granted to anyone
    who wishes to use this document to aid in the implementing of dos
    doors with Maximus/2.