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Text File | 1993-12-01 | 15KB | 358 lines

--------------------------------------------------------------------- ==== Frequently Asked QuestionS ==== ==== (and answers) ==== ==== (and other bits and pieces of wisdom and lore) === --------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Aladdin never dials and the left hand status indicator always says ON? What should I do? A) Your modem is telling Aladdin that it is always online. Aladdin needs to know when the modem is online and offline to determine if it is connected to GEnie or not. Refer to the STARTING.DOC file and make sure you have configured your modem properly. If you have done this and the status field still says ON, your modem cable may not have the support for all the signals Aladdin needs. You may have to replace your cable with a new one. Hayes Personal Modem users have to follow a special procedure to use Aladdin. See the last section of the STARTING.DOC file entitled "HAYES PERSONAL MODEM 1200 AND 2400 USERS" for instructions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Aladdin calls and connects properly, but instead of seeing the U#= prompt, I see something like, CONNECT f'f''ff ...from GEnie. Why is that happening? A) You're calling a 1200 number at 2400 baud. Most of the numbers that you can use to call GEnie have 2400 baud modems behind them, but some, such as those located in remote areas, only have 1200 baud modems. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) There is no local node where I live, and I have to dial through another system to get to GEnie, and I don't have to send out the "HHH" to get the U#= login prompt. How can I make Aladdin understand this so I can use it automatically? A) Aladdin has a facility called an "autologin script" which allows you to replace Aladdin's internal login procedures with a script. To use it, write a script that will take you to the point immediately before the point at which you must either send the "HHH"'s to get GEnie attention and get the U#= prompt. Aladdin will send the three H's and continue with the login. If you are calling through a host which does not require the three H's to get the GEnie U#= prompt, the first line in your script should be: HHH OFF That will turn off Aladdin's desire to send the three H's. The script should then take Aladdin to the point just before the U#= appears, then let Aladdin take over. The autologin facility is turned on by the /LS command line argument. If you invoke Aladdin with "ALAD /LS", Aladdin will use script 3 for the autologin process. If you're autologin process is one of 4 through 7, add the script number immediately after the /LS, i.e. "ALAD /LS4". For more information on this feature, see the Aladdin User's Manual. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Can I use COM3 or COM4 with Aladdin? A) Yes, but we do not guarantee that Aladdin will work that way because many serial port card and/or BIOS manufacturers do not follow standard procedures in the design of the serial port and/or BIOS of your computer. You can put a "3" or "4" into the COM PORT field of the F5 Aladdin configuration screen. Aladdin will accept it, but it may or may not work. There is a file in the Aladdin RT's file library called SETCOM.ARC, courtesy of ANDY, Chatlines Real Time Game Guru. If you have problems using COM3 or COM4, download it and try it. If that doesn't fix the problem, there's nothing more we can do. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) After Aladdin sends a message to GEnie, I see a "<<break>>" and the system freezes. What should I do? A) This is caused by your terminal parameters on GEnie not matching those in your configuration screen. GEnie knows if you are using Aladdin and will, by default, set your break and prompt characters to Ctrl-C (^C-- ASCII 3) and "?" (ASCII 63), respectively. If you are not sure about this, always use the standard break and prompt characters as listed above. If you are absolutely sure that you want to use non-standard break and prompt characters, then always invoke Aladdin with the /NOOVER command line argument, like so, ALAD /NOOVER ...or... ALADDIN /NOOVER --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) When I am reading messages, GEnie shows a scroll prompt that looks like this, Return for more, <S>croll, <Q>uit? When this shows up, Aladdin quits working! How do I get rid of the scroll prompt. A) This problem will only happen if you are using the /NOOVER command line argument when you bring up Aladdin. If you must have non-standard prompt and break characters, you will have to adjust your page length in the GEnie terminal setup menu. Type SETUP and follow the instructions to change your terminal setup. Change your page length to 0. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) If I try and save a message, Aladdin locks up my entire machine. What do I do? A) This is normally caused by a corrupted reply file. The solution is to delete the .REP file for that RoundTable, or if it happens with GEmail, delete the MAIL.REP file. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) How do I catch a penguin? A) Chase him across the ice. Penguins have capillaries in their feet which swell when they get warm. It's their only way to release excess heat. The running will make the penguin hot, which in turn makes its feet warm. Once the penguin is warm enough, it will stick to the ice, in the same manner as your tongue sticks to a piece of very cold ice. All you have to do then is walk over and pick it up. WARNING: Bring a bucket of warm water with you to thaw the feet of the penguin before you pick it up. Penguin podiatrists are expensive and very hard to find! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) How do I start a Zmodem download? It's not listed in the terminal mode menu! A) Zmodem downloads with Aladdin are automatic. All you have to do is tell GEnie that you want to download the file, choose the Zmodem download, and sit back. Aladdin will detect that GEnie is trying to start a download and will take care of the rest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) I've heard that you can download multiple files at the same time with Zmodem. How do I do that? A) Make a list of the file numbers of the files you want to download. At the prompt where GEnie asks you what file number or name you want to download, enter up to 20 file numbers, separated by commas. Aladdin will list the file names you have selected and ask you what protocol you wish to use. Choose Zmodem and sit back. Aladdin will take care of the rest. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Why can't I use GEnie*Basic page numbers with Aladdin? A) You can use GEnie*Basic page number (8000-9999) in terminal mode. What you can't do is use those page numbers when you are setting up the RoundTables on the F6 RT configuration screens. The reason for this is that each GEnie*Basic page can be the entry point to multiple RT's, while the 3-digit page numbers for each RT are specific to that RT. Instead of using the GEnie*Basic page number, go to the GEnie product index screen and find the non-GEnie*Basic page for the RT you wish to access with Aladdin. To find it, use the search feature of the product index page. The 3-digit pages are equivalent to the 4-digit pages as far as GEnie*Basic is concerned. Those RT's that are part of GEnie*Basic are part of it regardless of whether you enter them through the GEnie*Basic page or the normal GEnie page numbers below 8000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Where does the phrase "Just joshing" come from? A) In 1883 a new 5 cent coin, nicknamed the "Barber Nickle" because its design was transferred from the silver half dime which was no longer in circulation, was introduced into the economy. The new coin had a roman numeral 5 ("V"), but did not have the word "CENTS" on it. An enterprising man by the name of Josh Stuart decided he would subject the coins to a gold wash and pass them off as 5 dollar gold pieces. Surprisingly, few people had doubts about the denomination of the gold washed coin and accepted it as a $5 piece. Mr. Stuart was eventually caught. The judge was so amused by what had happened, that he released Josh without any penalty. The story became popular, and the phrase "Just joshing" was born. Embarrassed mint officials soon corrected the error, and in the same year the die for the 5 cent piece was reengraved with the word "CENTS." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Aladdin quit on me with and said the error was #4. What do I do? A) This means that your FILES= statement in your CONFIG.SYS is either non-existent or it is set too low. The recommended setting for Aladdin to work properly is, FILES=30 However, if you are using multitasking programs like Microsoft Windows or Desqview, or if you are using resident programs like Borland's SideKick Plus, you may have to increase the number to as high as 50. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) How do I get Aladdin to work with Windows 3.x? How about Desqview? Will there be Windows- or Desqview-specific versions of Aladdin in the future? A) There are Windows 3.x and Desqview .PIF files in the GEnie PC Aladdin Roundtable on GEnie. Please refer to those and also to the RoundTable topics on using Aladdin with Windows and Desqview. To multitask Aladdin under Windows 3.x you must have an 80386 or 80486 CPU and you must run Windows 3.x in enhanced 80386 mode. GEnie may decide in the future that there is enough demand and justification to produce a Windows- or Desqview-specific version of Aladdin. At this time there is not enough demand or justification to produce these, as well as a lack of engineering resources to devote to projects like that. This may change in the future, but as of now there are no plans to do this. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Where can I find scripts to download news, soap opera digests, etc? A) Library 3 of the GEnie PC Aladdin RoundTable contains scripts uploaded by our users to perform various tasks that Aladdin can't perform automatically. The RoundTable also has a category where scripts and the script language are discussed and script writers exchange notes and ideas. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) DesqView is reporting protection violation errors when I run Aladdin. What do I do? A) Set the protection for the Aladdin window to NO protection. This is not Aladdin doing something wrong, but DesqView complaining about Aladdin doing something that is perfectly legal. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Why are my Xmodem downloads and upload so slow? A) If you are using an MNP modem (error correcting), turn off MNP for uploads, and use Zmodem for downloads. Xmodem does not get along with the MNP error correction scheme. If you are seeing about 40-50% efficiency in your Xmodem uploads, this is normal, and is caused by a quirk in the "node", which is the small computer that you call locally and which takes care of your connection between the area that you live and GEnie's mainframes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Where do I get the answers to questions that are not in this file? A) The PC Aladdin Support RT. Page 110. To get to it, type "PCALADDIN" or "M110;1". Better yet, install it as an RT on your copy of GEnie PC Aladdin and let it find it for you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) How do you make a =real= Puerto Rican Piña Colada? A) Easy. 1 shot of Rum (Don Q, Bacardi or ??, in that order, please) 1½ oz Coco López cream of coconut 2 oz Lotus pineapple juice (or -natural- substitute) 1 pineapple ring (if you don't have fresh pineapple, use canned) 2 Large fistfulls of ice, preferably crushed ½ shot of Amaretto (optional, for the daring) Mix in a blender until smooth, with the consistency of a frappé, and serve by the pool when the day is really hot and humid. Serves 1 Puerto Rican, 2 of any other ethnic background. *8-) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q) Is there an easy way to tell if Aladdin has enough memory to run properly on my machine? A) There are two ways to do this. The CHKDSK command reports, among other things, how much free memory your system has at any given time for application programs. Below is an example of the output of the CHKDSK command: Volume MCA_DISK1 created 07-23-1991 5:50p Volume Serial Number is 2C06-4670 161923072 bytes total disk space 180224 bytes in 4 hidden files 991232 bytes in 120 directories 89358336 bytes in 2835 user files 71393280 bytes available on disk 8192 bytes in each allocation unit 19766 total allocation units on disk 8715 available allocation units on disk 655360 total bytes memory 472416 bytes free If you take a look at the line just above this one, it is telling you how much free memory you have for applications. In this it says that you have about 472000 bytes free. This is just over the requirement for Aladdin. If it says anything less than 450000 bytes, you need to make some adjustments in your system's configuration to release more memory for use by applications. Another way of determining how much memory Aladdin has available to it is to use the new 1.62 /MEMDISP command line argument. To use it, start Aladdin like this: ALADDIN /MEMDISP /CLOCK ...or... ALAD /MEMDISP /CLOCK Now look at the upper left hand corner of the screen. Aladdin will show the amount of memory that it sees that it can work with during the current session. If this number is anything less than 100,000, you need to make adjustments to your system configuration to release more memory for applications. If you have questions as to how to accomplish the adjustments to your system, come visit us at the PC Aladdin Support RoundTable and we'll be happy to give you the instructions to perform this task.