1576 lines
68 KiB
Plaintext
1576 lines
68 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 4, Number 20 24 May 1987
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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| _ |
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| / \ |
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| /|oo \ |
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| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
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| _`@/_ \ _ |
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| International | | \ \\ |
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| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
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| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
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Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
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submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
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standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
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node 1/1.
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Copyright (C) 1987, by the International FidoNet Association.
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All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted
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for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
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please contact IFNA.
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Table of Contents
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1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
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Time Flies When You're Having Fun ........................ 1
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2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2
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FILELIST.EXE...One Sysop's Solution To File Requests ..... 2
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International Nodes, "The Zones Are Coming" .............. 3
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TELEBIT Trailblazer Test and Evaluation Report ........... 6
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3. COLUMNS .................................................. 10
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Multilink and Fido ....................................... 10
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The Regular Irregular Column ............................. 21
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4. NOTICES .................................................. 26
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The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 26
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Latest Software Versions ................................. 26
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IFNA Board of Directors Ballot ........................... 27
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FidoNews 5-01 Page 1 24 May 1987
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=================================================================
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EDITORIAL
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=================================================================
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Time Flies When You're Having Fun
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I've been editing this newsletter for over two years now. Why do
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I keep doing it? At least partly because it isn't that much
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bother. As long as everyone goes along with the simple
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guidelines given in ARTSPEC.DOC, which almost everyone does, it
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pretty much takes care of itself. Meanwhile, every now and then
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I get to sound off in one of these editorials. By and large it's
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been fun, and when it hasn't been fun at least it hasn't been a
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bother.
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I have a long history of running newsletters. I was the editor
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of my high school newspaper (a real fishwrapper if there ever was
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one), and I was a shoo-in for the job. Way back in sixth grade I
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started the first newsletter in the whole school. [The school was
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in its first year when I was in sixth grade. It covered first
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through twelfth, and had about 300 people when I graduated. I
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graduated in a class of eighteen. Growing up in a small town
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does have its advantages.]
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Writing these editorials seems to give me a different slant on
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things that I normally have. I feel as if I'm taking something
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of a longer view. I have this conception of FidoNet as some
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great and glorious mechanism to allow ordinary people (well, as
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ordinary as BBS users ever get) to reach out to each other. When
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I sit down to write an editorial I remember that view, and I try
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to talk about it. And who knows? Maybe I even make a difference
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in some small way. If so, then it's certainly worth it.
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Do you share ny vision? I hope so. Yes, we have our little
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squabbles. But take any three people and sit them down, and they
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will have their differences of opinion. We have much the same
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situation, only on a larger scale and vastly amplified.
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Sometimes it can seem almost too much to bear. But remember
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this: Nobody ever guaranteed you that everyone would always agree
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with you. There will always be those (not always the same ones)
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who disagree with your viewpoint. That is the price we pay for
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such unparalleled freedom of expression. In return for having so
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many people hear your viewpoint, you must pay the price of
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hearing viewpoints from those who disagree with you. You can
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refuse to pay that price, but then your own voice will be
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silenced.
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We really do want to hear from you. So some people may disagree
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with you. Maybe some of them will even descend to personal
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invective. Just remember, the same is true of any personal
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contact. That is a price you must pay to make your voice heard.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 4-20 Page 2 24 May 1987
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=================================================================
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ARTICLES
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=================================================================
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Jean Coppola Opus 107/201
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FILELIST.EXE...One Sysop's Solution To File Requests
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With the advent of file requests I have devised a new utility
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that helps the Sysop cope with file requests.
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FILELIST.EXE is a utility that reads all the available files on a
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system into one file, sorts them and produces a file named
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REQUEST.TXT and then arc's it into a file called REQUEST.ARC.
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Unlike other utilities along this line FILELIST.EXE will run with
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either Fido or Opus and should remain compatible with new
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versions of both software packages.
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This utility DOES NOT read the system files instead it runs from
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a batch file and as long as there are files named FILES.BBS and
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as long as they contain available software this utility will not
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need updating.
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FILELIST can be run as an eXternal event from either Fido, Opus
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or SEAdog and will compile a list of available files and then
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return control to the software that called it.
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Here is a small sample of the output from FILELIST.EXE:
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Files Available From Opus 107/201 - 516-775-5811
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Updated On 05-10-1987 At 11:35:03
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ansianim.arc Produces Ansi Graphic Screens
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arc.exe Arc 5.20 Utility
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arce.com Fast Arc Extractor
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arcmail.arc Arc's/UnArc's Net Mail
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arcmsg12.arc Save Those Message For Posterity
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arcpeek.arc Allows Reading of *.Arc Files
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autodate.arc Sets Time Without Clock Card
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There Are A Total Of 7 Files Listed.
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As you can see the files are sorted by name and then placed into
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the file with the identity of the system and the phone number
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placed in the file for ease in locating the Net/Node number and
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phone number.
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FILELIST.ARC may be requested from 107/201 and contains all files
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needed to implement this on your system.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 4-20 Page 3 24 May 1987
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International Nodes, "The Zones Are Coming"
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)))) The Problem ((((
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We are TOO successful. The nodelist is getting to be 1700 nodes.
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The nodediff files are getting big. The zones are coming. The
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zones are coming. This will have a large effect on our nodelist.
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The nodelist is THE most important thing we have! It is more
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important than FidoNews, more important than echos. We do not
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use routed mail very much, but it is the tie that binds.
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The nodediff takes too long to send. It takes too long to run
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Xlatlist or Listgen. It consumes disk space. The text version
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is too long for most users to download and use.
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Long nodelists encourage outdated nodelists. An outdated
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nodelist is VERY dangerous with outbound mail, especially direct
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mail. If I change numbers, the phone company may reissue that
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number. What if someone sends files attached? Every night at 4
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am, some LOL (Little 'Ol Lady) will have her phone ring with no
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one on the other end. If that sounds funny, let me know your
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home VOICE number, and let me try it on YOU.
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What if the net / node number changes? There are boards that I
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like to contact when I need them. I do not need them very often,
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but when I do, it is VERY useful. With multi-line BBS coming up,
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phone numbers will change more often.
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<<< Present Solution >>>
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ZONE: level of hierarchy that is higher than net. It implies
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that nodes with a zone will have limited nodelist information
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outside their zone. Each zone will have own nodelist and
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nodediff. Zones will have their own coordinator who will
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supervise his portion of the nodelist. They may have different
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policy. (Policy 7 Zone 3??).
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The International FidoNet Coordinator will install these changes
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in stages. IC will define zones as continents. Later, the IC
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could split zones by countries. Someday, the USA could be
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several zones!
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How does this affect the average sysop? How to send mail to a
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node in another zone?
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---Routed Mail---
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A sysop could send mail "de-coupled." "De-coupled" means that the
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sending software sends mail to another place without verifying
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that the net/node exist. Fido allows that. (TJ hates that
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option.) That is similar to "shooting an arrow into the air," or
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USENET revisited. Sending mail to 2:107/6 would be routed to
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2:/0 and that node would route (if possible). (By the way,
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points are always de-coupled. That is another discussion.)
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FidoNews 4-20 Page 4 24 May 1987
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You cannot send a piece of mail to a specific address if you do
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not have that address.
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What is the effect? Easy, orphans! Orphans are messages that
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cannot leave that node. What does a node do with Orphans? Once
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again with another patch we can fix. I guess the orphan receiver
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would send net message that "Addressee no long there." The point
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is that "Orphans" are the net equivalent of "Dupes." (GASP!)
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--- Non-Routed Mail ---
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The sending sysop must generate and maintain a private nodelist!
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If 107/6 changes phone number, how will I know? If I change my
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personal phone number or node number, who will I notify and how?
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My guess is that if I notify others they will not update their
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lists. The "bottom line" is that zones will inhibit net mail
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traffic across zone lines.
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We are encouraging outdated private nodelist with no nodes in the
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nodelist on the other side of the zone.
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>>> My Proposal <<<
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--- Description ---
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Super nodelist with skeleton entries: all zones, all regions and
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all network hosts. That nodelist can include nodes from other
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zones that "register" as an International Node.
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Definition- International Node (IN)- a Node that sends / RECEIVES
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direct mail across zone (regional) boundaries. IN is not a more
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important node just one that RECEIVES DIRECT MAIL. (No one
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should register for vanity).
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Registration- International FidoNet Coordinator (IC) will control
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the super nodelist with updates from Regional Coordinators
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(RC's). The RC will give nodelist with host and IN net / node.
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The RC will be responsible to see that all IN are properly
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registered.
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The IC MAY require that International Nodes pay a fee. He may
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give discount to IFNA members. Suggested $10 charter members.
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$25 new IFNA members. $40 to non members. Is that reasonable?
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IFNA was formed to help pay for nodelist generation, of course!
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It is voluntary. You do not have to pay anything to be in the
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nodelist and send and receive mail. Just extra to receive DIRECT
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(crash) mail or files or file requests.
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Conversion will be painful. It does require that all regional
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and network coordinators cooperate and convert semi-
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simultaneously. I cannot imagine an uncooperative RC or NC. (A
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little irony here.) Zones were going to be painful anyway.
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Software to merge nodelist and generate local nodediff will have
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FidoNews 4-20 Page 5 24 May 1987
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to be written, debugged, and published. That is not trivial, but
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not impossible either.
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--- Pro ---
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You are in the nodelist for free. People contribute money
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because they want to contribute.
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You can still send routed mail easily. It is possible without a
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complete nodelist. It is going to have to be possible because
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the nodelist will be split unless we change our direction. You
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can send no-route mail to "registered" nodes at no "extra" fees.
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We remain a INTERNATIONAL and NATIONAL organization. We will
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remain more unified.
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--- Con ---
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The program to have multiple updates of the nodelist may not
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exist. It may cost money to be International Node. It may
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require zone and point support software.
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NIH (not invented here).
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======== Conclusion =======
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We have too much of a good thing. The process will take time.
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To do nothing will invite chaos. Let us discuss it. I want to
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avoid the divisiveness that zones can cause.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 4-20 Page 6 24 May 1987
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Jim Kay
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Opus 109/612-617
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A Truly Elegant Piece of Engineering
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On March 23, 1987, A representative of Telebit Corporation
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delivered two Trailblazer modems to me for testing and
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evaluation. On May 11, 1987, I called that same representative
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and asked that the modems be picked up as my testing was
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complete. Here is what happened in-between and my conclusions.
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I was informed by a fellow sysop, Bob Catt, that Telebit was
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going to hold a demonstration of their Trailblazer modems at a
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location very close to my office. Bob invited me to attend. The
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demonstration consisted of connecting two PC's together via
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Trailblazers and two via conventional modems. The connections
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were direct cable connections. Some files were sent back and
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forth and the cables were pulled out and plugged back during
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transmission. All in all, it was a very impressive demonstration
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of the high speed capability of the Trailblazer.
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In part due to my position as a sysop and in part due to my
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position with Boeing Computer Services, I was offered a pair of
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modems for evaluation. I was anticipating an extended (a month)
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trip to our offices in Seattle so I thought that would provide a
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nice cross-country demonstration. The two modems arrived at my
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office the afternoon before my flight.
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The Telebit reps and I experimented for about two hours, trying
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to get one of the modems to work with SEAdog or with one of three
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or four terminal emulator packages that I had in my office. We
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did not succeed. We installed a specially updated version of
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CROSSTALK for testing and found that package did work. The reps
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left me with the two modems and the special version of CROSSTALK.
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I took all of this home with me and tried again to get the
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Trailblazer to work with my other bbs (also SEAdog 4.0) at home.
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After three hours, I gave up, put one of the Trailblazers on the
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shelf and began to pack for my trip. I took one Trailblazer with
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me along with a Toshiba 1100 lap top that a friend had loaned me
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for the trip.
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I must confess that I knew very little about PC's connect with
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and use serial communications facilities. My experience was
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almost totally with mainframe communications. As a result, I
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spent about 20-30 hours experimenting with the Toshiba and the
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Trailblazer and CROSSTALK before I came to any real
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understanding.
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Here is what I learned. Modems have two communications
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functions. One is to communicate with another modem over some
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sort of path, usually the dialup phone network. The other is to
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communicate with the terminal, which in our case is normally a PC
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of some sort. The speed of EACH of these communications MUST
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match what the other device is expecting. The usual set of
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"Hayes compatible" modems force these two communications to occur
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FidoNews 4-20 Page 7 24 May 1987
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at the same speed. The Trailblazer controls these separately.
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With the exception of the updated version of CROSSTALK, none of
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the software I experimented with was prepared to deal with this.
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Up to this point in my experiences with PCs, I had heard of the
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MODE command but had never seen it used and did not know of any
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reason to use it. Now I discovered that nearly all of my
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software was issuing a MODE command internally to set the speed
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of the serial interface card to match either the designated dial
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out speed, or the reported connect speed, when in answer mode.
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CROSSTALK was telling the Trailblazer to set its PC
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communications speed first and then changing the serial interface
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speed. All the other packages were simply changing the interface
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speed and assuming the modem was changing its speed
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automatically. The Trailblazer was not. When the modem and the
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serial port "talk" at different speeds, there is no
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communication.
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The Trailblazer is equipped with a very impressive array of
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internal registers that control all functions and parameters.
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There are no dip switches. After a rather time consuming study
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of the manual, I discovered that the Trailblazer can be set up to
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automatically detect the rate at which the PC is talking to it.
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I set up that mode and tried to go on. Next I discovered that
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once a speed was set, the automatic rate detect became disabled.
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Thus if I dialed out at one speed, all well and good but if I
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tried to dial out again at a different speed, I lost
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communication with the modem. I will note in passing that the
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factory default speed in fixed at 9600 in the modem and all the
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machines I tested power up their serial cards at 2400.
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More studying of the book and I decided I could reset the modem
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to automatic detect by forcing it to run its internal diagnostics
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after every outbound call. I also found I could delete (thank
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you Peter Norton) the code in my terminal emulator package that
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resets the serial port speed. Very painful, but at least I now
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understood what was going on and where the problems were.
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I used the Trailblazer from Seattle to call my bbs's (one with a
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USRobotics 2400 and one with a Rixon 1200) and perform remote
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maintenance. I also used it to call from the Toshiba to the PC I
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was using at work to transmit files from the Toshiba 3 1/2"
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format to the PC 5 1/4" format. Nothing very exciting, but it
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did a job for me that I needed.
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When I got home (a little early) I began in ernest to try and get
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the Trailblazers to work. I was referred to Ray Gwinn who, I was
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told, had done some extensive work with the Trailblazers. Ray
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was wonderfully helpful. He sent me a beta test version of his
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serial driver to replace OPUSCOMM and explained that indeed, the
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Trailblazer worked as I had been guessing. He further explained
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that I could get the Trailblazer to work with SEAdog better if I
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forced the communications to the PC to hold at 9600 and his
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serial driver would take care of ignoring SEAdog's attempts to
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match the serial card to the dialout speed. I tried this but got
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a continuous message about Modem Failure from SEAdog.
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FidoNews 4-20 Page 8 24 May 1987
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I thought I was smart by then so I looked for some code in SEAdog
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to delete, I didn't find any. I then tried stepping through the
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startup code of SEAdog using the Codeview debugger that I bought
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with my Microsoft C compiler. Much to my surprise, the Trail-
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blazer worked. Some more phone calls later, I learned that the
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firmware in my modems was not the version needed for dialout use.
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Telebit kindly offered to send me a new set of PROMS which I
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accepted. After installing them, still no success. A call to
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Thom Henderson revealed that SEAdog was waiting for an "OK" from
|
||
the modem and didn't think it was getting it. Telebit had no
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idea what I should do next. In a flash of desperation, I deleted
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the modem setup and modem reset (and even the modem type) cards
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from my SEAdog control file. Wonderful! The modem seemed to be
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working.
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Imagine my disappointment over the next two days as I discovered
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that no caller at 1200 baud was getting successful communication.
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The connect appeared to be OK but on the Opus end I just say a
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continuous stream of garbage while the caller saw nothing.
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Another call to Telebit told me only that "maybe it's your phone
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line". In desperation, I tried removing the filtered phone cable
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that came with the Trailblazer. Sure enough, success. In the
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process of that latest conversation, I learned that the Trail-
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blazer was designed first to communicate only with other Trail-
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blazers. The emulation of other modems was added later. I also
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learned that a caller at 300 baud must allow 5 seconds of total
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silence on the line for the connect to be successful. This,
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after the caller's modem reports successful connect. What do you
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||
suppose is the chance of that happening? Oh well, I suppose I
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would be willing to effectively exclude all 300 baud callers.
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||
Too bad, I also noticed some other problems. When the
|
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Trailblazer answers the phone, it first tries to connect to
|
||
another Trailblazer. I suppose that is reasonable. The odd
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||
sound it makes scares off some callers however. After two tries,
|
||
the Trailblazer tries some emulation modes. Too bad, some
|
||
callers hang up before the Trailblazer gets to the right version
|
||
for them. Even worse, SEAdog 3.82 is one that hangs up. I know
|
||
how to tell people to change their terminal packages to wait a
|
||
little longer. I have no idea how to tell SEAdog to wait longer.
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||
|
||
Rather than give up, I called Telebit yet again. I learned about
|
||
a register that turns off Trailblazer mode entirely and makes the
|
||
modem act just like a normal 2400 that we are used to. I tried
|
||
that too. Yes, my callers can get it. No one was hanging up too
|
||
soon. Of course, this $675 modem was doing nothing more than my
|
||
$375 USR could do but... Well, the Trailblazer is SO technologi-
|
||
cally WONDERFUL, I just liked having it there. Besides, perhaps
|
||
some day they would get the problems fixed and then only a change
|
||
of PROMS would get me the latest version. I have no doubt that
|
||
Telebit would happily supply them. I am VERY impressed with
|
||
their willingness to help and their commitment to providing
|
||
support.
|
||
|
||
But the fates were not to be on my side. All of my users who
|
||
have Everex modems began complaining that they could not complete
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 9 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
even short downloads successfully. All of them terminate with
|
||
"too many errors". With a heavy heart, I finally gave up. Just
|
||
for completeness, I did try several calls to Telebit to see what
|
||
a connect to another Trailblazer was like. To my surprise, I was
|
||
not especially impressed. From the panel lights on the modem, I
|
||
judged there to be a lot of line idle time that defeats most of
|
||
the high speed.
|
||
|
||
So what do we have at this point. The Trailblazer is designed to
|
||
talk primarily to other Trailblazers. The error correcting
|
||
capability in that mode presents only good data blocks. To get
|
||
good performance under those circumstances requires that the
|
||
software do no protocol type error checking, except, perhaps,
|
||
after an entire file has been transmitted. The Trailblazer
|
||
answers calls and looks for another Trailblazer first. When used
|
||
in dial out mode, the caller must not be allowed to change the
|
||
speed of the serial interface. SEAdog will not do file transfer
|
||
correctly if the interface speed is higher than 9600. This
|
||
latter limits the overall speed to 9600 even though the modem can
|
||
burst to 18,000.
|
||
|
||
As an aside, at the service bureau where I work, we could not
|
||
dare to install modems that take so long to establish connection
|
||
and will not communicate correctly with all of the large
|
||
assortment of modems that currently call in here. As a bbs
|
||
operator, I feel I have the same obligation to my callers. So,
|
||
with a heavy heart, I called Telebit and asked them to pick up
|
||
the modems.
|
||
|
||
Personally, I admire elegant engineering and love to have
|
||
examples of such in my possession. The Trailblazer is one of the
|
||
best examples of elegant engineering I have seen. The idea of a
|
||
microprocessor based device that will behave like almost anything
|
||
you want with just a change of PROM is clearly the way of the
|
||
future. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to just stick one of
|
||
these on the shelf and wait. And, I cannot, in good conscience,
|
||
put it on my system and exclude a segment of my users. My
|
||
decision is that I WANT a Trailblazer, but not quite yet.
|
||
|
||
I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Ted Brown and Telebit
|
||
for their generous assistance and support, to Ray Gwinn for his
|
||
also very generous help, and to Longshot Xi (one of my users) who
|
||
spent several hours with his Everex modem running tests at my
|
||
bidding.
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 10 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
COLUMNS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Host net 508, Node:508/4 Tel. int+55 421284
|
||
Ignaat Simons
|
||
Chopinlaan 3
|
||
7333GA Apeldoorn Netherlands
|
||
|
||
Multi FIDO application.
|
||
=======================
|
||
|
||
At the time I had only a IBMPC compatible, the Philips P3101
|
||
with 10 mbytes harddisk, I had take provisions on hardware
|
||
and software level, such, my FIDO did run for weeks without
|
||
a hangup. Remotely, I did my daily sysop work, which was
|
||
mainly the maintenance of the USER.BBS, looking to the MAIL
|
||
and SHUFFLE. I mostly did do this from a remote point, so at
|
||
home I did find it terrible to put down my FIDO for local
|
||
SYSOP work. Especially, why it sometimes takes some houres
|
||
to rearrange with SHUFFLE etc. the good looking of my BBS.
|
||
So stronghly I did need a multi-user application above or
|
||
instead MSDOS.
|
||
At this moment my FIDO is working for weeks without going
|
||
down for a single moment, except for the MAIL. This is
|
||
reached with MULTILINK with a high priority FORGROUND
|
||
partitioning and 2 BACKGROUND FIDO partitionings, from which
|
||
the 2e can be put down for my own MSDOS work. Why MULTILINK.
|
||
Well, I had the possibility between DOUBLEDOS, CONC-DOS, MS-
|
||
WINDOWS and MULTILINK. As I only got a formal copy of the
|
||
last three, I did not observe DOUBLEDOS. Perhaps it is
|
||
better.
|
||
MSWINDOWS was very nice, but only one program can be actual
|
||
running at the time and the rest is hanging on the wall as
|
||
an ICON. Moreover, it did eat my DISK and memory space more
|
||
than I did like.
|
||
CONC-DOS did run very well, but was also a big eater of
|
||
space. But I found it much easier than MSDOS. Finally I got
|
||
MLINK and as this was specific written for a Multi- terminal
|
||
environment I did select him for my work. Above that, realy
|
||
it is a wait-watcher. Only 35 kbytes it consumes. So I
|
||
selected MULTILINK.
|
||
|
||
MULTILINK.
|
||
==========
|
||
I had a lot of problems to understand the real working of
|
||
multilink, but after a lot of tests, I learned how to cope
|
||
with it. With multilink the tuning of the priority and time
|
||
setting was the most crittical. Also I did need another
|
||
version of ANSI.SYS, which I got from the Support
|
||
departement. The commandline params NODIS, DIS and NVDIS
|
||
were the ones which cost me 3 weeks to find out how to use.
|
||
In appendix I give my BAT-files as it runs now perfect. See
|
||
also the NVDIS and NODIS statements arround the :OUTSIDE and
|
||
:DOSEXIT part of RUNFIDOx.BAT. They are extremely important.
|
||
Here I will only give some tips to deal which if another
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 11 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
program has to be added in the BAT file. Also some specific
|
||
FIDO aspects I measured are written down and maybe will of
|
||
some help to you.
|
||
|
||
FIDO1 and FIDO2 and mailing.
|
||
===============
|
||
With fido, 2 params can be set to make a distinqtion between
|
||
the 2 FIDO's. That are the commandline 1 and 2 and the 1/I
|
||
and 2/I switches. The first 2 defining the COM-port and the
|
||
second the <file>.LOG handling. These only works for the
|
||
SYSOPx.LOG and the MAILERx.LOG files, where x=1 or 2
|
||
depending the x/I command line switch. The SCHED.BBS,
|
||
USER.BBS etc. are used commenly by the 2 FIDO's. The
|
||
USER.BBS is of course logical, as long as you have one fido
|
||
with 2 telephone lines in one hardware engine. The SCHED.BBS
|
||
however, I believe there is a problem. I found out that at
|
||
mailing time, both FIDO's did exactly the same within 20
|
||
sec. difference. So at mailtime, both are defining the to be
|
||
mailed files and try to send them. Of cource the *.IN and
|
||
*.OUT files are created in the same area, the fidonet-
|
||
subdirectory. I didn't believe this could work correct, so
|
||
to be sure I did search for a solution. And well, I found
|
||
out that at the moment FIDO starts up (FIDO_IBM), it copies
|
||
the SCHED.BBS into memory and never needs the file if fido
|
||
stays running. Exept with the sysop 6 and 7 commands, fido
|
||
update the present SCHED.BBS. So One fido is doing now all
|
||
the houskeeping and mailing tasks and one is running
|
||
continouesly. This was made available with a SCHEDN.BBS and
|
||
a SCHEDE.BBS, which are loaded as SCHED.BBS just before
|
||
FIDO_IBM is started. In my case SCHEDE.BBS is real empty,
|
||
but you can change it as long as the tasks are different. I
|
||
need at this moment the second fido as sysop fido, with
|
||
which I can do sysopwork at any time. The COM2 port is
|
||
connected to an internal cable, with which I downstairs in a
|
||
corner of the livingroom can do the sysop work. Also I
|
||
prepare there on a CPM own build engine my textfiles like
|
||
this and upload them on 2400 baud in the fido. If I have to
|
||
much, I go outside, load kermit and transmit with 19 kbaud
|
||
the stuff direct in the FIDO engine. If you have a 2-
|
||
line/one number telephone connection, you can go to a event,
|
||
where the second modem is put offline, so that all incomming
|
||
mailcalls are forwarded to FIDO-1, to be handled for mail.
|
||
This depends strongly on your local telephone company
|
||
arrangements and possibilities. In that case if you like a
|
||
third FIDO for SYSOP work, create a third partition. The
|
||
minimum statement in MLINK for FIDO (Version 11W) is /0,140,
|
||
But if you have things like FIDOINTR or OUTSIDE working 200
|
||
kbyte looks fine.
|
||
|
||
MULTILINK NVDIS, DIS and NODIS commands.
|
||
========================================
|
||
I did start with MLUTIL DIS, as the books told me, that was
|
||
the most optimal, because the keyboard requests were
|
||
reduced.
|
||
It runs, only the programs FILELIST and SYSREPT did do about
|
||
3 hours to come to an end. (should be less then 5 minuts).
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 12 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
So first I did put MLUTIL NODIS before these commands and
|
||
again a MLUTIL DIS after. It was running. On a Job outside
|
||
holland (remote sysop), I did an 0 (nul) command and only
|
||
everey 5 sec. I got a character. Terrible of course. So
|
||
again trying out. As fido has slow reacting users even on
|
||
2400 baud, it was better to put the main part of the
|
||
programs into MLUTIL NODIS (normal) and only the OUTSIDE and
|
||
DOSEXIT (0-command) in NVDIS mode. This was finally the
|
||
best. If I have a new program to be put into the BAT-file I
|
||
do try out its reaction first in a single command mode,
|
||
playing with DIS and NVDIS mainly.
|
||
With a third COM-port, I did try out the terminal emulation.
|
||
So if you change in the AUTOEXEC.BAT the MLINK into:
|
||
MLINK /0,200 /0,200 /3,32,<n>,9600
|
||
you have a nice MSDOS on a remote terminal, which can be of
|
||
any type. For <n> you have to fill in a digit (1 to 12)
|
||
1=tty,2=ADDS viewpoint,3=LSI ADM3A,4=televideo 910,5=DEC VT-
|
||
52,6=fortune,7=televideo 912C/920C/925,8=ANSI-standard,
|
||
9=User defined,10=PC shadow,11=hazeltine,12=telepathy.
|
||
Run MLCUSTOM.COM to define the 9.
|
||
Noted: The MLINK you can only start once, but with a command
|
||
line MLUTIL TERM <n> you can redefine the emulation on the
|
||
third port. In AUTOEXE3.BAT you have to put MLUTIL ENQ -7,
|
||
as I used the 2e PRN as COM3.
|
||
With this teminal emulation, a 2e DOS-user is possible (Your
|
||
Wife/Husband) mutch better than a redirection with CTTY =
|
||
COM3
|
||
Some short explanation of the used command lines.
|
||
=================================================
|
||
MLSLICE activates the time slicing. (portions of 18.1818 ms
|
||
MLINK /<port>,<mem.size>,|<term. type>|,|<speed>|
|
||
Port 0 is dummy.
|
||
MLUTIL ENQ -IRQ where IRQ is the interupt level. 4=COM1,
|
||
3=COM2, 10=COM3, 11=COM4 (10 and 11 only for AT)
|
||
MLUTIL TIME n where n is the number of slice portions,
|
||
the partitioning will get.
|
||
MLUTIL PRI n where n is 0 (low) till 7 (high) priority.
|
||
Never put the forground in the lowest, because
|
||
nearly your forground is useless. Even it took me 30 minuts
|
||
to type a new command line.
|
||
The MLSPOOL and MLPRINT works fine too. All the other ones I
|
||
didn't use in the FIDO environment.
|
||
I work with MSDOS 3.10 and Multilink 4.00. It works now for
|
||
month with no single hangup.
|
||
Succes with MULTILINK!
|
||
|
||
APPENDICES.
|
||
===========
|
||
|
||
| The CONFIG.SYS
|
||
**********************************************************
|
||
BREAK = ON
|
||
COUNTRY = 031 (if you like)
|
||
BUFFERS = 75
|
||
FILES = 25
|
||
DEVICE = QUICKVID.SYS (not absolute necessary)
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 13 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
DEVICE = ANSI.SYS (dammed important)
|
||
DEVICE = VDISK.SYS 384 /E (not absolute necessary)
|
||
**********************************************************
|
||
|
|
||
| THE BAT-FILES
|
||
**********************************************************
|
||
|
|
||
| The start BAT file, after the MLINK statement the
|
||
| AUTOEXE1.BAT and AUTOEXE2.BAT are started for background 1
|
||
| and 2 resp.
|
||
|
|
||
| The AUTOEXEC.BAT
|
||
|
|
||
***********************
|
||
prompt Forground$_$p$g
|
||
echo off
|
||
cls
|
||
rem ******************************************
|
||
rem * The DISK area will be preset for FIDO. *
|
||
rem ******************************************
|
||
c:
|
||
mlslice
|
||
mlink /0,200 /0,200
|
||
mlutil pri 2
|
||
cd \fido
|
||
ver
|
||
echo multilink versie 4.00
|
||
====================================================
|
||
| At this point the FORGROUND is waiting for an |
|
||
| operator command. |
|
||
====================================================
|
||
*************************
|
||
| The AUTOEXE1.BAT file |
|
||
*************************
|
||
prompt background 1$_$p$g
|
||
echo off
|
||
cls
|
||
mlutil pri 1
|
||
mlutil enq -4
|
||
c:
|
||
realtime
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo system reset >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
cd \fido
|
||
fidointr
|
||
runfido1
|
||
=================================
|
||
| Here FIDO-1 will be started. |
|
||
=================================
|
||
**************************
|
||
| The AUTOEXE2.BAT file |
|
||
**************************
|
||
prompt background 2$_$p$g
|
||
echo off
|
||
cls
|
||
mlutil pri 1
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 14 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
mlutil enq -3
|
||
c:
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
|
||
echo system reset >> \fido\system2.log
|
||
cd fido
|
||
path \
|
||
fidointr
|
||
runfido2
|
||
===============================
|
||
| Heer FIDO-2 will be started |
|
||
===============================
|
||
*******************************
|
||
| The RUNFIDO1.BAT file. |
|
||
| Will startup the main fido. |
|
||
*******************************
|
||
:start
|
||
cls
|
||
rem **************************
|
||
rem * FIDO will start-up *
|
||
rem **************************
|
||
prompt Date=$d Time=$t$_$p$g
|
||
path c:\;c:\fido
|
||
break off
|
||
rem clock/s
|
||
realtime
|
||
cd \fido
|
||
copy schedn.bbs sched.bbs
|
||
watchdg1 off
|
||
fido_ibm 128/v 5/s 30/l /1 9/w /y 60/d /p 11/a 3/g 1/j 1/i/u
|
||
if errorlevel 11 goto outside
|
||
if errorlevel 10 goto dayprt
|
||
if errorlevel 9 goto dosexit
|
||
if errorlevel 8 goto scanmail
|
||
if errorlevel 6 goto sysrept
|
||
if errorlevel 5 goto printw
|
||
if errorlevel 4 goto printd
|
||
if errorlevel 3 goto fatal3
|
||
if errorlevel 2 goto fatal2
|
||
if errorlevel 1 goto exit
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started every evening at 23:59 before mailling.
|
||
|
||
:scanmail
|
||
scanmail -delay -stats -short -noforward -maxmsgs 20
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started avery morning 5 minits after mailing.
|
||
|
||
:dayprt
|
||
tossmail -delay -stats
|
||
echo save MAIL received.>>system1.log
|
||
twix mail.rec/o
|
||
copy maillog.rpt + mail.rec
|
||
renum -d 30 1 -d 30 2 -d 30 3 -d 30 4 -r 1 -r 2 -r 3 -r 4
|
||
messwait -pni >temp
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 15 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
copy temp edtorial.bbs/v
|
||
copy welcom2.txt + temp welcome2.bbs
|
||
del temp
|
||
rem ***************************
|
||
rem * save variables of today *
|
||
rem ***************************
|
||
copy c:\fido\*.tlg a:\fido /v
|
||
arc a totallog c:\fido\*.log
|
||
copy totallog.arc a:\fido /v
|
||
copy c:\fido\answer.bbs a:\fido /v
|
||
copy c:\fido\anopwd.bbs a:\fido /v
|
||
copy c:\fido\anewuser.bbs a:\fido /v
|
||
copy c:\fido\user.bbs a:\fido /v
|
||
copy c:\fido\user.old a:\fido /v
|
||
copy c:\fido\mail.sys a:\fido /v
|
||
copy c:\fido\nodelist\nodelist.a* a:\fido /v
|
||
rem **************************
|
||
rem * End save LOG and USER *
|
||
rem **************************
|
||
|
||
copy filelspe.ctl filelist.ctl
|
||
filelist
|
||
copy filelnor.ctl filelist.ctl
|
||
filelist
|
||
|
||
|
||
rem And sort also USER.bbs
|
||
|
||
usersort
|
||
goto nodelist
|
||
|
||
rem Started avery sunday at 23:59.
|
||
|
||
:sysrept
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo weekly review >> system1.log
|
||
del sysop.bak
|
||
copy sysop1.log + sysop2.log sysop.bak
|
||
del sysop1.log
|
||
del sysop2.log
|
||
sysrept
|
||
copy downlog.lwk \fido\fidouse /v
|
||
copy uplog.lwk \fido\fidouse /v
|
||
copy utillog.lwk \fido\fidouse /v
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren sysop.bak sysop.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren downlog.lwk *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren utillog.lwk *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren uplog.lwk *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren dailylog.lwk *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren *.tlg *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren mailer1.log *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren system1.log *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren echomsgs.log *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 ren maillog.rpt *.@###
|
||
daynbr /d5 arc m totallog *.@###
|
||
copy zero.rpt maillog.rpt
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 16 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
rem Rework nodelist if he is there!
|
||
|
||
:nodelist
|
||
if not exist \fido\fidnetf\nodediff.a* goto nonode
|
||
copy \fido\fidnetf\nodediff.a* \fido\tussenin /v
|
||
editnl /o=nodelist /e=fidnetf /n=tussenin /a /k /x=pkxarc
|
||
if errorlevel 1 goto nonode
|
||
if not errorlevel 0 goto errornod
|
||
daynbr /d5 copy \fido\tussenin\nodelist.@### /v
|
||
daynbr /d5 del \fido\nodelist\nodelist.*
|
||
del \fido\fidnetf\nodediff.*
|
||
daynbr /d5 copy \fido\tussenin\nodelist.@a## \fido\nodelist /v
|
||
listgen nodelist
|
||
if errorlevel 1 goto errorlis
|
||
copy fidolist.80 \fido\fidouse /v
|
||
arc m fidolist fidolist.80
|
||
copy fidolist.arc \fido\fidouse /v
|
||
del fidolist.arc
|
||
daynbr /d5 del nodelist.@###
|
||
:nonode
|
||
goto start
|
||
:errornod
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo EDITNL error >>system1.log
|
||
goto start
|
||
:errorlis
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo LISTGEN error >>system1.log
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started by O(utside) command in FIDO.
|
||
|
||
:outside
|
||
watchdg1 on
|
||
mlutil nvdis
|
||
echo off
|
||
ctty \com1
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo "outside"-service started >> system1.log
|
||
type lastuser.bbs >> system1.log
|
||
outside
|
||
if errorlevel 1 goto dosexit
|
||
ctty \con
|
||
mlutil nodis
|
||
echo on
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started by SYSOP-"0" command.
|
||
|
||
:dosexit
|
||
watchdg1 on
|
||
rem ***********************************
|
||
rem * MSDOS active remote via COM1 *
|
||
rem ***********************************
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo Remote MS-DOS started >>system1.log
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 17 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
mlutil nvdis
|
||
ctty \com1
|
||
rem Do your job and return with EXIT to fido.
|
||
command
|
||
ctty \con
|
||
mlutil nodis
|
||
c:
|
||
cd \fido
|
||
prompt
|
||
rem ***********************
|
||
rem * end remote MSDOS *
|
||
rem ***********************
|
||
echo End remote MS-DOS >>system1.log
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:printd
|
||
print mailer.log
|
||
print anewuser.bbs
|
||
print anopwd.bbs
|
||
print answers.bbs
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:printw
|
||
print \fido\fidouse\utillog.lwk
|
||
print \fido\fidouse\downlog.lwk
|
||
print \fido\fidouse\uplog.lwk
|
||
print dailylog.lwk
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:fatal3
|
||
prompt
|
||
rem *****************
|
||
rem * Fatal error 3 *
|
||
rem *****************
|
||
echo FATAL I/O-ERROR > com1
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo Fatal error 3 >>system1.log
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:fatal2
|
||
prompt
|
||
rem ********************
|
||
rem * Fatal disk error *
|
||
rem ********************
|
||
echo FATAL DISK-ERROR > com1
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo Fatal disk error >>system1.log
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:exit
|
||
prompt
|
||
rem ****************
|
||
rem * Fido stopped *
|
||
rem ****************
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system1.log
|
||
echo Fido stopped! >>system1.log
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 18 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
prompt Date=$d Time=$t$_$p$g
|
||
rem READY!!!!!!
|
||
*************************************************
|
||
| The RUNFIDO2.BAT file. |
|
||
| Will startup the 2e FIDO with empty SCHED.BBS |
|
||
*************************************************
|
||
waste 1
|
||
:start
|
||
cls
|
||
rem **************************
|
||
rem * FIDO will start-up *
|
||
rem **************************
|
||
prompt Date=$d Time=$t$_$p$g
|
||
path c:\;c:\fido
|
||
break off
|
||
cd \fido
|
||
copy schede.bbs sched.bbs /v
|
||
watchdg2 off
|
||
fido_ibm 128/v 5/s 30/l /2 9/w /y 60/d /p 11/a 3/g 1/j 2/i /u
|
||
if errorlevel 11 goto outside
|
||
if errorlevel 10 goto dayprt
|
||
if errorlevel 9 goto dosexit
|
||
if errorlevel 8 goto scanmail
|
||
if errorlevel 6 goto sysrept
|
||
if errorlevel 5 goto printw
|
||
if errorlevel 4 goto printd
|
||
if errorlevel 3 goto fatal3
|
||
if errorlevel 2 goto fatal2
|
||
if errorlevel 1 goto exit
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started every evening at 23:59 before mailling.
|
||
|
||
waste 10
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started avery morning 5 minits after mailing.
|
||
|
||
:dayprt
|
||
|
||
waste 15
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started avery sunday at 23:59.
|
||
|
||
:sysrept
|
||
|
||
waste 15
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started by O(utside) command in FIDO.
|
||
|
||
:outside
|
||
watchdg2 on
|
||
mlutil nvdis
|
||
ctty \com2
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 19 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
|
||
echo "outside"-service started >> system2.log
|
||
type lastuser.bbs >> system2.log
|
||
outside
|
||
if errorlevel 1 goto dosexit
|
||
ctty \con
|
||
mlutil nodis
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
rem Started by SYSOP-"0" command.
|
||
|
||
:dosexit
|
||
rem ***********************************
|
||
rem * MSDOS active remote via COM1 *
|
||
rem ***********************************
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
|
||
echo Remote MS-DOS started >>system2.log
|
||
watchdg2 on
|
||
mlutil nvdis
|
||
ctty \com2
|
||
rem Do your job and return with EXIT to fido.
|
||
command
|
||
ctty \con
|
||
mlutil nodis
|
||
c:
|
||
cd \fido
|
||
prompt
|
||
rem ***********************
|
||
rem * end remote MSDOS *
|
||
rem ***********************
|
||
echo End remote MS-DOS >>system2.log
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:printd
|
||
print mailer.log
|
||
print anewuser.bbs
|
||
print anopwd.bbs
|
||
print answers.bbs
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:printw
|
||
print \fido\fidouse\utillog.lwk
|
||
print \fido\fidouse\downlog.lwk
|
||
print \fido\fidouse\uplog.lwk
|
||
print dailylog.lwk
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:fatal3
|
||
prompt
|
||
rem *****************
|
||
rem * Fatal error 3 *
|
||
rem *****************
|
||
echo FATAL I/O-ERROR > com2
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
|
||
echo Fatal error 3 >>system2.log
|
||
goto start
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 20 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
:fatal2
|
||
prompt
|
||
rem ********************
|
||
rem * Fatal disk error *
|
||
rem ********************
|
||
echo FATAL DISK-ERROR > com2
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
|
||
echo Fatal disk error >>system2.log
|
||
goto start
|
||
|
||
:exit
|
||
prompt
|
||
rem ****************
|
||
rem * Fido stopped *
|
||
rem ****************
|
||
timemark >> \fido\system2.log
|
||
echo Fido stopped! >>system2.log
|
||
prompt Date=$d Time=$t$_$p$g
|
||
rem READY!!!!!!
|
||
************************ END ******************
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 21 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
-- The Regular Irregular Column --
|
||
Dale Lovell
|
||
157/504
|
||
|
||
This has been an eye-opening week. Boris Osadciw (the sysop
|
||
of 157/46) sent out a message to the local net about a new
|
||
program called DUTCHIE which he claimed was a sort of public
|
||
domain SEAdog. While that isn't actually the truth, the program
|
||
is interesting. In addition to checking out DUTCHIE, I also ended
|
||
up looking at a new (to me) FOSSIL driver. This all led to a busy
|
||
week, but I've already noticed that there never seems to be a
|
||
week that isn't busy. First off the FOSSIL driver.
|
||
|
||
-- X.00 (or X00.SYS) --
|
||
|
||
X00.SYS is a low level communications driver that adheres to
|
||
the FOSSIL standards set by Vince Perriello (141/491) and is
|
||
written by Ray Gwinn (109/639). While that sounds like a lot it
|
||
isn't that hard to understand. FOSSIL stands for Fido/Opus/SEAdog
|
||
Standard Interface Layer, and is basically a standard developed
|
||
for use with communications (or BBS) programs. It was originally
|
||
developed to allow the DEC Rainbow to run SEAdog. At about the
|
||
same time Wynn Wagner was having problems with Opus and the
|
||
Greenleaf(tm) Communications Libraries. It was suggested that the
|
||
extended driver for SEAdog could be used with Opus and the FOSSIL
|
||
driver was born. FOSSILs take over all of the low level work
|
||
associated with communications ports (and the screen and keyboard
|
||
in some cases) such as setting the baud rate, and doing the hard
|
||
work of actually sending and receiving characters. If a program
|
||
is capable of using a FOSSIL, it should run on any MS-DOS machine
|
||
(not necessarily an IBM compatible machine) that has a FOSSIL
|
||
driver written for it (currently the IBM PCs and compatibles,
|
||
Tandy 2000, and Sanyo 555 to name a few).
|
||
|
||
Some of you may already be familiar with a FOSSIL driver
|
||
since Opus requires one. Bob Hartman's Opus!Comm was one of the
|
||
first FOSSIL drivers, and was originally distributed with Opus.
|
||
Opus!Comm is installed as a TSR or memory resident program. It is
|
||
usually run in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file just like hundreds of other
|
||
TSRs (Sidekick, Prokey, etc). X00.SYS uses a different approach.
|
||
It is installed as a device drive in your CONFIG.SYS file. It
|
||
doesn't really make any difference how a FOSSIL is installed, but
|
||
there are different ways (make sure you read the documentation
|
||
for your FOSSIL).
|
||
|
||
The part of X00.SYS that caught my eye is the support for up
|
||
to eight different communications ports. It was written to allow
|
||
MultiLink to get along with Opus (and SEAdog), and should work
|
||
with most of the multitaskers currently available (DoubleDos for
|
||
example). As many of us "know," SEAdog and Opus will only work
|
||
on COM1 and COM2. So what's the advantage of having a FOSSIL
|
||
supports all these ports? X00.SYS will allow you to "fake out" a
|
||
program and make it think it's using COM1 or COM2, while it is
|
||
actually using a formerly unsupported port. I think this could
|
||
be very useful because it's been my experience that serial ports
|
||
are always in short supply (Mouse, laser printer,
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 22 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
modem...hmmm...one port short). Since most commercial programs
|
||
won't take advantage of a FOSSIL, you could run a
|
||
SEAdog/Opus/whatever on COM3 while running a serial mouse on COM1
|
||
and a serial laser printer (like an Apple LaserWriter) on COM2.
|
||
This greatly expands the usefulness of SEAdog and Opus,
|
||
especially since X00.SYS can support up to 8 different serial
|
||
ports at once.
|
||
|
||
I'm going into all this detail on FOSSIL drivers because the
|
||
program I'm about to cover requires one. I think the program
|
||
shows great promise, and is going to expand the net into the
|
||
point extensions very quickly.
|
||
|
||
-- DUTCHIE by Henk Wevers (500/1) --
|
||
|
||
When I first heard about DUTCHIE, it was "billed" as a
|
||
public domain SEAdog. This is not the full truth, as a better
|
||
description is the first operational point software.
|
||
|
||
Points are part of the extended FidoNet addressing that has
|
||
been settled by the standards committee. What points boil to, as
|
||
far as I'm concerned, is instead of being user number 72, I'd be
|
||
known as 157/504.72. Instead of calling up a board and trying to
|
||
keep up in several echomail conferences online, I could poll my
|
||
boss node and pickup all the echomail conferences I was
|
||
interested in reading. Read the conferences at my own leisure
|
||
(no worrying about how much time I've got left), reply to the
|
||
messages in a full-screen editor, and then send off my replies.
|
||
Total connect time should only be a few minutes.
|
||
|
||
Until DUTCHIE this has been an empty dream because few users
|
||
were willing to set up a complete BBS system or buy a copy of
|
||
SEAdog. While DUTCHIE is far from a full SEAdog, it is free to
|
||
private individuals and will do what is necessary for a point
|
||
with a minimum of overhead (disk space, installation time, etc.).
|
||
|
||
The requirements for DUTCHIE aren't that hard to meet. All
|
||
you need is an IBM PC or compatible with 512K of RAM and at least
|
||
2 floppy drives (a hard drive with at least one floppy is even
|
||
better). The BBS that will serve you (your boss node in the
|
||
DUTCHIE terminology) needs to be running SEAdog, Opus, Fido or a
|
||
combination of these programs. Best service is currently
|
||
available through a BBS that is running SEAdog in front of the
|
||
bulletin board all day, although Opus version 1.0 is rumored to
|
||
work just as well. You'll also need a FOSSIL driver, the two
|
||
currently supported are Bob Hartman's Opus!Comm and Ray Gwinn's
|
||
X00.SYS (version 1.02 or higher). Henk recommends X00.SYS because
|
||
of the multiple COM port support and baud rates up to 9600 baud.
|
||
The boss node will have to run a program called BRINKERS at least
|
||
once a day. BRINKERS is the program that makes it possible for
|
||
the bulletin board to support points. If you want any of the
|
||
echomail conferences sent to you, the echomail programs are also
|
||
required. At the end of this column I'll give everyone a complete
|
||
list of the files I have and where they can be obtained.
|
||
|
||
Describing DUTCHIE is going to be very easy. After
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 23 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
installing it on your system (we'll assume that you've worked
|
||
everything out with your boss node) you tell DUTCHIE to poll the
|
||
boss. DUTCHIE will take over for awhile as it attempts to get
|
||
through to the boss. If your boss isn't running SEAdog 4.0 with a
|
||
BBS mail event all day, you will probably have to leave your
|
||
system on all night to call the boss during National Mail Hour
|
||
(09:00 GMT for the US, currently 5:00 for me). If the boss is
|
||
running OPUS version 0 you can always drop off your messages, but
|
||
will only be able to pick up messages when he is running FIDO
|
||
(during NMH). Hopefully Opus version 1.0 will allow the same
|
||
thing and make things easier for you and your boss node.
|
||
|
||
Once DUTCHIE has gotten your messages (and you've processed
|
||
any echomail conferences that are being sent to you) you can
|
||
spend all the time you need OFF-LINE to read and reply to the
|
||
messages. Once you're done you can send off your replies to the
|
||
boss (if he's running SEAdog or Opus). Things are a lot easier
|
||
for you because you finally have a full screen editor, no more
|
||
messing around with Fido's line oriented editor. You also can
|
||
reply to a message using the ">" form easier, this means copying
|
||
parts of the old message into your reply with the ">" symbol in
|
||
front of each line from the old message. I first ran into this
|
||
form of a reply on Usenet, and it does make a series of messages
|
||
a lot easier to read. That's all there is to using DUTCHIE as a
|
||
point.
|
||
|
||
You have no need for the nodelist (unless you want it to
|
||
send netmail to nodes other than the boss) which is getting very
|
||
large. Since your boss is the only one who needs to know your
|
||
phone number (in some cases he may even call you regularly!), you
|
||
DO NOT have to be running a bulletin board. Other points can send
|
||
mail to you merely by knowing your point address (it will be sent
|
||
through your boss node), and your sysop can probably make a list
|
||
of his points available. You are not listed in the international
|
||
nodelist, and the only arrangements to make are between you and
|
||
the boss node (although you'll probably want anyone who you
|
||
converse with regularly to know your point address). You can
|
||
bring all of this up slowly. First only a few local messages with
|
||
everyone having to know your point address. Once you get
|
||
comfortable with that, maybe a few echomail conferences.
|
||
Hopefully, one day you'll decide that you want the whole nodelist
|
||
and become involved with people all over the world through the
|
||
network.
|
||
|
||
This is somewhat shortened, as I had originally written over
|
||
five pages on DUTCHIE and could easily write a small book on it.
|
||
If you're interested in what it can do for you, I suggest you
|
||
obtain the software from a list of boards at the bottom and make
|
||
arrangements with your sysop if you wish to become a point. Any
|
||
sysops who have a large number of people reading the echomail
|
||
conferences would be well advised to look into the idea of
|
||
setting up some of their users as points (I happen to like the
|
||
idea of points, okay?). It could really help free up your board
|
||
and your time to helping out newcomers to BBSing while providing
|
||
better service to your more experienced users.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 24 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
--Winding down --
|
||
|
||
Instead of looking at a game I've found enjoyable, I'm going
|
||
to give you the update on my valspeak/LEX project as I promised
|
||
last week. Two weeks ago I mentioned a program I'd gotten off
|
||
Usenet that would "translate" an ASCII text file into something a
|
||
little different. The something a little different being the type
|
||
of speech that Hollywood wants us to think is used all over
|
||
Southern California's valleys (eg. "Gag me with a spoon"). The
|
||
source code needed to be run through a program called LEX, which
|
||
generates C source code. I had found a LEX, but it wasn't enough
|
||
like the Unix version and I had been having some problems
|
||
converting it. I checked with the system administrator on my
|
||
local Unix machine on running valspeak.l (the distributed source
|
||
code) through the Unix machine's LEX, downloading the generated
|
||
code, and compiling it on my PC. He agreed that it was a good
|
||
idea, unfortunately it would violate their license agreements.
|
||
I've been trying to convert the source code to my LEX with little
|
||
luck. If anyone out there knows of a near perfect implementation
|
||
of the Unix LEX program for the PC, please let me know where I
|
||
can obtain it. A version that has been tested with Microsoft C
|
||
version 4.0 would be greatly preferred.
|
||
|
||
I've also bought what many consider to be THE reference book
|
||
on C. It's "The C Programming Language" by Brian W. Kernigham and
|
||
Dennis M. Ritchie (Prentice-Hall, list price $26.67). If you hear
|
||
people referring to K&R, this is the book they're talking about.
|
||
It is a basic introduction and overview to the C language, and
|
||
I've been using it as a reference book. It documents the early
|
||
standard that the ANSI draft is based on, and covers most of the
|
||
topics needed to understand C. There are numerous examples of C
|
||
code, and more than enough exercises. I've heard a rumor that
|
||
there is a book that gives answers to all the exercises and will
|
||
attempt to follow up on the lead. It is not really aimed at the
|
||
person new to computers, but should work adequately for anyone
|
||
familiar with programming and is willing to spend some time
|
||
actually doing the exercises.
|
||
|
||
Once again I welcome your comments and suggestions on my
|
||
column. Below you'll find my FidoNet net/node number, uucp
|
||
address, and US mail address. FidoNet people should route mail to
|
||
me through 157/0, or 157/1. 157/1 is preferable because I hit it
|
||
more often each day. Below the addresses is the list of DUTCHIE
|
||
files and where they can be file-requested.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Dale Lovell
|
||
3266 Vezber Drive
|
||
Seven Hills, OH 44131
|
||
|
||
uucp: ..!ncoast!lovell
|
||
FidoNet: 157/504
|
||
|
||
|
||
DUTCHIE FILES
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 25 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
DO-FLYER.ARC Quick introduction into DUTCHIE as a point
|
||
DO-USERM.ARC User manual, DUTCHIE through the user's eyes
|
||
DO-SYSOP.ARC Introduction for sysops supporting DUTCHIE points
|
||
DO-EDITR.ARC The full screen message handler/editor
|
||
DO-COMMA.ARC The communications/mailer program
|
||
DO-PRINT.ARC The automatic mail printer
|
||
DO-NOCOM.ARC Nodelist compiler
|
||
DO-NOSCN.ARC Nodelist scanner
|
||
DO-BRINK.ARC Brinkers program - point readresser program
|
||
Needed for sysops supporting DUTCHIE points
|
||
|
||
All of these files should be available from 157/46 (where I got
|
||
them), 2/1 and 3/1. Other places may have them as well (157/1
|
||
should also have it). Keep in mind you'll also need a FOSSIL
|
||
driver, be it Opus!Comm or X00.SYS.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 26 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
NOTICES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
The Interrupt Stack
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Latest Software Versions
|
||
|
||
BBS Systems Node List Other
|
||
& Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
|
||
|
||
Dutchie 2.51* EDITNL 3.3 ARC 5.20
|
||
Fido 11w LISTGEN 05.25.86 ARCmail 0.60
|
||
Opus 0.00 Prune 1.40 EchoMail 1.31
|
||
SEAdog 4.00 RouteGen 2.70 Renum 3.30
|
||
TBBS 2.0S TestList 8.3*
|
||
XlatList 2.70
|
||
|
||
* Recently changed
|
||
|
||
Utility authors: Please help keep this list as current as
|
||
possible by reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our
|
||
intent to list all utilities here, only those which verge on
|
||
necessity.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 27 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
Bob Morris 141/333
|
||
Chairman, Elections and Nominations Committee
|
||
|
||
The next two pages are your Official ballot for the Election of
|
||
the IFNA Board of Directors. The following are the few rules
|
||
which must prevail in this election:
|
||
|
||
1. You must send a legible copy of this ballot to the address
|
||
listed on the ballot. It must be signed and bear your
|
||
net/node number.
|
||
|
||
2. You may vote for any one person in your region for the
|
||
position of Regional Director. This vote is to be cast in the
|
||
LEFT column of the ballot.
|
||
|
||
3. You may vote for any eleven people in any regions for the
|
||
position of Director at Large. These votes are to be cast in
|
||
the RIGHT column of the ballot.
|
||
|
||
4. Voting will continue until the end of registration at the
|
||
Conference in August. The results will be read during the
|
||
opening of the business meeting on the first day of the
|
||
conference.
|
||
|
||
5. Write-in Votes will be accepted and are requested during this
|
||
election.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 28 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
IFNA Board Of Directors
|
||
Ballot
|
||
|
||
Regional At Large
|
||
Region 10:
|
||
Steve Jordan _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 11:
|
||
Ryugen Fisher _________ ________
|
||
Theodore Polczynski _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 12:
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 13:
|
||
Don Daniels _________ ________
|
||
John Penberthy _________ ________
|
||
Thom Henderson _________ ________
|
||
Gee Wong _________ ________
|
||
Brian Hughes _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 14:
|
||
Ben Baker _________ ________
|
||
Ken Kaplan _________ ________
|
||
Brad Hicks _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 15:
|
||
David Dodell _________ ________
|
||
Larry Wall _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 16:
|
||
Bob Hartman _________ ________
|
||
Hal Duprie _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 17:
|
||
Rob Barker _________ ________
|
||
Randy Bush _________ ________
|
||
Bob Swift _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 18:
|
||
Wes Cowley _________ ________
|
||
FidoNews 4-20 Page 29 24 May 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 19:
|
||
Mark Grennan _________ ________
|
||
Wynn Wagner _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 2:
|
||
Henk Wevers _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Write-in candidates:
|
||
___________________ _________ ________
|
||
___________________ _________ ________
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Name ______________________________ Net/Node ___________
|
||
|
||
Signature______________________________ Date ___________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Please complete this and mail it to:
|
||
|
||
Robert Morris
|
||
IFNA Elections Committee
|
||
210 Church Street
|
||
West Haven, Ct. 06516
|
||
|
||
or bring it with you when you come to the conference in August.
|
||
|
||
|
||
These ballots will be counted by myself since with 200 members
|
||
the charges for a CPA would be very high. Hard copies will be
|
||
made available to anyone wishing to insure that their vote was
|
||
included.
|
||
|
||
Thank You
|
||
|
||
Bob Morris
|
||
Elections and Nominations Committee
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
|
||
|