General

Internet

General

1.1 What is this "system" you talk about all the time?

To put it simple, a system is either a particular BBS, an Internet provider or a Fido site. You can use THOR to read messages or postings from many systems.

1.2 "Failed to load the configuration datafiles."

1. Since the message database is located on disk, it is sensitive to whatever might happen to the disk. In case of a disk crash or similar problem, use one of the commercial or shareware tools that can fix such problems. DiskSalv, Quarterback Tools or AmiBack Tools are all recommended for this purpose.
2. One or more of the datafiles that THOR needs might be corrupt or damaged. Take a backup of your database, then use BaseManager to fix the problem. If not even that helps, you may have to delete the conference (or in the worst case, the whole system and make a new one). It might help to copy the .bak file for the reported failed file over the original.
3. If the IoErr: value is 103, you do not have enough memory to start THOR.

See also "Repairing�a�damaged�database".

1.3 When I try to configure a new system, the "Type" gadget is empty.

THOR isn't installed correctly. Re-run the installation, reboot and try again. If you don't want to install again, you might execute the cfg* scripts i <YourThorDir>/s/ from shell with the command "execute".

1.4 When I quit THOR, it doesn't free all the memory used. Why?

bbsread.library uses a buffering system. The buffers will not be freed immediately by the library. The library will flush the buffers after 5 minutes if the library isn't used anymore. You can flush the library manually with the "avail flush" command, but AmigaOS will automatically flush the library from memory when the memory is needed by some other program if the library is not in use anymore.

1.5 "waitforport" in ARexx scripts fail from within THOR.

Associated problems:

THOR does not find programs I start from within THOR, like the ThorStat program, even if the directory these programs reside in is in my path. I have made sure I have the correct path statement in my user-startup. What it wrong?

Answer:

If you have made sure you use the ADD keyword to the path command in your user-startup and that this directory actually exists, one possible reason might be that you start THOR as a WB Prosess from ToolManager. The WB Startup code in ToolManager is buggy and ignores any path, so you should start THOR as a CLI prosess from ToolManager instead (WBStart-handler 1.4 included with ToolManager 2.1a fixes this problem). THOR will inherit the path even if started from Workbench since THOR converts itself to a cli prosess on startup.

ParM will show simular (bad) behaviour when started from WB, so start if from CLI whenever possible.

1.6 Multiuser filesystem problems with THOR.

Due to a bug in MultiUsers handling of async lowlevel dos packets, the files in all THOR's datadirs must be set up without any user or group. This can be done with the following command:

mprotect `getenv thor/bbsdatapath` RWD group RWD other RWD all

1.7 Moving the database correctly.

Sometimes it might be useful to move the THOR installation to another disk or somewhere else on the same disk. This can be done in the following fashion:

1. Make sure you are not running THOR and flush the memory with the command "avail flush" from a shell.
2. Move the database to wherever you want it.
3. Change envarc:THOR/THORPath to point to the new directory you have THOR in.
4. Change envarc:THOR/BBSReadPath to point to the new directory you have you database. The database is usually stored in a "data"-subdir under the THOR directory.
5. Reboot.

1.8 Waitpointer is "hanging" after some operation.

This can happen with certain commodities that change the mouse pointer in various ways. Particular older programs (eg. QMouse) is known to not handle this correctly. Try running without these programs.

1.9 Adding messages to the database is slow.

Several things can be done to speed this up:

• Turn off the "Add Users" option on the system in question in Systems Config -> Import/Export.
• Open the user database window and delete all the users you do not want in the database. Then select Maintenance in this same window.
• Set up more buffers and higher buffer size in Global Config -> Database options. 15 buffers on 15K is a good setting if you can afford to use that kind of memory.
• If you use XPK packing, turn off "Auto XPK packing" in Global Config -> Database options.

1.10 How to repair broken or damaged message databases.

If you experience problems adding messages to the database, reading messages or other related problems, follow these steps:

• Make sure you are not running THOR and flush the memory with the command "avail flush" from a shell.
• Run the program "basemanager" with the validate switch:
  

  bin/basemanager validate <systemname>

  eg. bin/basemanager validate "news&mail"

• Use the ARexx script "CheckDatabase.br" with the DELETE switch:

  rx rexx/bbsread/checkdatabase.br <systemname> DELETE

  eg. rexx/bbsread/checkdatabase.br "news&mail" DELETE

• Now, enter the conference with a problem with THOR and make sure you have the message list window open. Multiselect (with the shift key) all messages with "*BAD DATA*" or "Failed to get message data" and then select Delete msgs from the menu.
• When you have preformed the steps above, select "pack/purge" on this system from within THOR or use the "bin/packbbs" program.

1.11 How to snapshot the window positions.

Select "Visual Options" from the Configuration menu and then "Save".

1.12 XPK/DiskExpander problems

DiskExpander is very buggy and should not be used under any circumstances until it has been updated. AFAIK, the authors are "working" on fixing the known problems with DE.

XPK packing is supported directly in THOR, and this is more efficient than running THOR on a partition with XPK. However, there seem to be problems when using RAKE as compressior, but later NUKE versions has been tested and works fine. If you have a problem with RAKE or any other methods, NUKE is generally a good alternative.

1.13 Where to get the latest versions of THOR.

The latest versions and fixes can always be found for ftp at ftp://hstud6.cs.uit.no/pub/thor/, ftp://ftp.thule.no/pub/thor/ and on our mirror ftp site at ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/thor/thor/.

THOR World Wide Web site:http://www.thule.no/thor/

These sites might contain fixes, ARexx scripts etc. not released on Aminet.

1.14 What is the latest version of THOR?

THOR 2.4 is the latest version.

1.15 How do I save several messages in a single operation?

Open the message list window and select the messages to save with the mouse while holding the shift key in. Then select save from the menu and all the selected messages will be saved to the same file.

1.16 My list of events doesn't seem to clear.

Open the event edit window and check for events with FRZ and ERR in front of them. When these are gone (eg. deleted), the list will be cleared the next time you send events from ConnectTHOR.

1.16 I love Thor and I'd like to register it.

Thor has several registration sites, plus we now accept online registrations via First Virtual.

Norway

Europe

United Kingdom

USA

World

First Virtual

Internet

2.1 Password is not accepted at a POP host

There are several reasons why a password might be rejected at the POP host when trying to collect mail:

• You are trying to get mail from a server you do not have an account on.
• You have some special characters like *#? etc. in the password. Due to the way passwords are sent to GetTCP from ConnectTHOR, some of these special characters might be interpreted by AmigaDOS and changed. For instance, if you have a password with a '*' character in, make sure you pass in an extra '*'. Eg: "pass*word" becomes "pass**word".
  This problem was fixed in 2.3 of THOR
• You have a password longer than 8 characters. Many POP servers do not accept passwords of more than 8 characters.

2.2 ConnectTHOR still running after being closed with the close window gadget.

ConnectTHOR is a commodity and normal behaviour on commodities is to hide the program and not quit it when using the close gadget in the window.

If you want to quit ConnectTHOR, use the Quit menu item instead.

2.3 What is socket.library?

socket.library is originally a library included with AS225r2 beta, a TCP/IP stack made by Commodore but never released to the public. However, since this is a nice and easy TCP/IP stack and a lot of developers use it, the THOR TCP programs have been programmed to use it. If you use AmiTCP, like most do, you need the socket.library for AmiTCP that emulates the AS225r2 socket.library in a way that makes AS225r2 programs work. This library is included with Grapevine, the IRC client, and can also be found on ftp://hstud6.cs.uit.no/pub/thor.
Starting from THOR 2.3, the TCP modules do not need this library to work with AmiTCP.

2.4 "Could not open socket.library".

Your socket.library is not installed correctly. Do the following: - Assign inet: to Amitcp:, like this: "Assign inet: amitcp:" - Create a directory called "libs" in Amitcp: (if it doesn't exist already). - Copy socket.library to Amitcp:libs. - Setup the SOCKETCONFIG file in envarc:/env: as described in the socket.library documentation.

2.5 "domain name missing.." when sending mail.

Your socket.library is not correctly configured. Create a file in envarc: and env:. Here's my file: UID=100 GID=100 USER=pettern DOMAIN=icenet.no UMASK=002 Replace the USER with you username, and DOMAIN with your domain, and it should work fine.

2.6 Error message when trying to join a newsgroup.

Error message when trying to join a newsgroup: Failed to load the configuration datafiles. Error in dh1:thor/data/bbs0/PassConf.Data. Cause: Dos failure IoErr reports 103 This error messages means that you do not have enough continues memory to load the large list of newsgroups into memory.

2.7 Collecting mail with SMTPd instead of POP3.

Some Internet providers do not provide POP3 mail. Mail needs to me collected using a SMTP deamon in these cases, and the "Get Mail" function in ConnectTHOR can not be used. However, THOR will read mailboxes created by any SMTPd just fine if you follow these steps: - Set the download directory in Global Config->Paths to the directory where incoming mail is stored. - Set the Mailpacket name in Systems Config to the name of the mailbox that is created by SMTPd and save. THOR will now automatically import these mailboxes into its database when you enter the system configured for Internet. Installation of the SMTP deamon is beyond the scope of this FAQ, see the supplied documentation for the SMTPd in question for how to do this. INetUtils on Aminet includes a SMTPd that will work fine.

2.8 "Connection refused" when selecting "Get Mail".

See 2.1 and 2.7

2.9 How do a send a carbon copy of a mail to several users?

You can send a carbon copy of a mail to several users using one of the following methods: 1. In the to-address gadget, enter all addresses separated with a ',' (comma). 2. Use the popup gadget to select all the users from a list of users in the user database. 3. Enter at the very top of the message text a "Cc:" line containing the addresses of the users to send a carbon copy to. Example: Cc: user1,user2,user3

2.10 How do a get a list of newsgroups from the newsserver?

Select "Get Conf.List" from the Events menu, then select "Send Events" in ConnectTHOR and a list of newsgroups will be collected. This might take some time, so be patient.

2.11 "You must configure e-mail address for the system..."

If you get this message when sending mail, open the system configuration from THOR, select the system with the problem, then select the user info gadget. Enter your full email address in the email address field and select save. Try again.

2.12 The progressbar total counts down on newscollection.

You might notice that the total value in the progressbar on getting news counts down. This can be of various reasons, but the most normal reason is that an article is not available anymore on the newsserver due to cancellation. Another reason can be a short expire of articles on the server so that you do not have time to collect it before it's being deleted.

2.13 "441 400 No space (spool)" etc. error message

When ConnectThor or SendTCP gives you an error message like this, that means that your ISP has a full harddisk on their news server. A good idea then is to mail or phone them, or just to wait till the next day and hope that they have fixed it. All error messages starting with a number is from the mail or news server.

2.14 Slower getting news/mail on a custom screen whan on WB?

It doesn't make any difference for THOR if you get news/mail while running on Thor's screen or any other screen (like Workbench). If you notice a big difference in the speed, this is probably caused by DMA contention. This means that you are probably using a screenmode that requires more DMA "time" then on some other screen. Overscan can cause this, along with a high number of colours on the screen.