Simtel MSDOS 1992 September

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Text File | 1990-01-14 | 31KB | 581 lines

==================================================== How to set up Telix v3.12 and get the most out of it ==================================================== Version: 01-14-90 Copyright (c) 1990 by Jay Caplan. All Rights Reserved. This text is copyrighted material, however you are given permission to copy and distribute it, as long as it remains in its complete, original, unmodified form. Telix is Copyrighted by Exis Inc. I am writing this text in order to help you, the Telix v3.12 user, get the most out of this excellent program. I am the SYStem OPerator of The Consultant Bulletin Board System at 718-837-3236. We use a US Robotics Courier HST modem operating at 1200/2400/9600/14400 baud. You can always get the latest version of this file, along with Telix and other great Shareware programs, by calling my BBS. What you should do now ---------------------- 1) PRINT THIS TEXT OUT, so you can refer to it. 2) Take a look at the TELIX312.NEW file included in the TLX312-2 compressed distribution file. 3) Go into Telix, and bring up the configuration menu with ALT-O. 4) Change the settings as recommended below. Do NOT change the settings marked MNP ONLY, unless you have a MNP or high speed (9600+ baud) modem! See the section below on MNP. 5) Make sure to Write the settings to disk before exiting the configuration menu. 6) READ THE TELIX MANUAL! At least browse through it. I will refer to each sub-menu in the ALT-O configuration menu and the letters that refer to each option. If I don't refer to a particular sub-menu or option, then you should leave it as it is. Starting with a fresh copy of Telix v3.12 ----------------------------------------- I am assuming that you are starting with a fresh copy of Telix v3.12 that you haven't configured. If you have already changed some of the settings, then use DOS to REName the configuration file to another name. This will make Telix start with a fresh configuration. Use the following command to rename the Telix config file: REN TELIX.CNF TELIXCNF.OLD If you ever want to get your old configuration file back, just copy the TELIXCNF.OLD file to TELIX.CNF. Initial setup questions ----------------------- When you start Telix for the first time, or after RENaming the config file, then it will ask a few setup questions. When it asks for speed, enter 1200 for 1200 baud modems, 2400 for regular 2400 baud modems, 9600 for 2400 baud MNP modems, and 19,200 for USR HST modems. For Hayes 9600 baud modems, check your manual about recommended speed settings. I don't have one, but I would think it should also be set to 19,200. It will also ask for the comm. port you are using. Pick the one you think is correct. Later, you can change that if it isn't. About MNP and error-correcting modems ------------------------------------- Some of the configuration items depend on whether you have an error-correcting modem. These will be usually described as having MNP capability. If the modem is error-correcting, it will be clearly noted on the packaging and manual for it. If you don't see mention of MNP or LAP-M (Hayes) error-correction, then you most likely do NOT have MNP, and should NOT change the configuration items meant for MNP. If you do not have a MNP modem, then I strongly suggest that you get one. They offer two advantages: they filter out ALL line noise, so YOU won't have to "fight" it, and they can transfer files faster than normal modems. A good low cost MNP modem is the ATI 2400ETC. It now comes in internal and external versions. You should be able to get it for less than $200 (US). I've seen it advertised for between $144-169. I suggest you get the external version. The status lights of an external modem can be quite helpful in troubleshooting modem problems, and in general let you know what is going on with the modem. *** Now hit ALT-O to begin configuring Telix v3.12 *** Screen and color ---------------- These settings are all optional. If you have a CGA monitor and have 'snow' problems (screen flickers when displaying something), or if you are using a multi-tasking program, like Desqview, MS Windows, or DoubleDOS, you should change the setting under "Screen write mode". If you have an EGA or VGA monitor and want to use more than 25 lines per screen, then should change the setting under "Default screen size". As far as the colors, this is based on individual preferences. I like the following settings: Foreground: Light Grey Background: Blue Status line foreground: Blue Status line background: Light Grey Terminal options ---------------- Choice B: Try this little test to see if you have Choice B set to the right comm. port. Exit the setup menu by hitting the ESCape key. Hit ESCape again to come out of setup altogether. You should be now looking at a mostly blank screen. Type in "AT" and hit the ENTER key. The modem should display "OK" on your screen. If it does, then you have the right comm. port setting. If it does NOT, then you don't, and you need to change the port. Hit ALT-P and enter either "1" or "2" to change the current comm port used to the other one. Hit the ESCape key and try the "AT" command again. If it works, then hit ALT-O and and go back into the "Terminal options" set up menu and select Choice B to set the comm port correctly. If neither ports 1 or 2 work, try ports 3 or 4 using the above process. When done with this, make sure you hit ALT-O to go back into the setup menu, and then go into the "Terminal options" sub-menu to complete the configurations below. MNP ONLY: Choice J should be set OFF and Choice K should be set ON. MNP and high speed modems that operate at 9600 baud and above need to use CTS/RTS flow control. Choice M: If you use Compuserve, then leave this as it is. If you do NOT, then change it to OFF. The reason is that Compuserve uses the CONTROL-E char., which looks like the 'club character' on playing cards. If you call any BBSes that use this 'club character' on any of their graphic screens, then it will be 'gobbled up' by Telix and NOT displayed. By changing this to OFF, Telix will properly display it. General options --------------- Choice D: Leaving this on slows down Telix's operation. I find it unnecessary, since I generally know how much disk space is free. I suggest you turn this OFF. Choice E: Unless you have memorized the number of the dialing directory entry of every board you call, I suggest you turn this OFF. Choice G: I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU TURN THIS ON! This feature will keep track of almost everything you do while online to a BBS, and can come in quite handy. It will generate a file called TELIX.USE in the directory you have Telix in. This file will detail each BBS you call, when you began your call, when you ended your call, and what files you transferred. You can use this file to check against your telephone bill, and to determine from which BBS you got a particular file. Choice H: I suggest you set this to the maximum free RAM your machine has (up to 64k) while in Telix. To approximately determine this, do the following: 1) Exit out of the Configuration menu temporarily. 2) Hit ALT-J to shell out to DOS. 3) Run CHKDSK or any other program that reports on free RAM. 4) Take note of this, so you can use this figure. 5) Enter 'EXIT' to return to Telix. Now go back into the Configuration screen by hitting ALT-O. Go into the General options sub-menu and enter the amount of free RAM you just obtained, up to 64k. If the free RAM was less than 74k, then subtract 10k (for 'breathing room') in choice H. You can access the Scroll-back buffer in Telix by hitting ALT-B. The larger you make Choice H here, the more screens you can scroll back to. Choice I: I suggest you change this to 4k, the maximum for this setting. If you later find that Telix reports memory problems, then you can reduce this setting. It really won't affect you unless you use Telix's capture feature (ALT-L) alot. Modem and dialing ----------------- MNP ONLY: MNP and high speed modems (and many regular modems) can store all configuration options in their own memory. You can recall the memory settings to set the modem. Look in your modem manual on how to configure it. Many modems use ATZ to recall the configuration. If this is the case for your modem, then just use "ATZ~^M~" for Choice A: Properly configuring a MNP or high speed modem is VERY important! See Appendix A at the end of this document for some helpful hints. Choice A: Delete the first part of the string that looks like this: "ATZ^M~~~". All this is doing is resetting your modem to the factory default setting 1st, before the next part of the string, which sets up the modem. This is unnecessary, delete it. Do the following: 1) If you have Tone dialing, include this: "S11=55". This will greatly speed up the tone dialing rate. 2) Include this in the init string: "S7=255" The value of S7 will determine how many seconds the modem will wait for carrier (connection to another modem). Setting S7 to 255, the maximum, will let Telix decide when to give up on a connection. 3) The X parameter controls what messages your modem returns to Telix, and is used to detect when a line is busy, among other things. This value defaults to X1 when you start Telix for the first time. I suggest you change this to a higher X value, perhaps X3 or X4, because X1 will NOT return the BUSY message, and the redial function of Telix won't work! You can try X3 or X4, or to be certain, check your modem manual under the Commands section. For a reference of what the final init string could look like, here is one for Tone dialing with a regular modem: AT S11=55 S7=255 S0=0 V1 X4^M~ MNP ONLY: Not all BBSes have MNP modems. You can use Choices B: and C: to set up different dialing prefixes to handle BBSes with and without MNP modems. See Appendix B at the end of this document. Choice B: If you have Tone dialing, then leave it the way it is. If you have Pulse dialing (Rotary type dialing), then change this to "ATDP". Choice K: This setting depends on how long it takes your modem to dial the average number in your dial directory. If you have touch-tone, try setting it to between 30-40. If you have pulse-dial (old rotary type), then set it to between 45-55. You want to set it so that the phone could ring for at least 10 times before the time for this setting runs out, but not for too long a period of ringing. MNP ONLY: leave Choice M set to OFF. With MNP and high speed modems, you want to set the comm port speed (the speed you specify in the dial directory) to be set higher than the connect speed. With auto-baud on, it will adjust the comm port speed to match the connect speed. For MNP and high speed modems, you do NOT want that to happen. Set Choice M OFF! If you have a 2400 baud MNP modem, then set the speed for EVERY SINGLE dial directory entry to 9600 baud. If you have a HST modem, then set the speed to 19,200 baud. The modem will take care of negotiating the correct connect speed. Choice M: I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU TURN THIS ON! By turning ON Telix's Auto-baud detect feature, you can set the baud rate in the dialing directory entries to the highest your modem supports and let it and Telix figure out what baud rate to use! Filenames and paths ------------------- Choice A: You should define a sub-directory off of the one you run Telix out of, to hold all the files you download. Make SURE that you end the sub-directory specification with a \. If you don't, Telix will get confused. If you have a directory called "C:\TELIX" and you make a sub-directory off of it called "C:\TELIX\DOWNLOAD", then you would specify "C:\TELIX\DOWNLOAD\" for Choice A. Don't forget the trailing slash (\)! Choice B: If you want, you can specify an upload directory as well, and stick all the good files you want to upload to BBSes there. Otherwise, you will have to give the COMPLETE path along with the filename when uploading. If you specify this, then you will only have to give the filename. Choice H: I use this to 'Hot-Key' to my favorite file & directory viewing program. When you hit ALT-A while in Telix, the program (or batch file) specified here will be run. If you can't get your program to run, then you most likely don't have enough memory left to "shell" out to it. Try reducing the settings for Choices H and I under the General Options set up menu. Protocol options ---------------- Choice E: If you are running Telix off a floppy drive, then set this to 10k. If your hard disk is slow, or if you are using exTended memory, then leave this at the default, or set it even lower. If you are using a HD with no problems or exTended memory, then this setting is optional. I have it set to 10k. Choice H: I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU TURN THIS ON! The Crash Recovery feature of Zmodem is very useful and can save you time and money (for the connect charges). If you are downloading a file, and for some reason the download gets interrupted, then the next time you have a chance, you can request that the same file be sent, and Zmodem's Crash Recovery will pick up the transfer where it left off before!! Choice J: I suggest you set this OFF. Doing so will make Telix use 16 bit CRC error-checking, instead of 32 bit, and will very slightly speed up Zmodem transfers by reducing overhead. 16 bit error-checking is very reliable. That's it for the configuration settings. Now hit the ESCape key to return to the main setup menu. Hit "W" to Write these new settings to disk. This is VERY important. Obviously enough, if you don't save the settings, you will lose them. Now eXit Telix by hitting ALT-X, and then restart it. This will make sure that Telix is now using your new configuration settings. General Suggestions ------------------- 1) You should use Zmodem wherever possible. This is the FASTEST and most RELIABLE protocol available for regular modems. It handles errors BETTER than ANY protocol available, bar none! And if a Zmodem download gets aborted for some reason, you can simply log back onto the BBS, request the same file again, and the transfer will pick up where it left off. So, if your 200k download gets aborted at 190k, just have it resent, and Zmodem would only send the last 10k! - not the whole file again. This can $ave on long-distance BBS calls. ************************************************************************* * Telix features Zmodem auto-downloads. It will AUTOMATICALLY detect * * when a BBS is sending a file using Zmodem, pop up the file transfer * * window, and begin downloading! After telling the BBS what files you * * want, just sit back and let Telix take it from there; don't bother * * hitting PgDn or ALT-R. How's that for easy?! * ************************************************************************* MNP ONLY: You can use Ymodem-G to get even higher file transfer speeds than Zmodem. However, it has the worst error-handling of any protocol - is has NONE! It will CHOKE if it encounters even 1 error. Although MNP modems do correct for errors on the phone lines, errors can be introduced elsewhere, like on your computer or the BBS computer. For long-distance BBS calls, I suggest you use Zmodem whenever possible. If a BBS doesn't support Zmodem, then the next best one to use is Ymodem-Batch, and then Xmodem-1K (known as Ymodem by older comm. and BBS software). Xmodem is the SLOWEST protocol generally available. Make sure to set the default protocol that the BBS uses to the SAME one you USE. On PCBoard systems, this is done by entering 'T' at the BBS command prompt. BOTH you and the BBS MUST use the same protocol! 2) Use the log-on scripts that came with the Telix files. You can identify them by their .SLT extensions. They are easy to use and will automatically log you onto a BBS! Just bring them up in your favorite text editor. Note: don't use a word-processor unless it can do straight ASCII text without control characters (like WordPerfect and WordStar do.) There are simple instructions on what you need to modify. Basically, all you'll need to do is to insert your own name at the top of the script where its asked for. Also, you need to make SURE that you specify the password that you use for a BBS in its DIALING DIRECTORY ENTRY, not in the script. The script looks for it there when it's needed. After you have properly edited it, then you need to 'compile' it by running it thru the CS.EXE program included with Telix. Do it like this: CS script.slt where "script" is the name of the script you wish to compile for Telix. When CS is done, it will have created a file with a .SLC extension and the same name as your original .SLT script. This is the actual script (with the .SLC) you need to specify in the dialing directory entry for a BBS. You only need a different script for each TYPE of BBS you call. So, for ALL the PCBoard BBSes you call, you would specify the compiled PCBOARD.SLC script. The Telix files come with logon scripts for several popular BBS systems. Just look at the first part of the name of the .SLT file to identify which system it is for. Included in the TLXSET03 compressed file this text came in are three scripts: RBBS.SLT, DBBS.SLT, and MENU.SLC. The first two are for logging on to BBSes and need to be compiled with the CS.EXE program. The MENU.SLC script is pre-compiled and ready to go. 3) Use the MENU.SLC script. Whenever Telix is started with a script file on the command line, it will BYPASS the opening screen! The MENU.SLC script, when used on the command line to start Telix, will BOTH bypass the opening screen, AND bring up the dialing directory. There is NO reason to illegally patch the Telix file. Just use the MENU.SLC script! If you don't have the MENU.SLC file, here's the source for the MENU.SLT file. After creating it, you need to use CS to compile it to the MENU.SLC file: MENU.SLT --------------------- (of course don't include these dotted lines!) main() { dial(); } --------------------- 4) Start Telix with a batch file. Put the batch file somewhere on your DOS PATH, so you could start it from anywhere. I use a batch file called T.BAT. It simply changes to the Telix directory on my HD, and then starts Telix with the MENU.SLC script. It could be written as follows. Modify it to suit your purposes: T.BAT --------------------- echo off cls c: cd\telix telix Smenu.slc --------------------- You must put a "S" immediately before any script that you start on the Telix command line. Now, all you have to do is enter "T" to start Telix from anywhere on your hard disk. *** Well, that's it. Good luck and happy BBSing! *** Appendix A - configuring a MNP or high speed modem ---------------------------------------------------- The proper configuration for your MNP or high speed modem is very important. If it is set wrong, you will have problems, such as transferring files, and will most likely not get the best speed when doing file transfers. Most BBSes have help files and even programs and Telix scripts to set up MNP and high speed modems. I have seen set up files for the USR HST and ATI 2400ETC modems. Look in the communications file directory of your favorite BBS for setup programs for these or other brands of MNP and high-speed modems. To configure the modems settings stored in its memory, bring up Telix. If you are in the dialing dir., leave it and return to the blank terminal screen. Enter "ATE1" so you can see what you type to your modem. The modem should respond "OK" after any AT command sent to it. If it doesn't, your modem may be set to the wrong comm. port, or it may be malfunctioning. Generally, you want to make sure that: 1) The modem will lock in the DTE speed (the comm. port speed). On both the USR HST and the ATI 2400ETC, this is the &B1 parameter. Enter "AT&B1" If you have a different brand of MNP or high-speed modem, check the manual under the "commands" section about this. You MUST lock in the DTE speed. In the dialing directory entries for the BBSes you call, enter 9600 baud for EVERY entry if you have a 2400 baud MNP modem. If you have a USR HST, enter 19,200 baud for every entry. 2) that the Carrier Detect line is NOT being forced high. Generally, the CD line can be set to follow the TRUE state by entering the "AT&C1" command. 3) that the Data Terminal Ready (DTR) or sometimes (TR) is NOT being forced high. Generally, the DTR (or TR) line can be set to follow the true state with the "AT&D2" command. 4) that hardware flow control is ENABLED. For the USR HST, this is done with "AT&H1" and "AT&R2" for transmit and receive hardware flow control. For the ATI 2400ETC, its "AT&K3" for both transmit and receive flow control. If you have another modem brand, then check the manual under flow control (both transmit and receive) to find out what the proper settings are. This is IMPERATIVE! Without the proper flow control settings, your MNP or high speed modem will NOT function properly. 5) that the error-control mode is selected. For the USR HST, this is set with "AT&M4". For the ATI 2400ETC, its "AT&Q5" (its true that the newer ATI 2400ETC modems have v42, and you would select Q6 to select v42, but Q5 forces MNP mode, which is more efficient than a LAP-M connect for compressed file transfers.) 6) that MNP level 5 data compression is DISABLED. It is LESS efficient to try to compress already compressed BBS files, than to not compress them at all. MNP level 5 will attempt compression, and so should be disabled. This means MNP level 4 will be used. For the USR HST, disable this with the "AT&K0" parameter. For the newer ATI 2400ETC modems with v42, it is disabled with the "AT&U0" parameter. For the older ATI 2400ETC modems, you can't disable MNP level 5. 7) that you save these settings! For the USR HST, you can use "ATI4" to see the settings currently in the modem's memory. Use "AT&W" to save the current settings. For the ATI 2400ETC, use "AT&V" to view the current settings, and "AT&W0" or "AT&W1" to save the settings to memory #0 or #1. Make sure that with the ATI, you also set "AT&Y0" or "AT&Y1" to set which memory gets recalled on power up. If you use ATZ in the modem init string, make sure to specify "ATZ0" or "ATZ1" to reset the modem with the right memory area. I would just use memory #0. If you have a brand not mentioned here, consult the manual to determine the proper commands to recall and set the current settings. Appendix B - using different dialing prefixes --------------------------------------------- If you have a MNP capable modem, then you have to deal with both BBSes that have them, and those that don't. If you have your modem configured so that it always looks for a MNP connection, then it will take several seconds to connect to a non-MNP modem, and it will "swallow" (and not display) the first several characters. On a PCBoard system, it will usually "swallow" the "Do you want ANSI graphics" prompt. Your MNP modem is doing this because its trying to negotiate a MNP connection with the other modem. If you KNOW that the BBS you're calling does NOT have a MNP modem, then you should turn OFF the attempt to make a MNP connection. This is how you should handle this: The default dialing prefix is 1, which is set by Choice B on the "Modem and dialing" set up menu. You should configure this to tell your modem to try for a MNP connect. For the USR HST, set the prefix to "AT&M4DT" (DT for touch-tone, DP for pulse-dial). For the ATI 2400ETC, set Choice B to "AT&Q5DT". For another brand of modem, consult with your modem manual in the commands section to see what setting turns ON the MNP negotiation. Use dialing prefix 1 for ALL boards you call initially. If, after you call the board, you see that you aren't getting a MNP connection (the modem would indicate 2400/ARQ or 2400/MNP or 9600/ARQ, etc. or the BBS would tell you it detected an error-correcting modem), then the BBS most likely doesn't have a MNP capable modem on the phone number you called. So, you should use dialing prefix 2. You can Edit the entry for the board in your dialing directory. The second to last entry in the edit screen allows you to select the dialing prefix. Dialing prefix 2 is Choice C on the "Modem and dialing" set up menu. You want to configure this to NOT try for a MNP connection. For the USR HST, use "AT&M0DT". For the ATI 2400ETC, use "AT&Q0DT". For another brand of modem, consult the modem manual under the commands section to see what setting turns OFF the MNP negotiation.