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╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ FIRST THINGS FIRST - READ THE FILE WARNING.TXT BEFORE PROCEEDING! ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ┌╦══╦┐ ┌╦══╦┐ ┌╦═══╦┐ │╠══╩╗┐│╠══╩╗┐└╩═══╦┐ └╩═══╩┘└╩═══╩┘└╩═══╩┘ ┌╦ ╦┐┌═╤╦╤═┐┌═╤╦╤═┐┌╔ ┌═╤╦╤═┐┌═╤╦╤═┐┌╔═══╦┐┌╔═══╦┐┌════╦┐ │║ ║│ │║│ │║│ │║ │║│ │║│ │╬══ │╬══ ┌─╔═╝─┘ └╩═══╩┘ ╧╩╧ └═╧╩╧═┘└╩═══╩┘└═╧╩╧═┘ ╧╩╧ └╩═══╩┘└╩═══╩┘└╚════┘ ┌╦═══╦┐┌╦═══╦┐┌╔═══╦┐┌═╤╦╤═┐┌╦ ╦┐┌╦═══╦┐┌╦═══╦┐┌╔═══╦┐ └╩═══╦┐│║ ║││╬══ │║│ │║ ╦ ║│├╬═══╬┤│╠══╦╩┘│╬══ └╩═══╩┘└╩═══╩┘└╩ ╧╩╧ └╩═╩═╩┘└╩ ╩┘└╩ ╚═┘└╩═══╩┘ <tm> A Subsidary Of LA-Soft ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── MAXterm ß2.01 The Original MAX Graphics Compatible Terminal Program Copyright 1995-Current * Larry L. Athey * BBS Utiliteez Software ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ╔══ ╦═╗ ╔═╗ ╦═╗ ╦ ╦ ╦ ╔═╗ ╔═╗ ▀▀ ▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ║ ╦ ╠╦╝ ╠═╣ ╠═╝ ╠═╣ ║ ║ ╚═╗ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ╚═╝ ╩╚═ ╩ ╩ ╩ ╩ ╩ ╩ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ v2.01 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The Universal Multimedia Interface For BBS Software Copyright 1995-Current * Larry L. Athey * BBS Utiliteez Software ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Information Regarding MAX Graphics: ─────────────────────────────────── Notice is hereby given that the MAXscript/MAXcontrol/MAXcolor language, and MAXterm are products of BBS Utiliteez Software and are protected by US copyrights listed with the US Library Of Congress (1996).... No changes, additions, subtractions, or other modifications shall be made to MAXscript/MAXcontrol/MAXcolor language or the MAX Graphics development kit without express written permission from Larry L. Athey, BBS Utiliteez Software, Alliance, Nebraska, USA.... The MAXscript/MAXcontrol/MAXcolor language may be used in any BBS or Door software 100% royalty free. You are also allowed to implement full local graphics viewing in any BBS or Door software 100% royalty free. However, any program that uses the MAXscript/MAXcontrol/MAXcolor language *MUST* bear the MAX Graphics/BBS Utiliteez Software copyright notice.... Example: MAX Graphics and the MAXscript/MAXcontrol/MAXcolor language is (C) 1995-Current * Larry L. Athey * BBS Utiliteez Software Disclaimer: ─────────── MAX Graphics, MAXscript/MAXcontrol/MAXcolor and MAXterm are by no means copies of, or otherwise plagiarized remote graphics methods used by any other BBS software. Even though MAXterm responds to a few commands used by RIPscrip and other RIP capable BBSes, this is by no means any kind of a copyright infringement of the RIP technology. If it was, then I'm sure that Pat Clawson of TeleGrafix would have notified me by now.... Yes, there are some similarities between MAX Graphics and some other BBS graphical user interfaces, yet this is still not any kind of a copyright infringement either. Since I have ran about every graphical BBS out there from DOS to Windows platforms, I'm bound to create things in the image of my own memory. Even the authors of other graphical BBS packages have told me where they got their ideas....Other graphical BBS packages....So don't worry if someone tells you "Gee, your BBS looks a lot like Shotgun BBS or RoboBOARD/FX", all similarities if any are 100% within copyright laws.... ....End of disclaimer.... ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Guarantee: ────────── Ha Ha Ha Ha....Guarantee? Okay, if this program breaks, I guarantee that you get to keep both pieces....How's that? :) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The Contributors: ───────────────── This is a list of people who contributed to the cause of beta testing the MAX Graphics related programs and the TDK door development kit. Although there were more people who applied to be beta testers, most of these beta sites never posted anything in the support echo, so I don't consider them to have made any contribution to the cause. But, these people stood by me and my efforts without a single sour word, and never threw in the towel.. Many people apply to be a beta tester for new programs and never think of the qwerks involved in testing untested software. So they quickly give up and avoid beta testing like the plague. Beta testing requires a person to do nearly as much work (if not actually more) as the programmer themself. Programs can't evolve without testers actually running the program and at least trying to make it work even with the bugs in it. True beta testers don't seem to know the meaning of the phrase "I give up", and that's what makes being a program author worth while. I couldn't give a damn if I get one more program registration in my life, so long as there are dedicated common sense thinking people like this standing by you, it's worth while! Let's here it for the people that refused to say "I give up"! Name: BBS: Phone: ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Brad Larned (1:205/400) The Fresno Online BBS 209-276-3657 Sean Price (1:205/46) Sanctuary From The Law BBS 619-377-3611 Chris Martin (1:219/308) The Mars Station BBS 760-254-3012 Bob Wingender (1:284/11) The Oak Tree BBS 417-581-0868 Chet Rhodes (1:151/124) Hawkmoon's Realm 919-556-8363 Larry Thrasher (1:3612/650) The Night Thrasher BBS 904-937-9144 Thomas Wells (1:3621/1) Renegade's Hideout 615-326-5597 Timothy Barney (1:2622/3) The Gravel Pit 814-942-1552 Cliff Williams (1:112/124) The City Of Thought 904-645-8850 Jon Parise (1:2606/421) Infinite Twilight 908-637-8243 Arthur Stark (1:395/670) Top's Diamond Mine 254-542-8783 Ronald Schlegel (1:110/1065) Dynasty BBS 937-258-1030 David Raasch (1:280/285) Let It Shine Online! 816-461-2290 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── NOTE: These names appear in no particular order, they are only listed here as the names appear in my MAX Graphics area message base.... ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── One Quick Note Before We Start: ─────────────────────────────── I'm going to apologize ahead of time in case any part of this documentation seems kind of vague. I'm a programmer, not a teacher, so all I can do is my best. Plus, it appears that there is a world wide campaign to abolish the reading of any and all documentation, so I really don't spend a whole heck of a lot of time writing any documentation any more. If for some reason you can't understand what a certain feature does by reading this document, all I can suggest is that you tinker around with that feature for a while until you understand what it's actually doing. Hands on experience is always the best teacher and most effective way of learning something new.... ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── System Requirements: ──────────────────── IBM or compatible PC with a 386 or better (Preferably Better) CPU. MAXterm has been tested on as small as a 386/SX40 and as high as a Pentium 133. If you are running a 386, you can expect MAXterm to run a little slow, sorry. DOS 3.0 or greater, no special operating system required. This program will also run perfectly in a DOS session under MS Windows or OS/2 as well. 480K (or greater) free conventional memory. 1 Meg (or greater) free XMS or EMS memory. SVGA video card with at least 1 Meg of video RAM. If your video chipset on your video card is not directly supported by this program, you will need to make sure your video card is at least VESA compatible. If your video card does not have an on board VESA BIOS, you will need to load the VESA driver TSR that came with your computer or video card before running this program. Keep in mind that running MAXterm in generic VESA mode will result in slow performance. Configuring your video card's chipset is done through the MAXVIDEO.CFG file, which is a plain text file with the video chipset ID number on the first line of the file. Below is a list of the supported chipsets and their ID numbers: ID - Video Chipset Brand/Series ──────────────────────────────────────── 0 - Attempt To Auto Detect Chipset 1 - Generic VESA Support 2 - Ahead A series 3 - Ahead B series 4 - ATI 18800 5 - ATI 18800-1 6 - ATI 28800/38800/68800/88800 7 - Chips & Technologies 82c451/455/456 8 - Chips & Technologies 82c452 9 - Chips & Technologies 82c453 10 - Genoa 6000 series 11 - Oak OTI-067 12 - Paradise PVGA1a 13 - Paradise WD90C00/WD90C10 14 - Paradise WD90C11/30/31/33 15 - Trident 8800 series 16 - Trident 8900/9000 series 17 - Tseng ET3000 series 18 - Tseng ET4000 series 19 - Video7 20 - Cirrus Logic 5400 series 21 - S3 22 - NCR 77C22/77C32 23 - Oak OTI-077 24 - Oak OTI-087 25 - Type 25 (Reserved) 26 - Cirrus Logic 6400 series 27 - Advance Logic 2000 series If you select ID #0 and get nothing but garbage when you fire up MAXterm, this usually means that MAXterm could not detect your video chipset, nor could it auto detect VESA compatibility either. If you have also tried to load a VESA driver TSR in advance and are still having no luck, you will need to force VESA support ON by placing a number 1 on the first line of the MAXVIDEO.CFG file. If this still doesn't work, it is obvious that the MAXterm program will not work with your video card. In this event, please send me the specifications on your video card so I can see if there is a chance that direct support can be added for it. You will need to have shareware or registered copies of ARJ, LHA, PKWARE, and RAR archivers on your system located in your "Archiver Path" in MAXterm. If you don't have any of these, you will need to get them before you can run this program. If these utilities do not exist in your Archiver Path you will not be able to unpack or re-package graphics resource packages. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── F.Y.I.: ─────── One thing to keep in mind about MAXterm is that its original intention was to be an external protocol, rather than a complete terminal program. Most people are too fond of their existing ANSI terminal program to part with it which is why MAXterm doesn't have all the bells and whistles of other programs. If the terminal program you use has the capability to run external protocols, or run external script/batch files, you would be wiser to strip MAXterm down and run it that way instead. See "COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS" for more information.... My priorities are the advancement and development of the MAX script language interpreter, MAXpaint, TDK (The MAX Graphics Door Development Kit) and my BBS package Max-Menu (FS). MAXterm in my opinion is merely a utility, it is by no means meant to be a competitor/replacement for the more popular ANSI terminal programs out there today. MAXterm is only intended to be a compact and basic online MAX script language interpreter which requires the absolute minimum of memory and does not require a hot rod system to operate. There is no need to send me messages telling me that MAXterm is limited....It's suppose to be.... On the other hand, if you are a Pascal programmer and are interested in going to work on an advanced version of MAXterm, I can make special arrangements to make the MAXterm units outside of the commercial units available to you.... ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Installation: ───────────── Before this program can continue installing, you will need to know a few things about your system in advance. First of all, the default archiving method used by MAX products is PKZIP, you will need to know the path to PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE ahead of time. If these already exist in your DOS path, the installation program will automatically find them for you. You will also need to know the comport number and IRQ that your modem is attached to. This program will default to UART communications as well as to a 38400 baud locked port speed. You can change these settings to suit your system as needed. Lastly, if you have a "SoundBlaster" compatible sound card installed you will need to know the port hex address, IRQ, and DMA channel of the card as well. This information is usually available in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, or if you run MS Windows, check the "Control Panel" settings for your sound card to obtain this information. To continue, simply copy the contents of this archive to any directory of your choice. Run SETUP.EXE with no parameters and the program will do all of the work for you, and be sure to follow *ALL* on screen instructions!! Repeat this process when upgrading from a previous version of MAXterm.... Installation Problems: ────────────────────── Major changes have been made from MAXterm v1.XX to MAXterm v2.XX, and the installation procedure is one of the major changes. A lot of sysops, web masters, and CD-ROM manufacturers process files with "Upload Processors" and there are quite a few of them that think it's wise to convert any and all internal archives to their favorite archive format. BZZZT!!!...NOT!!! This was causing problems with people trying to install MAXterm and then being blasted with messages saying that the program couldn't find any of the icon libraries because the person they got it from converted the file DEFAULT.PKG to DEFAULT.ZIP or some other archive format. MAXterm is fully dependent on the SETUP.EXE to install the program, and now file names and their CRC32 values are verified to prevent any possible tampering. So now you can rest assured that when you install MAXterm, you will always have an authentic installation archive. The only way to assure that SETUP.EXE is authentic is to get your MAXterm archive directly from the author, but hopefully people will find better things to do than to tamper with that.. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Program Tips and Troubleshooting: ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Windows 95 Tips, From The Explorer: ─────────────────────────────────── 1. Open Explorer 2. Find the DOS file executable you are interested in. In this case that would be MAXTERM.EXE (or MAXPAINT.EXE) 3. Right click one time on the *.EXE and a quick menu will open up. 4. At the bottom will be an option called "Properties". Left click it. 5. A menu set with tabs at the top will pop up. The default one is the "General" menu. Beside it is one called "Program", left click it. 6. At the bottom of this screen is a button labelled "Advanced". Left click it. 7. There will be 3 items highlighted on this page. Click on the one that says "Prevent MS-DOS-based programs from detecting Windows." 8. Be sure to set your idle sensitivity as far to the left as possible. 9. Click OK to exit....You are done.... Windows 95 Tips, From A Desktop Shortcut: ───────────────────────────────────────── 1. Right click on the desktop shortcut for the program in question. (If you haven't made one already then you can perform the following steps during the shortcut setup). 2. At the bottom of the quick menu that will appear will be an option labelled "Properties". Left click it. 3. This menu will default to the "Program" tab. (note: the "General" tab is not available from the desktop icon.) 4. Go to step 6 above and contine. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Modem Initialization: ───────────────────── Please do "NOT" rely on the default modem settings created when you install MAXterm, this is just a "Get By" set up. There is no such thing as a global compatible modem setup, so please read your modem's manual to find out what your actual initialization string is. The AT&F&C1&D2H0W2S95=2 is nothing more than a generic modem init string to tell a modem to kick back the actual connect rate, rather than your locked port speed when you call a BBS. Your modem may or may not require it, also, it is most likely that your modem will require more commands. This is just here to make sure the MAXterm uses the actual connect speed for calculating transfer times in uploads and downloads. Also, some modems have this feature (?) that makes it kick back a "RINGING" when waiting for a BBS to answer. This may interfere with the operation of MAXterm when dialing because the "RING" part of "RINGING" might be mistaken for an incoming call and may cause MAXterm to abort the dialing screen...If your modem does this, please refer to your manual to see what command will disable this feature in order to remedy the problem. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ANSI Emulation: ─────────────── On some slower systems (386/SX Models) you will notice the ANSI emulation in SVGA mode is extremely slow. This isn't a bug or a shortcoming in MAXterm, it's merely a side effect of trying to make SVGA graphics do something that it was never intended to do. In graphics mode, fonts don't have a background color, so the program first needs to block out the character space with the current ANSI background color, then plot the letter over top of that block.. This is where the system drag comes from.... If you are using a slower machine, or if you have an older SVGA video card, you will want to set the ANSI emulation selection in your dialing directory entries to "Text Mode". This will force MAXterm to switch all the way back to text mode when a BBS or a BBS door jumps into ANSI mode. While in text mode ANSI, MAXterm will look like any other ANSI terminal and will totally eliminate the drag associated with ANSI and SVGA graphics. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Special Batch Files: ──────────────────── MAXterm makes use of four special batch files to handle specific functions that you can customize. These batch files are listed below as well as their purpose and how MAXterm executes them. These batch files are also created automatically by SETUP.EXE if they do not currently exist. BROWSER.BAT - Any time MAXterm receives the HTML_Browser() command, this batch file is called with the name of an HTML file on the command line. The HTML file will have to exist in MAXterm's \SESSION\ subdirectory. Example: BROWSER.BAT C:\MAXTERM\SESSION\FILENAME.HTM TEXTEDIT.BAT - If you select "1 TEXTEDIT.BAT" from the "Other Stuff" menu in MAXterm, this batch file is executed with the path & file name to edit. You will be prompted to enter the file name in MAXterm before this batch file is called. Example: TEXTEDIT.BAT C:\BBS\MAX\FILENAME.MAX SCRNVIEW.BAT - If you select "2 SCRNVIEW.BAT" from the "Other Stuff" menu in MAXterm, this batch file is executed with the path to the \SESSION\ subdirectory on the command line as well as a file name to view. You would put a MAX Graphics screen file viewer executable in this batch file. Example: SCRNVIEW.BAT C:\MAXTERM\SESSION\ C:\BBS\MAX\?.MAX ICONEDIT.BAT - If you select "3 ICONEDIT.BAT" from the "Other Stuff" menu in MAXterm, this batch file is executed with the path to the \SESSION\ subdirectory on the command line. You would put a MAX Graphics icon editor executable in this batch file that expects a path to resources on the command line. Example: ICONEDIT.BAT C:\MAXTERM\SESSION\ Other Batch Files: ────────────────── MYARC.BAT MYUNARC.BAT - These batch files are used to call a custom archiver of your choice, these batch files can actually be named anything you wish. Both of these batch files are called from the \SESSION directory and the current PKG file in use is passed as the first command line parameter, "> NUL" is the second parameter which is used to suppress direct screen output. UPLOAD.BAT DOWNLOAD.BAT - These batch files are used to call custom upload/download protocols. These batch files are called with no parameters whatsoever, so you may wish to obtain a program to read the :\MAXTERM\SESSION\MAXINFO.DEF drop file before this batch file is called. There are simply too many different types of protocol drivers out there to add specific command line parameters. These batch files are also only called when the program is in "Text" ANSI mode. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Remote MAX Detection: ───────────────────── If you call a BBS that happens to be running a lot of MAX compatible doors, and the door cannot detect MAX capabilities in your terminal program, there are a couple things that will cause this. First of all, the speed of your computer. If your computer takes more time to save the screen and fire up the ANSI emulation window than it takes for the BBS or BBS door to start up, then you need a faster computer. You can't expect MAXterm to work correctly on some old 386/SX20, simply because those computers were never designed to handle multimedia applications. Secondly, the sysop of the BBS you are calling could very well have some kind of an error in their configuration. A lot of times this error can be caused by something as simple as the sysop not having enough delay in the program startup/detection, or an error in their program's comport settings. You will have to work with your sysop to find the root of the problem, it is usually just a simple oversight that needs to be corrected. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Command Line Parameters: ──────────────────────── MAXterm can be used in conjunction with any other terminal program that will allow you to drop to DOS, run external scripts, or run external batch files. You may wish to strip MAXterm down if this is how you intend to run it. Only the files that start with MAX (ie: MAX*.*) need to be kept. By stripping it down, MAXterm will occupy about 250K of drive space. However, depending on the systems you call, it can occupy more space when the systems you call automatically update your graphics resources. Good thing the resources are stored in compressed format eh? :) To start up MAXterm already online, use the following command line: MAXTERM.EXE ONLINE [Dialing Directory Entry Number] Or: MAXTERM.EXE ONLINE 10 (For BBS #10 in your dialing directory) The reason for the "Dialing Directory Entry Number" is because the BBS you're calling may have a specific resource package that needs to be unpacked first. This also automatically assigns your name and password for that system to the F9 and F10 keys. If no entry is specified, DEFAULT.PKG will be used instead, but MAXterm will not repack the resources upon exiting. There is also an alternative to using the dialing directory entry number on the command line. You may also use the first 8 letters of the file name of the graphics resource package you wish to unpack. Some people find this to be easier to remember than the dialing directory entry number. Example: MAXTERM ONLINE MYBBS (Forces MAXterm to use MYBBS.PKG) Unfortunately this method has a drawback. With this method, you cannot send your name and password using the F9 and F10 keys. This method also disables the "MAX Auto-Logon" feature that may be supported by some BBS packages. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Special Note: ───────────── Even though MAXterm is not RIP compatible, it does rely on two RIP commands for screen clearing, and for flipping the program between ANSI and Graphics modes. If you enter a BBS or a Door that detects RIP and locks itself into RIP mode, you won't see anything on your screen. To get around this problem, there is a function assigned to the F2 key that toggles the program's "RIP Fake Mode". Toggling this to "OFF" tells MAXterm not to send the RIPSCRIP015400 back to the host system when it receives the ESC[! command that detects RIP capabilities in your terminal program. MAXterm also has the capability to fake out BBS/Door programs that query the remote for RIP icon files. Since MAXterm makes no use of RIP icons, it will tell a BBS/Door program that the icons actually do exist so long as the "RIP Fake Mode" is activated. This is done because there is no reason for MAXterm to take the time to download icons that it won't read anyway. If you are unsure about whether a BBS or a Door supports MAX Graphics, call the BBS in normal ANSI mode and ask the SysOp what percentage of their BBS is MAX compatible. If no part of their system is MAX compatible, you might want to upload a copy of the MAXterm program to them so they can see all of the advantages it has over their existing RIP interface. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── F-Keys In MAXterm: ────────────────── F1 - Pops up the F-Key help menu. F2 - Toggles the "RIP Fake" mode on and off. F3 - Drops carrier and stays in terminal mode. F4 - Drops carrier and exits terminal mode. F5 - Pops up the upload queue menu. F6 - Pops up the download menu. F7 - Pops up the ASCII upload menu. F8 - Performs a shell to DOS. F9 - Sends the name stored in the current dialing directory entry. F10 - Sends the password stored in the current dialing directory entry. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SysOp Tips: ─────────── You may customize the MAXterm archive to suit your BBS, the only required files in the MAXterm archive are SETUP.EXE, and MXT.RES, You may actually add other files to this archive as well so users will always have all of the required resources for your BBS, and so your BBS number automatically appears in the user's dialing directory. To make your BBS number automatically appears in the dialing directory you simply place a copy of the MAXPHONE.DIR in your MAXterm archive. All you do is fire up MAXterm, create a dialing directory for your BBS, save your changes, then exit the program. Copy the file MAXPHONE.DIR to a temporary directory on your hard drive containing SETUP.EXE, and MXT.RES, and then make an archive of the files. When the user installs MAXterm, the custom dialing directory will be used instead the the one SETUP.EXE creates. To add your resources to the program, make sure that the dialing directory entry you created shows any Board ID other than "DEFAULT", and then create an archive (preferably ZIP format) containing all of your resources using the file extension ".PKG" (ie: MYBBS.PKG). Place this file as well as the files SETUP.EXE, MXT.RES, and MAXPHONE.DIR in any temporary directory and make an archive of all of them. Changes from MAX v1.XX to v2.XX: ──────────────────────────────── If you have done this in the past with any 1.XX versions of MAXterm, you probably just added all of your resources to the DEFAULT.PKG file. Due to problems encountered with this technique, DEFAULT.PKG is now a permanent archive and its CRC32 value is always checked to prevent tampering. This is also done to insure that when any of the ICON_LIB.* icons are updated, MAXterm will always display the correct icons. Now when MAXterm unpacks its resources, it first unpacks the resources for your BBS, indexes all of the resources, then unpacks the DEFAULT.PKG file to make sure all of the correct default icons exist. In programs such as MAXupdate, LaunchPad, and any other program that has built in MAXterm resource updating, you already know that these programs originally sent a MAXTERM.EXE and MAXTERM.OVR to the caller when it had detected an outdated version of MAXterm. This has changed in v2.XX, you now send the caller a SETUP.EXE and MXT.RES instead. This was changed in order to *Attempt* to overcome botched terminal updates. Now when MAXterm finds a MXT.RES file in its download directory, it will create a flag on the hard drive indicating that the program needs to be updated before it will run. If MAXterm sees the file C:\MAXTERM\UPDATE.FLG upon startup, it will halt with an error message on the screen telling the caller to run the SETUP.EXE located in their download directory. MAXterm will also exit with this same error message after the carrier is lost to make sure the user doesn't attempt to call back with the outdated version of MAXterm... Pseudo Network Spool Connections: ───────────────────────────────── MAXterm has a new feature that allows you to test MAX compatible BBS doors locally on your machine complete with local SVGA graphics. This requires a multi-tasker of some kind such as Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or OS/2. You'll need to create a dialing directory entry that has no phone number in it so MAXterm will know that it is suppose to use the spool connection. What you do is first start up the door in one DOS session instructing it to use the spool connection and point it to the :\MAXTERM\SPOOL\ path, then start up MAXterm in another DOS session, select the dialing directory entry for the spool, and then click on the "Dial" button. That's all there is to it.... MAXterm Plug-Ins: ───────────────── There is also an archive available that contains a MAX screen file viewer and a MAX icon editor. The file naming convention for this is MXT_P###.* where the ### is the current version. The programs contained in the archive are automatically called by the SCRNVIEW.BAT and ICONEDIT.BAT batch files that MAXterm creates upon installation. This archive also contains a full MAX command/implementation reference file as well.... ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The MAXINFO.DEF Drop File: ────────────────────────── When a BBS or a door send the MAXecute command to your terminal program, it will create a special drop file for the MAXecutable program to read...Below is a line by line definition of the MAXINFO.DEF system drop file: 1. The user's name stored in the current dialing directory entry. 2. The user's password stored in the current dialing directory entry. 3. Use SoundBlaster: "TRUE" or "FALSE" (without quotes). 4. Current .PKG file name in use with no .PKG extension. 5. Program upload path. 6. Program download path. 7. System archiver path. 8. System default archiver (1=ZIP, 2=LHA, 3=ARJ, 4=RAR, 5=Custom). 9. Custom archiver batch file name. 10. Custom unarchiver batch file name. 11. Custom external protocol upload batch file name. 12. Custom external protocol download batch file name. 13. Current comport in use (1 to 8). 14. Current comport hex address (0 for standard address). 15. Current comport IRQ (0 for standard IRQ). 16. Current comm device (1=UART, 2=Fossil, 3=DigiBoard). 17. Current comport port speed (ie: locked port rate). 18. Current connection speed (ie: caller's actual baud rate). 19. Current comport input buffer size in bytes. 20. Current comport output buffer size in bytes. 21. Using hardware flow control: "TRUE" or "FALSE" (without quotes). 22. Modem initialization string #1. 22. Modem initialization string #2. 22. Modem initialization string #3. 23. Modem answer string. 24. Modem on hook string. 25. Modem off hook string. 26. Modem dialing string. For more information on MAXecutables, please pick up a copy of The DoorKit or otherwise known as "TDK". It is available on most BBSes and CD-ROMS as well as a few random places on the internet. The file naming convention is TDK_V###.RAR or whatever archive format it has been converted to. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Questions & Answers: ──────────────────── Q: For some reason I can't get MAXterm to display on my screen normally, sometimes it displays appearing to be all scrunched up at the top of the screen, and other times I just get garbage. How do I fix it? A: Look at the list of supported chipsets in MAXTERM.DOC, if your video chipset is listed, edit the file MAXVIDEO.CFG with a text editor and put your chipset's ID number on the first line. If it isn't listed, then you should put a number 1 in there to tell the program that you wish to use generic VESA compatibility. The drawback to using generic VESA support is that it is slower than direct chipset support, but it will still allow MAXterm to work on nearly every video card out there. Q: Why is it that if I am running MAXterm in a DOS session under OS/2 and use the ALT-ESC to switch windows, it sometimes locks up MAXterm or it just screws up the display? A: That's just the nature of OS/2, Windows will do the same thing. Unless an SVGA program is written to use the operating system's actual desktop and resources, you will run into problems when switching sessions. What is happening is that the operating system is resetting the video DAC's (What holds the current color palette settings) for the new session and not setting it back to the MAX palette settings when returning. You may notice that other SVGA programs do not do this and the reason for that is because they are using your video card's default palette. To reset the program to the MAX palette, simply drop to DOS and then return.... Q: For some reason I seem to have a problem getting MAXterm to work with the SIO fossil driver under OS/2. I can connect to a BBS and if they are running the MAXupdate program, it can't detect my resources right and auto Zmodem downloads don't seem to work. Any suggestions? A: Yes, set your terminal to use UART instead of Fossil. I'm still trying to figure out what the problem is with MAXterm and SIO. I had the same problem with RoboBOARD's FX-Term and Shotgun's SGT terminals with SIO and OS/2 as well. This could be a bug in the Async-Pro communications library used in MAXterm, or it could just be a DOS session setting in OS/2. All I know is that setting the program to use UART fixes this... (This may also apply to 32 bit fossil drivers for Windows 95 as well.) Q: Sometimes when I fire up MAXterm, I don't get anything but a bunch of BIG garbage characters on the screen. It doesn't do this every time, it just seems to be a random thing. Any idea what causes this? A: Yep, that's another one of those bugs in Windows 95. It seems to go away after replacing the stock Windows driver for your video card with a manufacturer supplied driver. The only time this will happen is when something else is hogging the CPU and MAXterm can't sync up with your vertical retrace. If this happens, just press ALT-O, then ALT-Q, then start up the program again. Q: For some reason when I move the mouse over certain parts of the screen really fast, it leaves garbage on the screen. Any way to fix this? A: I can almost guarantee you that are running Windows 95 judging by the description of the problem. I run Windows 95 on one machine and OS/2 on the other. The Windows 95 machine did the same thing to me until I replaced my mouse driver and video driver. You'll need a manufacturer supplied mouse driver and video driver to overcome this problem. The only reason this happens is because Microsoft only makes an *attempt* to write fully compatible drivers, if you want to make sure that you have a fully accurate and fully compatible driver for your specific hardware, you absolutely *must* go to the manufacturer for it. Q: Every time I try to run MAXterm, it bombs out and says that there is no DEFAULT.PKG and refuses to run. What happened here? A: Either you or the sysop of the BBS you got MAXterm from have deleted the package of the default system icon libraries. This archive is the the one that contains the main ICON_LIB.* icon libraries, without any of these icons, MAXterm will refuse to run. In this case, you should obtain a new MAXterm archive directly from the author and re-install the program. Q: For some reason when I call a BBS, the BBS can detect that I'm using MAXterm, but their MAX compatible doors can't. It's like I'm stuck in this never ending blank SVGA screen and the only way to get out if it is to drop carrier on the BBS. How do I fix this? A: You obviously need a faster computer. Most 386/SX models are way too slow when it comes to saving SVGA screens. What's happening is that the BBS is telling your terminal to kill all the active windows and open up the ANSI Emulation window. Well, by the time your machine is done doing all of that, the BBS and the door have already swapped out and ran through the autodetection phase. It is recomended that you don't run MAXterm on anything less than a 386/SX40 with a minimum of 2 megs of RAM (500K Conventional and 1 Meg EMS/XMS memory free). Q: For some reason MAXterm is locking up DesqView and causing DesqView to perform erratically. I can run the LOD terminal under DesqView with no problems. How does a person cure this? A: Simply don't run MAXterm under DesqView....DesqView wasn't designed to run any programs in 640x480x256 mode. Even though QuarterDeck has attempted to remedy this shortcoming, they've never been successful. The LOD terminal program is actually only a VGA terminal even though it says it is SVGA, so it will run fairly decent under DesqView. The only real remedy is to shut down DesqView and run MAXterm from DOS. Q: What would cause me not to have any sound? I have a SoundBlaster card installed and all of my dialing directory entries are set to use the SoundBlaster. A: Your settings for your sound card under the "Other Stuff" menu are incorrect, your sound card is actually not SoundBlaster compatible, or you are unfortunate enough to have one of those substandard PnP sound cards. Plug-N-Play hardware has yet to really reach a standard level and is subject to erratic performance. You would be better off to go back to your ISA setup until PnP becomes reliable and stable. Q: When ever I set MAXterm to use the SoundBlaster and a BBS sends the command to play a sound file, it either locks up my system, or it makes the SoundBlaster "BLAST" noise out of it. How do I fix this? A: Even though your sound card may say it is SoundBlaster compatible, it actually may not be. Be sure that your sound card settings under the "Other Stuff" menu are actually correct. If they are indeed correct, then I would have to say that your sysop is trying to use compressed sound files and their sample resolution simply cannot be determined. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── For an authentic copy of this program, see below: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Contact: 1:14/703@FidoNet Or: USA MAX Graphics HQ-BBS │ │ 411:1500/0@ivNET (308)762-2239 │ │ 121:101/2@AllianceNet FAX or Data Calls │ │ maxgfx@juno.com ANSI/ASCII/MAX (No RIP) │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘