FidoNews · Vol 3, No 12 · 24 March 1986
Volume 3, Number 12 24 March 1986
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| - FidoNews - /|oo \ |
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| Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ |
| Users Group | | \ \\ |
| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (jm) |
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet
Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1.
You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
FNEWSART.DOC, available from node 1/1.
Disclaimer or don't-blame-us:
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate.
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL
A BBs User's View
2. ARTICLES
Astronomy SIG
Four Hard Questions About Hard Disks
DoubleDOS, Multiple Users, and Fido
Sysop's Spare Time
In Memory of the Challenger
Response to Neal Curtain's article on Software Support
"Stone Wall" is on the air!
3. COLUMNS
Notes from Abroad
4. WANTED
Help! I need YOU!!
5. FOR SALE
Entertainment Software for your PC!
Public Domain Software Library Sale!!
Special Offer to FidoNet Sysops
6. NOTICES
Major BUG in Fido 11u!
The Interrupt Stack
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
Fred Berger
1/11/86
A BBs User's View
As a subscriber to numerous BB systems I feel it's time for
me to speak my piece on open and closed systems.
This week three of the BBs I call were crashed by people who
have nothing better to do with their time than hurt other people.
It's a real pain in the you know what to us, the honest sub-
scribers, to have to fill out new user forms every few weeks on
systems that have been crashed. We moan and groan, and have
numerous discussions via the message systems about how
troublesome all of this is to us.
That was my attitude until this week, when I decided to look
into the idea of opening my own BB. I picked up some decent BB
software and started rummaging through the documentation. Golly
whiz, there sure is a lot to do being a Sysop. Not only do you
have to make up menus, dedicate a computer or two to the system,
buy phone lines and modems, but then after all that guess what,
you've got to spend time every day to maintain the stupid thing!
You get to edit files, write bulletins, maintain numerous file
directories, come up with great ideas to keep your users happy,
and all of this is in most cases is done for free. Sounds like
real fun doesn't it?
After you've committed to having all that fun, you spend
weeks obtaining great files for all your wonderful users to
download, because if you wait for them to give you a file or two
you'll be out of business. After all, subscribers (or should I
more properly call them users?) haven't the time or patience in
most cases to watch their computers sitting there uploading. It
takes too much time to upload. Downloading is much, much faster.
2400, 1200, 300 or whatever baud is a lot faster going downhill.
Any idiot knows that !!
So now you've got the system up and working. You're proud
of your work, open the system to the general public. You're high
minded (or stupid and naive) enough to think that everyone is
like you. But you're wrong! Two weeks after the system is up
some yokel (I have other descriptions) puts a little worm in your
system, and guess what you get....CRASH!
Now you're in real trouble. No don't worry, Mr. or Mrs.
Sysop, it's not the crashed system that's the problem, it's the
wonderful users who'll be upset when they have to re-register.
They may never call back again! Wouldn't that be horrible.
You'd have all that equipment just sitting around doing nothing.
So the good old Sysop decides to redo everything, and the BB is
back in business.
Fidonews Page 2 24 Mar 1986
After studying the situation, I've become convinced that
most Sysops must be nuts. Who would do all that for free? In
talking to these lunatics I've found most to be dedicated to the
idea of providing a useful service. One asked what I thought of
him closing the system to the general public. My answer was
simple. I am a subscriber to both free and pay BBs. I find that
closed systems are generally better. Why? Simple, a person
values something he or she purchases. Are these lunatics
(Sysops) providing us with a service? To me the answer is a
definite YES! Most of the programs I use were free because I
obtained them via BBs. Much of the really important knowledge
I've acquired has been found in BB message bases. And you know
what? Most of those above mentioned "mosts", if you understand
my meaning, came from pay services.
I don't want to single any system out, but for the sake of
example I'm going to use Gene Plantz's system. He charges an
outrageous rate of a whole $15.00 per year for membership. When
I enter a message on his system, asking for advice, help, or
whatever, I can count on getting several answers within hours at
most from other subscribers. I can enter the same message on a
free system, and guaranteed, I usually get zip.
The point I'm trying to make is maybe we get what we pay
for. Maybe free systems are becoming a thing of the past. Maybe
that's the way it should be. I'd never NOT pay for Gene's
service. It's been too valuable to me.
After looking into becoming the Sysop of my own system,
estimating the time and effort that would have to be expended,
I've decided that I really couldn't afford to give it away. I'd
have to charge a fee. So why shouldn't others do the same?
I'm really not trying to be a preacher. I'm just trying to
put things in perspective. Could we users become Sysops and give
our services away? The answer is no, because if it was yes,
everyone would be running a BB.
How much is a fair price? I don't know, I'm god-like, not
God. How much does a movie cost? A matinee is pretty cheap,
providing you don't have kids who want candy or pop. Should I be
willing to pay the cost of a couple of movie tickets for a year's
membership on a BB? Maybe.
What should I do if the Sysop decides to keep his service
free? Maybe I should participate in discussions, upload a file
or two once in a while? Not a bad idea. Maybe I should express
my views, share some of my knowledge, contribute for the benefit
of the service, and the other subscribers. Who knows, if others
did the same, we all might learn a little something. Possible?
I'm done spouting off now. I was really aggravated after
talking to a couple of these Sysops in person, learning of their
honest desire to provide a service, and then calling back to see
that their systems had been crashed. I guess you can't
understand the other guy's point of view until you know him.
In conclusion, whether the service is free or whether
Fidonews Page 3 24 Mar 1986
there's a small charge isn't the issue. I've learned that what
really motivates the person who becomes a Sysop is the desire to
help. What turns most of them on is not money, but an active
group of subscribers sharing not only programs, but knowledge.
These services are of great value to us, the computer user
community, and should treated with some degree of respect. The
hackers and slackers have to be eliminated one way or another,
and if fees help, well that's the way it is. It doesn't do us
any good to have free service if the service isn't available
because it's been crashed.
I'd like to thank several subscribers on Plantz's board for
knowledge they've shared with me, but guess what, I don't even
remember their names. It doesn't matter though, because I've
given help where I could, and I'm sure those people don't
remember mine either. The whole point is that all of us have
gained.
Thanks for your kind indulgence.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 4 24 Mar 1986
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Arlen Fletcher
Fido 138/0
Is There Anybody Out There?
Somewhere out there among all you Fidonews readers there must be
some amateur astronomers. This letter is addressed to those of
you who are, have been, or would like to be involved in the
computing end of amateur astronomy.
A year or so ago, several Fido sysops banded together and began
mailing around a box of 10 floppies. The originating Sysop filled
the first diskette with utilities, games and other software that
he considered to be useful. He then mailed the box off to the
next sysop who copied the first diskette onto a blank of his own
and then filled the second diskette as the first sysop had done,
hopefully avoiding duplication. After the last sysop had done the
same, the box was mailed back to the originator who reformatted
the disk which he had originally filled, copied more files onto
the now blank disk, copied all the other full disks, and then
sent them all on to sysop number two again. This was a great way
to keep the software flowing. I would like to suggest the same
sort of operation for the amateur astronomers out there. Contact
me on 138/0 if this scheme interests you. You DO NOT have to be a
sysop to get in on this thing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 5 24 Mar 1986
Barry Dobyns
Sysop 102/115, Machinedo - The Way Of The Machine
(213) 548 3546 - data
(213) 548 3544 - voice
FOUR HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT HARD DISKS
------------------------------------
I have some questions that have been nagging me for some time
about the IBM PC and hard disks. I am posing these questions to
the general Fido community at large confident that someone out
there knows the answers.
If you do know how to solve one of these problems, send mail to
me at 102/115. If you just want to know the answers, send me a
note also. If enough interest in the answers is generated, I
will summarize in a few weeks and post the results in FidoNews.
1. GETTING MORE THAN 2 HARD DISKS ON AN IBM PC
-- -------------------------------------------
Some time ago, I developed a situation where I had numerous small
hard disks (10, 15 meg) left from upgrading my IBM-PC's and my
client's IBM-PC's. Now the market for used Miniscribe 2012 hard
disks is pretty grim, but eight of them constitute 80Mb and
that's almost interesting.
Now, the IBM PC/XT hard disk controller has two jumpers on it AS1
and AS2 that control the ports that it is addressed at. (IBM
Technical Reference 6025005 page D-64.) So does the DTC 5150-BX,
W1 and W2. Normally the controller is addressed at 320H, but can
be readdressed to 324H, 328H and 32CH.
Furthermore, the IBM PC/XT Fixed Disk BIOS also knows how to
address all four controllers! See IBM Technical Reference 6025005
Page A-88, lines 82, 83; Page A-95 lines 627 - 633; Page A-107
lines 1560 - 1585. So does the DTC.
PC-DOS 2.1 FDISK even knows how to set up partition tables on
hard disks connected to extra controllers.
However, PC-DOS 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 and 3.1 all barf horribly when they
are booted and more than two hard disks with DOS partitions are
connected.
Does anyone have a patch for DOS (preferably 3.1) that fixes
this?
Is there an installable device driver that I can use to
accomplish the same thing?
Is someone else now anxious to solve this problem (do you have a
lot of 10 meg hard disks too?) and willing to work with me toward
a solution?
Fidonews Page 6 24 Mar 1986
2. THE DOS 33 MEGABYTE LIMIT
-- -------------------------
2.1 Theory 1
A friend of mine told me that a friend of his told him that the
fix to PC-DOS to the 33Meg limit on Volume size is a 5 byte patch
to DOS itself.
Is this so? Does someone have a copy of the patch?
How do you FORMAT a volume correctly once you have applied the
patch?
I don't want to pay $$$ for a five byte patch (typical for the
commercial version of this thing) if that's all it really is. On
the other hand, if it's not a simple patch, and the commercial
version comes with programs that do all the formatting - and let
me select the cluster size and fat entry size (12 or 16 bits)
then maybe it's worth it.
Does anyone have any experience with any of these programs,
Especially the "VFeature" from Golden Bow in San Diego? Will
Emerald sell their software without a subsystem?
2.2 Theory 2
Another source tells me that the problem is not with DOS, since
there is no theoretical limit to the size of a hard disk (the
clusters just keep getting bigger) the problem is with the DOS
Format program, which is not clever enough to deal with truly
moby drives.
To wit: In DOS 2, with 12 bit FATs, and 4096 byte clusters, the
theoretical limit for disk size was (2^12 - 16) * 4096 bytes, or
around 16 Meg, and with 8K clusters it's around 33 MEG. If you
were willing to WASTE space in the extreme, a 16K cluster could
buy you a 66 MEG volume - but FORMAT can't deal with it.
In DOS 3, with 16 bit FATs, and 2048 byte clusters the
theoretical limit for disk size is (2^16 - 16) * 2048, or 134
MEG, which is a more reasonable limit. Bigger clusters buy you
more, of course.
Is it possible to simply modify the parameter table in the boot
sector in the hard disk, and initialize the FAT and directory
sectors myself? I have written a program that initializes, reads
and writes MSDOS volumes for/on UNIX systems - it is not that
hard to initialize a DOS volume.
In other words, Is the "fix" not actually a patch to DOS, but a
procedure that can be followed manually by any technically expert
Wizard?
Fidonews Page 7 24 Mar 1986
3. DISK CACHING PROGRAMS FOR IBM-PC
-- --------------------------------
There's now quite a few Disk Caching/Disk Speedup programs for
the IBM PC commercially available:
VCache - Golden Bow Systems
Uses Extended or Expanded memory for up to 16M of disk cache!
$65
Lightning - Personal Computer Support Group
Claims to speed up disk access by factor of 2 $49 copy
protected, $89 not protected
Flash - Software Masters
Claims to speed up disk access by factor of 4 $49
Disk Optimizer - SoftLogic Solutions
Claims to move things around on the hard disk so that all
files reside in contiguous clusters. Doing a backup, format
and a restore only gets the files contiguous, but not the
directory clusters (in fact, it gives almost worst-case
allocation for directories, which are where you want
contiguous the most!). $49
Does anyone have any experience with any of these programs? Are
there freeware products that are as good or better?
4. USING QUANTUM 2000 HARD DISK WITH ST506 CONTROLLER
-- --------------------------------------------------
So, I have a Quantum 2040 and two Quantum 2080 hard disk drives
lingering about here. It would please me greatly to hook them up
to anything I have handy -that probably means either an IBM-PC
(preferred) or an S-100 machine (probably a Seattle Computer
Products, runs MS-DOS). Problem is, nobody seems to make
controllers for SA1000 type hard disk drives anymore. The ST506
interface took over the market.
I am told that I can use an ST506 controller - Thusly:
signal name 34 pin conn. 50 pin conn
*RWC 2 2
*Head Sel 2 4 4
*Write Gate 6 40
*Seek Complete 8 8
*TR000 10 42
*Write Fault 12 44
*Head Sel 3 14 14
*Sector 16 16
*Head Sel 1 18 18
*Index 20 20
*Ready 22 22
*Step 24 36
*Drive Sel 1 26 26
*Drive Sel 2 28 28
Fidonews Page 8 24 Mar 1986
*Drive Sel 3 30 30
*Drive Sel 4 32 32
*Direction In 34 34
______
(the notation *signal means the same as signal, but overbars are
hard to do)
And furthermore, I can accomplish this by simply jumpering near
the connector on the 20xx as follows: 6-40, 10-42, 12-44, 24-36
and just running 34 conductor cable all the way to the 20xx and
terminating with a 50 pin connector (heh, heh) on the low order
side of the cable.
Has anyone tried this? Does it actually work?
Thanks in advance,
Barry Dobyns, 102/115
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 9 24 Mar 1986
David Melnik 107/33
How to set-up a Multiuser system on a PC
for under 50$
I am sure that most of you are at least slightly familiar
with the idea of a multiuser and/or multitasking system and would
all like to have a machine that did both, right on your desk top.
Well for $49.95 you can have one or the other as you desire.
The program that you need is DoubleDOS by SoftLogic
Solutions and it can be had for under $50 from various
distributors and I believe from SoftLogic at 530 Chestnut St.
Manchester, NH 03101 or 1-800-272-9900 (call them before sending
money).
What DoubleDOS does is partition your ROM into two separate
areas (top and bottom sections) of various sizes that you can set
from 48k to your maximum memory. DoubleDOS takes less than 50K.
A minimum system configuration of 192K is recommended.
DoubleDOS is a multitasking program that allows you to run
two programs at once and switch between the two with the tap of a
key. There are two tasks, the visible and the invisible tasks.
The visible one is the one on your screen and the invisible one
is the one running in the background. Obviously only one task
can be visible at any time and direct screen writing programs
must be run in the "top" section. The way to make DoubleDOS
multitasking is easy. First switch the background task and start
a program, then switch to the foreground task and start a program
there, viola! Both programs are running. (Note: Check the
DoubleDOS manual for automatic program starting with DoubleDOS.)
What I had originally obtained a copy of DoubleDOS for was
to make 107/33 a 24hrs. a day BBS. I'm sure a lot of sysops can
sympathize with me in that their departments use the PC and DECs
during the day for useless tasks like Accounts Payable and word
processing, and not until everyone goes home does the real
purpose for computers come to life, Fido and FidoNet! Well with
DoubleDOS I thought that I would be able to keep the BBS up
24hrs. and I was. Well, almost. First off, version 11q of Fido
seemed to run fine and all was well. Then 11s came and Fido
would not run in the top or bottom section of DoubleDOS. When
using 11q with DoubleDOS (I have DoubleDOS 3.1T and PC-DOS 3.1
with 512k on an XT with a 20 meg Seagate) I had a bottom section
with approximately 170K and Fido ran fine with that. When 11s
came I boosted the memory in the bottom section all the way to
300K+ and I still got a error that said not enough memory for
program. Now this was not a DOS error message, as Fido came up
with its disclaimers and licensing information, then gave the
message and aborted. By decreasing the space that the
environment used I finally got Fido and DoubleDOS running
together. See NODELIST.052 and the file ENVIRON.FIX that came
with it to decrease the size of the environment. Also I reset
the path while running Fido, as Fido does not need a path.
Aborting Fido resets the PATH via the RUNBBS.BAT batch file that
I use to run Fido.
Fidonews Page 10 24 Mar 1986
Getting to run two programs on my BBS had me so happy that I
thought about how to get DoubleDOS to make my XT a multiuser
system. Well, my experiment worked quite nicely and was rather
simple. I used:
1 - Televideo 950 Terminal
1 - Null modem cable
1 - DoubleDOS ver. 3.1T
1 - Async board
1 - PC/XT with 512K
I start up DOS with no resident software, and give a MODE
command:
MODE COM2:96,,,,P
In the DoubleDOS configuration file, DDCONFIG.SYS, I set the
following parameters:
TOP = COM1
BOTTOM = COM2
BOTTOM PROGRAM = CTTY COM2
Now it is time to hook up the terminal. I set the
Televideo 950 to 9600 baud by setting the appropriate switched in
the back by the ON/OFF switch, or by hitting SHFT-SETUP and using
the arrows to move the cursor to the baud rate and then type T
till the baud rate is 9600. Now I connect the terminal to COM2
using the null modem cable. I wired the null modem cable with
the following connections:
1 ---- 1
2 ---- 3
IBM 3 ---- 2 TV 950
4 ---- 5
5 ---- 4
6 ---- 20
7 ---- 7
8 nc 8
20 ---- 6 *)
When I run DoubleDOS the screen is in the top memory section
and the bottom memory section prompt comes up on the terminal.
There are some definite limitations to the programs that can
be run like this. Programs that write to the screen, like VEDIT,
LOTUS, BASIC, BASIC and the like are some such programs. But
most if not all of the DOS commands are now available to the
second user (bottom section) as well as the first user (top
section). Version 11t of Fido can also be run in test mode for
BBS maintenance.
I would really like to hear from other people who have tried
this, and hear what they have done with this. Please direct all
comments and inquires to David Melnik 107/33 for a prompt reply.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 11 24 Mar 1986
Larry DiGioia, sysop Fido 129/17
NEVERBOARD, 412-733-4842 - 24 hrs./300/1200/2400
What do sysops do in their spare time? ("Ha!" you say, "Sysops
DON'T HAVE any spare time!"). Well, that's certainly true in a
way, but before I started running a Fido, I spent most of my
spare time enjoying the latest movies, books, TV shows, and
occasionally listening to international broadcasts on shortwave
radio. As a matter of fact, I consider myself a sort of amateur
movie critic. So, when the opportunity to start a BBS presented
itself, what better theme to dedicate it to than the above-
mentioned subjects?
NEVERBOARD is a BBS dedicated to "Entertainment of All Kinds".
Like many of you, when I first started calling BBSs, the first
messages I entered were on the order of, "Does anyone know what I
can do to get my modem to download files"? Then, after that
particular problem was solved, and I had downloaded (what I
thought was) my fill of games, graphics and other time wasters, I
kind of said to myself, "What next"? I believe a BBS should serve
some useful function, or else it will turn into the typing
equivalent of a circle of grade school friends who have just
discovered the telephone: meaningless remarks about things that
no one else is interested in, better to be kept private.
I see Fido as an important resource that allows people to meet
and exchange important information that they would otherwise have
no way of finding, at least not in such a timely way. When you
see a movie or TV show, or read a book, call NEVERBOARD and leave
a message about how you liked it. You will be performing an
important service: helping to promote interest in a work of art
that other people might otherwise not hear about through unbiased
observation. Or you might have the satisfaction of knowing that
after they read your comments, others won't have to waste $9.95
on the latest record from a current "Supergroup".
We have our technical side, too. The tech and shortwave radio
section is a place where you can find hints and help if you would
like to get involved in this fascinating hobby. I would like to
start a regular mail route for passing on the latest information
on stations heard, program schedules, etc. I have just added a 30
meg. drive to help distribute the growing amount of truly high
quality public domain software that is making the rounds. We also
have informational files on shortwave listening and local
broadcast schedules. Just remember: the next time you would like
to share your latest discovery of a good book, movie, video-
cassette or anything that qualifies as entertainment, CALL
NEVERBOARD! If you would like to mail in a review or comment, I
will be happy to convert/transfer it to the appropriate area of
the board.
- Larry DiGioia, sysop
412-733-4842 - Fido 129/17 - NEVERBOARD - 24 hrs./300/1200/2400
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 12 24 Mar 1986
SHUTTLE
And so they came to the Melting Pot,
All the races of the world,
Some with a will and some against their will.
They found that the earth beneath their feet
Any dream they chose.
They chose as their greatest dream
Traveling among the stars.
They studied and learned and
Took from the Earth what they needed to
Build their slim dream machines, and they practiced
With their machines and sometimes faltered, for no thing made of
Atoms, be it man or man-made, can be perfect.
But they practiced, and one such practice they held on a
Clear, cool, Tuesday morning in January. After some delays, but
Still as a routine mission, they sent another dream aloft.
Then, high enough and far enough away so no one else was hurt,
But close enought so the cameras could see,
This piece of the Dream.
Spread itself beautifully and violently
Across the sky, deceiving those watching, for a moment,
Into thinking that all was well.
Zues might have worked like this when he placed
Orion of Gemini or the Pleides in the Skies.
The Pleides (the Seven Sisters),
Cluster close together high in the winter sky.
Tuesday's constellation has seven stars,
But must go by a different name
For five were brothers, and two were sisters;
These seven came from all the races of the world,
And one of the sisters was a teacher of children,
A gentle hand, a loving hand, who said,
"I take a piece of each of you with me."
She spoke to her children in her home stae, and to us all,
Because we all identify so strongly with school,
With those teachers we valued,
And with our years of education,
Which built, among other things, this Dream.
In a sense, the terrible trails of the falling debris
Were changed by having the teacher aboard.
We are used to thinking of hardened engineers trained in
Cold numbers; this would have been just another cold accident.
The teacher added a gentleness, a warnth; making the pieces of
Debris more like petals she was giving back to us.
Fidonews Page 13 24 Mar 1986
This tiny emmissary of the human species crossed the barrier from
Life into Death to be part of a Larger Universe;
They remind us of the part of a Larger Universe,
Of which we are all a part, even as we breathe,
Plays in all our Dreams.
Written by Rob Kimmich, a Science Teacher at the Maret School
(Fido 109/612)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 14 24 Mar 1986
Al de la Torre
FIDO 135/7
In Every Cloud.....
I hate to see the unfortunate experience of one person
tarnish the reputation of an otherwise outstanding company. From
my perspective and firsthand experience, SoftLogic Solutions is a
model company. When I first learned about DoubleDOS (over a year
ago) it was selling for $99. At that time, and for that price,
if it worked I felt it was a fair value for my money. I knew it
might not work because I was using a Compaq Deskpro running
Compaq's version of MS-DOS, not PC-DOS. But then, as now,
SoftLogic had a 30 day return policy, so I went ahead and ordered
it.
When the package arrived, I was unable to get it to run FIDO
in the background so I called their tech support. The friend-
liness and earnest attempts to solve the problem really impressed
me. Unfortunately the program could not be made to work and
after working on it a couple hours with tech support for a few
days in a row, I gave up and returned the product for a refund.
A few months later two things happened. I heard of a FIDO
running under Double Dos and SoftLogic came out with a special
deal to purchase two programs: DoubleDOS and Disk Optimizer for
$89. Due to my favorable experience with the company in the past
I immediately called and placed an order. This time everything
worked like a champ. I've been running 135/7 for a long time now
with this great product and it is now an indispensable function
to be able to do maintenance on the BBS without bringing it down.
I feel the company is making great effort to accommodate
users. Reducing the price is something that really impresses me.
When was the last time Multilink got cheaper?
On the point in Neal's article concerning the BBS. All
right, so the sysop forgot to install the new password he was
given. At least they have a BBS. If they were like most
companies you would have to send back your original disk and
waited until they sent you a new one. This would take far longer
than the 4 days you attempted to get through. Also I'm curious
as to why you didn't call their voice number the day after the
first password failed. The password changes daily, and it
should. They are placing a valuable product in a precarious
position.
I talked to tech support yesterday (3-6-86) and was told
they are putting in extra phone lines and adding more support
personnel. I encourage other users of Double Dos to call
SoftLogic (603) 644-5555 and say they want the BBS up 24 hrs.
Also suggesting they place one person in charge of sysop respon-
sibilities might be a good idea.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 15 24 Mar 1986
Announcing a new FIDO
Fido 107/601
(215) 367-6558
SYSOPS
Annette Sine-Weilnau
Peter Weilnau
There is a new FIDO on the East Coast! It's free, public and
already has a good assortment of PC and MacIntosh public domain
software. So far it's only 20 meg and 1200 baud, but the 2400
will soon be here, and we promise to add more storage when it's
needed.
What's the catch? There is none, but, we do have a special theme
for "Stone Wall". We think that computer technology can be used
to help fight some of mankind's basic problems. So, we chose to
help with the hunger problem. Now, you might ask "How in the
world can a BBS help fight the hunger problem?" We have some
ideas that we're going to try, and with your help, we hope to
find a lot more ideas in the future.
Initially, The Stone Wall BBS will carry information about
individuals and small organizations that have come up with
noteworthy ideas and methods to help fight hunger. But we we're
sure there are many more things a BBS can do to help with these
tough problems. So, if you have any ideas how computer tech-
nology can help, please share them with us, after all, that's
what we're here for!
We think that by carrying extensive public domain libraries, we
can attract more people - which in turn helps to spread ideas and
increase our effectiveness. So any software contributions you
can make, will make a big difference. See how easy it is to
help!
We hope that our public service orientation will help bring
credibility to the BBSing community. After all, we sure do need
some good press. And your support will contribute to maintaining
the freedom that Bulletin Boards enjoy today.
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Fidonews Page 16 24 Mar 1986
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
Notes from Abroad
Modems, BELL, and the CCITT standard
As distributors of both hardware and software in Scandinavia, my
company has put great effort in finding modems to fit our
European standard, CCITT. We've sent telexes and called
virtually every manufacturer of Modems (Hayes compatible) in the
USA. Here are the compiled results, after squeezing the
technical support staff of every vendor we've been in touch with:
HAYES
Hayes is heavily emphasizing their new 2400 bps modem being
fully compatible with the European CCITT standard. This is
true, because the V22.bis (2400/2400 baud) standard is
exactly the same in both the USA and Europe. The only
problem (which they incidentally forget to mention) being
that the lower baud rates are only available in BELL
standard.
This means that the money spent on a Hayes modem (approx.
$750.00 US, freight included), is a waste. It can only be
used for connecting to the US time slot, and will have to be
specially set up and plugged in for the time the time slot is
active.
Also, they are currently working on setting up their European
distributor network, and will not or cannot ship overseas.
U.S. ROBOTICS
Same as for Hayes, only CCITT compatible at V22.bis.
VEN-TEL
I had my hopes high when I was connected to the tech support
people after talking to the sales department: I was told that
their modem was CCITT compatible also below 2400/2400. After
3 phone calls and 2 telexes, I finally got the news: It's
only compatible on V22 and V22.bis, not V21 (300/300), due to
the internal structure of their LSI-chip. Also they do have
another modem that's cheaper, without the V22.bis, but that
couldn't take V21 either.
I tried to explain our situation to them, and was promised
that V21 would be implemented in their next revision of the
chip. That's so far, we'll have to see.
QUBIE
QUBIE has been known to take odd ways when designing their
products, and I wasn't let down:
QUBIE will shortly release a 100% Hayes compatible modem
featuring CCITT standards V21 and V22. V22.bis isn't
included, but might be sometime in the near future.
Fidonews Page 17 24 Mar 1986
The rest of the list isn't really too interesting, just to
mention RACAL-VADIC's modems; they aren't on CCITT either...
It seems like the US vendors have been blind when designing their
modems, not realizing the enormous market in Europe for CCITT.
The fact is that the difference between CCITT and BELL is so
little that a new ROM for some of the modems, and a little more
effort in the LSI-chips for others, wouldn't be too much to
expect.
As far as I know there are no European manufacturer that can
offer modems that are true Hayes-compatible; Accepting the "AT"
command set, and autoswitching between baud-rates. The Norwegian
TeleCom have been talking about the issue for some time now, but
they won't release it for at least another year, if my sources
are correct.
If you have any comments on this issue, please send mail to:
Sysop on 4701/101 - Hackers Unlimited.
Address:
Hackers Unlimited
c/o Hercz Data A/S
Huitfeldts Gate 16
N-0253 Oslo 2
Norway
Voice +47 2 431 655
Data +47 2 431 840
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 18 24 Mar 1986
=================================================================
WANTED
=================================================================
Kirk Finner
Fido 143/3
''' I need YOU! To help me.. P-L-E-A-S-E? '''
*1* Looking for direct user information from people who
own the BRIDGE utility diskette for use with PFS:
FILE on the APPLE2+ computer.
*2* Looking for direct user information from people who
own APPLE2+ compatible software packages for GENEOLOGY
studies.
*3* Looking for direct user information from people who
own or can LOCATE APPLE2+ compatible software packages
for GRAPHOANALYSIS (PLEASE do not take this request
as if someone else will answer it first, ALL answers
will be replied to VERY gratefully.)
*4* Looking for a deal less than $20 on an RS232 interface
card for the APPLE2+ computer. I'll consider buying
two and the interface cable is optional. A C.C.S.
compatible card is preferd. Baud rates of 50 to 19.2K
Settings are a MUST. A short blurp sheet on all
possible settings and card programming is also a plus.
*5* And last, I'm looking to see if there is an ARC and
DE-ARC utility for the APPLE series computer. I'd
like to be able to download and unpack the IBM specific
TEXT files (the ones that most SYSOPS keep as the
FIDONEWS).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 19 24 Mar 1986
=================================================================
FOR SALE
=================================================================
RUN DIBOL PROGRAMS ON RAINBOW MS-DOS
Would you like to be able to run DIBOL programs on your DEC
Rainbow or IBM PC? Well you can by running a DBL runtime system.
You may purchase DBL runtime system for $99.00. For additional
information, send us your name and address to:
DIGITAL PUBLICATIONS, INC.
BOX 1409
MS-DB
NORCROSS, GA 30071
OR SEND FIDO MAIL TO 133/5, OR CONTACT US ON COMPUSERVE 72205,321
OR THE SOURCE MKT053 OR USE THE VOICE PHONE 404 441-7973.
DIBOL is a trademark of Digital Equipment Corp.
DBL is a trade mark of Digital Information Systems Corp.
MS-DOS is a trade mark of Microsoft, Inc.
If you don't know what IBM is then your name must be Herb.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 20 24 Mar 1986
ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE FOR YOUR PC!
SUPERDOTS! KALAH!
Professional quality games include PASCAL source! From the
author of KALAH Version 1.6, SuperDots, a variation of the
popular pencil/paper DOTS game, has MAGIC and HIDDEN DOT
options. KALAH 1.7 is an African strategy game requiring
skill to manipulate pegs around a playing board. Both games
use the ANSI Escape sequences provided with the ANSI.SYS
device driver for the IBM-PC, or built into the firmware on
the DEC Rainbow. Only $19.95 each or $39.95 for both
exciting games! Please specify version and disk format.
These games have been written in standard TURBO-PASCAL and
run on the IBM-PC, DEC Rainbow 100 (MSDOS and CPM), CPM/80,
CPM/86, and PDP-11. Other disk formats are available, but
minor customization may be required.
BSS Software
P.O. Box 3827
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
For every order placed, a donation will be made to the Fido
coordinators! Also, if you have a previous version of KALAH
and send me a donation, a portion of that donation will also
be sent to the coordinators. When you place an order, BE
CERTAIN TO MENTION WHERE YOU SAW THE AD since it also
appears in PC Magazine and Digital Review.
Questions and comments can be sent to:
Brian Sietz at Fido 107/17
(609) 429-6630 300/1200/2400 baud
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Fidonews Page 21 24 Mar 1986
Now available from Micro Consulting Associates!!
Public Domain collection - 300+ "ARC" archives - 10 megs of
software and other goodies, and that's "archived" size! When
unpacked, you get approximately 17 megabytes worth of all kinds
of software, from text editors to games to unprotection schemes
to communications programs, compilers, interpreters, etc...
This collection is the result of more than 10 months of intensive
downloads from just about 100 or more BBS's and other sources,
all of which have been examined, indexed and archived for your
convenience. Starting a Bulletin Board System? Want to add on
to your software base without spending thousands of dollars? This
is the answer!!!
To order the library, send $100 (personal or company check,
postal money order or company purchase order) to:
Micro Consulting Associates, Fido 103/511
Post Office Box 4296
200-1/2 E. Balboa Boulevard
Balboa, Ca. 92661-4296
Please allow 3 weeks for delivery of your order.
Note: No profit is made from the sale of the Public Domain
software in this collection. The price is applied entirely to
the cost of downloading the software over the phone lines,
running a BBS to receive file submissions, and inspecting,
cataloguing, archiving and maintaining the files. Obtaining this
software yourself through the use of a computer with a modem
using commercial phone access would cost you much more than what
we charge for the service...
Please specify what type of format you would like the disks to be
prepared on. The following choices are available:
IBM PC-DOS Backup utility
Zenith MS-DOS 2.11 Backup Utility
DSBackup
Fastback
Plain ol' files (add $50, though, it's a lot of
work and takes more diskettes...)
Add $30 if you want the library on 1.2 meg AT disks (more
expensive disks). There are no shipping or handling charges.
California residents add 6% tax.
For each sale, $10 will go to the FidoNet Administrators.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 22 24 Mar 1986
SEAdog Electronic Mail System
Special Offer for FidoNet Sysops
System Enhancement Associates, the makers of the popular ARC file
archive utility, are proud to announce the release of the SEAdog
electronic mail system.
SEAdog is a PC-based electronic mail system which is fully
FidoNet compatible. In addition to all the functionality of
FidoNet mail, SEAdog adds the following:
o User directory support, for automatic lookup of node numbers
o Return receipts
o Audit trails
o Message forwarding, with or without a retained copy
o Twenty four hour mail reception
o High priority mail for immediate delivery
o The ability to request files and updates of files from other
SEAdog systems.
o No route files needed!
o A full screen user interface that our beta test sites fell in
love with!
SEAdog is NOT a bulletin board system, but it can be used as a
"front end" for Fido (version 11t), allowing you to add the full
functionality of SEAdog to your existing system.
SEAdog normally sells for $100/node, but for a limited time only
we are offering SEAdog to registered FidoNet sysops for only $35!
Orders may be placed by sending a check or money order to:
System Enhancement Associates
21 New Street, Wayne NJ 07470
Or by calling (201) 473-5153 (VISA and MasterCard accepted).
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Fidonews Page 23 24 Mar 1986
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
WARNING
Fido 11u has a major bug! DO NOT use the sysop "3" command! It
causes all commands to be available to all users. Tom Jennings
is aware of the problem, and a fix will soon be available.
Meanwhile, avoid using the "3" command AT ALL COSTS!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Interrupt Stack
11 Apr 1986
Halley's Comet reaches perigee.
19 May 1986
Steve Lemke's next birthday.
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to Fido 1/1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If you are running Fido with DoubleDOS, please send me
FidoMail. I am keep a list DoubleDos nodes that will be
posted as message number 1 in my DoubleDOS message area.
Oscar Barlow
Node 104/56
Alias 1/105 DoubleDOS Help
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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