Subj : Installing 32 To : Richard Webb From : Minh Van Le Date : Thu May 22 2008 07:45 am Hello Richard ! On 20-May'08 14:31, Richard Webb wrote to Minh Van Le: RW> I'm planning some upgrading in the future here once other RW> business details are sorted out. THough the bbs is for RW> hobby activity related to emergency communications and ham RW> radio it will benefit from these upgrades by being able to RW> offer telnet access as well as pots. POts will always Man you mean you haven't hooked up NetFOSS or Netserial - what have you been DOING. I dunno. Imo using a BBS sounds inappropriate, probably because the words "hobby" and "emergency" shouldn't be used close together in a sentence. RW> remain with binkley as front end with max dos underneath, RW> but haven't sorted out all the issues yet. Your post brings RW> up some questions, and I'd like your input. Remember I'm RW> not a real programmer, just a radio op and audio guy who RW> runs a rather simple installation. You should have no problems with Maximus/32 if you avoid passing connections between separate DOS windows. MVL> That is true. CPU utilisation for DOS programs in MVL> multitasking OS's like Windows depend on whether the program MVL> releases time slices to the OS. RW> NOt an issue for the pots system with binkleyterm and max RW> dos as it would be on a separate machine, sharing message RW> and file areas over the lan. Even if you have POTS on a separate PC, if you intend on setting up telnettable Maximus you will probably have to use the DOS version of Maximus on Windows, at which point it will hog the CPU eg. 30% - 50% per active node. This is because most free telnet servers (TelSrv, GameSrv, Net2BBS) only run on Windows and require a TCP/IP FOSSIL emulator (eg. NetFOSS) to connect to the BBS, and only the Maximus DOS binary supports FOSSILs. Maximus/32 does not support FOSSILs because it uses direct com port access. (Which means to telnet to Maximus/32 on windows, you will need to use a virtual modem (Netserial/CompIP/netmodem) (which cost money). If you can afford USD$50 - USD$200 to register virtual modems then there's no problem. (Or you can run the Maximus OS/2 with VMODEM or Linux binaries which are free options. But then you will have to use OS/2 and/or Linux. Heh)). MVL> I run WFC mode using Maximus/32 specifically for scheduling MVL> BBS maintenance events because it can idle all day without MVL> CPU utilisation. RW> This would be advantageous as telnettable max would RW> probably be on machine with shared message and file areas. If you need to telnet to Maximus/32 on Windows, you will need to use a virtual modem eg. Netserial/CommIP/Netmodem (= $). MVL> The disadvantage of Maximus/32 is its direct com port MVL> access requirement. If you try to set up a Maximus/32 node MVL> on a physically non-existant com port, WFC will abort. Also MVL> anything that requires a FOSSIL will not work in Maximus/32. MVL> And hot com port passing will not work with Maximus/32 (ie. MVL> DTR is dropped when passing callers between DOS programs eg. MVL> BinkleyTerm to/from Maximus) unless you use WinFOSSIL or MVL> Netserial. RW> That might make things interesting, as another machine will RW> be handling all outside connectivity through dsl. iF that's RW> workable then max32 might still be an option for me, as I RW> run no doors at this time. Hence we wouldn't need a fossil RW> driver nor com port sharing. Yeah that will probably work. Atleast the Maximus multinode stuff eg. online chat will still work between separate computers regardless of connection type (dialup/DSL) because IPC is handling the semaphorish exchange between nodes (if the PCs are networked). RW> Trying to get a grasp of the issues I'm going to face RW> before I end up fishing around in the dark. I"m an old dos RW> dinosaur that doesn't do windows, but have one machine RW> running 98 that would be usable for this. Well, you can always use modern technology and substitute your Maximus BBS for Linux services. Eg. run a PPP and/or TCP/IP connected webserver, gopher, nntp server etc. There's Apache for Windows and Linux et al. This way you will have no technological/software/redundancy problems. And people can use their web browsers (!) And you can show pictures and/or pornography (!) You can't get all that with a BBS. Plus simple html files load fast even at 33.6 kbps. One day Win98 won't even install on a new PC. RW> AS I said earlier, I don't run any door games, or anything RW> else in doorway mode at this time. sUggestions are most RW> welcome. If you don't require FOSSIL compatibility (usually for doors via Xtern_* exits) or pass connections between seperate DOS windows, then Maximus/32 will probably suffice. MVL> In my experience Maximus/32 without WinFOSSIL or Netserial MVL> is only useful for local nodes. Maybe the "UsrRemote Xtern_Run Command.Com_>com%P_ I would like to hear if you think this is true in my RW> application as well. I haven't extensively tested Maximus/32 but I think as long as the POTS connection stays within the current Maximus/32 process everything will work (eg. all Maximus menus & display features including .bbs, .mex etc) because all the comms stuff is handled internally by Maximus. I don't know how Maximus/32 will work with virtual modems like Netserial/CommIP etc. It will probably handle telnet connections with the same forementioned POTS limitations. WinFossil should handle any POTS situation Ok. But it's old and cost money. I don't even know if you can still register it. I think Netserial does what WinFossil can do but it also cost money, but is new and actively developed and maintained. When setting up telnettable Maximus you need to decide between 1) suffering CPU performance problems with Maximus/DOS or 2) paying for virtual modems to use Maximus/32. Else use the Maximus OS/2 or Linux binaries. --- Msged/386 4.30 * Origin: ypan.dyndns.org loves Msged... (3:712/104) .