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MNODE15C.ZIP is written
and maintained by:
Allen Woolley, Sysop
Moonlit Knight BBS
(408)-244-3459 v.32bis
(408)-244-1096 HST
DS
aceofwands@aol.com
I will
ONLY answer your questions via Email on the following system/networks:
My BBS,
the Wildnet DESQview conference, the Mustang BBS in their DESQView
conference
or via Internet.
Please
do NOT attempt to contact me on the voice phone! I don't have the
time to
do tech support for the entire planet.
THANX!
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All
files and text in this .ZIP file are Copyright 1992-1994 by Allen Woolley.
Permission
is given to copy, exchange and duplicate all the information in
these
files provided proper credit is given to the author.
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Overview:
---------
Below
are some ideas that may help fix the problems you're having. Some
folks
have had good success with these, so take your time making the
suggested
tweaks. You know your system far better
than I, so please
make
sure the recommendations below "make sense" for your BBS before
trying
them out.
Fair
Warning:
-------------
There
is advanced techno-geeking and propeller head beanie polishing
below.
If you don't understand the procedures as written, there's not a
whole
lot I can or will do to help. I lack
the resources to teach the
entire
planet what hardware interrupts are and why having a buss mouse
set to
IRQ4 blows away your COM1: modem whenever you move it. Make a
hard
copy of this and stick it in your local DOS guru's fax modem with a
not so
subtle plea for help if the above reads like greek to you.
What to
do First:
-----------------
The
order I have listed these suggestions in is arbitrary. It is the
order I
happen to use to trouble shoot problems. Read everything
first
and do them in whatever order you like.
Does
the system run fine in DOS only?
-------------------------------------
I can't
stress this one enough: Your BBS *MUST*
run Error Free outside
of
DESQview before you attempt to run it multinode under DESQview.
If the
beastie is broken in DOS, it's going to Reeeeeallly broken under
DESQview. Debug your .BAT's, MAKEWILD, WCMODEM, WCFAX,
WCPRO, DOORs,
third
party utilities and whatever other code that touches your system
BEFORE
starting your system up under DESQview.
You can
test each node configuration out by simply using the appropriate
NODEx.BAT
to start that node up under DOS.
For
example, to test node 3, simply run NODE3.BAT instead of NODE1.BAT
under
DOS, and you will be able to de-bug your node 3 outside of DESQview.
I
recommend that if you are indeed having problems, you start up each node
under
DOS as described above and look for problems.
Remember
to check your Error Logs! Do a:
C:\WC30>dir
*.log
Volume in drive C is FUGAZI IV
Volume Serial Number is 0000-0000
Directory of C:\WC30
ERROR LOG
71,519 05-19-94 10:38p
2 file(s) 71,519 bytes
50,896,896 bytes free
You'll
probably see stuff like:
SYSTEM
CRASH - Node: 1
- During: Error closing file
C:\WC30\NODEINFO.DAT
- DESC
: Invalid file handle. Version: 3.90M
- When
: Error occured at 23:01 on 04/16/94
SYSTEM
CRASH - Node: 10
- During: Error closing file
C:\WC30\NODEINFO.DAT
- DESC
: Invalid file handle. Version: 3.90M
- When
: Error occured at 23:13 on 04/16/94
Node 2:
Modem did not hangup. Delay set to: 2000
You
very well may need Mustang tech support to help you figure out what
is
going on. Don't be afraid to call their
tech support up! Mustang
really
does have good support techs, and a single 10 minute call to MSI
can
save you untold amounts of hair pulling and head banging.
Does
the Hardware REALLY work?
------------------------------
Assuming
you have 16550 UARTs (See step #6 to verify this) in your
serial
ports, and everything else is functional hardware wise,
(things
like verifying the modem is configured for RTS/CTS handshaking
and ALL
the pins are WIRED in your RS-232 cable) here are some things to
look
at:
1) Use
MFT after the system has been run up fully and then take it back
to DOS.
IE:
a)
Start the multinode BBS
b) Take
it back down after a few seconds and quit DV entirely
c) Get
a DIR of any floppy
d)
Print anything to the printer (if installed)
e)
Finally start up any VGA resolution program if you have VGA, then
exit back to DOS.
The
idea is to fully exercise all installed ports and video resolutions.
Use the
QEMM Analysis tool to find problem areas. In particular,
especially
look for additional eXclusions that QEMM may recommend.
Your
QEMM >v7.04< or higher Analysis screen should look like this:
(you of
course have paid for and are running the latest version, yes?)
Overview Type
Accessed Analysis Memory
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Ü
n=0123 4567 89AB CDEF Û O = OK
0n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û X = Exclude
1n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û I = Include
2n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û
3n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß
4n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û WARNING: These
5n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û results may not
6n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û be valid if you
7n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û haven't followed
8n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û the analysis <= You
9n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û procedure as <= Better
An00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û described in the <= BELIEVE
Bn00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û QEMM manual! <= This!!!
Cn00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß
Dn00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û
En00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û Press F3 for
Fn00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO Û List Mode
Û
If your
not getting this screen, something needs tweaking, or you didn't
follow
the procedure in the manual (of which I gave you the VERY brief
version
of above in #1).
2)
Re-run OPTIMIZE like this: OPTIMIZE /RF
(see that darn manual for
the
more info on the /RF command). In my
experience, it's more reliable
than
the normal way in spotting conflicts.
3) If
your running out of memory, try using VIDRAM to pump up the available
amount
of memory for your system. This works best for VGA card users, but
CGA and
EGA get some extra K's out of it too.
4) If
you have enabled the QEMM Stealth option, disable it. Re-run
OPTIMIZE.
5) Run
a bare bones system TSR wise: SHARE and SCSI/CD ROM drivers ONLY.
6) Use
the MSD program that ships with Windows (\WINDOWS\MSD.EXE) and
with
DOS v6.x (\DOS\MSD.EXE) to take a "tour" of your system. Take your
time
and try to "grock" everything MSD is trying to tell you, particularly
the
hardware interrupts and UART tests.
7) Add
the QEMM386.SYS NOSH parameter to your QEMM config.sys line. You
MUST
re-run OPTIMIZE after doing this.
8) Shut
down ALL your DOORs. Let the system run
a day or two, then turn
them
back on ONE at a time. Leave 48 hours
for the system to crap out,
then
turn on another DOOR. Doors written in
QuickBASIC can hose up more
stuff
than you can imagine...
9)
There are other, more complex things you can do (like loading a
fossil
driver like X00.SYS or BNU, tweaking ISA wait states in your BIOS,
playing
games with external caches, etc...), but for now start with
these.
Implement
these suggestions one at a time, and see if things get better.
Please
remember I am *not* Quarterdeck! There are fires that I can't
put
out. Pleased don't send me hate mail if stuff doesn't't work out
for
you. The above is a list of
SUGGESTIONS, not a "bible".
Your
milage
may vary.
Buggy
Dell's:
-------------
Some
Dell mother boards with built in COM ports flat out fail *Without*
X00.SYS
loaded, and a certain subset of these, even X00 may not fix. Be
SURE to
pay the man if you use X00.SYS to fix a brain dead mother board.
There
ARE hosed mother boards out there from "reputable dealers" that no
matter
what the hell rope you pull on will flat out not multitask under
DV. You
have my sympathies and hopes for a winning Lotto ticket if this
turns
out to be the case for you.
Good
luck!