File: FDFAQ100.TXT Date: 13-Mar-1998 Desc: FrontDoor - Frequently Asked Questions (FDFAQ) From: Definite Solutions | | FidoNet: 2:201/329 & 2:201/330 |Internet: sales@defsol.se | WWW: http://www.defsol.se/ GENERAL ======= Q: The system locks up as soon as I start any of the FrontDoor programs. A: This is often an indication that FrontDoor is configured to use extended keyboard calls on machines without support for the extended keyboard calls. Try running the program with the /NOEKBD command-line parameter. If this cures the problem, the "Global.General.Extended keyboard" setting should be configured as NO. *** Q: I am experiencing horribly slow screen updates in all or some of the FrontDoor programs. A: One possible cause, specially under Windows NT, can be incorrect usage of the GLOBAL.GENERAL.SCREEN FLICKERS setting. It should only be configured as YES if the screen is flickering when the FrontDoor programs are writing to the screen; screen flicker typically only occurs on systems equipped with older CGA cards. *** Q: When FM, FD, and FDNC is started and terminated, there is a delay even though the programs do not appear to be doing anything. A: One possible cause is that the programs are detecting the presence of a mouse driver. When a mouse driver is detected, the programs will execute the mouse initialization code on startup and the mouse deinitialization code on termination; this will cause some delays. If mouse support is not a requirement in the programs, it can be disabled. To disable the mouse support of a specific program, it should be loaded with the /NOMOUSE command-line parameter. To disable the mouse support for all FrontDoor programs, add "NOMOUSE" to the FDOPT environment variable setting. *** Q: X00 (FOSSIL driver) cannot be unloaded. It is being used as a TSR and when asked to unload, it complains about "Not safe to uninstall". A: This is usually a conflict between X00 and a mouse driver when X00 is used as a TSR. To fix this, either load X00 as a device driver, or disable mouse support in FD (by using the NOMOUSE command-line parameter or FDOPT setting). *** FD (mailer) =========== Q: The MODEM.HARDWARE.LOCKED.PORT setting is configured as YES, and the FOSSIL driver is locked at 115200 BPS; and the modem always reports that calls are connected at 115200 BPS. A: Check to ensure that the modem is configured to return the DCE (modem- to-modem) speed as opposed to the DTE (modem-to-computer) speed. *** Q: I am using a modem that requires the DTE (computer-to-modem) speed to be locked at 57600 or 115200 BPS to achieve maximum throughput and transfer efficiency, but FDSETUP only allows the baudrate to be set to 38400 BPS. A: Set the baudrate in FDSETUP to 38400 BPS and configure the "Modem.Hardware.Locked port" setting as YES. Then configure the FOSSIL driver to lock the port at the required speed. *** Q: FD sometimes displays the message "xxxxxxxx.PKT contains conference mail, ignored" and refuses to unpack the messages in the mail packet file. A: When FD scans received mail packets (.PKT files), it looks for the string "AREA:" in the body of the messages contained in the mail packet. This string indicates that the message is a conference mail message. FD only handles NetMail-type messages internally; an external Conference Mail application must be used to unpack mail packets containing Conference Mail. *** Q: The phone rings, but FD does not display "RING" in the modem messages section of its main screen; if the Terminal is loaded, the "RING" message is displayed when the phone rings. A: Some modems with NVRAM (non-volatile storage space for settings, etc) seem to have a peculiar behavior when they are used at a speed different than the speed the NVRAM was last configured with. Go to the Terminal and issue the command used to update the NVRAM (this is usually AT&W). *** Q: When using the RCVFAX program with FD and the ZyXEL modem attached to the system, it does not seem possible to receive fax transmissions. As soon as FD hands over control to RCVFAX, the program reports an error and the call is terminated. A: Add a one or two second delay in the batchfile before RCVFAX is invoked. [ML] The RCVFAX program can be replaced by using the internal fax reception capabilities if a ZyXEL modem is attached to the system. *** Q: The system successfully negotiates several EMSI sessions each day, but it seems that EMSI/MD5 session negotiation is never used. A: There are three possible causes for this: 1. FD requires that it is running on a system equipped with a 386-compatible (or better) CPU. If it is not, it will automatically disable EMSI/MD5 session negotiation. 2. If the remote system does not support EMSI/MD5 sessions, the programs will attempt to negotiate a standard EMSI session. 3. If the command-line parameter or FDOPT setting NOEMSIMD5 is used, FD will disable EMSI/MD5 session negotiation. *** Q: A NetMail tracker/manager program keeps complaining about a mismatch in the INTL/MSGID information for messages that FD has created when unpacking messages with file attachments? A: When FD unpacks messages with file attachments, it inserts the path to which the attachments were received into the messages' subject (Re:) field. The problem is that the subject field can only hold 71 characters of data. FD solves this by creating empty attachment messages for those attachments that cannot fit into the subject field of the first message. When it creates these messages, it copies the addressing information from the original message, including the INTL information. The MSGID information is, however, not copied; instead, new MSGID information is created by FD. The NetMail tracker/manager program should be configured not to check for this. *** Q: After entering a file request from the console, FD does not seem to process it nor does it start dialing the system to which the request was entered. A: FD will deliberately wait a short period of time after a file request has been entered from the console to allow for further console activities (such as additional file requests). *** Q: When the local system connects to a remote system to request a file, the message "Remote refused file requests" is displayed and/or logged, and after successfully completing the session, the remote system is called again, and again.. ? A: The reason for the repeated calls is that FD cannot deliver the file request(s) to the remote system since it has indicated that it does not want them. Remove the file request(s), or delay the call manually until the remote system supports file requests. Note that this should only occur with file request entries in the STQ. Messages with file request status are simply flagged as "Sent" by FD when the remote system does not indicate support for file requests when the session is negotiated. *** Nodelist ======== Q: What are the various nodelist group tags, and what do they represent? A: There are four pre-defined group tags: 1, 2, 3, and 4. In order of appearance, they represent the source for the nodelist entry: 1 - Raw nodelist (typically, NODELIST.nnn) 2 - Private nodelist (FDNET.PVT) 3 - Private pointlist (FDPOINT.PVT) 4 - An entry copied by means of the PHONE statement in FDNODE.CTL. Group tags A through Z are user-defined groups. *** Q: [ML] When using the "Edit nodelist" function of FDNC, some automatically processed/compiled entries seem to belong to two groups, one of them is group four (4). A: When using the PHONE command in FDNODE.CTL, FDNC copies the specified entry from its source to the internal nodelist database. Such entries are given an additional group tag (4). These can be separately exported by specifying four (4) in the groups to include option. *** Terminal ======== Q: The Terminal seems to be ignoring all input, not even works. A: This is typically an indication that the "raw" keyboard mode has been enabled in the Terminal. Make sure that the LED is not active and then try again. If the keyboard does not have a LED, try pressing the button once and then . *** Q: The Terminal seems to be displaying all characters twice, specifically those typed from the keyboard; e.g. "AATTII55" instead of "ATI5". A: This is typically the result of the communications device "echoing" characters typed from the keyboard and the LOCAL ECHO Terminal setting (in the LINE menu) being set to YES. To solve this, simply change the LOCAL ECHO setting to NO. *** Q: When using the (Nodelist dial) function, the Terminal does not prompt for the use of script files, but there are several script files (*.SCR) present in the system directory. A: The TERMINAL.MISCELLANEOUS.SCRIPTS IN NODELIST DIAL setting controls whether or not the Terminal should honor the presence of script files and prompt for one to be used when the nodelist dial function is invoked. *** BBS === Q: When the BBS is used locally (local logon), the BBS software reports a very low amount of time remaining, or no time at all. due to a system event; yet, no event is pending or due. A: It is possible that the BBS software is reading the contents of an old DOBBS*.BAT file, generated by FD for the last remote caller. Try removing the applicable DOBBS*.BAT file and attempt to logon locally to the BBS again. *** // end of file "fdfaq100.txt"