1. February 1996 -=# Terminate FAQ v2.3 #=- Q : What is a FAQ ? A : Well, this is a FAQ. FAQ is short for Frequently Asked Question. This is a list of frequently asked questions about Terminate and TerMail, in order to answer a lot of questions within one single document. Therefore a 'newbie' can easily learn a lot within a short period of time. Q : I have a modem that Terminate doesn't seem to support, can I use Terminate ? A : Of course you can use Terminate, but when Terminate was released your modem hadn't been released yet. You will have to use the Generic modem setting. Normally the default settings should work just fine. If you still can't get it to work, you will have to come up with your own init-string. Ask for it in a modem echo, there are a lot of people who can help you there. And remember it doesn't really matter which program you are using, the settings will be the same with every program. If you find good settings, Netmail them to Bo Bendtsen, so he can put them in the next version. This way we all help to make Terminate even better. Q : Terminate seems to think I have a 19k2, 38k4 or even a 57k6 modem. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, how do I convince Terminate? A : This is because of people mixing up two things all the time : DCE and DTE. DCE stands for Data Communication Equipment (a modem). DTE means Data Terminal Equipment (a computer). Two modems talk to each other at DCE-speed, and a modem and a computer talk to each other at DTE-speed. The DCE-speed is what you paid for and is most likely 14k4 or 28k8. You may know that your modem is able to compress the data up to four times. That's why your computer has to deliver the data at a speed of 4 * 14400 = 57600 (If you have a 14k4 modem). The following picture perhaps shows it more clearly : ********** ********** *Computer* DTE- DCE- DTE- *Computer* * A * Rate ***A*** Rate ***B*** Rate * B * * *~~~~~~~~~~*Modem*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*Modem*~~~~~~~~~~* * ********** 38400 ******* 14k4 | 28k8 ******* 57600 ********** Computer A is connected to a 14k4 modem. Computer B is connected to a 28k8 modem. Because maximum compression will almost never be reached, (your modem will hardly ever compress anything because most of what you will transfer will already be compressed with ZIP, ARJ, RAR, PAK, ARC etc etc.) and some serial ports will not fully function at the speed of 57k6 you need to set your DTE-rate to 38k4 (ALT-P, Baud). And now the actual answer to the question ;-). You have to setup your modem to report the actual DCE-rate to Terminate when connected. With most modems this can be done with ATW2. See your modem manual for more on this. Q : Terminate doesn't seem to detect the status of my carrier very well. What's wrong ? A : You have to make sure your modem is set to AT&C1&D2. You can save the settings with AT&W. See your modem manual for more on this. Q : AVATAR/ANSI doesn't seem to work within Terminate, all the screens I receive from a BBS are unreadable, or my modem locks up, what should I do ? A : This is probably the most frequently asked question, this is actually the reason I started with this FAQ-thing :-) Most of the time the problem can be solved by disabling Xon-Xoff software flow control. You can do this from the Options menu (ALT-O), Communications Setup, and then choose your modem. Make sure you turn of Software flow control (Xon/Xoff) in your modem's settings as well. You also have to turn ON Hardware flowcontrol CTS/RTS. If it still doesn't work setup Terminate to use only ANSI for this particular BBS. In that case make sure the BBS only sends you ANSI-screens. Q : What is a point ? A : A point is a person (above all :-) ) who has got some experience with FIDO-net and now wants to spend less money on his hobby. He got some software (like Terminate & TerMail) and arranged with a sysop (node) to become his 'boss'. The point can now login very fast on the BBS and get his mail. This is done completely automatically, and thus very fast, and thus very cheap. All his mail is already packed saving even more money. You don't have to be a whizzkid to become a point, but a little experience using computers and FIDO-net will prove to be helpful. Look out for TERPOINT.ZIP for more info about points. [ This file really needs to get updated, if anybody feels up to it. If you are a beginning point this might be something for you! ] Q : What kind of animals are those `freqs'? A : Freq comes from File-REQuest. Freq'ing is a way of downloading files with a mailer program (like the point-system from Terminate). It allows you to download files without logging-on to the BBS. It's a fast, and therefore cheap, way of downloading files. It has some restrictions though. First off all you have to know the filename of the file you want. Wildcards are allowed though so you can use them. That's especially handy for the file-extension since some systems use ZIP, some use ARJ etc. If you know that, you have to make sure the system allows you to freq from it. Some systems allow just anybody to freq, others don't allow freqs from it at all. Others allow freqs only between certain hours, or only to 'listed nodes'. It's a sysop thing. Q : So how do I freq with Terminate ? A : You will have to freq with Terminate using the point-system (ALT-F7 remember). You have two options from there. One, press the 'R'-key. Or two press 'A'. You will have to read the manual for more on this. Just press F1 and read it. Q : Can I also freq using TerMail ? A : No, you can't actually freq using TerMail. You _can_ however, create the file the point-system needs to perform a freq at all. When you read a message and you see a filename you would like to have just press 'F'. But be careful, it is being freqqed from the system the writer wrote his message. This system maybe doesn't have the file you want. Make sure the writer stated he has the file on that particular system. And remember you will have to make the actual call using Terminate's point-system. Q : How about file attaching? A : When you want to send a file to someone you can attach it to a message. You can do this with TerMail. Press 'E' to send a netmail message. Fill out the name and FIDO-address of the person you want to send the file to. Press F10 to select the file you want to send. Then you can write your message as you always do. If you want to be sure the file gets to the person, you have to crash the file to his system (or his boss's if he's a point). Some systems in FIDO don't like transporting files for someone else because it will cost them too much. Q : I download the nodelist every week but it is so big (3Mb), isn't there any other way? A : You can't do anything about it's size. But you don't have to download the entire nodelist every week. There are weekly 'diff'-files. With those files and the help of Terminates own nodelist-updater you can automatically update your nodelist. The diff-files you need to download are -much- smaller than the complete nodelist. Try with your boss to arrange that you receive those diff-files automatically, since you can't miss one. If you are not planning on making long-distance calls, having only a regional nodelist will do. Ask your boss for more about this. Q : I've setup a point-number in Terminate, but when I use the point-system to call my boss I sometimes get disconnected because of a missing password? A : This only happens when you are NOT using the call-boss function. In this case Terminate doesn't send the password. To tell Terminate the password you are using for this system you have to edit the PASSWORD.TXT. There you can fill in the password for that system. Q : I love Terminate but I'm also addicted to BlueWave, do you know of any medicine? A : When you are a point in FIDO-net (or similar nets) you receive your mail in a different packet format than when you use the BlueWave maildoor. To convert the FIDO-style packets to BlueWave-style packets you'll need a program called OMX. You could find it on several BBS's just look for OMX100.* (DOS-version) or OMX100-2.* (OS/2-version). There are also a few scripts released that make it even easier to use BlueWave with Terminate/TerMail. See if you can find them on your local regsite. Don't delete TerMail from you HD, just continue to play with it until you feel you got the hang of it. I'm sure that in the long run you _will_ like TerMail better than BlueWave :-) Q : What about Terminate in Windows 3.1x? A : While it's a DOS program and therefore works best under DOS, you can use it under MS-Windows 3.1x. Testing has shown that it works well for most of us under Windows for Workgroups v3.11. There is no difference between Windows 3.10 and Windows 3.11 on the comm's part. Windows for Workgroups v3.11 however is much better suited for communications. But both Windows have a little problem with comm ports. See the WINDOWS.DOC in the TERMINAT\WINDOWS\ directory for more info. Maybe in the future there will be a Windows (95) version. (Hopefully :-) ) Q : What about Terminate in Windows95? A : Because MS claims Win95 is 100% compatible with DOS, Terminate should work just fine under Win95. And in fact it does, but some people get CRC-errors while downloading. There are several ways of fixing this. But first you have to make sure Win95 is causing the problem. If you have the same problem when running Win95 in plain DOS (exit to dos) then Win95 isn't at fault but Terminate itself or your modem. If you find that Win95 is causing the problems you could try the following. This solluction is recommended by MS. -=< Resource Kit >=- Errors occur during MS-DOS-based applications communications sessions, especially file transfers. Increase the COMxBuffer setting in [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI. The default value is 128 bytes. -=< Resource Kit >=- So if your modem is on Com2 you might want to add/change Com2Buffer=256 or higher. (512 works for me ;-) ) If this doesn't work you could use a FOSSIL driver. WinFossil, for example is fully 32-bit fossil driver that works very well with Terminate. You can always freq the latest version at: 1:343/9. (Freq WNFOSSIL.ZIP) If this doesn't work, you could tell Win95 it should keep it's hand off the COM-port. You can do this by disabling the com-port in Win95. (Terminate then controls the comport directly...) Right-Click on My Computer, Select Properties, Click the Device Manager tab, Find and select the com-port your modem is connected to, Click properties, from Device usage unmark Original Configuration (Current). If this worked well, there should be a red cross through your com-port in the devices list. The disadvantage of the last option, is that you then cannot use Windows based comm's programs. Like I said before, maybe in the future there will be a Windows(95) version. Q : What about Terminate in OS/2 ? A : It can be done of course but sometimes you'll need special comm's drivers. The best you can use are the SIO-drivers made by Ray Gwinn (SIO153.*) Same as with Windows, maybe in the future there will be an OS/2 version. Q : Known bugs and limitations ? A : Every big program suffers from bugs. That's nothing to be ashamed of, but it's handy if you know them and thus can avoid them. It isn't appropriate to sum up the bugs in this FAQ, but Dave Wapstra is keeping a list of all the bugs discovered yet. He posts regularly in the International Terminate echo so if you stick around you will see "The List" come by sooner or later. One bug I need to mention because it's so obvious; the famous ever-changing-terminal bug. Every time you logon to a BBS the Terminal emulation changes, so most of the time you only receive garbage. There is a fix for it, download T-FIX-3.ZIP from your local regsite and it will be solved. It also fixes the problem of Terminate locking up right after you've started it. Q : What is TmNice ? A : One of TerMail's most annoying features/bugs (it isn't really a bug just something that could be handled much better :-) ) is that TerMail doesn't format the replies too well. TmNice reformats the lines nicely, it also adds tagline and signatures. You should be able to get the latest version v3.0 at all the regsites (TMNICE30.ZIP). Joop Blokker, the author is allways happy to help you. So if you have problems send him a netmail at 2:282/610.2. Q : What's the difference between TagLines, Tearlines, and Origins ? A : Every message MUST contain an origin line, this line will look something like " * Origin : Lots of text (2:285/750.24)." A FidoNet Origin line must be no longer than 79 char's, including the space in col 1 and the ) following the FidoNet address. The only mandatory elements are the beginning and ending, as in: _*_Origin:_ (Zone addr) Where '_' are required spaces, and Zone addr is the Zn:Net/Node address as listed in the FidoNet Nodelist, and must be enclosed in (). Everything between these two elements is optional. Tearlines are created by most programs (like TerMail) to make some sort of advertisement for themselves. These lines always start with "---". Most of the time one can not change them. And then taglines. Taglines (or cookies) are little funny one-line texts. They start with "..." or ".!.". They have no special meaning, they are only put there to amuse you. Most/some moderators don't like the use of taglines since they have no special purpose but will cause an increase in the phone bill of a LOT of people, so be careful with them. TerMail only creates an origin and a tearline for you. If you want taglines, you will have to find an external program to do it for you. There are a lot of these programs. Q : What editors can I use ? A : In order to write/reply to messages using TerMail you need a text editor. Any program that can edit ASCII-files will do. Some of the most popular are (in _alphabetical_ order): Aurora v2.1a, Boxer v7.0a, EDIT.COM (this comes with MS-DOS or Windows95), EZquote v4.0 and Qedit 4.0 (or TSE/jr, which is the same) If you find another, and it works for you: keep it! it really doesn't matter which you use. (The versions number I mention are what I -think- are the latest.) Q : What's the point of the bookmark in TerMail? A : It's just like the normal marker, the difference is that you can place only one bookmark in an area. You do this with . To quickly find the bookmark press . TerMail also places bookmarks automagically at the point where you stopped reading the area. Only if you didn't place a bookmark yourself in that area of course. Q : Whenever I start TerMail, the message areas: "Messages written by you" and "Messages you want to keep" always show NO messages in this area, but if I go into one of these areas and then exit, the MSGS and NEW columns are then updated correctly. Is this a bug? A : No, it's a real feature ;-) By default, those areas have the NOSCAN flag set in the TM.BBS file. That means that they are not scanned when TerMail starts up and thus appear to have no messages in them (just showing a "-"). If you want to check how many messages you have, either go into the area or do an ALT-S. If you always want them scanned, then remove the NOSCAN flag from the TM.BBS. (It's after the 80th column so you might need to scroll a bit.) Q : Every time I startup TerMail or Terminate it compiles the nodelist, even if nothing has changed. How do I stop that happening? A : You will have to double, no triple check you setup the paths and filenames right in either TM.CFG or in Terminate itself. Use wildcards for the extension. The DIFF-files you receive have to `land' in your inbound (IN\) directory to ensure automagic processing. Q : Where can I find Terminate on the InterNet ? A : There are several locations from where you can get all kinds of Terminate related stuff. Try the following places : http://www.gpl.net/terminate/ ftp://ftp.gpl.net/pub/terminate Q : What is uuENcoding ? A : uuENcoding is a way of transforming binary files (like programs or compiled and ZIP-ed scripts) to 'text' files. You can't make any sense from those text files, but you can now transport them via FIDO-net. You can uuENcode a file using T-CODE.EXE. It's in the TERMAIL\ directory. But be careful, you should really ask the moderators for permission before you post anything uuENcoded. Q : What is uuDEcoding ? A : If you understood the above you might have wondered how you can get the original binary file back. Well, you guessed it, that's where uuDEcoding comes in handy. You can do this too with T-CODE.EXE, or from within TerMail, just press 'H' to decode it. Q : What is the latest version of Terminate ? A : The latest is v3.00. You should be able to get it pretty easily. As soon as a new version comes out, you will read about it in here. If you think you found a newer version, but you haven't read it in this echo, than the version you found is NOT the real thing. Some people wonder what happened to the v1.52 beta-project. Well v3.00 is what came out of the project, v1.52 was just a working title. Q : What does the *at or *bt after some peoples tearline mean? A : Only very special people have them. These heros have survived the beta-test phase (*bt) and some even the alfa-test phase (*at). You should always be very polite and helpful to these people. Remember they have suffered for you, to bring a completely bugfree product. (Well, at least they tried ;-) ) Q : What is the story about these false versions ? A : A person that used to be a dealer of Terminate was thrown out and because of that, he decided to invent a story about having bought the copyright and trademark. He hired some young Russian programmers to make false freeware versions only to annoy me (Bo Bendtsen), Fidonet and all the other users of the real Terminate. The (known) current false versions in circulation are: 1.56 / 2.04 It is also sometimes referred to as project CAIN, or Terminator 2. If you find one of these false version, please kindly ask the sysop to remove them, since he is carrying illegal software. [Personal note: Every now and then a person asks in this area something about these false versions. Would you please NOT respond to those messages unless it's via NetMail. I -know- that the moderators of this area explain the situation to this person. If only the moderators reply to these messages, we won't waste our precious bandwidth with these off-topic messages. Thank you.] Q : When is the next version coming out? A : "When it's developed, tested and ready..." OK, it's stupid, but that's all Bo is willing to share with us. You can however estimate the release date for yourself by looking at the tearlines from the beta/alfatesters, these tearlines will show the test fase (alfa, beta, or gamma) and the version of that testversion. If there have been a few gamma version it should take much more time. Q : I've seen that Terminate has scripts, but what are scripts ? A : With scripts you can fully automate certain operations like collecting your mail from a QWK-door, or delivering your files for door-games. You can write these script yourself; it's like a programming language, but then simpler. Look at the demo's included with the package and look at the scripts posted every now and then in the TERMINAT-area's. Just play with them and maybe you can try to write your own script. It's really quite simple, once you get the hang of it. And as you know; if you have ANY question about PRS just ask in a Terminate-echo. There is bound to be someone who can give you the answer. Q : Is this whole FAQ-thing official ? A : No, it's not. I tried to be as honest as possible, but don't blame me for anything. I don't have stocks for any of the programs I mentioned, I just know they are being used so I told you about it. Nobody asked me to start with it, it just seemed like a good idea at the time :-). Do whatever you want with this information. Q : I have comments on this FAQ, what do I do ? A : If you have any comments on content, answers, spelling, grammar, just anything at all, please let me know. I've put this FAQ together in order to help you out, if you have anything to add/change/correct let me know and I will put it in the next version so we can help other new users. Ain't that nice :-) Here is my address: Dennis Janssen @ 2:285/750.24 Thanks to everybody who helped me making this FAQ. Without your help it wouldn't be what it is today ;-) Thanks.