Q & A about PC+2.0 installation When installing PROCOMM PLUS, make sure you save a copy of the installation log that the install program generates. This will be a valuable tool when diagnosing installation problems. Make sure you have a copy of this report if you call for technical support regarding your the results of your installation. Q. I copied the files from the master disks onto work disks and my hard drive, but can't get the intall program to work. It keeps giving me a message that the source directory is invalid? A. The install program checks the volume label on your installation disk to make sure you have the correct disk in the drive. This means that you must use the distribution disk set to run the intallation program. If you wish to make working copies of these disks, you must use the DOS command DISKCOPY so that the volume label is placed on your working disks. The install program will not work if you use the COPY command to copy the file to a work disk or hard drive. Q. When I run the install program the display on my monitor becomes fuzzy and unreadable? A. This is normal if you have a CGA monitor. One of the tasks of the install program is to check the type of video monitor. On some CGA monitors, direct screen writes cause 'snow' on the screen. This is the 'fuzziness' you see. The install program asks you if you see 'snow' at this point. If you see 'snow' and answer yes, the screen will clear and the installation should proceed normally. Q. I installed PROCOMM PLUS to use com 3 but when I start up the program, it doesn't seem to send anything to the modem? A. If you answered YES when asked if your computer is a PS/2 or compatible, the installation program may have used the wrong base port address for com 3 and com 4. This question on the installation program refers to machines that have a true MicroChannel bus. If you have a PC, AT, or PS/2 model 25 or 30 that does not have MicroChannel, you should answer NO when PCINSTAL asks if your computer is a PS/2 or compatible. If you have already completed the installation, use the setup facility to change the base port addresses. Press ALT-S, M, P to get to the port address setup. Com 3 should be changed to 0x3E8 using IRQ4 and com4 should be changed to 0x2E8 using IRQ3. Q. I can't get past the part of the install procedure where I'm asked to enter my serial number. What do I do and where can I find that number? A. Your serial number can be found on the registration card that's in the envelope that contained your master disk set. There is a business reply card that you should send in to register your copy of the program, and a Rolodex card for you to keep that has the same number. When the installation program prompts you to do so, you should enter that number exactly as it appears on the registration card. The install program will verify that the number is a valid regisration number before allowing you to proceed. After entering this number, it will appear on the program information screen every time you press ALT-I. Q. I want to make a bootable floppy disk that has PROCOMM PLUS on it, but when I create a system disk, the install program won't let me put the program on it. Why not? A. The program and it's related files will fill an entire 360K disk. If the disk you are using has the DOS system files on it, there won't be enough space left for the program and its required supplementary files. You will need to use a 720K disk (if your system supports it) or use a blank disk without the DOS system files. Q. I've successfully installed the new version of PROCOMM PLUS, but now my old version 1.1b doesn't work. I get an error message that says Error Opening, Creating, or Reading Directory. Why can't I use my old version now? A. The format of the directories is different in version 1.1b and 2.0. If you have a 2.0 directory in with your 1.1b program executable, you will get that message. You can use the directory size to see which version it belongs to. Directories in 11.b have a file size of 15050 bytes and 2.0 directories should be 23050. To prevent this problem, use a different directory for each version of the program and keep the corresponding files for each seperate. Then before you start either program, type SET PCPLUS=path where path is the path to the directory that contains the program files for the version you want to use. You can also use a batch file to start the programs and include the SET command in your batch file. Q. I'm trying to install an MNP modem on com3 or com4. When I finish the install and try to run PROCOMM PLUS, the program flashes INITIALIZING and seems to lock up. Why does it do this and how do I fix it? A. When you select an MNP modem when installing PROCOMM PLUS, it will set Hardware Flow Control ON. If the install is unable to initialize the modem, then it won't know that hardware flow contol is to be used. This may occur if the base port address or IRQ for the com port you are using are incorrect, or if you have an IRQ or TSR conflict. You can get past the opening screen by pressing ESC once for each character in the init string. Just keep pressing ESC until the program starts. The go to the setup utility in PROCOMM PLUS and change the base port address and IRQ if necessary. Save these changes as you exit the setup. Then make sure you have no TSRs or IRQ conflicts interfering with PROCOMM PLUS. You can verify this by typing AT from terminal mode. If the modem responds with OK, then it should be possible to properly initialize the modem. All that's left is to run PCINSTAL again, selecting RECONFIGURE, and then selecting Install New Modem. Q. When I ran PCINSTAL to install PROCOMM PLUS 2.0, I lost all of my data files for 1.1b A. This will occur if during the installation, you specify your 1.1b directory as the target for your 2.0 files. If you want to keep a copy of each, you should make a seperate directory for each version. Q. My machine locks up when I run PCINSTAL. I selected Reconfigure and then selected Test Video Mode, and then the machine locked up and I had to reboot. A. This may occur with the BIOS on some video cards because of incorrect video mode values. You should go to your users manual to get the correct video mode values and use these rather than running Test Video Mode. Then enter the correct value in the Display/Sound Setup menu. Press ALT-S, D, and enter the value for item K on this screen. Q. I'm trying to convert my old PROCOMM PLUS version 1.0 files for use with version 2.0, but PCINSTAL destroys my PCPLUS.PRM file and locks up the machine. What am I doing wrong? A. You may not be doing anything wrong. Because of a bug in the keyboard mapping of version 1.0, the install program may cause strange values to be entered in the PCPLUS.KBD file for some key sequences. The solution is to NOT use PCINSTAL to convert the PCPLUS.KBD file. Fix your version 1.0 .KBD file and take a screen snapshot of it. Then manually go in to the keyboard mapping utility in version 2.0 and enter the correct values. Q. I recently installed my new copy of PROCOMM PLUS 2.0 and it seems to work fine. But since then, I have noticed that some of my other programs won't run. Is it possible that it's related to my PROCOMM PLUS installation? A. It's unlikely that running PCINSTAL could cause this problem to show up, but it is remotely possible. As part of the installation procedure, PCINSTAL may have modified your AUTOEXEC.BAT to set an environment variable for PROCOMM PLUS. If your environment was already nearly full, this added variable may cause it to run out of space. You will need to increase your environment size to correct this problem. Q. When I run PCINSTAL to instal my modem, I get a message about a baud rate error, or some other error when installing the modem, and the program aborts. Why does this happen and how do I correct it? A. During the installation, PCINSTAL reads the file MODEMS.DAT to get the initialization information for modems. If this file is not in the correct format, this problem may occur. Get a new copy of the file MODEMS.DAT from your distribution disk, or get a copy from the DATASTORM Distribution BBS or support forum on CompuServe. Copy this file to your 2.0 directory and restart the install. Q. PCINSTAL reports an ERROR SAVING FILE when it trys to save a copy of the installation report. Why? A. If you are installing to a 360K floppy, the program will use all of the disk space for the program and it's required supplementary files. To get a copy of the report, you will need to save it to a different disk.