LANtastic(R) Compatibility Bulletin Product: Micro Perfect products from Micro Perfect Corp. Updated: 02/15/96 Classification: Vertical Market(s) -- (Various) Engineer: /skh This product is certified to work great with LANtastic when installed as described in this bulletin. As a participant in the LANtastic Developer Alliance, the listed version of this product was tested for compatibility with the LANtastic Network Operating Systems indicated. Bulletins are available to help with the installation of many compatible products and with many aspects of managing or enhancing your network. Bulletins are available: By fax from the Artisoft FaxReturn System at (520) 884-1397; request document 2001 for a list of compatible applications and other software, document 2044 for a list of compatible network interface cards and other hardware, document 2 for a current list of all available bulletins; Through the Artisoft Home Page http://www.artisoft.com on the World Wide Web; As ASCII text or Acrobat Text Enriched (PDF) files from the Artisoft Arti-Facts BBS at (520) 884-8648 (1200 baud - 28.8 Kbps, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, full duplex), the GO ARTISOFT forum on CompuServe, or the Artisoft anonymous FTP site ftp.artisoft.com; download APPCOM.TXT from the BULLETIN section for a list of compatible applications and other software, NICCOM.TXT for a list of compatible network interface cards and other hardware, !BLTXREF.TXT for a current list of all available bulletins. COMPATIBILITY STATEMENT Micro Perfect products from Micro Perfect work great with LANtastic. PRODUCT OVERVIEW Micro Perfect products include Auto Perfect, BailBond Perfect, Basket Perfect, Cards Perfect, Catering Perfect, Checkbook Perfect, Club Perfect, Comics Perfect, Command Perfect, ComRent Perfect, Contact Perfect, Co-op Education and Placement Perfect, Courier Perfect, Dental Perfect, Docket Perfect, Doctor Perfect, Herd Perfect, Hospital Perfect, Hotel Perfect v2.0, Insurance Perfect (for Brokers), Insurance Perfect (for Carriers), Jazz Perfect, Job Shop Perfect, Limo Perfect, Liquor Perfect, Marina Perfect, Menu Perfect, Parcel Perfect, Pit Stop Perfect, Pizza Perfect, P.O.S. Perfect, Public Relations Perfect, Recipe Perfect, ResRent Perfect, Restaurant Perfect, Salon Perfect, Service Perfect, Support Perfect, Teacher Perfect, TimeClock Perfect, Video Perfect. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS All Micro Perfect products are compatible with all known DOS providers and all versions 3.3 and later. Micro Perfect has DOS, Windows v3.1, and Windows 95 products. INSTALLATION The setup information relevant to LANtastic is the same for all Micro Perfect products because all Micro Perfect products have the same technical core. The setup considerations are the same for both DOS and Windows v3.1. _____________________________________________________________________________ MCPFVE Compatibility Bulletin Page 1 of 4 CONFIGURATION You do not need SHARE.EXE to run any Micro Perfect Programs. If you have to run SHARE for other programs then you may have to expand its configuration. By default SHARE.EXE only opens 30 files and file name space of 2048 characters (bytes). If you have SHARE loaded for any purposes it must be expanded beyond its defaults. Try adding "/L:500" and "/F:4096" after the SHARE command to expand its parameters. If you are running several other shared applications or if you are running your Micro Perfect applications for multiple companies then the "/F:" might need to be set much larger. If you get a message like "CANNOT SHARE" then SHARE's "/F:" or "/L:" is either missing or set too low. As long as you do not run a WRITE BACK disk cache you can shut the server or any workstation down at any time and do no harm; if you run a WRITE BACK disk cache you will blow your data away sooner or later. You must use a WRITE THROUGH cache only. SMARTDRV must have a "/X" parameter to be WRITE THROUGH. NCACHE2 must have a "/-I" parameter to be WRITE THROUGH. In the event you lack DOS file editing experience (via EDIT or EDLIN) you can get a copy of RECONFIG.EXE from Micro Perfect (or the dealer that sold you your Micro Perfect program.) The RECONFIG.EXE program was specially designed to rewrite your AUTOEXEC.BAT and your CONFIG.SYS to get it completely up to specification for Micro Perfect programs. It will also move your LANtastic STARTNET.BAT information into proper position so MEMMAKER can do its optimization correctly. In addition, RECONFIG.EXE may double check and correct inappropriate caching program setups to protect your network and its data overall. If you have a network registration and you still can run only one or just a few stations then you may need to expand your "SERVER STARTUP PARAMETERS" in LANtastic NET_MGR. 1.) Check NET_MGR "SERVER STARTUP..." for the number of STATIONS; this may be too low. 2.) Check NET_MGR "SERVER STARTUP..." for the number of FILES; bump it up to 500 (if it is less than that) and see if this clears your problem. 3.) Check NET_MGR "SERVER STARTUP..." INTERNAL SHARE..." for the number of FILES; bump it up to 500 (if it is less than that) and see if this clears or improves your problem. 4.) Check NET_MGR "SERVER STARTUP..." INTERNAL SHARE..." for the FILES SPACE; bump it up to 5k (if it is less than that) and see if this clears or improves your problem. Micro Perfect products do not require any special expanded or extended memory configurations. Use MEMMAKER to maximize the amount of CONVENTIONAL memory you have free. Consult your DOS manual on the use of MEMMAKER. Since MEMMAKER will not trace down through the BATCH files that AUTOEXEC.BAT _____________________________________________________________________________ MCPFVE Compatibility Bulletin Page 2 of 4 will call you must copy the contents of those BATCH files into AUTOEXEC.BAT for MEMMAKER to optimize those batch files' use of memory. This means LANtastic's STARTNET.BAT is not normally optimized by MEMMAKER. You MUST copy STARTNET.BAT into AUTOEXEC.BAT for MEMMAKER to optimize LANtastic's use of memory. If you get a message like "ABNORMAL PROGRAM TERMINATION" you have low conventional memory. Make FILES=255 arbitrarily. If you get a message like "TOO MANY FILES" or "NOT ENOUGH FILES" then you have FILES set less than 140. MULTI-USER ACCESS Micro Perfect products should be loaded on the server. They can optionally be write protected with the DOS "ATTRIB +R *.EXE" command. PRINTING Micro Perfect products will work on any basic printer at any LPT1 to LPT4 or COM1 to COM4 port. These ports can be local or network printers. COMMON INSTALLATION-RELATED OVERSIGHTS If you can get one station or one server running but no more then you may have a single user version of our software. Check your registration. Any insufficient memory messages encountered while the program is in operation can be permanently avoided by setting up our internal memory swapping mechanisms. Add the following three lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file CLAVM0=MEMORY,64 Note #1: ZERO not "o" CLAVM1=C:\,512 Note #2: ONE not "i" or "l" ERASE VM*. Note #3: period RESTRICTIONS AND CAVEATS Your hardware will eventually fail so you must back up and verify your backups frequently. 98% of businesses that suffer a catastrophic data loss go bankrupt within three years. User are encouraged to remember the three rules of surviving in an automated world: Always keep several generations of verified backups, Always keep several generations of verified backups, and, Always keep several generations of verified backups. Micro Perfect applications have built-in backup routines but you are not limited to those routines. You can use any backup routine or device, however, we prefer and recommend DAT tape backups. You should also take at least one backup off-site each week. NETWORK DISCONNECTS In the event of a network disconnect, a DOS critical error message will appear and you may Abort, Retry, or Fail the operation. If you are using Windows you may be able to use LANtastic Network Connections to reconnect, _____________________________________________________________________________ MCPFVE Compatibility Bulletin Page 3 of 4 then return to the application window and Retry. INTEROPERABILITY For Windows 95(TM) you should use the LANtastic drivers and not the Windows 95 drivers. This is because non-standard record locking has been implemented in Windows 95. Industry standard is for a 5/18 second delay on record locking. Windows 95 has 1/18 second record locking. This non-standard record locking can cause numerous errors and messages in a variety of products. An undocumented patch for the 1/18 second record locking problem is available from Microsoft. VENDOR INFORMATION Micro Perfect products are software products of: Micro Perfect Corp. 225 West 34th Street New York, New York 10122 Sales: (212) 629-6082 FAX (212) 629-8578 Technical Support: Call Sales number for Technical Support information ARTISOFT TECHNICAL SUPPORT Artisoft offers a wide selection of technical support options. For information regarding technical support services, please refer to our Directory of Support Services, available where you obtained this bulletin (request fax document 4, check Support & Services at our Home Page, or download file DIRLIST.TXT). You can also obtain this information by calling Artisoft at (520) 670-7000. _____________________________________________________________________________ Artisoft makes no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of this document. Artisoft is not responsible for lost profit or revenue, loss of software use, loss of data, cost of re-creating data, cost of any substitute equipment or program, or any other claim. Artisoft makes no warranty that complying products will operate under any other conditions, or that products will satisfy requirements, or that products will be without defect or error, or that product operation will be uninterrupted. Artisoft's aggregate liability is limited to the total of payments made by the customer for the Artisoft product and Artisoft shall not in any case be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages, even if it has been advised of the possibility of those damages. LANtastic is a trademark of Artisoft, Inc. Brand names, company names, and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Artisoft, Inc. 2202 N. Forbes Boulevard Tucson, Arizona 85745-1412 Sales Consultation Center: (800) 846-9726 FAX (520) 670-7359 Product Certification Message Center: (520) 670-7107 FAX (520) 670-7225 Information regarding Technical Support: (520) 670-7000 BBS (520) 884-8648 _____________________________________________________________________________ MCPFVE Compatibility Bulletin Page 4 of 4