RUNNING SPITFIRE UNDER OS2 (WARP)
This text file gives settings and suggestions for maximizing the speed and reliability of 
running Spitfire BBS under the OS2 Warp operating system. It is aimed at multinode 
setups, although most of the settings should work fine for single node operation. It also 
assumes that the BBS is running on a dedicated machine, not primarily used for tasks 
that are not BBS related.

Other programs mentioned in this text are Ray Gwinn's (shareware) SIO drivers for 
OS2. At the time of this writing, version 140 is the latest release. As far as I'm 
concerned, an absolute necessity for running ANY comm program under OS2. Also 
mentioned is OSTSR, a small (freeware) utility that converts Desqview (tm) timeslices 
into OS2 timeslices. With this program loaded, "DV aware" programs, such as Spitfire 
report "running under DV 3.00" when started.

These settings were tested on a 486/33, 20megs Ram, 2 SF nodes, node 1 running 
Frontdoor v.2.12, node 2 running SF from the command line.

GENERAL NOTES:
I run my system in standard VGA mode, 16 color. My feeling is I want all the speed I 
can get, and do not need anything more for a BBS.

Setting up Spitfire: At the modem configuration screen, (Alt-M), it is very important to 
"turn high speed Asynch Routines" to OFF. If your experiencing VERY SLOW xfer 
speeds using SF's internal protocols, this is your problem.  If you run a large number of 
message conferences, you may want to consider turning the auto-message scan at 
logon off.  Scanning the message bases is much slower under OS2 than DOS, and I 
have not be able to speed it up appreciably.

Using OSTSR: FD v2.12 is already OS2 aware. Using OSTSR with it accomplishes 
nothing, and might even slow it down. Therefore, on my system, on node 1, OSTSR is 
loaded in the bat file that starts the BBS, AND UNLOADED WHEN THE BBS EXITS! 
This is done using the /d parameter. On node 1, I use a value of 1, and on node 2 I use 
a value of 2. This seems to "balance" each node better. I don't think values above 2 
would be useful.  However, if you run any doors that are DV aware, they will inherit and 
use this setting, so you might have to compromise somewhat.

OS2' s CONFIG.SYS:
I won't attempt to cover all the bases here, it depends greatly on how you installed OS2 
and how much ram you have. There are many settings in the config.sys that can have 
an impact on performance, so get a book and/or hit the OS2 conferences on Fido for 
tips.  On my system, I run all FAT partitions with Dual Boot. Therefore, I can't comment 
on tweaking fore HPFS systems. There are, however, several general considerations.
PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO
;this seems to be a necessity
MAXWAIT=1
;you might have a problem with errors in file xfers with anything greater.
AUTOFAIL=YES
PAUSEONERROR=NO
;turn these on once you get your system debugged. It adds to the stability of the system 
if it has problems with a door, or mail process that might get hung up.

DOS SETTINGS:
DOS_AUTOEXEC
;I use seperate autoexec.bats for each node
DOS_BACKGROUND-EXECUTON=ON
DOS_BREAK=OFF
DOS_DEVICE
;c:\os2\mdos\ansi.sys
;c:\sio\vx00.sys
;these are loaded in the config.sys file
DOS_FCBS=8
;4 may work fine
DOS_FCBS_KEEP=4
DOS_FILES=40 ;for node 1 30 for node 2
DOS_HIGH=ON
DOS_LASTDRIVE=Z
DOS_RMSIZE=640
DOS_SHELL=(DEFAULT)
DOS_STARTUP_DRIVE=(DEFAULT)
DOS_UMB=ON
DOS_VERSION=(DEFAULT)
DPMI_DOS_API=AUTO
DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT=8
DPMI_NETWORK_BUFF_SIZE=8
EMS_FRAME_LOCATION=AUTO
EMS_HIGH_OS_MAP_REGION=32
EMS_LOW_OS_MAP_REGION=384
EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT=1024
;you may want to reduce this if your severly memory constrained. Setting it higher will 
probably not buy you much, unless you have a door program that needs it.
HW_NOSOUND=OFF
HW_ROM_TO_RAM=ON
HW_TIMER=ON
;you might try setting this to off. On my system, setting it to on gave a very slight 
increase in speed.
IDLE SECONDS=60
;tweakable-this seems to work well with 2 nodes
IDLE_SENSITIVITY=38
;same comment as above
INT_DURING_IO=OFF
KBD-ALTHOME_BYPASS=OFF
KBD_BUFFER_EXTEND=ON
KBD_CTRL_BYPASS=AUTO
KBD_RATE_LOCK=OFF
MEM_EXCLUDE_REGIONS=(DEFAULT)
MEM_INCLUDE_REGIONS=(DEFAULT)
MOUSE_EXCLUSIVE_ACCESS=OFF
PRINT_SEPERATE_OUTPUT=OFF
PRINT_TIMEOUT=15
SESSION_PRIORITY=1
SIO_ALLOW_ACCESS_COMx
;turn this on for your specific node port, off for the rest
SIO_IDLE_SENSITIVITY=32
;tweakable-this seems to work well for 2 nodes
SIO_MODE_DTR=(DEFAULT)
SIO_MODE_FIFO_LOAD_COUNT=16
SIO_MODE_ISDR=IGNORE DSR DURING RECEIVE
SIO_MODE_OCTS=HANDSHAKE SIGNAL, AS IN RTS/CTS
SIO_MODE_ODSR=IGNORE DSR DURING TRANSMIT
SIO_MODE_RTS=HANDSHAKE SIGNAL, AS IN RTS/CTS
SIO_MODE_XON/XOFF=NO XON/XOFF FLOW CONTROL BY SIO
SIO_SCREEN_SYNC_KLUDGE=OFF
;depending on your display adapter, this may need to be on. Leave it off unless your 
ansi screens are VERY slow.
SIO_SHARE_ACCES_WITH_OS2=ON
SIO_VIRTURALIZE_16550A=ON
SIO_VIRTURALIZE_COMPORTS=ON
VIDEO_8514A_XGA_TRAP=OFF
;unless you have this display
VIDEO_FASTPASTE=OFF
VIDEO_MODE_RESTRICTION=(DEFAULT)
VIDEO_ON_DEMAND_MEMORY=ON
VIDEO_RETRACE_EMULATION=ON
VIDEO_ROM_EMULATION=ON
VIDEO_SWITCH_NOTIFICATION=OFF
VIDEO_WINDOW_REFRESH=1
XMS_HANDLES=32
XMS_MEMORY_LIMIT=0
;no need for this if you use EMS memory
XMS_MINIMUM_HMA=0

All of the info in this file is a compromise between testing time, and getting the info out. I 
decided to put this together now, to give a decent starting point, rather than continue to 
"tweak" for the ultimate. in reality, each individual machine will have to be "tweaked" on 
its on, but this should provide decent performance until you have a chance to do that.

Let me know if you find a something new that really helps!
Hubert Atkinson
ATAS Computing BBS
713-837-8003, 713-427-3576
FIDO 1:106/8003
Cserve 73647,71
Internet hubert.atkinson@atas.cld9.com