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                     Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

         Copyright 1993 Joaquim Homrighausen; All rights reserved.

                                 93-06-11

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Published by Joaquim Homrighausen with assistance from the users of
FrontDoor, FrontDoor APX, TosScan, and related utilities, as well as the
FrontDoor Help nodes. This document may be freely distributed for non-
commercial and informational purposes. This document may not, under any
circumstance, be traded, sold, or otherwise used for commercial gain or
purposes without prior written consent from Joaquim Homrighausen.

==========================================================================
FD=FrontDoor Mailer   FM=FrontDoor Editor   TS=TosScan   APX=FrontDoor APX
==========================================================================

Q: Occasionally, various indicators will appear in the lower right hand
   corner of the Mailer screen. What are they?

A: Five possible indicators can be displayed there:

     NU: No Users: event configured to not allow users, or is toggled
         off at the FD screen with <Alt-Y>, Human callers "No". Also
         displayed when FD detects the semaphore file FDNOUSER.NOW in
         its semaphore directory.

     UD: One or more undialable check marks exist. After FD places a call,
         gets a connect, and then fails the attempts to establish a mail
         session, it will make a number of "resend retries" (as defined
         in FDSETUP's Mailer.Miscellaneous menu). When the maximum number
         of retries have been reached, FD will set one check mark for the
         undialable node in question. When the node has three check marks,
         FD will not call this node again, until you have removed at least
         one of the check marks. Press <Alt-V> to view the list of un-
         dialable nodes, and edit the check marks.

     NE: No Exit: the semaphore file FDNOEXIT.NOW is detected. While this
         file is present, FD will not exit (even if the current event is
         configured to cause exits) when mail arrives.

     NR: No Rescan: the semaphore file FDNOSCAN.NOW is detected. While
         this file is present, FD will ignore system netmail folder
         rescans prompted by the semaphore file FDRESCAN.NOW.

   Mail: New mail for your system has arrived.

==========================================================================

Q: FD does not seem to accept file requests and update requests from
   certain calling systems (sometimes), why?

A: Check your log file whether you can find "remote refused pickup"
   reported. If so, it means that the requesting system has a setup
   disabling pick up of mail and files. There is nothing you can do about
   it except notify the operator at the remote system to change settings.

==========================================================================

Q: In the README.FD file on using HST Dual Standard modems, there is a
   mention that I should use "CONNECT 1200/" as the connect string for
   1200 BPS connects. Must I also include the slash in the other connect
   messages?

A: No. The reason why you must include the slash for 1200 BPS connects is
   that there is also a possibility that your modem reports a "CONNECT
   12000". If you do not include the slash on the 1200 BPS connect message
   then the CONNECT 12000 will be interpreted as a 1200 BPS connect and
   time calculations for transfers and file requests will be wrong.

==========================================================================

Q: I tried setting the CONNECT 1200 message to "CONNECT 1200/" and it does
   not work. Now I get no 1200 BPS connections at all!

A: For modems that do not report /NONE for non-error correcting connects,
   as the USR-style modem command set reports, you must instead set it to
   "CONNECT 1200|". This is true for the BT/Hayes command set (Hayes, PPI,
   and many Rockwell based), which appends /ARQ for error correcting
   connections and nothing at all for non-error correcting connections. It
   is also true for the Microcom compatible modems, which append /REL or
   nothing at all, and for DSI based modems, which append <Space>EC/V42B
   or nothing at all.

==========================================================================

Q: I have "Locked port" enabled in FDSETUP and my FOSSIL driver locked at
   38400 BPS, but the modem always says the caller is connecting at 38400
   BPS, even when they are really at 2400 BPS! What is wrong? I have a
   Rockwell chipset modem.

A: The BT/Hayes command set modems (Hayes, PPI, Rockwell based) have the
   ability to return multiline response codes that are not supported by
   FrontDoor. They also default to simply returning the DTE, or speed
   between the modem and computer (i.e. the "locked" rate). With either of
   these set (W1 and W0, respectively), you will have problems. Instead,
   use W2 and S95=2, which will return the DCE (rate between modems) and
   append /ARQ to error correcting connections.

==========================================================================

Q: What is a good init string for my Rockwell chipset (or Hayes or PPI)
   modem?

A: First, reset your modem to the factory default with AT&F. Now, load the
   FrontDoor Terminal by pressing <Alt-J> from FD's main menu or by
   running FD /TERM from the DOS prompt. Type "AT&C1&D2W2S95=2"<Enter>.
   Save it to NVRAM with "AT&W"<Enter>. Your init string can now be ATZ|
   and will work fine. Other registers are fine tuning only, and may vary
   by make and model. The FrontDoor INSTALL program includes the correct
   modem settings for many popular modems.

==========================================================================

A: I have just upgraded from FD 2.00 to 2.20. All is going fine except one
   little setting I haven't got right yet, and that's the MODEM statement
   in FDNODE.CTL.

Q: The MODEM statement in FDNODE.CTL has been moved to FDSETUP.Manager.
   Modem.

==========================================================================

Q: My modem is a combined FAX/DATA modem, but I cannot get FD to success-
   fully receive the fax, or exit so my external utility can receive it.

A: FD 2.20 can receive a fax by using its internal routines ONLY if you
   are using a ZyXEL U-1496 series modem and it has been configured for
   adaptive fax/data answer. FD 2.20 can shell to an external program if
   your modem returns a unique connect message indicating that a fax call
   is in progress (e.g. "CONNECT FAX"). This is more a limitation of
   adaptive answering in many modems and lack of suitable fax software to
   support the modems.

==========================================================================

Q: I am using a modem that requires the DTE speed to be locked at 57600
   BPS to achieve maximum throughput and transfer efficiency, but FDSETUP
   only allows me to set the baudrate to 38400 BPS..

A: X00 and other FOSSIL drivers allow you to lock the port at 57600 BPS
   when you load them. As long as the FOSSIL driver has been instructed
   to maintain a fixed DTE rate, it will ignore any attempts by FD to
   change the baudrate. Set the baudrate in FDSETUP to 38400 BPS and then
   enable the "Locked port" setting. Lock the FOSSIL driver at 57600 BPS.

   e.g. DEVICE=C:\FD\X00.SYS E B,0,57600 T=512 R=1024

==========================================================================

Q: Every time I poll my uplink for new mail, FD logs a message "Unexpected
   password, XXXXXXXX, from <system address>". What does this mean; is it
   a security bug in FrontDoor? I have a session level password with my
   uplink, but not with <system address>!

A: That is exactly what the message means. It tells you that you have had
   a session with a system which presented an unexpected password for one
   or more AKAs (Also Known As-addresses). The password was unexpected
   because you have not configured a session password for that particular
   AKA. The message is part of FD's security system. If the message is
   not important to you, then disable the (#) log entry in FDSETUP under
   the Mailer.Loglevels menu.

==========================================================================

Q: One of my downlinks is configured with multiple system addresses. Must
   I enter all of these in the security manager? Only the primary address
   of that system receives mail from me. Does it help if I just disable
   the "Present all AKAs.." option in the Mailer.Miscellaneous menu of
   FDSETUP?

A: It is not a matter of your system presenting all AKAs, but the remote
   side. If you feel that a system has too many AKAs for you to enter all
   of them with passwords in your security manager, then make sure that
   you route mail for the AKAs to one of the addresses. By doing that,
   you only need to password protect that particular address.

   Otherwise, you will either have to accept that mail for his AKAs is not
   password protected (and can thus be picked up by anyone who puts that
   address in his AKA list) or you will have to set passwords for his
   entire AKA list.

==========================================================================

Q: My uplink has two AKAs, each representing a different telephone line. I
   can poll either system to deliver and pickup the mail. I have tried
   using "Poll <node1> <node2>" in my  ROUTE.FD to establish alternating
   polling between the two nodes but then FD insists on polling both lines
   instead of only one. Is there a method to use alternating polling
   without having to call the system more than once?

A: You can setup a script file which alternatively polls each line when-
   ever the other line is busy. To establish this, make the following
   changes:

   In your ROUTE.FD insert the line "SCRIPT UPLINK <primary address>" (use
   the primary address which you will use in your "POLL" command in
   ROUTE.FD). Then use a texteditor to create a file called UPLINK.SCR in
   the FrontDoor SYSTEM directory:

   ; Sample Script to call Boss on more than one phonenumber
   ;                 (courtesy Jan Orsel)

   retrycount  20            ;Exit script after more than 20 retries.
   timerset    60            ;Set timeout to 60 seconds

   :node1
   wait        2
   dial        88119         ;Phonenumber for node 1

   case
               CONNECT       : session
               BUSY          : >node2
               "NO CARRIER"  : >node2
               @DEFAULT      : fail
   endcase

   :node2
   wait 2
   dial        87707         ;Phonenumber for node 2

   case
               CONNECT       : session
               BUSY          : >node1
               "NO CARRIER"  : >node1
               @DEFAULT      : fail
   endcase

   ;end of script

==========================================================================

Q: FD sometimes display the message "xxxxxxxx.PKT contains conference
   mail, ignored" and refuses to unpack the mail packet.

A: When FD scans received .PKT files it looks for the string "AREA:" which
   would indicate that the .PKT file contains Conference Mail. FD does not
   handle Conference Mail without the use of an external Conference Mail
   processor such as TosScan.

==========================================================================

Q: All messages that I or my BBS users write are displayed as having the
   Local status when I read them in FM. Does this mean that FD will not
   send these messages?

A: The Local status of any message on your system simply means that the
   message apparently originates from your system. FD checks for Local
   status before honoring any special status within the message, such as
   Direct or Immediate. If a message does not have the Local status, FD
   will refuse to send it. This is part of FrontDoor's security system
   and is implemented to prevent unauthorized users from forcing your
   system to place calls, unless you want it to.

==========================================================================

Q: I have seen messages from people in Conference-type folders that have
   three dashes followed by some text, usually identifying a program. But
   when I enter a message with FM in a Conference-type folder, all I get
   is the three dashes.

A: It is our belief that we should disturb the readers of conference mail
   messages as little as possible with unnecessary and uncalled for
   advertisements. Therefor we support the thought that program
   information should be hidden for the user. If you press <Alt-X> when
   reading one of your messages you will see a notice "PID FM <version>".
   Thus, you are still able to see which software people have used to
   enter a message, but only when you want to see it. This is compliant 
   with the desire of many users to clean up the conference mail from
   unwanted commercials as much as possible.

==========================================================================

Q: I can't do anything in the Terminal, not even leave it with <Alt-Q>.

A: You have the <Scroll Lock> key on. When it is active, the Terminal is
   in 'Raw mode', which transmits ALL keystrokes to the remote side. Just
   press <Scroll Lock>, to turn it off, then you can use the Terminal as
   you're used to.

==========================================================================

Q: I never get a RING signal from my new HST modem when FD is in the
   Mailer mode. But when I go into the Terminal, I can see the RING. 

A: The new HST modems saves the current BPS rate to the NVRAM when you
   store the settings with "AT&W"<Enter>. To fix this problem, go into the
   Terminal with <Alt-J> from FD's main menu, or run FD /TERM from the DOS
   prompt and then type "ATZ"<Enter> and "AT&W"<Enter>. The modem has then
   stored the new DTE rate, and FD should see the RING messages.

==========================================================================

Q: FrontDoor refuses to send any of the conference mail messages that I
   write. I have Qmail set up correctly, and it exports the messages as it
   should, but FrontDoor never sends these files.

A: FrontDoor and Qmail are not compatible. Qmail doesn't create the file
   attach messages that FrontDoor needs to deliver conference mail packets.
   You need to change to another conference mail processor. An excellent
   choice is TosScan, which is available from all authorized FrontDoor
   dealers and distributors.

==========================================================================

Q: When I move the selection bar in the message survey function, it
   behaves as if I had pressed <Space> to toggle the select status, what
   am I doing wrong?

A: Your <CapsLock> key is enabled. This enables the Continuous Tagging
   function which is described in the manual.

==========================================================================

Q: I have been using FrontDoor for some time now. Everything works just
   fine, but I have files with the System and Hidden attributes. Do they
   belong to my system?

A: FrontDoor (FD and FM) creates such files when it swaps itself out to
   disk. With normal termination, the swap-files are removed. If you do
   not exit the application normally (i.e. when the system or task is
   taken down while FD or FM is swapped out to disk), these files are
   left behind. You can safely remove them afterwards.

==========================================================================

Q: Is there any utility that will allow me to force FD to poll a system,
   send and request files, as well as messages, from the DOS prompt or
   from another program?

A: Yes, there are several. One of them is XRobot 3.x which is specifically
   written for FD and takes advantage of many features in the FrontDoor
   environment such as NAMES.FD. XRobot is available for MS-DOS 3.x and
   above as well as OS/2 2.x. The usual filename is XR300DOS.* and
   XR300OS2.* respectively.

==========================================================================

Q: I am using FrontDoor 2.20 and notice that when I call certain systems
   using FrontDoor 2.10 or below, the system information displayed on the
   screen looks like random data but the session continues and is
   successfully completed.

A: FrontDoor versions after 2.10 use a encoding scheme for the handshake
   packets exchanged at the beginning of a session between EMSI capable
   mailers. This is described in the update information provided with
   versions after 2.10.

==========================================================================

Q: I am using the FD 2.20 /LOGINTRO option to enable logging of the data
   received from the remote prior to the start of a session and have found
   several sessions where FD seems to have filled the log with random
   garbage for several screens.

A: FD simply logs whatever it receives from the modem until it has
   received an indication that the session handshake is about to begin. On
   some occasions, the answering and calling modems start to retrain the
   line, or there is a speed mismatch between the two modems, in which
   case the answering modem will receive what appears to be garbage. There
   is nothing FD can do about this and the only definite solution is to
   remove LOGINTRO from the command-line or FDOPT environment variable.
  
==========================================================================

Q: I frequently see the "Insufficient number of available file handles"
   when I'm using FM and/or FD, what am I doing wrong?

A: There are two common causes for this error message. FD and FM typically
   needs around 15 file handles to be available, this excludes the five
   DOS "standard handles" (the console, keyboard, etc.). You must have at
   least FILES=20 in your CONFIG.SYS file.

   If you are running on a network and accessing one or more files on a
   server, you should increase the FILES= setting on the server (but keep
   FILES=20 or higher in the workstation's local CONFIG.SYS).

==========================================================================

Q: I am using the NOEMS switch with EMM386 and FD 2.10 (and below) is
   behaving erratically.

A: Some expanded and extended memory managers, such as EMM386 and 386^MAX
   allow you to disable the EMS page frame which gives you additional high
   memory. This is, unfortunately, not compatible with Borland's overlay
   manager that FrontDoor uses. This has been fixed in versions after
   FrontDoor 2.10 - whereby the programs test for a valid page frame and
   if none is found, simply don't call the overlay manager's init
   function.

==========================================================================

Q: I am using OS/2 2.x and would like to set-up FD to run in a DOS
   session. But all my attempts result in extremely low transfer speeds
   and high CPU usage whenever FD is running.

A: Find a copy of SIO 1.00 or later. SIO contains replacements for the
   OS/2 COM drivers as well as VX00, a FOSSIL driver written for OS/2 2.x
   that interfaces with SIO/VSIO. By replacing the original OS/2 2.x COM
   drivers with SIO and VSIO, you will see increased performance when
   using most of your (if not all) programs that access the serial port
   hardware directly (APX for example).

   For FD, you will also need to install either VFD ("Virtual FOSSIL
   Driver") which is available as a public beta on many systems or VX00.
   VFD has the same function as VX00 in the SIO archive and can be used
   instead of VX00 in conjunction with SIO and VSIO.

   SIO for OS/2 2.x is written by Ray Gwinn, the author of the X00 FOSSIL
   driver which accompanies FrontDoor 2.10 and later. VFD is written by
   Joakim Hernberg.

   For more information on how to set-up FD under OS/2 2.x, please refer
   to the FDTN-002 FrontDoor TechNote by John Barton which describes this
   in detail.

==========================================================================

Q: I have successfully installed FrontDoor under OS/2 2.x DOS sessions,
   but I frequently get TRAP D error messages when FD is running.

A: This is most likely due to a bug in OS/2 2.x that involves the use of
   FCBs (File Control Blocks). FD uses FCBs to delete some of its
   temporary files such as dynamic packets. The solution is to run FD with
   the /NOFCB command-line parameter, or to have SET FDOPT=NOFCB in your
   AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You will notice a slight loss of performance since
   FD must delete all files individually.

==========================================================================

Q: I am running FD in a OS/2 2.x DOS session and the dynamic CPS counter
   is reporting erratic throughput figures (usually, they are much too
   high)..

A: This is a bug in OS/2 2.x. FD relies on the low memory BIOS ticker for
   calculating the dynamic CPS throughput figure. It seems like OS/2 2.x
   is not updating this ticker under certain conditions which would
   exhibit the above behavior.
   
// end of file "faq.txt"
