From : LA6CU
To : FBB@EU
Type/status : B$
Date/time : 19-Mar 08:43
BID (MID) : 30415_LA6CU
Message # : 227023
Title : (6_96e): WinFBB - BPQ.
Hello !
As I have received a lot of messages asking about using BPQ interface with
FBB, I think a few things should be cleared up. I am -NOT- an expert
on BPQ, but I do have to use it in LA1B BBS, where I am sysop. In LA1B
I use both WinFBB and Packclus in the same PC under WIndows 95 and
G8BPQ 4.08a. And it works....
Anyway. Most questions I receive about BPQ, would not need to be asked
if the sysop took the time to actually READ the manual delivered with
FBB 5.15. The manual (515-GB.DOC) is still the last manual, and is
still valid in most cases. The section 5.17, concerning BPQ, is still
100% valid. Here it is, and I have clearly marked the things you must
observe:
******************************************************************************
515-GB.DOC:
5.17 G8BPQ-node (uses TNCs in KISS-mode, DRSI cards, etc...).
-------------------------------------------------------------
If you plan to use BPQ-node with this sofware, you must make some changes.
Before you start FBB, you must load the BPQ-program.
From version 4.05 of BPQcode, separate ports can be declared. Level 2
connections issue to the MultCh in the same order as PORTs declared in the
BPQCFG.TXT (G8BPQ distribution) file.
First port corresponds to MultCh 0.
-----------------------------------
Level 4 connections (from the network) always issue to MultCh 0.
----------------------------------------------------------------
In PORT.SYS you must use 2 in INTERFACE, and Q in type host mode. Version
4.05 or up is recommended. COM can be from 1 to 8, but will exclude existing
COMs. Chosing 8 is a good solution to keep existing COMs.
Only the INITTNCx.SYS for the 1st port must exist.
--------------------------------------------------
The parameters for other
ports will be taken by default, and then no conflict should happen between
ports. If you want to define the streams differently on each port, you can do
it with the INITTNCx.SYS file, but be sure to give the right configuration.
If paclen is equal to 0, then the default BPQ paclen of the port will be
taken, otherwise the specified paclen will overwrite the default BPQ paclen.
If you have validated the gateway, you must configure ENABLE_LINKED=A in
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BPQCFG.TXT to give to the stream the callsign of the user.
----------------------------------------------------------
Here is an example of PORT.SYS with BPQ-node and 2 TNCs:
#
#Ports TNCs
1 2
#
#
#Com Interface Adress (Hex) Baud
8 2 0 4800
#
#
#TNC NbCh Com MultCh Pacl Maxfr NbFwd MxBloc M/P-Fwd Mode Freq
1 8 8 0 230 4 1 10 30/60 UQYW VHF
2 1 8 1 80 1 1 5 30/60 UQYW HF
#
#Example of INITTNCx.SYS for BPQ 4.05 (Only ONE INITTNCx.SYS) :
A1 Number of application <------------------------------
R0 Returns to node (0=No,1=Yes)
UMAIL Unproto MAIL
M1 Monitor (0=No,1=YES)
N1 Number of first stream <------------------------------
The parameters for other ports will be taken by default, For instance, as the
first stream of the first port is 1, the first stream of the second port will
be 9. (8 channels defined in PORT.SYS for port 1). This will be done
automatically,
and the second INITTNCx.SYS should not exist.
---------------------------------------------
In FORWARD.SYS there are a few changes, here is a short example:
A LA2D
#
P B
#
C C SWITCH Connect first BPQ switch.
FBB 5.15 Feb 06 1993 Page - 43
C C 2 LA2D Connect LA2D on port 2 of BPQ.
#
B LA2D
F LA2D
#
---------
FBB 5.15 Feb 06 1993 Page - 44
******************************************************************************
Further comments really should not be necessary, but.....:
In PORT.SYS, the first BPQ-port -MUST- have MultCh 0. Not 1, not 2,
not 3487612 (hi). It -MUST- be 0. If not, you -WILL- have some
problems, particularly with monitoring, and with connects that may
appear on incorrect port. A lot of sysops have sent me their PORT.SYS,
and they start with MultCh 1, not 0. OK, it is possible that this DID
work in FBB 5.15 (I never tried it, I always started on MultCH 0, as
that is what the DOC says !!), but you MUST use MultCH 0 on the first
BPQ-port. Check/change this first, before you ask for further help
with BPQ.....
There should be only -1- INITTNC-file. So, INITTNC1.SYS should exist,
but -NOT- INITTNC2.SYS, INITTNC3.SYS etc. Yes, I know that in FBB 5.15
you COULD have more than one file, but in WinFBB you -CAN NOT-. Again,
as this IS in the DOC, why not follow the DOC ? In fact, I did have
more than one file myself (shame on me, hi..), but when I installed one
of the new beta-versions of WinFBB (I think it was around w515c35..), I
got some un-explainable problems. After several days of testing, the
problem went away when I removed all "unwanted" INITTNCx.SYS files. So,
the existence of unwanted files MAY cause problems. So remove all
other INITTNC-files but INITTNC1.SYS, when using BPQ.
ENABLE_LINKED=A is also mandatory if you have a gateway in your system.
In INITTNC1.SYS (se further up), you must also use the A-line to state
the number of this application. If you use no other applications with
BPQ, or if FBB is the first, you must include the command A1. The same
goes for the N-line. The N-line gives the number of the first stream
for THIS application. Both these lines are VERY important when using
more than 1 application (like in LA1B, where I also use Packclus).
But put in the lines A1 and N1 anyway, even if you do not have
other applications. To be safe...
OK, that's it. Again, I am no expert on BPQ. But if you follow these
simple advices, you should have a pretty fair chance to get your system
up-and-running with BPQ.
73 de Per, LA6CU @ LA6CU.BRG.R.NOR.EU
(Modem + 47 55 19 16 66)
(Work (seldom QRV!):per-fuglestad.olsen@bergen.privat.telenor.no)
JP20QL for CW-MS...
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