
                      How to install COM/IP with EleBBS
                      

                        written by mike@pcmicro.com

                         HTML version available at:
                        http://pcmicro.com/elebbs/faq


COM/IP is a virtual modem/telnet driver for Windows 95/98/NT/2K which allows
32bit BBS programs to run DOS doors under telnet.
It's a commercial program, and a 30-day evaluation version can be downloaded
from http://www.tacticalsoftware.com

This explains how to install COM/IP with the Win32 version of  EleBBS, which
is a free 32bit BBS that can be downloaded from http://www.elebbs.com.

This assumes that you have already downloaded and configured EleBBS to run
on a standard dialup modem, and you are somewhat familure with it. :)



* Install COM/IP, and select one or more virtual com ports for it to use,
  such as COM3. You will need to define one com port for each telnet node
  you want to run. When the setup asks if you want to install any virtual
  modems, select NO, as virtual modems are not required by EleBBS.
  Leave the init string in the COM/IP Window blank, as it is not needed.
  In the COM/IP configuration menu, select "DOS/INT14 settings"
  and for each virtual com port you have defined, set the following:
  
     Baud Rate: 115200
     Word Length: 8
     Parity: None
     Stop Bits: 1
     Lock Settings on port: (check)
     Recieve Size: 4096
     Transmit Size: 4096
     Enable Fossil: (check)
     Coalesce Outgoing Data: (check)
     Release Time slices when port idle: (check)
     Hold port open during MS-DOS session: (don't check)


* Create a seperate node directory for each (telnet) node for EleBBS.
  For example if your main elebbs directory is c:\bbs then you could
  also create:

     c:\bbs\node1
     c:\bbs\node2
     c:\bbs\node3

  and so on... If all your nodes will be using the same modem (or virtual
  modem) then only one copy of MODEM.RA is needed, which can be in the c:\bbs
  directory. But if you also have dialup modems installed, then the MODEM.RA
  file can be copyied to each nodes directory. Each MODEM.RA file contains the
  init strings for that modem, the modem responces, and other simular
  information.

  Elconfig.exe first looks for MODEM.RA file to edit in the current directory,
  and if there is not one then it looks in the main EleBBS directory for it
  instead. So if you plan to have just one dialup node and lots of telnet
  nodes, then you can get by with just two MODEM.RA files.. (the one in your
  main directory can have the com/ip init string, and the other one in one of
  your node directories can have the dialup modem init string for that node).
 

* Run Elconfig.exe from the directory the MODEM.RA file you wish to edit is
  located in, and choose MODEM > OPTIONS, and set the following:

     Comport:  3 (this does not matter as it will be passed on the cmd line)
     Speed: 115200
     Lock: Yes
     Answer: Yes
     Delay: 10
     Buffer: 128 (this does not matter either as it's ignored)
     Tries: 4
     OffHook: Yes

  Next goto MODEM > COMMANDS, and set the following:

     Init1:  ~~~~+++~~~~AT|
     Init2:  AT S1001=1 S1002=1 S1003=7 S1005=0 S1008=23 &D0H0|
     Busy: </font>(leave this blank)<font color=red>
     Answer: ATA|

  The reason that  2 init strings are used, is because the first one is used
  to force the modem into command mode. This is needed because the modem is
  set to ignore the DTR signal, which is how BBS's usually drop carrier when
  logging the user off. But Windows automaticly lowers DTR when a com port is
  closed, such as when EleBBS closes the com port to allow a DOS door to take
  control of the port. So if the modem was not set to ignore DTR, then Windows
  would drop carrier on the user as soon as they try to run a door. The AT at
  the end of this init string simply causes it to respond with an "OK" which
  is what EleBBS expects to see.

  The S-register settings in the second init string configure COM/IP for
  binary telnet mode, sets the character echo mode to be compatible with most
  client terminals, and tells it to listen on network port 23 for incoming
  connections.

  The &D0 configures COM/IP (as well as most other modems) to ignore DTR for
  the reason stated above, and H0 tells it to hang up in case the previous
  user is still  connected..

  Next goto the MODEM > RESPONCES, and set the following:

     Init: OK
     Busy: OK
     Ring: RING
     Secure: (this can be left blank)

  You will need to set at least one of the connect speeds listed below these
  to say "CONNECT 115200".

  Most sysops will put this in the slot that says "115200", however if it was
  put in the 19200 slot instead for example, then when COM/IP reports "CONNECT
  115200" (which happens to be what it always says) then EleBBS would assume
  that this caller connected at 19200 baud, and would display this speed in
  its "who's online" and todays callers listings.

  Now the MODEM.RA is configured. You can exit Elconfig.exe and verify that
  the MODEM.RA in the current directory is the one you ment to configure. :)

* You will need a .bat file to load EleBBS from the proper nodes directory
  and pass it the proper com port. You can use the same .bat file for all your
  nodes by using an enviornment variable for the node number. This .bat file
  should also check for errorlevels after EleBBS exits back to the batch file.
  Here is an example one, which assumes that the com port value is always the
  same as the node number (so node1=COM1, node2=COM2, etc):

     [example RUNBBS.BAT file]
     If  "%1" == "" goto NoNode
     set RA=c:\bbs
     set NODE=%1
     set PORT=%1
     cd\bbs\node%NODE%

     :START
     \bbs\elebbs -n%NODE% -c%PORT% -E10
     If Errorlevel 20 goto Maintain
     If Errorlevel 10 goto Start
     If Errorlevel 5  goto NetandEcho
     If Errorlevel 4  goto EchoMail
     If Errorlevel 3  goto NetMail
     rem If Errorlevel 2  goto SysopNext
     If Errorlevel 1  goto ComError
     If Errorlevel 0  goto Quit
     :ECHOMAIL
     rem New echomail entered by user. Export it.

     :NETANDECHO
     rem New net and echo mail entered by user. Export it.

     :NETMAIL
     rem New netmail entered by user. Export it.

     \bbs\fastecho\fastecho scan
     goto Start

     :NONODE
     Echo Please select a node/task number to use. ie: "RUNBBS 1"
     goto QUIT

     :COMERROR
     echo *** WARNING! Unable to initilize Modem or COM port! ***

     :QUIT
     echo *** System Down! Line %NODE%. ***


* At this point EleBBS and COM/IP should be working together, allowing you
  to start telnet nodes up and have users logon. Next you will need to
  configure your doors just as you would for a dialup node if you are running
  Windows 95/98. The doors you install MUST be configured to use a fossil
  driver. Keep in mind that many doors only support up to COM8 or COM9 for
  some strange reason. The only door I've seen that supports 255 com ports is
  TradeWars 2002.

  If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, then you will also need to do
  two extra steps: First, before the door loads, you will have to run the
  TSNT14.COM program which comes with COM/IP. After the door exits, you will
  have to uninstall TSNT14 before returning to EleBBS by running it again with
  the "/u" parameter (win2000 users need to put an extra char in front of the
  "/u", such as "//u").
  This can be loaded and unloaded either in the door's .bat file itself, or it
  can be done in two special .BAT files which EleBBS automaticly looks for and
  runs before and after a door has been executed:

  SFOS.BAT  (this is run before a door is, so it can load TSNT14.COM)
  UFOS.BAT (this is run after a door is, so it can unload TSNT14.COM)

  Here is how these would be configured for Windows2000:
     SFOS.BAT:  c:\winnt\system32\tsnt14.com
     UFOS.BAT:  c:\winnt\system32\tsnt14.com //u
  (the second "/" could be any character, and is ignored under Win2000.
  This extra character must be left out under NT4.)



Copyright (C) 1999 pcmicro.com
This and other FAQ's will be made available at http://pcmicro.com/elebbs/faq

