TITLE: Information on Novell DSG's Host System BBS DOCUMENT ID: TID800017 DOCUMENT REVISION: 2 DATE: 27JUN95 ALERT STATUS: Yellow README FOR: NA NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION: PERSONAL NETWARE V1.0 NETWARE LITE V1.1 NOVELL DOS V7.0 DR DOS V6.0 ABSTRACT: NA --------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEAN TO VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSUE: HOST SYSTEM MAIN NUMBERS & CONFIGURATION The BBS phone number is 801-221-5197. This BBS supports baud rates as high as 14,400. The BBS is baud rate auto-sensing (it will adjust to the same speed rate as the caller). Lower speed modems (2400 and lower) may experience unexpected hangups. The BBS's lower speed modems will be replaced by 28,800 baud modems in the near future. WORD, PARITY, STOP The BBS is set for a protocol of 8,N,1. "8" refers to the word length. "N" refers to parity which in this case is NONE. "1" refers to the stop bit. No matter what baud rate is used to call into the BBS the 8,N,1 word,parity,stop protocol combination needs to remain the same. Most communications software will indicate the protocols that are to be used prior to dialing. TROUBLESHOOTING Indications of having the wrong protocol are the appearance of "garbage" characters on the screen or the inability to enter any text. Make sure that your word,parity,stop are set at 8,N,1. Random lockups or a large number of retries on downloading a file are an indication of a possible noisy or bad phone line. Hang up and try again at a later time. Random lockups can also occur if you have some of the phone companies optional services such as Call Waiting. Call Waiting must be disabled while communicating or an incoming call will disconnect the BBS. (additional information on Call Waiting is given later) If there are problems just getting a connection with the BBS the modem may be timing out. Some communications software limits the time that the software waits for a carrier detect. Try extending this time. This can also happen intermittently if the phone line has noise at the same frequency as the carrier. LOGIN AND REGISTRATION The BBS uses the MajorBBS software from Galacticomm. The first screen displayed by the BBS will be a greeting message followed by a request for a UserID. If you have never called the BBS before, just type "new" (the BBS is not case sensitive). The BBS will step you through the registration process. Registration is required so that access to different levels of the system can be controlled and determine the number of users that the system has. All information is considered and will be treated as confidential. If you have called the BBS within the last 60 days, enter your UserID and Password. Callers are given 3 tries for correct UserID or password. TOP MENU The Top Menu is the starting point for all callers to the BBS. From here you can select the desired service. The different menu options are explained later in this document. Following is a sample of what the Top Menu looks like: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Novell, Inc. Support BBS Top Menu [ D ] Download a Specific File [ F ] File Libraries [ S ] Leave a Suggestion/Comment for the Sysop [ U ] Upload a File to a Support Technician Please Choose an Option (D, F, S, U, or G) Press G for Goodbye --------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a brief explanation of each of the options available from the Top Menu: [ D ] DOWNLOAD A SPECIFIC FILE This option is for downloading files placed on the BBS for you by a Novell Technical Services Technician. For other files, please select the option for File Libraries. Files are left on this BBS for three business days. If it has been more than 3 business days since the technician contacted you about downloading the file, the file may have been removed. If the file has been removed, you will need to contact the technician so they can place the file back on the BBS. [ F ] FILE LIBRARIES This option is used to download files and patches that are available to the general public. Once the File Libraries option is selected, as sub-menu is displayed, allowing the user to select library that is desired. The libraries reflect the various products supported by the BBS. For example, the DRDOS 6.0 Library contains files pertaining only to DR DOS while the NetWare Lite / Personal NetWare Library contains files pertaining the either of these two products. The following is an example of the File Libraries Sub-Menu: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Novell, Inc. Support BBS File Libraries [ A ] Appware [ M ] MainStreet [ B ] BBS/Communications [ N ] NetWare Client/Workstation [ C ] Computer Based Training [ P ] Presentations [ D ] DR DOS 6.0 [ Q ] Quattro Pro [ E ] Electronic Publishing [ R ] PerfectOffice (DAD, etc.) [ G ] GroupWise [ S ] Soft Solutions [ I ] Informs [ T ] Novell DOS 7.0 [ L ] NetWare Lite/Personal NetWare[ W ] WordPerfect [ F ] File Management, File Search --------------------------------------------------------------------- [ S ] LEAVE A SUGGESTION / COMMENT FOR THE SYSOP Novell values your feedback. This option should be selected if you have suggestions on how we can improve this BBS and/or make it easier to use. If you are having a problem with the BBS and wish to report it, please be sure to include the name of the communications program you are using to contact the BBS (Procomm, Windows Terminal, etc.) and the brand/model of modem you are using. You can also call the BBS Group at (801)228-9904 if the problem is urgent. If you have suggestions for improving a specific Novell product, or if you need technical assistance, please contact the Technical Support number listed in your manual. Technical support questions posing as suggestions will be ignored and deleted from this BBS. [ U ] UPLOAD A FILE TO A SUPPORT TECHNICIAN This option should be selected if you have been instructed by a support technician to upload a file for troubleshooting purposes. Files uploaded to the BBS are deleted after three business days. Please make sure the Novell Technician you are working with knows the full name of the file. Technicians need this information so they can retrieve your file prior to the file being deleted. If you have more than one file to upload, we recommend compressing the files into one file using PKZIP, ARJ, or some other compression program. PROTOCOLS Download protocols are not a random choice. A decision needs to be made based on the type of file being downloaded and the software you are using to communicate with the BBS. For example, ASCII download protocol cannot be used on any files that have the .ZIP extension (which are binary files not ASCII). An option is available to view the contents of ZIP files. DOWNLOAD PROTOCOLS SUPPORTED BY THE BBS LISTING (Text display one screen at a time) ASCII (continuous) XMODEM XMODEM-CRC XMODEM-1K YMODEM Batch YMODEM-G ZMODEM ZMODEM RESUME (recover after an aborted download) KERMIT MULTI-FILE DOWNLOAD PROTOCOLS If multiple files are selected or tagged for download the protocol options will be reduced to those that support multi-file downloads. LISTING (a screen at a time) ASCII (continuous ) YMODEM Batch YMODEM-g ZMODEM ZMODEM RESUME KERMIT If you are not familiar with the type of download protocols your software supports then check your documentation. The same protocol must be used by both the BBS and your communications software. All protocols, except ZMODEM, also require that the download process be started manually on the caller side. ZMODEM is also the only protocol that can recover an aborted download. All other protocols must start over after an aborted download. Once you have selected a protocol and answered any questions that may appear (these depend on the protocol selected) the BBS will try to begin the file transfer. If problems are encountered in beginning a download, you may have selected a protocol that is not supported by your software. The BBS will timeout if it does not receive a response from your software in approximately 1 minute. If the download appears to begin and then suddenly aborts it may just be a bad phone line. The BBS will allow for a number of retries before canceling a download. CALL WAITING If you are suddenly logged off the BBS, the phone line may have been disconnected. This can occur if Call Waiting is active on the phone line that you are calling from. Call Waiting cuts the line for a short period of time. This is detected by the BBS as a disconnect and it hangs up. Call waiting can be canceled for the duration of a call by adding *70 as a prefix. For example: *70 1 801 221 5197 will disable Call Waiting while calling the BBS. This option is for touch-tone phones and may change depending on the calling area. Check the white pages in the phone book for information on disabling Call Waiting. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Any trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Consult your product manuals for complete trademark information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------