HEADGAP BBS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (updated May 23, 1997 to include current frequent questions) >>"Sometimes we have no problems at all downloading files and at other times we get a lot of errors and the download seems to take forever! What's wrong with the BBS?"<< Nothing is wrong with the Headgap BBS. If you notice that your download (or upload) is having some trouble by displaying retransmission errors, cancel the transfer, hangup and call back. 99% of the time that you have this problem, it is due to the connection path that your telephone company used to make your connection to the Headgap BBS. If you call back you will find that the problem is fixed, since the telephone company has placed your call through another path. If the problem persists, call us. What's the other 1% of the problem? You probably changed something on your Mac that is now getting in the way of your serial port (modem port) performance. ------------------------- >>"We can't connect at 33600 bps, only 28800 bps. What's wrong?"<< Nothing is wrong. The call path between your modem and our modem simply isn't good enough to support a 33600 bps connection, so the modems connect at the highest rates they can, given the quality of the call circuit path. Also, "33.6 Kbps" service is highly over hyped! A 33.6k connection requires a very clean and high-quality connection between the two modems. That simply isn't available in the majority of all calls. We can obtain 33.6 connections calling ourselves, but that is a roundtrip distance of only 4400 feet of wire. 2200 feet to our CO and 2200 feet back to our office... an extremely high-quailty path, simply because we are so close to our CO. We have clients many thousands of miles from us who can connect at 28.8k regularly and others only 10 miles away who can't ever manage a connection above 21.6k! We have written quite a lot about troubleshooting 28.8k connections and you should read these documents, since they may (and usually do) help. ------------------------- >>"We have noticed at various times that our file uploads [250k MS Word files] are going a lot slower than they usually do, but at the same time downloads are fine. What's wrong with our [8500/150] setup, or is it yours? Our other office has seen the same problem with its uploads to us."<< The problem is at our end. Your uncompressed MS Word documents move very fast and require that the Server acknowledge the data at a fairly fast rate. If another user is doing the same thing, we can't keep up. The problem is that the Server doesn't have an "Upload" buffer to deal with the data coming in so fast. The server does have a "Download" buffer and deals with the data in 512k chunks, which means it is free to do other things until another 512k is needed. The developer of TeleFinder server has been asked to provide an Upload buffer, but they haven't. Sorry. ------------------------- >>"How much faster do the GIF files display when you're using a 33.6k modem?"<< A GIF format file will build its display in less than half the time that a 14.4k bps modem takes, so it's better than twice as fast. But, you have to be able to connect at 33.6k, which isn't easy. >>"Is there a difference if you're using a lower DTE speed (57.6) versus the 230.4 that you are running?"<< No, the GIF is generated at near carrier speed rate, so a 14.4k bps modem opens a GIF at about the equivilent of 1440 cps, a 28.8k modem opens the same GIF at about a 2880 cps rate and so on. Both rates can be handled by a 57.6k bps DTE. ------------------------- >>"The text colors don't showup in ANSI-PC mode, only when calling with Headgap user. Is that correct? Can you make the text color visible in ANSI-PC mode?"<< That is correct! The text color information only applies to the text file that is opened and read by Headgap/TeleFinder User. Terminal mode (TTY and ANSI-PC) does not have the capability to understand text color information (aka "Styled" text) contained within a text file. ANSI-PC displays color in the menu's, because of the way the menu's are constructed (coded). You could probably construct a coded ANSI-PC text file that would display color, but it would look pretty bad to a caller using TTY mode. Call the Headgap BBS in TTY mode, but select the ANSI-PC interface (A) and you'll see what I mean. Bottom line is that color text is available for the Headgap/TeleFinder User interface, only. The same is true with TF User for Windows, it does not support styled text, as this point in time. ------------------------- >>"Can you fix the Windows software so it doesn't scroll all the text to the bottom of the text window, when we open a text file? This is a real bummer, since we have to spend time scrolling the text back to the top of the screen to begin reading it. The Mac version doesn't do this!"<< Nope, we can't fix it, as Headgap isn't the author of TF User for Windows, Spider Island Software is the author. However, I have commented about this text display problem with Windows, many times to the Spider Island Software folks. They are working on completely changing the text engine in TF User which will fix the problems. ------------------------- ">> We can't find one of our associates mailboxes! It says the dropbox isn't available. When we try to locate them, it says there aren't any names containing the name we want?"<< They are still here, but you couldn't find it because: A.) You misspelled their last name. (I checked the BBS Log to see what you had attempted to do.) B.) They are not publicly listed (per your request) and the locator doesn't list them. I've put a copy of the other accounts in your In-Basket. Copy them to your "Addresses" book and then you'll be able to get their In-Basket or a blank Mail Form at any time. ------------------------- >>"I am still confused as to why the message subject titles (or whatever they are called) are showing BOLD and yet some really haven't had anything new added. Is there a bug in the new Headgap User?"<< No, there isn't a bug. The Message Databases (which is what we call them) will display a BOLD name if they have been modified by deleting older messages... which, in this particular case, is exactly why some of them have become BOLD, as we removed old messages to keep the Message Databases current to 90 days. I agree that there should be some way to delete old stuff and not have the Database show BOLD and require your attention, only to find that nothing NEW has actually been added. We used to let the messages accumlate, but new clients complained about having to look through a lot of messages, many already known about and redundant. Nobody has the time or desire to go through 30-40 messages, when some of them are already old news; that's been made very clear by our clients, including yourself. Perhaps there will be a better way to deal with this in the future. ------------------------- >>"Why are the earlier files folders high lighted, but when we look in them there is nothing new or high lighted?"<< The Ą Earlier Files Ą folders become highlighted (BOLD text) because their modification date changes when we move files in to these folders. This triggers your software to tell you something has been added since your last call, which is true, but it's something you really don't want to know about. An interesting quirk. I'm not sure we will ever be able to do anything about it, though. ------------------------- >>"We downloaded your user software, but each time we connect we are only able to connect at 26400 baud. With the user software we got from another TF BBS, in Baltimore, we can connect at 57600 baud! How do we get a faster speed out of ASTEC? You are listed as having Hayes Optima 336's which operate at 230,400 baud! How come they are slower than other calls we make?"<< I'm afraid you are confusing DTE speed (the speed at which your Mac talks to your modem) with DCE speed. (the speed at which your modem connects to another modem) This is a very prevalent misunderstanding. A "CONNECT 26400" message is almost the same thing as getting a "CONNECT 57600" message. The Modem Setups contained in Headgap/TF User files are set to have the modem report the DCE speed of the connect. That is, the carrier speed at which your modem is talking to our modem. That is accomplished by using different commands in the modem initialization string... such as "W2" for Hayes modems. The standard TF User files from other TeleFinder BBS locations tend not to use this command and that causes them to report the DTE speed, which tells you nothing about the speed of the link between your modem and the modem you called. Why is this important? Well, you could get a CONNECT 57600 message, but actually connect to the BBS with a carrier speed of 9600 bps. The typical carrier speeds at which two modems can communicate at are 2400, 9600, 14400, 16800, 19200 and 28800. There are speeds in between these basic speeds, which consist of 21600, 24000, 26400, etc.. There is no 57600 or 38400 bps carrier speed, even when using an X2 modem! In any case, the faster the carrier speed, the faster you can move data between modems. If you also happen to have a fast DTE speed (your Mac can communicate with your modem at 230.4k bps) then you have a powerful and fast combination, at both the DTE and DCE interface speeds. We feel it is important that the user is advised on the carrier speed that they have connected at, versus the DTE speed which is only the speed between your Mac and your modem... not between modems! Clear as mud, right? If you need further help understanding this, please call me at (540) 338-3547 between 8 AM and 5 PM EDT, Monday through Friday. And yes, you were connected to a Hayes OPTIMA 336 modem, operating with a DTE speed of 230.4k bps and capable of a 33.6k bps carrier speed, as well as the lower speeds of 14400, 12000, and 9600 plus the lower speeds that the Hayes OPTIMA 336 can also handle. (26400, 24000, 21600, etc.) PS - Please don't use the term "baud", which is incorrect. The correct term is bps, for "bits per second". ------------------------- >>"Where are all the older update and text files kept? We can't find them and it looks like we don't have access to the CD-ROM's anymore?"<< Well, according to our logs, you haven't been on the Headgap BBS in over three months (!) and a lot of changes have been made since then. 1.) The CD-ROM's have been taken offline at the request of the majority of our users. The files are too difficult to sort through to find something and when you do, they are typically out of date and have been superceded. 2.) Old update files are removed from the Headgap BBS after one year, since we expect that you would have downloaded and used them by now! The Headgap BBS file content is based on available disk space and maintaining the most current files available. We do not archive old files... if you need them, you should archive them on your Mac. ------------------------- >>"Why all the new GIF files?"<< Well, they are not really new files, but only conversions of the original PICT format files. Because TF User v3.2.x now has the ability to open and view GIF files directly while online and GIF files are much smaller than their PICT counterpart, we've converted the PICT files to GIF for online viewing. Because we changed them from PICT to GIF they now show-up with BOLD names, the first time you see them. If you're calling with a Hayes OPTIMA 288, check out the speed at which GIF files open and display. Pretty impressive! There are also some tricks to generating GIF files that insure fast display, by minimizing their size and using the "interlace" format. Most all of the content of this file is courtesy of: Rod Paine ASTEC Company, Inc. November 24, 1995