GETTING WINPACK AND A BAYCOM MODEM GOING ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The aim of these notes is to enable you to get Winpack and a Baycom modem working smoothly under Windows.Most of the info below is in the docs and help files that come with the programmes, I am simply relaying the basics,just enough info to get you up and running,so you'll still have to READ THE DOCS that come with the various programs mentioned..especially BEFORE mailing the various authors!! Please note that I'm using Windows v3.1 on a 486 DX33 with 8Mb RAM, but there's no reason why any of this shouldn't work on a 386,586 or Windows 95.My BayCom modem is a homebrew job,using a TCM 3105. Now I'll list the software/author you require,and the WWW/FTP site where you can download it from. 1) WINP610.ZIP Roger Barker G4IDE http://www.peaksys.co.uk 2) WINP620s.ZIP Roger Barker G4IDE " " " " " " " " " 3) NODBAY13.ZIP Roger Barker G4IDE " " " " " " " " " 4) BPQ408a.ZIP John Wiseman G8BPQ " " " " " " " " " SECTION 1 - CONFIGURING BPQ v 4.08a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The first step is to get BPQ v4.08a installed and set up on your PC. Please note the BPQ version number given.You must use v4.08a,which is the latest and final release of John Wiseman's G8BPQ packet switch software. To get started,you need to get copies of the following files from someone running BPQ v4.08a,or even better,download the BPQ408A archive from Roger G4IDE address as above.In addition,you will need a copy of the NOD2BAY.ZIP archive from Roger's site,or local user. BPQCFG.EXE : BPQCODE.EXE : BPQCFG.TXT : ALL OF THESE ARE INCLUDED IN THE BPQ408 BPQCODE.386 : ARCHIVE AVAILABLE AT ROGER G4IDE's SITE BPQDLL.DLL : OR ONE OF THE MANY FTP SITES ie: PAC4.EXE : ftp.funet.fi/pub/ham/packet/bpq/bpq408a.zip NODE2BAY.EXE : PART OF THE NODBAY13.ZIP ARCHIVE AVAILABLE AT BAYDRV.VXD : ROGER G4IDE's SITE..ADDRESS ABOVE. And a copy of Winpack v6.1 plus the 6.2s upgrade,again from Roger's web site. You can source these archives/files from anywhere you like,but check the version's! BPQ v4.08a,NODE2BAY v1.3,Winpack v6.x Now the fun starts! Make a directory/folder called BPQ on your hard disk. Copy the files listed above to the new directory. Open BPQCFG.TXT for editing with a text editor,such as Notepad or the DOS editor.Do NOT use Write or Word etc! Below are extracts from my BPQCFG.TXT,along with some explanations. Edit your copy,changing the relevant items. Best to BACKUP first! > indicates paste from my file. >;CONFIGURATION FILE FOR G8BPQ SWITCH SOFTWARE V4.08 AND WINPACK v6.x > >HOSTINTERRUPT=127 ;Make sure this is 127 until you know better! >EMS=0 ;Don't use EMS. It seems to cause problems! >DESQVIEW=0 ;Set to 1 if using DesqView. >NODECALL=GW7LHI-8 ;Replace with your call-8 >NODEALIAS=MARGAM ;Replace with your NODE's alias >BBSCALL=GW7LHI ;Replace with your call >BBSALIAS=LHIPMS ;Replace with your PMS's alias You will also need to edit INFOMSG: and CTEXT: CTEXT is sent when someone connects to your NODE and INFOMSG is sent when Info is requested by a NODE user.Note that the *** delimiter MUST be there! Make sure that FULL_CTEXT=1 as well. Now find NODESINTERVAL and IDINTERVAL in network system parameters. Make sure both are set to 0 (zero) >NODESINTERVAL=0 ; 'NODES' INTERVAL IN MINS >IDINTERVAL=0 ; 'ID' BROADCAST INTERVAL >BTINTERVAL=15 ;Beacon every 15 mins Also find MINQUAL and BBSQUAL within the same section.Make sure they are both set to 0 (zero) >MINQUAL=0 ; MINIMUM QUALITY TO ADD TO NODES TABLE >BBSQUAL=0 ; BBS Quality relative to NODE Unless someone has been playing around,the rest of the variables in this section are OK. Now move down to the TNC DEFAULT PARAMS section,and check PACLEN=128 Next,move down to CONFIGURATION OPTIONS. Check that BBS=1 and NODE=1 Now move down to the AX25 PORT DEFENITIONS section. I only have one port defined here,so I've pasted it in in it's entirety.If your BPQCFG.TXT file has loads of ports defined,then delete them all except one,and edit it as below,taking local band conditions into account. >PORT > ID=BAYCOM 144.650 ;The port's name,call yours whatever you like! > TYPE=EXTERNAL ;Must be external > CHANNEL=A ;Not sure if it's necessary to set this > INTLEVEL=96 ;MUST be 96 until you know better! > MAXFRAME=2 ;Standard MAXFRAME parameter > FULLDUP=0 ;MUST be 0 (zero) until you know better! > FRACK=7000 ;Standard FRame ACKnowledge parameter > RESPTIME=2000 ;Response timer > RETRIES=10 ;Number of retries > PACLEN=128 ;PACLEN for this port only > QUALITY=0 ;MUST be 0 (zero) until you know better! > DIGIFLAG=1 ;DIGIPEATER ON > UNPROTO=ID LL2NOD ;Beacons sent via a local node LL2NOD > MHEARD=Y ;Build MH (HEARD) list >ENDPORT Now move down to the ROUTES: section,and delete everything in it,if there's anything to delete of course! It should look like this.. >ROUTES: > >*** and finally,edit the APPLICATIONS statement so that it looks like this.. >APPLICATIONS=PMS,,,, This completes the editing of BPQCFG.TXT,so save it now. Obviously,some of the parameters within it may be unfamiliar to start with,all is explained in the DOCS that come with the full archive. the lines starting > are all pasted directly from my working config file. SECTION 2 - CONFIGURING NODE2BAY AND WINDOWS. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Now it's time to get BPQ and Windows to work without arguing! First,you have some editing to do,and some of the files that need editing are crucial to Windows's internal functions,so before editing any files mentioned below,MAKE BACKUP copies elsewhere,so that you can replace the files if it all goes horribly wrong! The next sequence of operations is to make Windows forget all about one of your COM ports. Decide which COM port you want to use,bearing in mind that no other device must try to use this port,or the same IRQ,otherwise you'll have big problems! Open WIN.INI (located in your Windows directory/folder) with a text editor and locate the PORTS section.Now comment out your chosen PORT, using a semi-colon (;).While you have the file open,check for any other references to the same PORT.If any,comment them out. Save the file. Here's the relevant part of my WIN.INI for comparison. I have the modem on COM1 at the standard address and IRQ (03F8 IRQ4) WIN.INI >[ports] >LPT1:= >LPT2:= >LPT3:= >;COM1=9600,n,8,1,x >COM2:=9600,n,8,1,x >COM3:=9600,n,8,1,x >COM4:=9600,n,8,1,x >EPT:= >FILE:= >LPT1.DOS= >LPT2.DOS= You only need to edit WIN.INI if you have software or internal hardware that may try to access the same COM port as your Baycom modem/KISS TNC is using. Now,open your SYSTEM.INI file,and at the bottom of the [386enh] section, add the line COMxIrq=-1 where x is the COM port number you commented out in WIN.INI. You now only need to do this if you are going to use a KISS TNC, but I've included it here anyway.Roger's NODE2BAY gets round this one! You will also need to do this if you want to run a serial link between 2 PC's using BPQ! Save the file.Below is a paste from my SYSTEM.INI file. SYSTEM.INI >[386enh] >local=CON >FileSysChange=off >PermSwapDOSDrive=D >PermSwapSizeK=4992 >COM1Irq=-1 > > You only need to edit SYSTEM.INI if you have software or internal hardware that may try to access the same COM port as your Baycom modem/KISS TNC. Note that in Windows 95,you have to turn your chosen port off in CONTROL PANEL/SYSTEM/DEVICE MANAGER/PORTS..simply remove the required port.Do not edit WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI! NOTE on hiding ports from Windows. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Quote from Roger G4IDE: "Hiding" the COM port does no harm, but, when using NODE2BAY/BAYDRV, you don't need to do it, it is only necessary if you are using a KISS TNC with BPQ. So none of the changes to WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI are needed. The only slight advantage it might have is to stop people opening the port from another application. End quote. The next step is to copy the files BPQDLL.DLL and BPQCODE.386 to your WINDOWS/SYSTEM directory/folder. Now you need to edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to allow the BPQ files and driverto be loaded from another batch file BEFORE Windows actually starts. Here's how I do it,but of course,there's other ways to achieve the same result! The WIN statement that starts Windows is usually the last line of your autoexec.bat file.All you have to do is put REM and a space in front of the WIN line,and add the line C:\BPQ\GO on a new line above it. See paste below. PART OF AUTOEXEC.BAT >C:\BPQ\GO >REM WIN The first line calls a batch file in my BPQ directory named GO.BAT,and the second line REMarks out the WIN command..you can delete this line if you want to.If your BPQ directory is not on drive C:,replace C with the correct drive letter. Windows 95 NOTE: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ There is no WIN statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file..in fact,you may not have an AUTOEXEC at all. If you have an AUTOEXEC.BAT file,add the line C:\WINPACK\GO.BAT under all the other lines in it. If you don't have an AUTOEXEC.BAT file in the root of your boot disk, then simply create one,by running notepad,entering the line as above, then saving it as AUTOEXEC.BAT in the root of your Windows 95 boot disk, which is usually C:\ THE GO.BAT BATCH FILE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Now,you have to write a small batch file. Open a new file in your text editor. Place the following lines in the file. cd C:\winpack LH=NODE2BAY.EXE -I4 -B3f8 -i60 -dC:\BPQ\baydrv.vxd PAUSE bpqcfg PAUSE LH=bpqcode PAUSE win Save the file as GO.BAT in your BPQ directory/folder. Note that the path given for BAYDRV.VXD must be edited if you have it in a location other than C:\BPQ Remember to remove the LH= if you don't have HIMEM active. The above example assumes that you have a Baycom modem or equivalent connected correctly to COM1,at address 03F8 and IRQ4.If your COM1 has a different address/IRQ,then the command line for NODE2BAY will have to be changed.The same goes if you are going to use COM2,3, etc. Once you are satisfied that you have carried out all the steps applicable to your version of Windows,close down and switch off your PC. Connect your Baycom modem to the COM port you've configured in the above examples.Make sure that you have the modem connected to your radio, and that the squelch is fully open.Set the volume control as you would for normal FM reception. Switch the PC back on and offer up a prayer to whichever deity you subscribe to! SECTION 3 - TESTING BPQ,NODE2BAY AND MODEM. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ As the PC boots,it will pause after each command is issued so that you can read the on screen report generated by each program. The first screen report you will see comes from NODE2BAY.EXE. Check the following lines are correct. Software Interrupt - 60h COM Base address - 3F8h COM Port is/is not buffered IRQ - 4 Bit Rate - 1200 The full path of the driver is C:\BPQ\BAYDRV.VXD If your port is buffered,and you experience RX/TX problems,see the TROUBLESHOOTING / BAYCOM MODEMS AND 16550 UARTS section. Check that the driver BAYDRV.VXD's path is correct if it's not C:\BPQ in your case. Press any key. The next report you see is from BPQCFG.EXE You should get a message informing you that the conversion was (probably) successful.This is normal! Press any key The next report comes from BPQCODE.EXE You should get info telling you that Port 01 was initialised OK. Ignore the moan about missing ROUTES/NODES file! Press any key Finally,just as Windows is starting,you should see two brief info messages near the top of your display.The first one is from NODE2BAY "asking windows to load BAYDRV.VXD",and the second is the a message from BPQCODE indicating that the Windows code has initialised. Assuming that Windows started OK with no error messages,run PAC4.EXE using Program manager/File/Run in Windows 3.xx,or Start/Run in Windows 95. The path is C:\BPQ\PAC4.EXE,unless you've installed the various files elsewhere. Once PAC4 is running,press F1 and you should see traffic on screen, assuming the frequency is in use! If so,connect to a local station/node,using the usual BPQ connect commands ie: C G9ABC or C ABCNOD just to ensure all is well. If the connect is OK,you've more or less cracked it! Use CTRL+Y to exit PAC4 when you've finished the test. Open your GO.BAT file in Notepad,edit out all the PAUSE's and save it. And that's it! Apart from installing Winpack,BPQ and all the drivers are ready to use with any packet program that communicates via BPQ, such as NPFPMS,TSTHOST,TPK etc.It is also possible to use BPQ with serial ports directly,so you could add a serial link port and have another PC elsewhere (nice warm house in winter,instead of freezing shack!) with access to the PMS etc. available from both PC's...read the DOCS! Award yourself a refreshment and rest those tired fingers! Unless of course,disaster strikes and nothing seems to work,or you got error messages as Windows was starting! This can be for many different reasons.I'll go through some common ones. in the troubleshooting section below. SECTION 4 - TROUBLESHOOTING BPQ,NODE2BAY and BAYCOM modem. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BPQ PROBLEMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^ If you get an error message as Windows is starting that tells you "a device necessary for etc, you need to run Setup again". then you haven't put BPQCODE.386 and BPQDLL.DLL into your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. BPQ and Windows note. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Quote from Roger G4IDE: BPQCODE hooks a Windows callout function. When Windows starts, BPQCODE asks Windows to load BPQCODE.386. The path it passes to Windows is precisely:- \WINDOWS\SYSTEM\BPQCODE.386 Note - no drive letter. What that means in practice is that BPQCODE.386 *must* be in a directory called \WINDOWS\SYSTEM on the drive from which you *start* Windows. Even if your Windows is in a directory called WIN31, WIN95, or anything else, you must make a directory called \WINDOWS\SYSTEM and put BPQCODE.386 in it. BPQDLL.DLL *must* be put in the normal Windows SYSTEM directory - which, of course, may not be \WINDOWS\SYSTEM! On a "standard" Windows setup, all you have to do is to put both files in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM and start Windows from 'C'. End quote. I do know of one packeteer who's 286 will NOT run BPQ,no matter what he does....sometimes,you just can't win! NODE2BAY PROBLEMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You can't really run into serious problems here. If Node2bay reports that the driver wasn't loaded,then you haven't put BAYDRV.VXD where you told Node2bay to look for it..ie C:\BPQ. Another likely cause is a typo in the NODE2BAY command line in GO.BAT! BAYCOM MODEM PROBLEMS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If Windows started fine,with no error messages from NODE2BAY or BPQ but you can't "see" any traffic using PAC4,proceed as follows. Check that you've pressed "F1" key,to enable monitoring of the packet traffic. Check that you have audio feeding the Baycom modem at the correct level. I find that normal listening volume works fine here,and in fact the radio's audio can be lowered still further with no problems.Of course, this does depend on the TX stations deviation. Make sure the radio's squelch is open! If you still don't see traffic on screen,try substituting a known working modem..could be that your's is faulty. If you've built the Baycom modem yourself and this is the first test, check that the COM port connections are correct. Try and get your modem tested on another Baycom modem user's working setup If your modem uses the TCM 3105 IC,check the voltage on pin 7. It should be 2.7v,adjust with preset if provided.Note that this voltage will only be present if the BAYDRV.VXD driver is loaded,and you have the modem connected to the port specified in the various config files! BAYCOM MODEMS AND 16550 UARTS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ If your COM ports use 16550's,this can result in BAYDRV not working properly,or not at all.If you don't know which uart IC your PC has, you can find out by using one of the many PC diagnostic progs, eg: Norton or PC Tools. Some PC's display BIOS info for a few seconds when first booting up, and the type of uart is sometimes shown..depends which BIOS you have. The 16550 is the only uart that can cause problems,all earlier ones are OK. Quote from Roger G4IDE: To the best of my current knowledge, there are two separate problems with Baycom modems and 16550s - the one I describe in my notes, which is easy to fix, and another one specific to something in the genuine Baycom software. 16550s that work fine with BPQAX25, BAYDRV and other drivers will not work with Baycom software - they've got something really weird in there! Having had comments from a few people about my fix, I think that a myth has grown up that "Baycom modems will never work with some 16550s". The truth is that the genuine Baycom software will never work with some 16550s. End quote. Unfortunately,only some 16550's seem to cause problems,not all! If you have 16550's,the easiest way round is to modify your modem. Here's an extract from NODE2BAY.TXT by G4IDE.Note this is for modems using the TCM3105 + level shifter 7404/7414. Quote from NODE2BAY.TXT by Roger G4IDE: 5. If the modem transmits ok but it will not receive, or it receives very poorly, the following might help:- Originally I found on both my DX2 and P120 PCs that the Baycom driver worked a lot better on some ports than on others. It just didn't seem to want to receive on some ports and all the ports that gave problems had 16550 (buffered) UARTs. I had seen comments from other people about problems with Baycom modems and 16550s, but I just could not understand why there should be such a problem. Eventually I found the solution to my own problems - it might not work for everyone, but if it works on two of my PCs then I'm sure there will be a lot of other people who will find that it works! Both my Baycom modems are built on boards from a well known UK supplier of PCBs and kits (Badger Boards). They drive the CTS output direct from the 74HC04, and the low voltage on the output is about +0.5V - it never swings negative. That may be in spec for TTL, but it's way out of spec for RS232. I have another genuine Baycom board, which I have never got round to building, that drives the CTS output via a PNP transistor which ensures that the output voltage can swing negative. I modded both my boards to the Baycom design and the driver then worked perfectly! The implication of this is that the problem is not caused by the 16550 or its emulation, but by the line receiver arrangements being more in spec than those employed with older UARTs. Here's the mod - I'm not too good at ASCII schematics, so I hope it makes sense! (The original circuit has a 2k2 from pin 6 on the 74HC04 to pin 8 on the 9 pin 'D'). "+5V" is the output from the regulator, which goes to pin 1 on the TCM3105, pin 14 on the 74HC04, etc. RTS (pin 7 on 9 pin 'D') | < < 10k < |--/\/\/\--- CTS (pin 8 on 9 pin 'D') C| 2k2 10k / 74HC04 pin 6 ---/\/\/\--|B BC213L or similar *PNP* transistor \ E| | +5V End NODE2BAY.TXT quote SECTION 5 - INSTALL & SET UP WINPACK ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Now to the installation and basic configuration of Winpack v6.1 Create a directory/folder called WINPACK on your hard disk. Unzip the WINP610 archive into your Winpack directory,and then run the resultant .EXE file from Program manager or File manager in Windows. Simply follow the various prompts,and you should end up looking at the group of Winpack icons. Double click the Winpack 6.1 icon to run Winpack. Once running,click Options then Personal/BBS info,and enter your details as required. If your BBS is using NNA software,look at the List area of the dialogue box,and put a single L in the bulletins box and LM in the personal box,unless you want to use different commands of course! Click the OK button once your happy all the info is correct. Now click Options then Comms setup.In the bottom R/H side of the dialogue box,the Host mode setting must be BPQ.Click OK once you've set it. Go through the Options list and set everything to your liking.If there's anything you're not sure of,read the HELP.It's excellent,and the answer to 99% of your questions lies here! In fact you should definitely read all of the Fundamentals section,before trying to connect out. Now click Mail,then Mail Options. If your local BBS uses F6FBB software,and broadcasts the new bulletin headers,select Use FBB unproto lists.Read the help BEFORE activating the mail/bull up/download compression! If your local BBS uses G1NNA software v3.0 and above,select both compression options,and de-select Use FBB unproto lists. If you have problems,read the HELP,and the next section on PACKET.INI Now,a few notes on PACKET.INI Most of Winpack's startup settings are held in this file.It lives in your WINPACK directory. The settings you chose in the Options menu etc,are held here, along with some other variables that can be edited if required. Please note that you must exit from Winpack before editing PACKET.INI otherwise any changes you make will be overwritten when Winpack is next closed! Read the HELP! The next part is aimed at Winpack users who's local BBS uses G1NNA's BBS software. NNA BBS users will have to edit a couple of things in the [FBB] section of PACKET.INI to keep the BBS happy.I've pasted the FBB section of my file below,for you to compare with yours.I make no claim that these are the best settings for the parameters,but they work fine for me and my local BBS,which uses NNA v3.04 software. Extract from PACKET.INI [FBB] AUTO_KILL=TRUE SEND_FQ=TRUE The AUTO_KILL parameter ensures that Winpack kills your personal mail after it's downloaded successfully. I manually edited SEND_FQ=TRUE,as it was originally set to false. I did this because with FQ=FALSE,a hard disconnect is sent to the BBS. This seems to mess up my message pointers sometimes in the BBS,and setting FQ=TRUE has cured the problem. That completes the installation of WINPACK + BPQ. Provided you had no problems with BPQ,NODE2BAY,BAYDRV and your Baycom modem,Winpack will work first time.You will probably want to alter some of the settings within Winpack once you've become familiar with it's operation and use. NOTES ON SERVERS/EXTERNAL PROGRAMS FOR WINPACK ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Now a few words about Winpack and the various external programs available for it. There are many additional servers etc. that provide extra facilities for you and other users of your Winpack system.The most common problem with the installation of these add-ons is not editing the PIF file that calls the program! If you intend to install any of the extra servers or replacements for Winpack's built-in servers,don't forget to edit the relevant .PIF and/or .INI files before trying to use them! READ the DOCS and HELP that come with the program! Don't forget to exit from and restart Winpack,otherwise the new server or whatever may not be activated! A brief note now about the BPQ NODE configuration. Those that have some experience with the configuration of BPQ will see that the NODE set up in the above example is "silent".This is to avoid loads of unecessary nodes suddenly appearing,to mess up local routing etc! For those of you who have never set up BPQ before,PLEASE read the relevant documentation that comes with the BPQ archive before altering any of the QUALITY values,IDINTERVAL value or NODESINTERVAL value in BPQCFG.TXT, otherwise you'll be sending NODES broadcasts before you know it,and possibly causing problems for existing nodes etc! This doesn't affect either your own,Winpack's,or users use of the node. Righto...that's about it.No doubt there are many other hints & tips regarding Winpack and BPQ that I've left out/forgotten/don't know about! I make no claim that this documentation is complete or exhaustive,but I reckon that most readers should be able to get themselves up and running by following the steps and concepts contained above. Roger G4IDE has kindly checked the info given above,so there shouldn't be any mistakes anywhere to confuse you! It just remains to wish you GOOD LUCK,and enjoy packet! 73 de Paul GW7LHI@GB7SWN.#53.GBR.EU Email to p.d.tomlinson@swansea.ac.uk Tel +44 01639 770137 Don't forget I have a family and go to work HI! QTH Port Talbot,West Glamorgan,Wales. QRA IO81CN 16th JULY 1997 17:55 GMT *eof