The Covox Tympanum Technical Support BBS User's Documentation 1 April 1992. Covox operates a computer bulletin board system, or BBS, for the use of Covox product owners and people interested in Covox and our products. This document covers the basic functions of the BBS and how to make use of them. The first thing you will need to know is how to sign up for the BBS. This is very easy. All you need to do is call the BBS with your terminal program (Terminal programs are discussed later), and follow the prompts. The first prompt asks you for your name. Type in your full (First and Last) names. If you have never used the BBS before, and it asks you for a password, hang up and call back, but use your middle name as well when it asks you for your name. This is only necessary if someone with the same name as you is already a user on the system. You'll be asked some basic questions about where you are calling from, and then some questions about how your computer is configured. The most troublesome question is usually the one asking about graphics ability. Usually, it is best to select Nographics, unless you know that your terminal program provides ANSI or AVATAR (Sometimes called oANSI) emulations. Answering all the questions should take less than 5 minutes. You'll then have access to all the normal functions on the BBS. If are a Covox developer or a Covox Beta Tester, you will need to leave a message (Messages are explained later) to me requesting access to the extended functions. Now that you have access to the BBS, you'll need to know how to use the basic functions, such as transferring files, asking technical questions (and reading the replies), and configuring the BBS for your personal use. These are important, but very easy to use once you've got the hang of them. The most common use of the BBS is as a file transfer area. From the BBS, you can get product updates, software written to support our cards, digitized sound files, and music files. The files section is very easy to use, requiring you to know only a few commands and one or two basic concepts. The most difficult concept is that of 'Downloading' - Copying a program or sound file from our computer to yours. To download, you need to know the name of the file you want to download, what transfer protocols your terminal program supports, and how to use the file once you've got it. Finding file names is very simple. The files are divided into file Areas, which are accessible with the Area Change command from any file menu. (To access the file menu, type "F" from the main BBS menu, the first menu you see after the login process is complete.) Selecting the Area Change command will give you a listing of file areas and allow you to choose one to look through. The names of the file areas should be fairly clear. If you can't decide where to go, leave me a message and I'll try to help you. After you select an Area, use the File Titles command ("F" from any files menu) to list the files in an area with brief descriptions of what each one is and does. Write down the name of any file you want. Then, when the file list is finished scrolling, select the Download command from the file menu. Now, you will need to know which protocol to use to transfer the file. The best protocol to use is Zmodem, but not all communications programs offer Zmodem support. You may have to make do with (In order of preference) Sealink, Modem7, 1K-Xmodem (Sometimes called Ymodem), or Xmodem. See the section on terminal programs for help with this. Choose the best transfer protocol your terminal program supports. Then, the system will ask you which file you want to download. If you have selected Zmodem, Sealink, or Modem7, you will be able to type in the names of all the files you want here. Incidentally, standard DOS wild cards do work, such as * and ?. After you type in the filename(s), the BBS will start sending you the files. Now, unless you selected Zmodem and have AutoZmodem turned on in your terminal program, you will need to tell your terminal program to download. The command to do this varies from terminal program to terminal program, but is usually either Alt-R (For receive file), or PgDn (Page Down, for Download.) Give your terminal program the name of the file you're downloading if it asks, otherwise just sit back and wait for the file to transfer. If you have problems, keep trying! The problem is usually very simple. Once you have the file, you'll need to decompress it before use, in most cases. Almost all of the files on the BBS are compressed using the popular PKZIP file compression program, so you'll need to download PKUNZIP.EXE from the IBM Utilities section to use the file you've just downloaded. Put the PKUNZIP program somewhere on your DOS path - Either in \DOS or \BIN, depending on your setup. Once you've done that, you'll be able to just type 'PKUNZIP .ZIP' at any DOS prompt and the compressed file will be decompressed and usable. I recommend making a separate directory for each program and decompressing each file into its own directory, as follows: (Assuming that you've downloaded a file named STDRIVER.ZIP) C:\>md stdriver (Creates a directory named STDRIVER) C:\>copy stdriver.zip stdriver (Copies STDRIVER.ZIP to that directory) C:\>cd stdriver (Changes to that directory) C:\STDRIVER>pkunzip stdriver.zip (Decompresses the STDRIVER.ZIP file) You should now be able to use all the files from the STDRIVER.ZIP file. 'Uploading' - Copying a program or file (Like a song you've composed in PC Lyra) to our computer - is very easy once you have the hang of downloading. Many of the steps are identical, it's just the direction that's changes. Terminal programs usually use Alt-S or PgUp to send files. Other commands that you may find useful are Locate and Contents. These allow you to search for a particular file and see what files are contained within a compressed file, respectively. Help for both commands is available on the BBS by typing L? or C? at any File Menu prompt. The Message section (Where you would leave a technical question and read the response) is equally simple. It is also divided up into sections (For Voice Master, Speech Thing, Sound Master II, etc, where you can leave questions about the product covered in that section. You enter a message using the Enter Message command. Both message editors available (Line oriented aka LORE and full-screen aka OPED have help files available.) When you are done entering a message, Save it and keep using the BBS. To find responses to your technical questions or other messages written to you, you can use the Scan command from any message menu. (To get to the message menu, select M from the main menu) The Scan command will show you the area the message is in and the number of the message. Change to the area with the Area Change command and type in the number of the message to you at the Message Menu prompt. The final section of the BBS you should know about is the Change setup section, where you can configure how the BBS looks to you, change your access password, and other useful things. This section is very self-explanatory and has online help, so I won't go into each and every option. Further configuration changes are possible through the History menu. (Both Change Setup and History are accessed from the Main Menu by typing their first letter. (C or H)) To access the BBS, you of course need software for use with your modem. Usually, you get a package such as BitCom or Procomm free with your modem. Usually, these programs are worth the price. Still, if they are all you have access to, they will work quite adequately for simple tasks on the BBS. BitCom is limited to Xmodem transfers, while Procomm supports everything except Zmodem. Use SEALink if you are using Procomm. I recommend finding Qmodem, Telix, or Procomm Plus, in that order, in order to get the most out of your modem. Both Qmodem and Procomm Plus are commercial packages available at your local software store. All three of these programs also have Shareware versions available on most large BBSes. They include Zmodem for transfers, which will save you a great deal of time on long downloads. The Covox Tympanum Technical Support BBS is accessed at (503) 342-4135. It supports speeds of 1200 and 2400 bps, with 9600 and 14.4K bps v.32/v.32bis coming in mid April 1992. The best terminal parameters are 8 data bits, no stop bits, and one parity bit. FidoNet and FamilyNet system operators can address the system at 1:152/27.0@fidonet.org or 8:7702/3.0@familynet. Other online support is available on Compuserve in the Soundcards section of MIDIFORUM (GO MIDIFO at a ! prompt) and through Internet at 71611.3067@compuserve.com. Eric Gustafson System Operator Covox, Inc.