Sub-Etha Software
                                            P.O. Box 152442
                                            Lufkin, TX 75915
                                            (409) 639-ETHA [3842]



To Shadow BBS Sysops:


Some problems have been located in the 1.0 release of Shadow BBS.  While the BBS itself is pretty much rock solid, we have discovered a few problems in setting up the system.

Single drive users (who create an online disk and have all system files on that drive) should not have any major problems other than possibly running out of disk space if you try to make too many discussions or create a large message base.  (Please keep in mind that the userlog and profile system files will grow as users are added to your system.)

Multiple drive users may encounter a few other problems.  Before Shadow BBS was shipped we checked the setup routines by creating a one-drive system.  We assumed that if it worked on one drive, more drive space would even be better.  Unfortunately, some problems have now appeared in the setup routines that may keep you from being able to create a working BBS.

The problem seems to pop up when you split up the BBS files (message base, system files, user information, etc.) on multiple drives.  Looping error messages and other system failures have been reported.  A solution to this problem is currently being worked on and should be available within a week or so.  In the meantime, here are some guidelines that should help you get a working system going on multiple drives.

First copy ALL of the .TXT and .SYS files from your master disk to a new disk.  For these examples we are using Drive 1.  (Your master disk should contain a file BBSCOPY.BAS that will do this for you.)  Boot the system, log on, then go into the Sysop menu and Setup Default Drives.  Set ALL of the options for Drive 1.  Then perform a "M"essage Base Initialization.  We have successfully created a message base with "32" rooms of "40" granuals.

Now, return back to the main BBS menu and logoff.  When the system is at the standby screen, reset your computer.  (Hold down CTRL-ALT and press the reset button.)  Since you have told the system to put all .SYS files on drive 1, a new problem is created.  The CONFIG.SYS file must ALWAYS be on drive 0.  You must KILL the old CONFIG.SYS file from drive 0, then COPY the newly created CONFIG.SYS from drive 1 to drive 0...

ã(  KILL"CONFIG.SYS:0"  then  COPY"CONFIG.SYS:1" TO "CONFIG.SYS:0"  )
Discussions may also be a problem.  As is, you have four discussions ready to go.  If you try to create new ones, you may not be able to increase the number of discussions.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  8 discussions should work most of the time.  (Terry, the author, knows what this problem is and should have it fixed very shortly.)

Now you should be ready to run the system as normal.  You may have to logon as new again (since the userlog is now being taken from drive 1 and not from the original userlog created on drive 0), but after that things should run smoothly.

We apologize for these problems and promise that a complete update will be available soon.  To get these updates as fast as possible you may want to call our Sub-Etha Support BBS, The Shadow's Realm, at (409) 637-3256.  You may contact the author directly for support and updates will also be available in the download section.

Thanks for your understanding!  Please keep working with us and report any quirk you find.  Also try to make a list of anything you see in the program that you would like changed.  We are always open to suggestions and will try to implement as many as possible!


                                             Sincerely,




                                             Allen C. Huffman
                                             Sub-Etha Software