TECHNOTE: The MTerm Troubleshooting Guide ************************************************************* * IMPORTANT NOTE * * * * This document is for MTerm ver 2.XX * * * ************************************************************* This guide is intended to help you diagnose and correct problems that you and your customers might encounter while installing or using MTerm version 2.XX. These tips apply ONLY to version 2.XX. The intended audience is clients of IGC or of IGC Authorized Distributors who have experience with Microsoft Windows NT. This document is intended to supplement--not supplant--the MTerm User's Manual. Always have your manual handy. Wherever possible, TechNote includes references to exact pages in the manual where you will find more information. We welcome your feedback on TechNote. If you have a suggestion for making it more usable, please contact IGC Technical Support. --------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT --------------------------------------------------------------------- You can search TECHNOTE.TXT for a particular word or phrase. However, be sure to read the "General Tips" at the beginning of the section which contains the discussion of your problem. ORGANIZATION It is a good idea to acquaint yourself with the organization of this document. As much as possible, we have grouped information according to SYMPTOM, not cause. Most of the section titles are self-explanatory. Just a couple of notes: "DO THIS FIRST!" has tips that you should read no matter what. Approximately 70% of technical problems are eliminated by following these suggestions. If you encounter problems when running the installation program, not MTerm itself, see SECTION 1: "INSTALLING." "STARTING UP MTerm" covers problems you might encounter when you start MTerm. CONVENTIONS TechNote consists primarily of problem/solution and question/ answer pairs. For each problem or question, there may be more than one possible solution or answer. Our convention is to use letters (A, B, C, or a,b,c etc.) to designate ALTERNATIVE suggestions, and to use numbers (1, 2, 3, or i, ii, iii, etc.) to designate STEPS to follow for a particular solution. Throughout the guide, we assume that the MTerm files are loaded in your %SystemRoot%\System32 directory (where %SystemRoot% is the directory where you installed Windows NT. DOWNLOADS Some solutions involve downloading a file from IGC's Web page. The numbers and addresses are listed below. IF IT ISN'T HERE... We have tried to cover as many questions as possible, but it is difficult to anticipate every possible scenario. If your problem is not covered in TechNote, or if the troubleshooting tips do not correct your problem, IGC Technical Support is available 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, Central Standard Time (15:00 to 22:30 Greenwich Meridian Time). You may contact Technical Support by the following means: IGC 5550 West Touhy Ave, Suite 300 Skokie, IL 60077 USA Office Hours M-F 9am to 5:30pm CST Voice: 847-763-5000 Fax: 847-962-9600 E-mail: support@igcinc.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 1: MANAGING USERS SECTION 2: PRINTING SECTION 3: APPLICATIONS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 1: MANAGING USERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PROBLEM: MTerm is installed on a Domain controller and the users have been imported from the Domain. The only way I can get any of the users to log in is if they have administrator rights. SOLUTION: By default NT does not give domain users local access. MTerm users need local access. 1.) Open Programs, Administrative Tools, User Manager for Domains. 2.) Pull down the Policies menu and click on User Rights. 3.) Set Right drop down to "Logon locally". 4.) Set Grant to to Everyone. 5.) Click OK. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 2: PRINTING ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SECTION 3: APPLICATIONS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PROBLEM: My DOS application does not work under NT. SOLUTION: There are two Windows NT commands that help NT recognize some MS-DOS programs. They are FORCEDOS and DOSONLY. They are discussed below. FORCEDOS Some MS-DOS programs are not recognized by Windows NT as MS-DOS programs. The FORCEDOS command allows you to start these programs. All programs started by the FORCEDOS command will be launched as MS-DOS applications. The syntax is: Forcedos [/d directory] filename [parameters] Where /d directory - Specifies the current directory for the specified program to use. Filename - Specifies the program to start. If not in the current directory or Windows NT path, you must specify the drive letter or directories to the program. Parameters - Specifies parameters to pass to the program. If the program starts with one or more batch files, it may be necessary to manually run each line in the batch file to find where it is failing. When that command is found, try placing the FORCEDOS command at the beginning of that line. DOSONLY Normally, when you exit an MS-DOS-based application, Windows NT returns to the Windows NT command interpreter, CMD.EXE. However, by default, when you run a TSR or temporarily suspend an MS-DOS based application to return to the command prompt, Windows NT runs COMMAND.COM, the command interpreter for the MS-DOS environment. This preserves the MS-DOS environment, allowing you to use the TSR immediately. Because starting and running other types of applications from the COMMAND.COM prompt can disrupt a TSR or suspended MS-DOS-based application, Windows NT provides the DOSONLY command. The DOSONLY command allows only MS-DOS-based applications to be started from the COMMAND.COM prompt. You can include the DOSONLY command in your CONFOG.NT file or the equivalent custom startup file in an application's PIF. PROBLEM: I am running OfficeMate ver. 9.0, it is a multi-user application, but I can not run it in more than one session. SOLUTION: OfficeMate opens a transaction file by default in the root directory. It is necessary to have each session running OfficeMate to have their own transaction file. The directions are below. 1.) In the DOMS directory, create the following sub directories OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4,....,OM20 (one for each user). 2.) Copy the following files from the DOMS directory to each of the user directories. Btrieve.exe, pmswitch.exe 3.) Perform the following routine for each user. All steps are performed from the DOMS directory. a.) Type BSETUP b.) Press Alt and S to select Settings. c.) Highlight Btrieve and Press d.) Press Alt and R to select Transaction file location. e. ) Type the location c:\doms\om#, where # is the user number. (i.e. For user 1 type c:\doms\om1) f.) Type Alt and S to save settings. g.) Type Alt and X to exit bsetup. h.) Copy the BTI.CFG file to the sub-directory for the station that was entered. (For user 1 copy bti.cfg to c:\doms\om1) 4.) Perform Step 3 above once for each user. Make sure to set the transaction file to the appropriate directory and to copy the BTI.CFG file to the same directory. 5.) Edit each of the om#.bat files and perform the following: a.) Locate the first instruction which reads BTRIEVE > NUL b.) Add a line before the BTRIEVE > NUL line which reads CD\DOMS\OM# where # is the user number. (When editing OM1.bat add cd\doms\om1.) c.) Add a line after the BTRIEVE > NUL line which reads CD\DOMS d.) Locate the second instruction which reads BTRIEVE > NUL e.) Add a line before the BTRIEVE > NUL line which reads CD\DOMS\OM# where # is the user number. (When editing OM1.bat add cd\doms\om1.) f.) Add a line after the BTRIEVE > NUL line which reads CD\DOMS g.) Save the changes. PROBLEM: I am running CounterPoint ver. 7.0.150, it is a multi-user application, but I can not run it in more than one task. SOLUTION: Counterpoint opens a transaction file by default in the root directory. It is necessary to have each session running Counterpoint to have their own transaction file. The directions are below. 1.) Make one subdirectory for each user. I.e. C:\syn\syn1 for user 1 2.) Copy the following files into the user directories. Btrieve.exe, bsetup.exe, pmswitch.exe, and bsetup.hlp. 3.) Run bsetup from each user directory and set the transaction file to the appropriate user directory. 4.) Copy Syn.bat to syn#.bat, where # is the user. User 1 would use Syn1.bat, user 2 would use Syn2.bat, etc. 5.) Edit each user bat file and make the following changes. Syn1.bat |Syn.bat (Original) | If exist btrnt.cfg breqnt /d:12288 |If exist btrnt.cfg breqnt /d:12288 Cd syn1 |If not exist btrn*.cfg btrieve If not exist btrn*.cfg btrieve | cd.. | QUESTION: If the MTerm service is stopped, are the sessions terminated and will the any open files be closed? ANSWER: Stoping the MTerm service does in fact terminate all the sessions, and all open files will be closed. This can be a Good Thing or a Bad Thing, depending on the state of the application at the time. Well written apps shouldn't keep files in an inconsistent state while waiting for user input (it doesn't matter if they're open, just that they should be internally consistent). PC's can reboot, crash, loose network connections, etc., and a good app will be designed around this reality. Of course not all apps are good apps.