Quick start guide for installing FrontDoor/DOS with NetSerial under Windows --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Download and install NetSerial. An x86 edition of Windows and NetSerial is suggested, but it is also possible to use (x64 editions & NTVDMx64. NetSerial is commercial software, which provides a free 30 day trial. Sysops can receive a discounted license for $25 instead of $90 from: https://pcmicro.com/netserial/sysop/ 2. From the NetSerial Configuration, select a virtual COM port such as COM1 or COM2. If you use a DOS based FOSSIL driver then only COM1 through COM4 can be used, but if using a Windows FOSSIL driver (such as NetFoss) then any COM port can be used. 3. Configure the virtual COM port like so: Port Mode: [X]Virtual Modem [X] Accept Inbound Connections TCP Port: 23 Connection type: Telnet [ ] Request Remote Telnet Echo [X] Accept Local Telnet Echo [X] Request Binary Connection Port Mode: Virtual Modem Inbound TCP Port: 23 [X] Accept inbound connections 5. Click the [Save] button, and the virtual COM port will be created. 6. From the NetSerial Configuration screen, click he "Advanced" button and disable the "[ ] Enable Nagle algorithem" checkbox. This will prevent Windows from delaying tcp packets being sent, which will imporove handshake response time. However it will also result in smaller packets being sent, which will cause overall transfer speed to be a bit slower. Click "OK" followed by "Save". 7. For best performance, use our freeware NetFoss Fossil driver. Download and extract Netfoss to a folder such as C:\NETFOSS and from an Administrator Command Prompt, copy NETFOSS.DLL file to c:\windows\system32\ folder if you are running Windows Vista or a later version of Windows. Netfoss is compatible with 32-bit versions of Windows from Windows 2000 to Windows 10, and there is also a Windows 64-Bit version that supports NTVDMx64. 7. Install FrontDoor (DOS) in C:\FD (if you have not already), and configure it to use the NetSerial virtual COM port in FDSETUP> Modem > Hardware > Serial Port. The other settings can be left as default. For example: Serial Port: 1 Locked Port: Yes Maximum BPS Rate: Fixed Reset modem to connect speed: No Lower DTR when busy: Yes Lower DTR to terminate call: Yes Toggle DTR before dialing: No Carrier detect mask: 128 Under Modem > Connect Messages, make sure the following is configured: Message DCE Speed CONNECT 115200 115200 Under Modem > Command Strings, make sure your init string includes "&D2", as this will cause NetSerial to drop the connection when DTR is lowered. Here is a suggested init string: AT&C1&D2E0S95=128| This string sets the following settings: &C1 - Sets the DCD (Carrier detect) signal to indicate the actual state of the modems carrier detect signal (TCP connection). &D2 - Allows the communication software (FrontDoor in this case) to disconnect the caller by lowering the DTR signal for a moment. E0 - Turns echo off, so the virtual modem doesn't echo characters back to the caller. S95=128 - The S95 register controls the CONNECT message format, and by setting the most signficent bit (128) it will include the remote connection's IP address in the CONNECT message. | - FrontDoor needs the pipe character at the end of an AT command to send a carrage return and linefeed set of characters. Under Terminal > Miscellaneous, set the init string to: ATE1| This will turn on ECHO mode when using the FrontDoor terminal to call out to a BBS. This is needed so you can see the characters you are typing. Make sure to leave the "Local Echo: No" setting under the Miscellaneous settings, as enabling this will cause FD to perform echo on it's own which would interfere with the dialing commands. 8. Create the following batch file in the \FD folder to load NetFoss and launch FrontDoor: set task=1 set fd=c:\fd REM load NetFoss on Node 1, COM1: c:\netfoss\netfoss.com /n1 /c1 :loop fd.exe REM here you can add errorlevel checking, to determne if FrontDoor should reload itself REM using a "goto loop" statement instead of exiting the batch file. REM To start in terminal use: fd.exe /term REM uninstall Netfoss from memory: c:\netfoss\netfoss.com /u 9. Open the NetSerial Monitor, and in the "Trace" tab, turn on the following: [X] Enable Trace [X] Auto Scroll 10. Run the batch file to load NetFoss and run FrontDoor. You should see activity in the NetSerial trace window as FD opens the COM port and sends the init string and the virtual modem responds with "OK". If there is no activity here, and FD says "FOSSIL driver not detected", then make sure the NetSerial service is running, and that NetFoss.com was loaded sucessfully in the batch file. If you run into issues, save the trace log and sent it to support@pcmicro.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If everything works so far, then you will want to configure FrontDoor to "dial" the correct ip addresses in place of phone numbers. This can be done by configuring your FDNODE.CTL file as shown below (Thanks to T.J. McMillen for the example). USE ZONE 1 2 3 4 5 6 25 # Internet ;IP translate numbers starting with '#' ; 0000- Internet/:155 ;IP translate numbers starting with '0000-' ; V Internet ;IP translate numbers starting with 'V' PHONE 1:379/1 #fidonet.no-ip.org:23 PHONE 1:229/426 #nickandre.com:23 END Another way of mapping phone numbers to hostnames is to use the Virtual PhoneBook feature in NetSerial. Be sure to read Chapter 9 of the NetSerial Users' Guide, as this describes how to use the ATDT commands to dial a hostname if the software only allows digits to be passed, as well as other valuable information.