Re: Postings.....

 > Great, thanks.  While you're at it, could I have the Web Address?  I
 > really should have just asked for both initially, sorry :-).
      www.indelible-blue.com/ib/

Now to find the time to take a look :-).

 > Well, I could use my voice line when the BBS is busy, I suppose...  I
 > just hate to tie it up.  The BBS is going to a third node within a couple
 > of months, but I'm sure that the same thing will be happening then!
 > That is, just as soon as I get the other machine networked and distribute
 > the load a bit more evenly.  Do you know much about IBM Lan 4.0?  For that
 > matter, do you know anything about which network cards are the best to
 > get?  I'm a bit in the dark still, but am slowly researching.

      You could still use the third bbs line for the automation... Using the
 command flags to down the third line, run your net stuff, and bring it back
 up... It'd be a bit trickier... You'd have to use SIO's SU.. I think it'll
 tell you if the modem's in use or not, with an error code... I think I read
 that somewhere  As for LS 4, not really... As for net cards, I've heard

Well, currently, when I want to call out on the net, I just manually
shut down one of the BBS sessions (whichever one is available) and
then start up my Internet dialer.  The method you describe isn't really
necessary for this scenario.

Just for your information, though, this is correct.  I have a program
called Portal which will allow a user on one line to access the modem
on the other line, if free, and call out on it.  This was very tricky
to get set up because normally, when the one channel tried to use the
modem in possession by the other BBS session, OS/2 would stop it and
display an error.

I managed to get around it by using SU; first checking if DCD was on
(to see if the other modem was in use), and if not, forcibly closing
that port.  Then, the first session was free to use it.

Getting the other node to regain possession of its modem afterwards
was also a challenge.  All that was necessary was to get it to
reinitialize from that session, so I did a VBBS source mod to check
for the existence of a flag (file) for each node, and if found, to
reinitialize.  The end of my .bat file which calls Portal copies this
flag file into place.  This took quite a bit of testing to make sure
it was working!

 mixed results out of the generic, $20 a peice, net cards... If you've got the
 $$$ for a namebrand, it might make life a little easier... It just depends on
 which generic card you get... As for which one's to stay away from, I don't
 know... You might e-mail Kim Gross and ask....

I'll probably go for the name brand cards, in that case.  They can't
be THAT much more.

This whole project is on hold for now because it's going to be expensive;
OS/2 Lan Server 4.0 is over $600 alone.  I may go with a simpler setup.