Well Maybe I can explain a bit but who knows?


 RW> Hi all!

 RW> Well, it looks like I got OS/2 Warp 4 installed in a VM and the BBS
 RW> working with SIO 1.60d and VMODEM.  Unfortunately, whenever I go to
 RW> start the BBS, I am getting the popup saying that the virtual com port
 RW> is in use when it really isn't.  If I ignore through the error boxes,
 RW> the BBS starts up just find and runs normally.

 RW> Unfortunately, this popup is an annoyance when trying to run a front
 RW> end mailer (ViaMail in this case) and it goes to load the BBS and the
 RW> BBS exits back out to the mailer when a caller logs off.

 RW> --- ViaMAIL!/WC v2.00
 RW>  * Origin: ViaMAIL! - Lightning Fast Mailer for Wildcat!  (1:261/20)

I think few people have much knowledge of how OS/2 handles actual IRQ numbers
and ring level work that are really needed for carrying OS/2 back to way
before even DOS operations for some things.  For example, 'normal' IRQ top
level stuff only applies to IRQ 'numbers' up to what I think I recall are
number 8.  That's not enough to work with some things that we need for IRQ
level numbers which go up even way beyond number 8 especially when OS/2 is
'later' dealing with multiple CPU operations that, as I think I recall this,
are up to as many as sixteen separate CPU's which then must be able to be
coordinated with each other as to what each CPU is doing that must be
absolutely understood by any action even down to COMM ports so that things
don't violate the order of operation for multiple CPU stuff that grew up long
after the original ring level and machine language code which I was originally
working with LONG before there was OS/2 even there.

OK, If, for example, as I do even today in many operations, use Warp 4 and MP4
later in the same computer for multiple COMM port stuff that does include BBS
operations, as well as my custom ham and commercial radio total operating
stuff that controls even the antenna direction and so on as well as integrated
BBS operations, I still use SIO very well.  However,when I also totally log
even telephone line use in REAL TIME to all of this with special total digital
phone line trace work even to CNID track operations in sync with radio station
control, total real time double entry bookkeeping and even GPS location for
everywhere your fingertips are touching a body in medical work, I notice
this,  By the way, all this is in my over 1,000,000 lines of source code work
that still goes down to ring level and machine language stuff even today!

When I boot the system, I obviously have to use SIO to set up VMWARE for both
BBS and even total telephone line real-time logging for all of this. When I
FIRST TURN ON the special phone line monitoring for every thing a phone
company does on the line for digital use to trace where it went, I notice that
the actual FIRST IRQ port which is tracked is port 184 if my memory is
correct.  That's when SIO is first set up going to the special digital
tracking device that I'm sure none of you folks ever use.  Well then on any
NEXT access to the 'normal' COMM port, say number 3 or 4 that the special
little unit is listening to every phone line in the whole place for every
touch to any number or computer generated snoop on any line in real-time, the
actual port that is used is NOT 184, is say, port number 176.  And that can
VERY confuse ANYTHING down to even pure CPU or multiple CPU computer unit
operations.  Which, to my knowledge, ONLY OS/2 or down to even memory block
operations can ever do and Windows has NEVER been able to do after Billy Boy
stole HeathDOS from them and took Gordon Letwin away to bridge the lost of
what is now Windows from IBM.

I have NO WAY of tracing this to what you folks are complaining about here but
suspect this sort of thing is exactly what may be causing this.  Worse,unless
you can get the actual people that are now using whatever to run everyting in
what they all think is their neat hidden snoop for everything that is touched
down to evey CPM in NSA or whatever country, you will, I suspect never be able
to find it unless you can totally snoop them as well in a never to be able to
decrypt trick.

Mike Luther as N117C at 1:117/100


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 * Origin: BV HUB CLL(979)696-3600 (1:117/100)