by Mike Bilow, N1BEE
July 13, 1991


GRINOS: KA9Q 910618/PA0GRI 910709v1.7d/N1BEE 910713v0.50

     I.  KA9Q/PA0GRI changes

     This release uses an updated release from PA0GRI, 910709, which
remains based on the same KA9Q release, 910618.

     The "delete" key has been restored to correct operation.

     Another attempt has been made to get RSPF working.

     There are some corrections to the mailbox code that should correct
forwarding problems encountered with W0RLI BBSs.

     The "ax25 heard" filter, which was written by me and included in
my last release, has now been cycled back into the official PA0GRI
release.  The undocumented debugging trace code for the filter has
also been removed.

     The fixes for the ttylink split screen display, which were in
my last release, have also now been cycled back into the PA0GRI
release.


     II.  N1BEE changes

     GRINOS v0.50 makes several important changes.  The use of the TMP
environment variable has been restored.  If no TMP environment variable
is set, temporary files will be created in the root directory.  If the
TMP environment variable is set to a proper pathname, then temporary
files will be created in that directory; this directory must exist, as
NOS will not create it.

     The watchdog timer, which was causing reboots during harmless DOS
operations, has been fixed.  It was set too short by a factor of 18.
(Reported by KA1XN.)

     The "tcp status" and "tcp kick" commands will accept the first four
digits of a TCB address, instead of requiring all eight to be typed.  The
last four digits are always "0008" under the current memory allocation
scheme.  It must be remembered that this shorthand is unique to these
two commands only, and is not available elsewhere at this time.

     The RLOGIN system, which no one was using, has been removed from
the large version of GRINOS.  It was never in the small version.

     Drivers for the HAPN internal card are now included in the large
version, in addition to DRSI and generic SCC support.


     III.  Future plans

     There will be an opportunity to use reverse video instead of high
intensity during split screen operation.  This has been requested by
Justin, KA1ULT, who runs NOS on a laptop with an LCD display.

     I am going to try to put in a third trace mode, in addition to the
normal "on" and "off" modes.  The idea would be to have NOS in trace mode
whenever the screen is at the "net>" prompt, and have it automatically go
out of trace mode on session screens.  I am not quite sure how to do this
yet, but I am working on it.


     IV.  Known problems

     The memory allocator still has a fairly serious problem in that it
cannot do garbage collection.  If you run coreleft sufficiently low, then
GRINOS will be forced into garbage collection and will corrupt memory;
"invalid free" error messages will likely be seen on the screen and in the
log.  My "mem stat" display never shows any garbage collects.  Shelling out
to DOS or the external mailer with the "mail" command will immediately set
coreleft to zero, which will crash GRINOS if it tries to make a request for
more core.  Therefore, shelling out should not be done until NOS has been
running a while, about 10 to 15 minutes, and is stable.

     The internal mailbox, which is accessed with the "bbs" command, has
an odd characteristic of sending a CC message when the SR (send reply)
command is used.  This CC is addressed to whatever is in the "To" field
of the original message to which the reply refers.  This has the effect
of sending oneself a CC when replying to personal mail, but it can cause
serious unintended effects when reply, say, to mail addressed to "allne."
I really cannot fix this because the mailbox code is being heavily revised
outside my control, and every release I get looks nothing like the last.


-- Mike Bilow, N1BEE @ KA1RCI.RI.USA.NA    (AX.25)
               mikebw@idsvax.ids.com    (Internet)
               n1bee@n1bee.ampr.org  [44.104.0.20]