




                                         
                                         
                                         
                         
                         
                        
                     
                            v5.0

                Brief List Of Undocumented Commands in Renegade BBS
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                            Copyright 1993 PERSoft
                             [ Oct 1993 Edition ]





                                TABLE OF CONTENTS
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Editorial .................................................. 1

        What is Renegade BBS? ...................................... 2
        
        Accessing true DOS in PSEUDO DOS ........................... 3

        Disabling NEW User Application ............................. 4

        Automatic File Uploading System ............................ 6

        Security risks and backdoors in Renegade ................... 7

        Bugs in Renegade ........................................... 8

        Commands NOT in the RG Docs ................................ 9

        Frequently Asked Questions ................................. 10

        Renegade Modem Problems .................................... *

        Credits .................................................... *



                                                                        1
                                  EDITORIAL
                                  ~~~~~~~~~

        It has been a slow month nothing major was discovered but

        enough to warrant yet another edition. Maybe this should be a

        Renegade Newsletter? I have been extremely busy with personal

        projects as well as getting my software business off the

        ground. As promised a text file to help sysops setup FrontDoor

        with Renegade has been created. It's distributed as FDHELP.ZIP.

        It can be found at your favorite Renegade BBS. Twelve tips/bugs has

        been incorporated into this edition as well as the addition of the

        MODEM PROBLEMS section.

        If you find this document useful and have any comments/suggestions/

        newly discovered bugs or features, please call PERSAD Software HQ on

        718-264-2817 and leave me a note. I am always glad to hear and receive

        more tips from other RG SysOps!



                                                                        2
                           WHAT IS RENEGADE BBS?
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Renegade BBS is a bulletin board software derived from the

        Telegard BBS source code version 2.5g. The Telegard software

        was in turn a modified version of the WWIV pascal source code.

        Renegade, however has been vastly improved from the original

        TG 2.5g source much to the credit of the talented programmer,

        Cott Lang. Cott has however announced that he does not intend to

        continue Renegade's development to a standard release. He plans to

        start writing his own BBS Software (from scratch) with the help of a

        few friends.

        Changes can be browsed from a file known as WHATDONE which

        list the hundreds of changes made to the original code. Renegade

        offers sysop the ultimate in BBS configuration, allowing your BBS to

        achieve a UNIQUE look and feel.



                                                                        3

                        ACCESSING TRUE DOS IN PSEUDO DOS
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         MS-DOS can be accessed in Pseudo DOS through the use of

         the EXT command at the Pseudo DOS prompt. This allows you

         to access external commands. For example:


             >EXT COMMAND.COM  - Go into regular DOS
             >EXT FORMAT A: /U - Format A: drive uncondtionally
             >EXT Q FILE.TXT   - Edit file.txt using Qedit.



                                                                        4

                       DISABLING THE NEW USER APPLICATION
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

         A lot of users complain about having to complete an application for

         access. This could have been aborted in previous versions by saving

         a blank line in the editor, but this is no longer true.

         Note that the application will be aborted if the sysop's mailbox

         (or whomever is receiving the mail) is full or closed. The

         application can be disabled from the configuration editor in Renegade.

         This is how it is done:


                                                                        5
System configuration:

A. Main BBS Configuration                B. Modem/Node Configuration
C. System ACS Settings                   D. System Variables
E. System Toggles                        F. File System Configuration
G. Subscription/Validation System        H. Network Configuration
I. Offline Mail Configuration            J. String Configuration
K. Color Configuration                   L. Archive Configuration

1. Time allowed per day                  2. Max calls per day
3. UL/DL # files ratio                   4. UL/DL K-bytes ratio
5. Post/Call ratio                       6. Max downloads per day
7. Max download kbytes per day           8. Update System Averages

Enter selection (A-L,1-8) [Q]uit :

        From system config menu select "E" for system toggles. You
        will then see the following screen:

System flagged functions

A. Handles allowed on system:On   B. Phone number in logon     :Off
C. Local security protection:Off  D. Use EMS for overlay file  :On
E. Global activity trapping :Off  F. Auto chat buffer open     :Off
G. AutoMessage in logon     :Off  H. Bulletins in logon        :Off
I. Last few callers in logon:On   J. User info in logon        :Off
K. Strip color off SysOp Log:On   L. Offhook in local logon    :Off
M. ----------------         :On   N. Compress file/msg numbers :On
O. UL duplicate file search :On   P. SysOp Log type            :File only
R. Use BIOS for video output:Off  S. Suppress snow on CGA      :Off
T. Refuse new users         :Off  U. Swap shell function       :On
V. Use shuttle logon        :Off  W. Chat call paging          :Off
X. Time limits are per call :Off  Y. SysOp Password checking   :On

1. New user message sent to :Off
2. Mins before timeout bell :3
3. Mins before timeout      :5

Enter selection (A-Y,1-3) [Q]uit :

        Select "1" and you will get the following prompt:


[E]nable [D]isable this function:

        Select "D" to disable. That's all there is to it!


                                                                        6

                         AUTOMATIC FILE UPLOADING SYSTEM
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        If a mass upload is selected from the SysOp menu and left to time-out

        after one upload, Renegade will continue the process automatically

        without prompting for any descriptions. This works locally only!

        ** As of version 6-11, you need to force timeout locally  (ALT-) **



                                                                        7

                      SECURITY RISKS AND BACKDOORS IN RENEGADE
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Security Risks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. The ARCHIVE manipulation/extraction commands in RG provides the user with

   the FULL path of the file(s) selected to be processed.

2. When running external utilities, make sure that it's from a reputable

   Author. If the program looks like it was done by a hacker then DON'T run it!

   Always check your userlist and menus carefully after running suspect

   utilities. Make your *.MNU files read-only to prevent addition of other

   commands that would make the author have access to important files or drop to

   DOS on your BBS.

3. An Option of "" for a Door File Cmdkey will cause the BBS to Drop to DOS.

Backdoors
~~~~~~~~~

         There are NONE at this time. Disappointed? Previous buggy versions of

         Renegade has prompted rumors of such things.

         Renegade is a VERY SECURE system when configured properly. If you

         just run INSTALL.EXE and expect everything to be okay, you may be

         in for a rude awakening one day, however! A lot of possible security

         risks left over from Telegard has been removed from the code

         by the author.

         The program has been intensively tested over the past year by

         hundreds of people all over the world (some of them... MEDIA hackers)

         and NO backdoors have been discovered. The system is quite

         respectable disregaring the few bugs that still exist.


                                                                        8

                              BUGS IN RENEGADE
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 1. The Command keys FA/MA (base change) does not work with option "N"
    regardless of what you may have read in the WHATDONE file.

 2. The CTRL-F4 (documented as the PlayBoy hotkey) is non-functional.
    This was apparently replaced by the ALT-P keys. Change was not
    documented.

 3. The "@#" no-abort codes turns off the user's pause configuration
    permanently. <Fixed in Alpha version>

 4. When using the Autovalidation command (OA) it will not validate the
    user to the specified subscription level unless the level letter is
    in caps (eg: 'B' and not 'b' must be used).

 5. Toggle of the AR and AC flags do not work in the infoform questionaires.

 6. ONCEONLY.??? will not display locally. It works fine with remote users
    though.

 7. Editing a user's REAL NAME in the user editor will fail to work sometimes.

 8. Moving files to different file areas sometimes result in the "File already
    there" message even though the file is not! You have to circumvent this by
    moving it to another area, then changing to that area and then performing
    the move to the area that you originally wanted to move it to. Sounds
    confusing? <insert a dummy file base after it and it should work well>

 9. When changing colors in the File Listing you will randomly get a "USER
    UPLOADED FILE ON ...<garbage here>" screen.

10. There is a bug which causes the Shuttle Logon to just display the menu and
    not read any keys. <turning off the sysop window should correct this>

11. The minimum baud rate feature sometimes do not work if the shuttle
    menu is turned on.

12. It's been reported that Avatar support is not 100% and that
    sometimes prompts display ANSI codes in front of them. <not verified>

13. The USER count at the WFC screen is never correct. Deleting the
    USERS.IDX file and having RG rebuild the index will provide a temporary
    fix, then it will happen again!

14. The Subscription System will keep resetting users back to an
    expired level even when it's turned OFF! <clear the EXPIRE TO field in the
    user's record to fix this annoying bug>

15. If a user runs out of time or have a negative time left: When they
    logon they will be given a chance to withdraw time (if any in
    bank) then immediately hung up on. They have to re-logon again
    before they can get access!



                                                                        9
                        COMMANDS NOT IN THE RG DOCS
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. MenuKeys: FIRSTCMD
   Function: Executes CmdKey before Menu is displayed
   Option  : <none>

2. MenuKeys: ENTER
   Function: Executes CmdKey when the [ENTER] key is pressed
   Option  : <none>

3. MenuKeys:      (spacebar)
   Function: Executes CmdKey when the [SPACEBAR] key is pressed
   Option  : <none>

4. MenuKeys: GTITLE
   Function: Creates another Sub-Generic Title in addtion to main title
   Option  : #1,#2,#3
             The Long Desc is the title displayed.
             #1 = Bracket Color of SubMenu (0..9)
             #2 = Command Color of SubMenu (0..9)
             #3 = Description Color        (0..9)

5. CmdKey  : DP
   Function: Creates PCBOARD.SYS (PCBOARD door) and execute Option
   Option  : [command to execute]

6. CmdKey  : -^
   Function: Load menu
   Option  : [menu file] <;C>
             ;C = Clear Menu stack before loading [menu file]

6. CmdKey  : -/
   Function: Load Sub Menu
   Option  : [menu file] <;C>
             ;C = Clear Menu stack before loading [menu file]

6. CmdKey  : -\
   Function: Return from Sub Menu
   Option  : [menu file] <;C>
             ;C = Clear Menu stack before loading [menu file]

7. CmdKey  : DX <where X is a DOOR TYPE>
   Function: Create a door drop file
   Option  : R;DOORNAME.EXE
             Run a door using the user's REAL NAME only

8. Control-P colors have been removed regardless of what the documentation
   says. Renegade uses the sasha (^#) and pipe (|##) coloring system.


                                                                        10

                          FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q. My Protocols, Archivers, and some of my Door games are not
   working properly.. what happened?

A. With the release of RG 04-01 Beta comes a change in the MCI codes
   for Doors, Archivers and Protocols. They have been made more
   consistent. In other words % N passes the node number in all three
   areas.. where as before @ E was used in the door games to pass node
   number. As yet i have not seen anything to convert the MCI codes to
   the new ones. ( i did mine by hand ) but it didn;t take long..
   the thing that took the longest was the archivers.. protocols are
   easy if you are using Cott's protocol.dat since i just grabbed the
   one out of the installation package for 04-01 Beta and used it..

Q. What is the Latest version of Renegade Available?

A. The latest version of Renegade released to the public is
   Renegade 07-17 eta.

Q. How come in the newest versions of Renegade all my Menu prompts have
   these HEART shaped ASCII characters within them..

A. as of version 2-27 Beta's release the Ascii-3 (or Heart) coloring
   system has been COMPLETELY removed.. you should obtain the file
   CLRFIX.ZIP or ARJ whatever the case may be. and follow the directions
   included.. for those of you who have an aversion to reading DOCS
   i will include the steps to take to run it successfuly on your system
   place clrfix.exe into your main BBS directory. the DATE on Clrfix.exe
   should be 2-1-93 at 00:26am or it is too old of a version and will
   not convert all the DATA files that need to be converted.. do NOT
   run clrfix on the data files by passing *.dat to clrfix.. you WILL
   destroy your data files if you do this..

   at the dos prompt type CLRFIX and press Enter which is NOT the long
   key at the bottom of the keyboard <GRIN!!> couldn't resist Cott.
   you will see it process several different .DAT files.. then when it
   is done  type CLRFIX MENU\*.MNU to convert your menus.. then use
   CLRFIX MISC\*.ASC to convert your ascii text files..

Q. Why does the built in .QWK door give all of my bases a base number of
   0 and then put all the messages into all the bases in the reader?

A. With the release of version 2-27 Beta the message bases now have a
   permanent Index Number used for .QWK packets.. you should run the
   program PERMINDX.EXE contained in the distribution archives for
   RG 2-27Beta and Later.. RUN THIS ONLY ONCE.. when you run it it
   will ask you for the path to MBASES.DAT which is located in your
   DATA directory..

Q. How come in the .QWK downloads i always get 0 Messages in EVERY
   Base even though I have *NEW* messages?

A. You need to go configure your Max Messages in the .QWK configuration

Q. What the hell happened to all the Header colors?? its all grey on
   black!!!

A. With the release of RG 2-27 Beta a New color configuration System was
   implemented.. you should go into the color configuration setup (K)
   from the System Configuration menu and configure a default color
   system..

Q. Why won't Renegade respond to my modem, or why wont it even load up?

A. All versions of renegade require a fossil driver to operate at ALL
   Renegade WILL however load up without a fossil driver installed if
   the -L option is used on the commandline.. the 2 most popular FOSSIL
   drivers out are BNU and X00.. most boards should have these available
   it is beyond the scope of this manual to explain how to set up a
   FOSSIL driver.

Q. Where are the DOCS!?!?!?!?

A. Currently Theo Van Dinter has released a doc file for Renegade..
   However.. these Docs have not been Sanctioned by Cott Lang at least
   that i am aware of anyways..but should serve to get you through until
   a release approved by Cott Lang.

Q. Why are there so many bugs.. stuff never seems to work right!!

A. Renegade is still in Beta form.. this means that it is NOT a standard
   release.. at this point in time everyone that sets up a renegade BBS
   is in effect a Beta tester.. or bug hunter if you will.. as such BETA
   releases have bugs.. it is one of the drawbacks of getting new versions
   at least once a month..

Q. How do i become a BETA site?

A. if you are running the software technically you already are.. currently
   though there is NO official Beta site structure.. although Cott Lang
   has stated that once a standard release is made he may go to a Beta
   testing structure.. at this point in time it does not even pay to ask
   as the answer will always be NO.

Q. How the HELL do i make the PCR system work... its really confusing..

A. first you have to go into System config and set up the PCR system
   as to what security levels are going to have one and how many
   messages each user has to post to meet the PCR.

   Next any command that you want to be restricted based on the PCR you
   would insert a ZZ somewhere in the ACS field for that command..

   conversely you can set up a linked command (see the docs on how to do
   that) with an acs of !ZZ to display a file or message to the user
   saying their PCR is out of balance... its really quite simple but it
   really is one of the most confusing things to set up it seems...

Q. When will the Standard Release of Renegade be made?

A. There will never be a Standard release according to Cott.

Q. How much does Renegade cost to Register it?

A. Renegade has NO registration fee.

Q. How do i set up HSLINK/BI-MODEM/HYDRA with Renegade?

A. At this point in time Renegade has built in bi-directional protocol
   support.. but only HS-LINK is supported at this time.. Bi-Modem is
   NOT recommnded as there are some potential security risks to someone
   holding a registered copy.. HSLINK can best be configured by grabbing
   PROTOCOL.ZIP off of Cott Lang's or any other Renegade Support board
   that has it.. this is a copy of Cott Langs own protocol.dat file
   with most of the popular protocols installed including HSLINK..
   Cott has suggested that the best way to configure HSLINK itself is
   NOT to configure it.. just straight out of the BOX should work
   for most people... And the same should Apply to Hydra.. Hydra and
   HSLINK are both set up in the protocol.dat Cott Releases on a
   regular basis...

Q. How do i set up Renegade multi-node??

A. this probably has to be the MOST asked question in renegade's history.
   and in actuality it is probably one of the easiest things to set up.
   Here are the settings i use for Renegade with Desview running a 3 node
   system with front door on node 1.. i am only going to post the frodo
   node 1 and renegade node 2 entries.. as the node 3 is completely identical
   to the node 2 settings i will also post the batch files i use for both..

If you are using DESQview.. TURN MANAGE PRINTER CONTENTION OFF or you
will not be able to load more than one node....

                               Change a Program

 Program Name............: Renegade Node 1

 Keys to Use on Open Menu: R1                         Memory Size (in K): 200

 Program...: runfd.bat

 Parameters:

 Directory.: c:\fd

 Options:
                  Writes text directly to screen.......: [Y]
                  Displays graphics information........: [N]
                  Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [Y]
                  Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2)..........: [N]
                  Requires floppy diskette.............: [N]


                      Change a Program Advanced Options

 System Memory (in K).......:   0   Maximum Program Memory Size (in K)..: 600

 Script Buffer Size.......:  1000   Maximum Expanded Memory Size (in K): 1000

 Text Pages: 1  Graphics Pages: 0   Initial Mode:        Interrupts: 00 to FF

 Window Position:
    Maximum Height:  25       Starting Height:           Starting Row...:
    Maximum Width.:  80       Starting Width.:           Starting Column:

                                Shared Program
 Pathname..:
 Data......:

 Close on exit (Y,N,blank)......: [N]  Uses its own colors..............: [Y]
 Allow Close Window command.....: [Y]  Runs in background (Y,N,blank)...: [Y]
 Uses math coprocessor..........: [N]  Keyboard conflict (0-F)..........: [0]
 Share CPU when foreground......: [Y]  Share EGA when foreground/zoomed.: [Y]
 Can be swapped out (Y,N,blank).: [N]  Protection level (0-3)...........: [0]



                               Change a Program

 Program Name............: Renegade Node 2

 Keys to Use on Open Menu: R2                         Memory Size (in K): 200

 Program...: node2.bat

 Parameters:

 Directory.: c:\renegade

 Options:
                  Writes text directly to screen.......: [Y]
                  Displays graphics information........: [N]
                  Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [Y]
                  Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2)..........: [N]
                  Requires floppy diskette.............: [N]


                      Change a Program Advanced Options

 System Memory (in K).......:   0   Maximum Program Memory Size (in K)..: 600

 Script Buffer Size.......:  1000   Maximum Expanded Memory Size (in K): 1000

 Text Pages: 1  Graphics Pages: 0   Initial Mode:        Interrupts: 00 to FF

 Window Position:
    Maximum Height:  25       Starting Height:           Starting Row...:
    Maximum Width.:  80       Starting Width.:           Starting Column:

                                Shared Program
 Pathname..:
 Data......:

 Close on exit (Y,N,blank)......: [N]  Uses its own colors..............: [Y]
 Allow Close Window command.....: [Y]  Runs in background (Y,N,blank)...: [Y]
 Uses math coprocessor..........: [N]  Keyboard conflict (0-F)..........: [0]
 Share CPU when foreground......: [Y]  Share EGA when foreground/zoomed.: [Y]
 Can be swapped out (Y,N,blank).: [N]  Protection level (0-3)...........: [0]

Here is a Windows 3.1 setup that is working for 1 RG sysop

These are the PIFs I use for one dialup node and one local node for
The Time Warp.

                   PIF for Node 1

Program Filename:    RUN.BAT
Window Title:        FrontDoor
Optional Parameters:
Startup Directory:   Directory where FroDo's BAT is located.
Video Memory:        X Text    _ Low Graphics  _ High Graphics
Memory Requirements: KB Required:128     KB Desired:640
EMS Memory:          KB Required:1024    KB Desired:1024
XMS Memory:          KB Required:0       KB Desired:0
Display Usage:       X Full Screen       Execution: X Background
                     _ Windowed                     _ Exclusive

X Close Window on Exit

              Advanced Options

Multitasking Options
Background Priority:200                  Foreground:200
       Leave Detect Idle Time set to off

Memory Options
   X EMS Memory Locked                   _ XMS Memory Locked
   X Uses High Memory Area               X Lock Application Memory

                   PIF For Node 2

Program Filename:    Renegade.exe
Window Title:        Renegade Node 2
Optional Parameters: -n2 -l
Start-up Directory:  Directory Where Renegade is located
Video Memory:        KB Required 340         KB Desired 640
EMS Memory:          KB Required 1024        KB Desired 1024
XMS Memory:          KB Required 0           KB Desired 0
Display Usage:       X Full Screen           Execution:   X Background
                     _ Windowed                           _ Exclusive

   X Close Window On Exit

                   Advanced Options

Multitasking Options
Background Priority: 75                Foreground Priority: 75
              Leave Detect Idle Time set to off

Memory Options
   _ EMS Memory Locked                 _ XMS Memory Locked
   X Uses High Memory Area             _ Lock Application Memory



                        RENEGADE MODEM PROBLEMS
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q: My modem will connect to a user, but Renegade just sits there,
displaying the "Renegade is Answering Phone" message, and then inits the
modem again.

A: Hmmmm...  I think you should see someone.  (sorry, Kids in the Hall
flashback.)  Make sure there is a V0 in the init string.  Most common
fix.  Also make sure the result codes are correct, and also make sure
there is a W2 in the init string (HS modems.). Also make sure that you
have ATZ0 in your init string.

Q: I don't know my result codes.

A: Most manuals lie too, so use that if you want as a basis.  (My manual
says 14.4k is result code 16... on my modem, there is no 16, 14.4k is 15
and sometimes 19 (or is it 18? hmmm...)... <g>)  Go into your favorite
term program, enter the init string from renegade, kick back, have a few
people call at different speeds, answer manually with the ATA command,
and jot down the speed and result code..  From experience, you will only
need 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, and 14.4k... (unless you're running a
D/S, then you need 16.8 also...)  if you have a friend local with a
modem running the same max. speed as yours, have him/her continuously
call at different speeds (get them all if you want, collect the whole
set! <g>), until you have the codes, then go into renegade and enter
away.

Q: My HS modem will connect to people at 9600 and above, but when people
at 2400 call, all they get is garbage, but on my side it works fine.

A: Lock the baud rate via Fossil and in Renegade...  Don't ask why (try
bud dry, yeah, yeah, yeah...), but you have to.. trust me.. (no really!)

Q: All my users connect at the SAME SPEED, what have I done wrong?

A: Make sure to use the W2 and X4 in your init string.

Q: ANSI's come out 'screwy' on the users side but it looks okay
locally. Do I have a faulty modem?

A: No, most likely you have saved your ANSI with the infamous 80th
column being used. When you draw ANSI's don't ever use the 80th column
and save the screen using a maximum of 75-78 lines.



                                  CREDITS
                                  ~~~~~~~

        EDITOR:
        ------
        Marc R. Persad

        ADDITIONAL INFO:
        ---------------
        Paul Reed
        Theo Van Dinter
        SysOps from various RG BBS


-[ This document is NOT official and is provided for informational purposes
   only! It may be distributed/quoted FREELY ]-

