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407 lines
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<H2><A NAME="s10">10.</A> <A HREF="FBB.html#toc10">How to access the "xfbbd" server from a DOS client?</A></H2>
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<P><EM>Notice: In some of the previous chapters, I announced
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my plans to use an old i286/12 MHz box,
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having only 1 MB of RAM, running DOS 5.0, as a
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'telnet client' computer. That box has a network
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card so I would like to 'connect' to the
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BBS from that one 'telnet client' box. If that
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succeeds, it would be a good preparation for
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installing another LinFBB (in the local school
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club), where several old 286 computers will be also
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available. It would be nice to offer more than
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one student-amateur the opportunity to 'connect' the
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BBS simultaneously, using a bunch of vintage
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'telnet client' DOS computers.</EM></P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss10.1">10.1</A> <A HREF="FBB.html#toc10.1">NCSA Telbin DOS client</A>
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</H2>
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<P>2003-06-30</P>
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<P>First of all, I have been looking for networking software that
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does not require much of hardware resources. Several hams
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keep advising me to try this or that way, but Jose, CO2JA,
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sent me his distribution copy of <B>NCSA Telnet</B> utility.
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According to its own <EM>howto</EM> document, that is
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actually a <B>"NCSA Telbin DOS client"</B>, being "used
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at The University of Port Elizabeth (Sep '94)". So far
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about software's earlier "official" usage.</P>
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<P>Well, it seems that NCSA TCP/IP kernel only runs on packet
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drivers now. That's why I looked for appropriate packet drivers
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for my old ISA network card, equipped with the UMC's UM9003AF
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chip. <B>CZ20000.COM</B> packet driver seemed to be the
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most suitable one. </P>
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<P>Before implementing the driver I also needed the proper diagnostic
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utility to check and/or modify NIC's IRQ and I/O address in order to avoid
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possible hardware conflicts (you know, under DOS it is less easier
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to resolve interrupt hardware conflicts case a user has several ISA
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cards that are not of P'n'P type /as PCI cards are/). It seemed that
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<B>DIAG.EXE</B> ("The Ethernet Adapter Diagnostic Program,
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Ver. 2.13" - that comes with E1000 and E2000 series Ethernet cards)
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was fully capable to handle my card's parameters, so I choose the
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values of IRQ 5 and I/O 320 that weren't occupied by other resources.</P>
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<P>Then I could execute the following DOS command:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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cz2000 0x60 5 0x320
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>in order to activate the NIC.</P>
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<P>Now the configuration file CONFIG.TEL should be modified
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in order to satisfy my particular needs, including local (DOS client) and
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remote (Linux server) IP addresses etc. In a couple of minutes
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that was finished so the main executable <B>TELBIN.EXE</B>
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successfully started running on my old 286 DOS box.</P>
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<P>If you want, you may put <B>cz2000 0x60 5 0x320</B> and
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<B>telbin</B> commands into a dedicated <EM>TELNET.BAT</EM>
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file in order to make your telnet utility easier to activate. Should
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you plan to use your old DOS box for only accessing the
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Linux FBB server, both lines may be added to the
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<EM>AUTOEXEC.BAT</EM> start up file.</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss10.2">10.2</A> <A HREF="FBB.html#toc10.2">Xrouter 176b</A>
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</H2>
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<P>2003-07-20</P>
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<P>
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A "YL" (the amateur "young lady") from the UK, Paula Dowie G8PZT, has
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suggested me to try her own product, XROUTER MULTI-PROTOCOL
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ROUTER, that is "an AX25 and IP packet router for the amateur packet
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radio network, using a standard PC and DOS". Actually, it seems that
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Xrouter has much more functions that I need now, but anyway it was
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intriguing to test its features, in order to connect LinFBB via LAN. Paula
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said that "Xrouter
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<A HREF="http://pzt.org.uk/software/software.htm">http://pzt.org.uk/software/software.htm</A> will run on a 286 DOS machine,
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and will act as a telnet client". She added that, Xrouter's "outgoing text is
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composed in a one line buffer, so the receive window is only 22 lines".</P>
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<P>According to Paula's email signature, seems she's very active in
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helping to the amateur digital radio activities:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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> Packet: G8PZT @ GB7PZT.#24.GBR.EU (44.131.91.2) [Kidderminster]
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> Email: g8pzt@blueyonder.co.uk _/\_
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> GB7PZT: 01562-745527 24h 300-33,600 8,n,1 ()
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> Software: XServ BBS, Xrouter, PEARL off-line-reader. />
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> Web Site: www.pzt.org.uk (also www.qsl.net/g8pzt) ===>--->>\----
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> Telnet: (BBS): gb7pzt.dyndns.org:88 and 44.131.91.2:23
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> Telnet: (KIDDER): g8pzt.ath.cx and 44.131.91.245
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> HTTP: http://g8pzt.ath.cx/ and http://44.131.91.245
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>So, I went to visit the site to see what it was about and to download the
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package. There were two compressed files, rout172.zip and rout176c.zip
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so I decided to get both of them (the latter is the newer one, 28/7/02 but
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the other one is also not so old, 15/11/01).</P>
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<P>According to sysop's manual <B>XROUTER.TXT</B> the ethernet driver
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allows connection with Windows, Linux, NOS and BPQ. At the moment I am
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primarily interested in connections to LinFBB (and maybe to WinFBB too).
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Xrouter's hardware requirements include at least one COM port or Ethernet
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card and I used only the Ethernet card for the first time because I am not
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going to use Xrouter for anything else but for accessing LinFBB over my
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home network.</P>
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<P>As described in the previous section, related to "NCSA Telbin DOS client",
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I have managed to activate my NIC using the command:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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cz2000 0x60 5 0x320
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>After doing that, there was a requirement to use the software component
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<B>ETHDRV.EXE</B> (supplied with Xrouter), like this:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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ethdrv 125
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>where "125" stands for a software interrupt in the range 60 - 127 (125
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is used as an example that, BTW, works here without any problem). On the
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other side, the same software interrupt must be defined as the INTNUM
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parameter, that is a part of the INTERFACE block within
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<B>XROUTER.CFG</B> configuration file.</P>
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<P>And, finally, there was a command:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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xrouter
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>to activate the main executable. As mentioned before, all three lines above
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may be incorporated into an <EM>XROUTER.BAT</EM> (or whatever similar)
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batch file to make user's life easier.</P>
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<P>Well, although in my case the first two lines responded in positive manner,
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the last one rather suggested that I had some errors in the configuration.
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The nice thing is that errors are reported with a detail such the exact line
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of <B>XROUTER.CFG</B> where an error is made. In fact, Xrouter is able
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to support lots of various "ports" and has a plenty of other features, so it
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was not easy to solve the config issues I faced to. With some help from
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other hams I managed to adapt the following configuring blocks:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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INTERFACE=8
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TYPE=EXTERNAL
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PROTOCOL=ETHER
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MTU=1600
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INTNUM=125
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ENDINTERFACE
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>and</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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PORT=6
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ID=Ethernet LAN
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INTERFACENUM=8
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CHANNEL=A
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FRACK=1000
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RESPTIME=200
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MAXFRAME=7
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PACLEN=240
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ENDPORT
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>So far, so good. Now I got Xrouter's main screen from where I could enter
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telnet and other commands. But I was still not able to connect to the LinFBB.
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Finally, I got the suggestion to reconfigure another Xrouter's system file,
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<B>IPROUTE.SYS</B>. It seemed that the missing part was to change the
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default route, as follows:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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route default 6 * d
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>Then I became capable to access my LinFBB server.</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss10.3">10.3</A> <A HREF="FBB.html#toc10.3">JNOS 1.11f</A>
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</H2>
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<P>2007-04-09</P>
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<P>Similarly to Xrouter, JNOS is much more than a simple 'telnet client'
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for DOS machines. And yes, its telnet ability is fine so I use it to
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make casual connections to my LinFBB server without problems.</P>
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<P>On the other side, I always wanted to offer a 24/7 mailbox service to
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the radio amateurs in my area. Having in mind that the computer
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the LinFBB server runs on is everything but a brand new machine, and
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if it failured I would stay without my primary working computer, I
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started thinking to use the old 80286 box as a full-time mailbox. In
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fact, JNOS might be one of the best solutions for that:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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- It provides complete mailbox operations for incoming users,
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- It supports low-end computers, like my 80286 with 1MB RAM,
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- It supports mail forwarding with LinFBB servers, including
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forwarding over Ethernet,
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- etc.
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<H3>Plans</H3>
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<P>Here it is a diagram of my planned ham radio systems:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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__________________________ _____________________________
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|80286 CPU, 12MHz, 1MB RAM| |P II CPU, 400MHz, 224 MB |
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|MS DOS 5.0 | |Linux Mdk 9.1 / Win2000Pro |
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|JNOS 1.11f for DOS | |LinFBB 7.04j / WinFBB16 7.00i|
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|configured AXIP tunnel |-- Ethernet --|BPQ32 with AXIP tunnel |
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|TNC2 in KISS mode | 10 mbps |tel. modem port 33k6 |
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|2m VHF radio | (LAN) |dial-up to the Internet |
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|network card | |network card |
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--------------------------- -------------------------------
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>The idea was to use the 286 box as a 24/7 amateur radio mailbox. The
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local users would connect to the mailbox using their VHF stations. While
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logged, they are offered to read bulletins that have been supplied
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by the LinFBB machine. In addition, users can sent replies to the bulletins'
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authors as well as to write other personal emails. JNOS is planned to run
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24/7 which means its services would be available regardless the LinFBB
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computer is active or not.</P>
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<P>Having in mind that LinFBB is just one of the applications I use when
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working with the P II computer, and the fact that I don't have enough
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resources to finance some better equipment, I found it as rational to
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use LinFBB only when really needed - including forwarding purposes.
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That means, the local packeteers would have no problem if the P II
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computer is off while I am at work or something. The 286 box is going
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to provide all mailbox services.</P>
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<P>When I return home from work and switch the LinFBB server on in order to
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exchange the content of its mailbox with remote BBS stations using 'telnet
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forwarding' via the Internet, it would establish another 'telnet
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forwarding'session - this time with JNOS mailbox added. Of course, in that
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case I would need to keep my dial-up connection to the Internet alive as
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long as the content of the LinFBB mailbox is exchanged with remote servers.
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The telnet sessions within the home LAN (Ethernet) can take as much time as
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needed and during those sessions LinFBB and JNOS mailboxes would exchange
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both bulletins ('SB' messages) and personal stuff ('SP' messages).</P>
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<H3>Realization</H3>
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<P>I have already had a version of JNOS which was dated somewhere in mid-nineties.
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First of all, I searched the web in order to learn how things changed during
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the last decade and, as a result, I discovered that the last version of JNOS
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'family 1.xx' was 1.11f - for which I have even found the installer package.
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So I downloaded and installed it - though I was not sure which options were
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activated ("defined" in the JNOS jargon) and which were not ("undefined").</P>
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<P>According the instructions, I ensured that my network card's driver was started
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before any part of the JNOS program itself. It is important because at the
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early stages of JNOS booting process, the JNOS ports are configured, including
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the port which uses the network card. So, I managed to set up two ports:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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- A port that provides radio access using TNC2 in KISS mode,
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- A port that provides telnet access using the network card.
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>The first tests of the equipment proved that both radio and telnet outlets
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were working, but nothing was considered as finished until the JNOS system
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was capable to exchange the content of its mailbox with the LinFBB server.
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Having in mind that the LinFBB server's telnet port has been in use for a
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long time now, I just set up another forwarding 'partner' that was JNOS.
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The same I did at the JNOS side, though it was a tricky business because
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I was used to configure FBB systems and haven't handle any JNOS system
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since the early nineties. So far - so good.</P>
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<P>Unfortunately I faced to the issues I heard of for several times: Telnet
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is not the best option to make a forwarding between FBB and JNOS. In fact,
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there is no complete technical description of that behavior available,
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but what happens is that both FBB or JNOS somehow do not understand
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what the other party 'wants to say'. To be precise, during the so called
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handshaking part of the session, both systems have to exchange their
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'flags' which are [JNOS-1.11f-BFHIM$] in JNOS and [FBB-7.04j-ABFHM$] in
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FBB. Whatever happens during that telnet session, often the result is a
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broken link.</P>
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<P>After making several tests without much success, I had to subscribe to a
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couple of mailing lists and asked for help. The majority of hams suggested
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to use an AXIP connection instead of telnet. Frankly speaking, I heard of
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the AXIP and AXUDP connections long ago, but I haven't learned much of
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them because I did not need them at the time. In short, AXIP (or AXUDP)
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are used to 'encapsulate' the usual radio traffic of the AX.25 type into
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the internet-like TCP/IP packets. When you have such encapsulated packets
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of data, it is easy to transfer them using the wired links - including the
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Internet or the Ethernet in my case. More details on how to configure AXIP
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(or AXUDP) you can find in another document: AX.25 howto.</P>
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<P>The good thing is that Linux has a 'native' support for the amateur radio
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networking, which means you do not have to install some "node" or "switch"
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software that is used as an interface between LinFBB server computer and
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other amateur radio mailbox systems (more details about the specific setup
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in my case will follow in the next versions of this document). The good
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thing at the JNOS side is that it also does not need a "node" or "switch"
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software that runs bellow the JNOS software itself. That means both LinFBB
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and JNOS system operators ('sysops' in the ham terminology) are required
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just to activate and configure native AXIP or AXUDP features of their mailbox
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systems. In opposite to that, WinFBB (FBB for Windows) sysops have to
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install additional "node" or "switch" packages, called BPQ or others.</P>
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<P>After some fine tuning and additional 'tweaking' the LinFBB and JNOS
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systems, I am capable to exchange the amateur radio messages between the
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two mailboxes. Of course, the experimentation is far from over, because
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there are several minor issues to work on. Stay tuned ...</P>
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<H2><A NAME="ss10.4">10.4</A> <A HREF="FBB.html#toc10.4">Improving the home LAN connections</A>
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</H2>
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<P>2007-11-17</P>
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<P>As mentioned earlier, I had an old NIC of ISA type equipped with UMC's
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UM9003AF chip in the DOS computer. On the Linux/Windows side I also used
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an ISA card which was activated with either module 'ne' in Linux, and was
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recognized as 'NE2000 compatible' in Windows 2000. For some unknown reason
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the card was not recognized by Windows XP at all. A friendly ham Paul,
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N6RME, wanted to donate his spare card of PCI type, equipped with 3Com's
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3C905 chip. I decided to move 'NE2000 compatible' ISA card from Linux to
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DOS machine because I expected not to have problems with its DOS drivers.
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Besides that, that NIC also had a UTP connector - just like the 'new'
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3Com's card, sent by Paul, which meant I could replace the old coax cable
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with a UTP (FTP) one. So I did.</P>
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<P>With the new card at the Linux/Windows side, I started with configuration.
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W2k recognized the NIC as 3Com Ethernet Link XL 10/100 PCI NIC (3C905-TX)
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at I/O address of E400 and IRQ 7, while XP recognized it as 3Com 3C905TX
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at the same address of E400 but IRQ 5. Linux Mandrake 9.1 has found it as
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3c905 100BaseTX [Boomerang]. At the first moment I wanted to continue with
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using the module 'ne' but obviously it was not possible and I got an error
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message when re-booted Linux. Then I tried to tweak the I/O and IRQ's in
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Linux with using 'netconf' tool but always got an error. I have also tried
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to change a value within the computer's BIOS from 'Legacy ISA' to 'PCI/ISA
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PnP' because the new card is PCI and accordingly not likely to work with
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settings for earlier ISA card. It did not help, until I replaced the module
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'ne' with module '3c59x'. It seems to run fine for now, though it makes me
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wonder if there might be a more proper "3c90x" module to play with.</P>
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<P>To be honest, I haven't improved the link between the two so much (if any)
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- it still runs as a 10 Mbps link because of the slower 'NE2000 compatible'
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card at the DOS side. But, with upgrading the cables to a newer standard I
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increased the chances for further options: To include those two computers
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in some more complex home LAN, using a hub or a switch.</P>
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<HR>
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<A HREF="FBB-11.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="FBB-9.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="FBB.html#toc10">Contents</A>
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