These are some tips on up and downloading, from my board:

     
                            BBS Up/Download Help


  Download Tips:

  To download a file, you need to do three simple things:


  1. Make sure your "Protocol" setting on the board matches the one you're

     using at home.  Somewhere in your terminal program, probably with a

     pull-down menu, you'll have various Protocol options, so pick ZModem

     if your program supports it, then go to the Files Menu of the board and

     pick P for Protocol and make sure they match.  Making sure your Protocols

     match is really the only important thing you have to do, but it IS

     important, so do it right.  Many, if not most, corrupt downloads can be

     traced back to mismatched Protocols.


  2. Go to the Files Menu or Area Menu, pick an area of interest and check 

     out the files.  Move the arrow keys up and down over the files, mark 

     any files you want to download by hitting the Return while the cursor 

     is over the file name.  Cool, huh?


  3. Hit D to Download.  Pretty tough, huh?


    If you're using ZModem, that should do it.  If your terminal program
  
  has some kind of "Auto Download" feature, make sure it's on, otherwise
  
  you'll have to start the download process yourself, either with a pull-down

  menu or the keyboard..  If you're using a protocol besides ZModem, you'll 

  have to <gasp!> manually start the download with a pull-down menu.  You 

  also need a new term program.


  If you're using YModem because you think it's faster than Z, you're wrong,

and my download log can prove it.



  Uploading is pretty much the same procedure:

  1. Protocols match?  Hit "U" for Upload.

  2. Pull down the pull-down menu to Upload, find the file in the requester,
  
     hit OK, away it goes.

  3. When the upload is complete, enter in the description.  Batch uploads

     are supported; when you're all done it will ask for all the descriptions

     at once.  


  There aren't any settings on the board besides the Protocol that will

prevent a good download, so if you ARE having hassles, it's most likely a

problem on your end.  If you're having any problems with your terminal

program, give NComm 2.0 a shot, the board recommendation.  If you think I

can help, ring the bell.  If you've downloaded the same file twice, maybe

with two different protocols, and it's still corrupt, then probably my copy

is bad, in which case you should notify me immediately.


                                     *


  If you have Call Waiting with your phone service, put a *70 after the ATDT

dial prefix in your terminal program, to disable the Call Waiting, and no

more interruptions!  If you're living at your parent's house, just don't tell

'em, they'll never know.


                                     *


  If this is your first call to this BBS, then you'll notice that all the

file names end with an ".lzx" (with one notorious exception), which means

they were compressed in the LZX format.  BBS files are compressed for two

reasons:  One, it bunches all the independent files into one neat little 

package, and two, it compresses the files as it packs them, so you end up 

with a smaller total package, thus a quicker transfer time.


  There are six main types of compression you'll see out there:

               .arc - very popular once.  Poorest compression ratio

                      of the bunch

               .zoo - another oldie, had some known quirks

               .zip - works pretty well but never caught on much with Ami

               .lzh - was the standard for a number of years before LHA

               .lha - been the standard for last few years

               .lzx - latest rave.  First of the new `smart' archivers.


  Since there are a bunch of compression methods, you'll naturally have to

have different tools to decompress your downloads:


               Arc or Pkax     - for .arc files (Pkax just decompresses)

               Zoo             - for .zoo files

               PKAZIP or UnZip - for .zip files

               LHA             - for .lzh and .lha files

               LZX             - for .lzx files


  In the Utilities section, in the Archive Tools directory, is a file called

"LZX.Run".  That's the basic LZX tool you need to decompress all the .lzx

files on this board.  It's a "self-extracting" archive, and contains a few

different files you need, instructions included.  Just download it, transfer

it to an empty directory or an empty Ram, then CD in a CLI to that directory

and type out the whole name.  It'll decompress automagically, then you can

read my docs and take it from there.  The self-extracting method doesn't

work very well, and you won't see it very often, but for situations like this

it's perfect.


                                     *


  As stated at the beginning, downloading is really a simple thing to do, so 

don't feel hurried or anxious.  Just mosey through the files at your leisure,

and remember...


   Hey, this is a BBS and you've got an Amiga!


      ...have FUN!


                                     **  The BenchMaster  **