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