Frequently Asked Questions about the Turbo (*) List (*) although mainly for the Turbo List, these answers are applicable to the Saturn and PSX lists as well (except the Turbo specific stuff, obviously). Questions answered: 0. Why did I receive this document? 1. Why do you respond with the same message over and over again? 2. Why can't I post to the list? 3. I violated the list's rules, why wasn't I notified? 4. Will my posting priviledges be re-invoked? 5. Can you help me find ________ ? I've been looking for that game forever! 6. Do you have a cheat for the game __________ ? 7. Does anyone know what the name of this game is ... ? 8. I need the e-mail address of __________ ... 9. ________ isn't working right ... 10. I keep signing up for the list, but never get any mail from it, why? 10A. I haven't received mail from the list is ages, why not? 11. Why do my posts keep getting cut off? 12. How do I subscribe? 12A. How do I unsubscribe? 13. Why can't I post from AOL or WebTV? 14. I am looking for this person. ... 15. Some of my HuCards don't seem to work right (Street Fighter, Arcade Cards, Games Express System cards), can you help? 16. I lost posting privs on one list, why can't I post to the other lists? ( ********************************************************** ) 0. Why did I receive this document? A - If this document was sent to you, it's because you asked a question of one of the list owners that is covered in here. If you downloaded the file yourself and are still asking that question, then you either need to get a good book on TCP/IP programming, or seek a therapist. 1. Why do you respond with the same message over and over again? A - No "one" does this -- when you send mail to turbo-list-request, you are actually sending mail to a program. Now the program is quite robust (having a vocabulary of over 75 words), but by no stretch of the imagination does it parse your message and try to figure out everything you want. If it can identify a key word as the first part of a line, then it will process it, else you will get sent a copy of the help file, or instructions on how to get the help file (which outlines all of the commands). 2. Why can't I post to the list? A - If you get a message back, that message has listed in it one of several reasons why your message may have been returned: o It appears to be a server command Your subject line closely resembles something that looks as though it was intended for the turbo-list-request address, and not the turbo-list address (ie, subscribe requests, and the likes). o You are using an anonymous free mailer service. Anonymous e-mail accounts (hotmail, rocketmail, yahoo, geocities, etc) are not permitted to post. If you wish to post, you must use an address that is not anonymous. More details on this are included in the welcome message that you were sent when you joined the list. o You are not a member of the list (try using the o WHO command on the turbo-list-request address). This means that you address (the one you are attempting to post from) could not be found in the list. You must be a member of the list to post, and the address from which you post must match the address from which you signed up to the list. If you do not know what address you are signed up to the list from, try issuing the WHO command. o The content did not seem appropriate for the list This is the Turbo List (or PSX, or Saturn). it is not the Neo Geo List. It is not the Saturn List. it is not the "insert some other topic here that may or may not be tangibly related to the Turbo" List. Please keep your posts on topic for the list. Right now there are over 500 persons on the list (plus many others who read the lists exclusively through the Web interface), and it is extremely inconsiderate to use this forum for discussion of notably off-topic issues. Also, keep in mind that the mechanism used to determine the "content" of your post is elementary (at best), so there is no way that the filter can distinguish between "Massive SNES system setup for sale!" and "How does the SNES Twin Bee compare to the PCE one?" With respect to forsale posts, it is not an appropriate use of the list resources to post a huge forsale/trade list of an "off-topic" systems even if you are looking for PCE (Duo) stuff in exchange. You are better off posting a short message pointing people to your web page that may contain the list of what you have and what you are seeking. o You attempted to post a MIME encoded message Some persons still use regualr old TEXT e-mail programs, which cannot accurately display MIME-encoded messages; plus MIME encoded messages are traditionally large attachements. That sort of bandwidth would kill the host machine that houses this list, so messages that are MIME encoded are rejected. Simply turn off your MIME encoding and try again. If you do not know how to turn off the MIME encoding, then you will need to ask your system administrator (there are hundreds of e-mail programs out there and I am not an expert in all of them). o You are attempting to post from an unauthorized AOL o account. By default, all AOL accounts have read-only priviledges. After you have familiarized yourself with the lists rules (see the welcome message), you can ask that posting priviledges be re-instated. I apologize in advance for this extra step that most decent AOL users need to take, however with AOLs policy on account name changing and lack of response toward complains toward users who (ab)use both AOL and the turbo-list for illegal (pirating) activities, this step had to be taken to ensure the proliferation of the list. Also, please note that posting priviledges will remain only for as long as you are a member of a list. If you unsubscribe, or get deleted due to bounces your posting privs will "get deleted" as well. For this reason, you must be subscribed to a list in order for privs to be given. Accounts not meeting this criteria will be silently ignored. Also note that requests made to the list owners that do not include your full name will also not be honored, and that your request for posting privs MUST include the information mentioned in the welcome message (the long message you received when you joined the list). o Your posting privs have been revoked (for o violation of the list's rules, ie test messages; o multiple auction messages, etc) This means that you did something bad. Selling pirated software (or requesting it), made multiple posts on the same topic (ie, multiple forsale postings), posted non related (off topic) items forsale (see the forsale.policy from the Turbo List fileserver for details; made a posting to the list of an "eBay" auction), or made made postings to the list on behalf of another person who has lost their posting priviledges. Keep in mind that this list is run by people, and the rules which we use to govern it are readily available from the list server (so there is no excuse for not knowing that "trying to sell a CDR would get your posting privs revoked.") Please do everyone a favor and familiarize yourself with the list's rules before posting. if in doubt, ask by sending your message to owner-turbo-list@joyce.eng.yale.edu and we will be more than happy to get back to you and let you know whether the post is acceptable or not. Also note that sending messages on behalf of others who have lost their posting priviledges for rules violations will most likely cause yours to be revoked as well. If in doubt, ASK. You should also NEVER send a test message to the list. The list software does work, it has for months, even years. By sending a "test" message to the list, all you're doing is cluttering up 500+ persons email boxes. If you post a test message to the list (or attempt to post a test message), you will lose your posting privs (no exceptions), and you will need to ask for them to be restored. Multiple violations may result in permanent loss of posting privs. The list's forsale rules can be retrieved from the Turbo List fileserver (get forsale.policy) In addition, you can also check the X-Error: line in the header. Although most of the time this information is only meaningful if you are looking at the rule file (that tells the server what sort of messages to accept/reject), you can occasionally get a hint of which of the above is the problems ("X-Error: 128-MimeEncodedPost," means that your message was MIME encoded). If you need clarification on why a message was rejected, it IS ESSENTIAL that you send the X-Error line with your query. Without this information, it will be impossible to help you and your request will probably be silently ignored. 3. I violated the list's rules, why wasn't I notified? A - Honestly? Well, it's something like this. The persons who run the list are busy people. So that's the first part, the second part is, "If you didn't even bother to read the list's rules, then why would you bother to read a note from the list owners telling you that your posting privs have been revoked?" 4. Will my posting priviledges be re-invoked? A - All depends. In the case of piracy violations, no. For legal reasons, we cannot permit posts advocating illegal practices to be transmitted over this list. This includes selling bootlegs or roms, requesting bootlegs or roms, advertising your rom site, looking for rom sites, etc. There are no exceptions to this. One post to the list on these sorts of topics, and that will probably be your last to the list. In the case of multiple forsale/auction/other annoying posts, then yes, your privs can be re-instated. However in these cases you do need to ask that they be re-instated. Most of the time we will ask that you send a statement saying that you understand the list rules on this matter and agree to abide by them. After a second time, your privs may or may not be re-instated. This is totally at the disgression of the list owners. Again, if you are unsure, ask. in the case of multiple sale posts, use the Turbo List Digest Archive to verify when your last posts were made to the list. 5. Can you help me find ________ ? I've been looking for that game forever! A - You and probably 100 other people on the list. Bottom line, No, I cannot help you find a specific title. Although I do occasionally have PCE titles for sale, I cannot take requests since persons in the past have requested games, then after I have invested time and money to get them, decided that they didn't want them for the agreed upon price (leaving me with an extra game that I neither want nor need, and may not be able to get rid of at the price I paid for it). Additionally, If I have to take requests from you, then I need to be fair and take them from everyone. How do I keep track of 200+ want lists? I can't, and won't. if you want a specific game, watch the list, it may come up for sale. Visit the Turbo Retailers listed in the Turbo Compendium. That's what I would tell you in e-mail, so I'm saying it here. 6. Do you have a cheat for the game __________ ? A - Have you check the cheats file? if not, I would suggest that you do (http://joyce.eng.yale.edu/~bt/turbo --> Cheats). It is the most comprehensive list of cheats for Turbo and PCE games (often immitated and frequently stolen, but never duplicated). If it's not listed there, that does not mean that a cheat does not exist, but there's probably a good chance that one does not (and if you have cheats that are not included, by all means please submit them so that they can be added). 7. Does anyone know what the name of this game is ... ? A - This query comes up a lot. Due to the fact that most of the PCE games were in Japanese, there is a major language problem. Your best bet would be to grab a copy of the pce.complete.catalog file from the Turbo List Fileserver and compare the catalog number. To verify, you can take the name to the PCE Catalog project pages (http://joyce.eng.yale.edu/~bt/pcecp) and view a scanned cover of 98% of all the PCE games. 8. I need the e-mail address of __________ ... A - Have you checked the Turbo List Digest Archive? even if you remember just a part of a person's name, or e-mail address (and provided that they have posted to the list), you should be able to figure this out. In those rare cases where you can't, you can e-mail the owner-turbo-list address and we will try to help you. However, please note that we don't make the list of subscribers available to anyone. This would be a violation of your privacy, and in some cases (as in the case of gaming companies), persons have asked that we not divulge thier e-mail information, we will honor those requests for privacy. 9. ________ isn't working right ... A - Oh? In order for me to track down these problems, I need more info than simply someone saying "It's not working right." Please be sure that there is truly a problem with the software (etc), and that the problem is not "operator error" (as it turns out to be about 90% of the time). Send me URLs, repsonse headers, original messages, etc, anything at all will help. Again, please keep in mind that we who run all this are busy persons and may not get back to you immediately (so there is no need to send the same vague "bug report" again because you have yet to receive a response from the one you sent 12 minutes ago). 10. I keep signing up for the list, but never get any mail from it, why? A - Chances are, your e-mail address is not valid. When you sign up on the list, your e-mail address is determined from the headers of the message. Some system administrators do not always have this set to "valid" or "correct" information. Unless you can alter the "from" address yourself, you will need to speak with your sys admin about it. Please note that if you repeatedly attempt to sign a bogus address up the the list, then you may be prevented from joining in the future. This is because bad sites need to be "banned" from using the server (so that a plethora of system level bounces are not generated), once the problem is corrected, the address in question can again have server use privs, but it will need to be asked for (I don't have time to monitor sites to see to it that their e-mail header woes have been corrected). 10A. I haven't received mail from the list is ages, why not? A - Please re-read the welcome message that you got when you joined the list (especially the part labelled "About Bounced Messages"). You may also want to re-read the section on the PING command (or STATus) as a relatively failsafe way to determine whether you are truly still on the list or not. If you didn't save the welcome message (even though it clearly says that you should), the go to the Turbo List Home page and go to the Files section, look for file "welcome.message" The URL is: http://joyce.eng.yale.edu/~bt/turbo If this problem is persistent, then you will need to talk to your sys admin about why your ISPs service is so poor. 11. Why do my posts keep getting cut off? A - Chances are that your message contains a "signature identifer." The de facto "signature identifier" is two dashes at the begining of a line, once the mailing list filter sees that, it determines that it has reached your signature and starts to enfore the de fact netiquette standard of a 4 line signature. However, the mailing list filter can also learn about other singature denoters, so if you have an obnoxiously long singature file, the filter will eventually identify it and silently enforce the 4 (or less) line standard. 12. How do I subscribe? A - send a messaeg to turbo-list-request@joyce.eng.yale.edu with the lone word SUBSCRIBE in the message; if you'd rather join the digest version of the list use turbo-digest-request@joyce... for other lists, replace the list's name where "turbo" is in the above addresses. 12A. How do I unsubscribe? A - Didn't save the Welcome message like you were asked to, huh? Unsubscribing is very simple, send an e-mail message to turbo-list-request@joyce.eng.yale.edu with the lone word unsubscribe in the message (digest users need to send their request to turbo-digest-request@joyce.eng.yale.edu. These addresses are in EVERY message that you receive from the list so there is really no excuse for not knowing about them. If for some reason the automated remove process does not work for you, then send a message to owner-turbo-list@joyce.eng.yale.edu explaining the problem. Please note that if you are haivng mail forwarded from another account, unless you can provide the precise details of the subscribing account, we cannot remove that address since we will not be able to guess at which of the 500 list subscribers is actually you. 13. Why can't I post from AOL or WebTV? A - It's nothing person, in most cases. Over half of the new entries that get added to the ruleset file for the lists are from AOL members. Though not a decision that was made lightly, it was decided in August of 1998 to prohibit postings from AOL. This prohibition is not as final as the ban on postings from free-mail services, but by default it means that any new AOL accounts cannot post. When this ban was implemented, every AOL list member was given an exception so that they could still post, exceptions will still be given on a case by case basis. For details, send e-mail to : owner-turbo-list@joyce.eng.yale.edu Be sure to include your full name, and a statment that you understand the list's rules on forsale, auction, piracy and off-topic posts. Requests that contain fraudulent information will be ignored. Please note that if you unsubscribe from the list, you will need to ask for posting privs again. A recon program is run a couple of times a week to purge exceptions from the rule list that are no longer subscribed (this also applies to those AOL members who were grandfathered in when this policy went into effect). Although WebTV does not account for a majority of list rule violations, the ease with which members can change their login name has made it ripe for repeat offenders, so WebTV users, by default, cannot post to the list, and must ask for permission. 14. I am looking for this person. ... A - E-mail addresses of the list members are not readily available (for security and anti-UBE purposes). If you need to find the e-mail address of a person, you have two options: 1. Search the Turbo List archive. More often than not, this will give you the quickest results. Go to http://joyce.eng.yale.edu/~bt/turbo --> Archive and search for some part of the person's name that you need. 2. If that fails, then send a message to owner-turbo-list@joyce.eng.yale.edu and we will try to find the address for you. If you opt for this, please be sure to include as much information as possible. Username, domain name, real name, anything. It is *NEVER* appropriate to send a message to the list asking that one particular person respond to you privately. Repeated violations of this courtesy will result in a loss of posting privs. The reasons that is is never appropriate to do this are twofold. First, if e-mail from you to that person is bouncing, then that means that mail to them from the list is also going to be bouncing. Secondly, it is not appropraite to send an e-mail message to 600 persons so that 1 will respond to you. 15. Some of my HuCards don't seem to work right (Street Fighter, Arcade Cards, Games Express System cards), can you help? A - This is most often caused by "poor workmanship" on the HuCards. In order for a HuCard to work properly, all the pins need to have contact with the system or adapter. In a few cases, the HuCard seems to be a little too thin, so the contacts are not always made. The best solution is to take some scotch tape and add a layer or two of it to the back side of the HuCard so that the contacts are closer to the pins when the HuCard is inserted. It is best to add a layer, test; add another, test; (etc) until the card works. 16. I lost posting privs on one list, why can't I post to the other lists? A - Because all of the lists are linked together, so the loss of privs on one list means the loss of privs on all the lists