After doing a lot of hunting I finally came across this guide and am putting it here for posterity. I did switch from Argus to Radius (an Argus Clone) and went through this guide exactly as spelled out and it’s working perfectly. Waiting now for a message back from the NC with a node number. The original guide can be found here. 

Updated 12/29/12 – I have also updated the bottom of the post a couple of items if you are in a multi-network situation.

Synchronet Setup For FidoNet

(Windows XP)

File names are BACKBONE and nodelist. As was explained to me by Rob Swindel the

author of Synchronet BBS. BACKBONE.NA is the North American BACKBONE FILE.

Make sure to contact your coordinator for the appropriate File Extension and or File.

Also you may talk to your coordinator about getting the current nodelist.%%% <- extension

is a number which changes with every release.

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The directions over at the SBBS wiki didn’t seem to work for me so I did some hunting and found the following instructions which allowed it to work using Netfoss:

Synchronet BBS 3.1x USAGE

Synchronet already has its own FOSSIL support, but using NetFoss in place
of the internal FOSSIL can allow DOS doors to run considerably faster,
often by a factor of 2 or more times faster then the internal speed, with
lower CPU usage. You can use NetFoss to run all or just some or all of
your door programs, and run others using the internal FOSSIL.

Synchronet can create a DOOR32.SYS file, but we do not suggest running
NetFoss in DOOR32.SYS mode because Synchronet is unable to create both a
DOOR32.SYS and a standard drop file at the same time. For this reason the
DOOR32.SYS mode should not be used at the time this guide was written.

Here is how to configure the “Legend Of The Red Dragon” door in Synchronet
3.10j using the Non-DOOR32.SYS mode:

Name LORD
Internal Code LORD
Start-up Directory C:SBBSXTRNLORD
Command Line c:sbbsnf.bat /N%# /H%H start.bat %#
Clean-up Command Line
Execution Cost None
Access Requirements
Execution Requirements
Multiple Concurrent Users Yes
Intercept Standard I/O No
Native (32-bit) Executable Yes
Use Shell to Execute No
Modify User Data No
Execute on Event No
Pause After Execution No
BBS Drop File Type GAP DOOR.SYS
Place Drop File In Node Directory
Time Options…

Notice that the Native (32-Bit) Executable option is enabled. This needs
to be turned on in order for Synchronet to not enable its own internal
FOSSIL driver. REPEAT – even though you are not using DOOR32.SYS as your
dropfile, Native (32-Bit) Executable must be enabled. Additionally, make
sure to change the command line to reflect the directory that you
installed NetFoss and the Start-up directory should either reflect where
your door is located if you don’t use a batch file to start the door, or
could have the startup directory point to your current node directory
where the dropfiles are created. (If you do the later, you should launch
the door with a batch file that first uses the CD command to Change the
Directory to where the door is located.

When using the Non-DOOR32.SYS mode, you must edit your NF.BAT file to add
the ” %1″ at the end of the second line, as explained earlier in this
document. Instructions can also be found in the NF.BAT.

Make sure to change the Command line in NF.BAT to reflect the directory
that you installed NetFoss in, and the Start-up directory should reflect
where your door is installed.

In the LORD door example above, the start.bat is the batch file located
in the Start-up Directory which actually runs this door game.

I mentioned yesterday that I needed a bit of help setting some things up. I still do but as I’ve searched I’ve found a wealth of information out there. Unfortunately there seems to be less and less as time goes by so I am going to try and repost some of it here and save for posterity. This site’s been up for almost 13 years now and I don’t plan on taking it down any time soon.  I’ve come across this tutorial in several places but I think it needs to be updated and also kept with setups for other stuff as well.

Graphical Setup Tutorial for Argus

by David Moufarrege HTML version of this document and low.res. images are made by Max Masyutin
Original version of this document is available in http://www.filegate.net/ipfn/i-util/ATUTHLP.ZIP

Modified slightly to remove dead links by Janis Kracht 03/17/03

Further modified by Richard Miles 11/14/2012 – I’ve hosted all of the images on my system here and linked to them rather than the original site. Argus is no longer supported or updated but most of the information below is still valid.

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