Atari 8-bit related BBS(s)

[+HatNJ]

Yeah that was why I dropped off couldn't find a way to exit

[Tillek]

Well... I replaced the flaky Falcon with the one I got off ebay a few months ago so we should be stable until I get space cleared to set up the Mega STE and give it the permanant home. Fingers crossed.

[Lord Cygnus]

Ok, here is my 'working' Lantronix UDS-1100 settings with my Atari 130XE and ICD P:R:Connection (RS232) when using 9600 baud terminals: BobTerm & ICE-T:

 

On a PC log into the Lantronix UDS-1100 via 'Telnet Configuration' connection using their device installer utility to configure these settings:

 

First, select '7 Defaults' and then, '9 Save and exit' to clear out any previous old settings.

 

Next, select '1 Channel 1' and make these adjustments:

 

*** Channel 1

Baudrate: 9600

I/F Mode: 4C

Flow: 05

Port: 10003

Connect Mode: CE

Send '+++' in Modem Mode: enabled

Show IP addr after 'RING': enabled

Auto increment source port: disabled

Remote IP Adr: --- none ---, Port: 00000

Disconn Mode: 00

Flush Mode: 00

 

Example:

 

UDS-1100 Settings by agpctech, on Flickr

 

 

With this configuration and hardware combination, I'm able to flawlessly call 98% BBS'es without any problems such as double characters, ',j' characters, and interference. It works great for ATASCII / ASCII / ANSI! Took me a while to find the right combination and configuration between the UDS-1100, P:R:Connection, and Lantronix settings. I booted up SpartaDOS 2.3e and loaded the RS232 file first. Then, I either boot BobTerm or ICE-T terminals and it works!

 

Enjoy,

 

-=[Lord Cygnus]=-

Edited August 3, 2013 by Lord Cygnus

[awace]

Can someone point me to Atari 8-bit related BBSs - telnet addresses - and if you run one please PM me with some background info etc.

 

Bonus points for anyone running a BBS with real Atari hardware.

 

Going to try Bobterm.

telnet://thunderdome.homeip.net:471

[awace]

Ok, here is my 'working' Lantronix UDS-1100 settings with my Atari 130XE and ICD P:R:Connection (RS232) when using 9600 baud terminals: BobTerm & ICE-T:

 

On a PC log into the Lantronix UDS-1100 via 'Telnet Configuration' connection using their device installer utility to configure these settings:

 

First, select '7 Defaults' and then, '9 Save and exit' to clear out any previous old settings.

 

Next, select '1 Channel 1' and make these adjustments:

 

*** Channel 1

Baudrate: 9600

I/F Mode: 4C

Flow: 05

Port: 10003

Connect Mode: CE

Send '+++' in Modem Mode: enabled

Show IP addr after 'RING': enabled

Auto increment source port: disabled

Remote IP Adr: --- none ---, Port: 00000

Disconn Mode: 00

Flush Mode: 00

 

Example:

 

UDS-1100 Settings by agpctech, on Flickr

 

 

With this configuration and hardware combination, I'm able to flawlessly call 98% BBS'es without any problems such as double characters, ',j' characters, and interference. It works great for ATASCII / ASCII / ANSI! Took me a while to find the right combination and configuration between the UDS-1100, P:R:Connection, and Lantronix settings. I booted up SpartaDOS 2.3e and loaded the RS232 file first. Then, I either boot BobTerm or ICE-T terminals and it works!

 

Enjoy,

 

-=[Lord Cygnus]=-

if i remember the modem string is

at &fe0x1

this might make the atari work on modem w out hanging up.

[doctorclu]

Don't forget ANG. Also Atari 8-bit.

 

telnet://angbbs.dnsalias.com

 

He is having some strange issues going on there but you can still login.

 

Just trying out BBSs to make sure that I have all scheduled to call. I have noticed the Antic BBS is down. Anyone have an idea on that?

 

This is what I got from this one:

 

Last login: Thu Sep 5 07:13:20 on ttyp1

Welcome to Darwin!

Clu$ telnet

telnet> open

(to) angbbs.dnsalias.com

Trying 83.86.189.132...

Connected to angbbs.dnsalias.com.

 

Escape character is '^]'.

 

A.P.E. Atari 8-bit Internet Modem

http://www.atarimax.com/

Copyright 2011 Steven J Tucker

 

The Atari is not ready to accept connections. Please try again later.

 

Connection closed by foreign host.

 

Edited September 5, 2013 by doctorclu

[Joey Z]

 

Just trying out BBSs to make sure that I have all scheduled to call. I have noticed the Antic BBS is down. Anyone have an idea on that?

 

yeah, I moved and haven't set it back up yet... in fact, none of my servers have been set back up yet. website is down too.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Joey Z

[+DarkLord]

Hey Steve, last couple of times I've called your BBS I've been getting

some kind of memory error message. I think other callers have seen

it too. Just giving a "heads up".

 

Here's a picture:

 

 

Thanks!

 

[+bf2k+]

Hey Steve, last couple of times I've called your BBS I've been getting

some kind of memory error message. I think other callers have seen

it too. Just giving a "heads up".

 

...

I saw it too and left him feedback about it.

[doctorclu]

Well ok, today I have been able to get on 8 bit Guild, Boot Factory, Dark Forces, Inside Atari, Starfleet Headquarters, The Grove, Thunderdome, YYZ

 

Was not able to get on the Electric Cafe.

 

Anyone I miss?

[unrealprophet7]

Hello All!!!I would like to start a Atari 8 bit BBS,running on one of my 8 bit systems,using a atari modem,and phone #.I have a bbs construction program,but having issues with it.Can I get ideas,suggestions,input???

[+DarkLord]

Well ok, today I have been able to get on 8 bit Guild, Boot Factory, Dark Forces, Inside Atari, Starfleet Headquarters, The Grove, Thunderdome, YYZ

 

Was not able to get on the Electric Cafe.

 

Anyone I miss?

 

Hmm, it's 7:22am here, October the 31st, and I can't get on to the Electric Cafe either.

 

Hopefully, DocRotCod will take care of the problem soon...

[doctorclu]

Hello All!!!I would like to start a Atari 8 bit BBS,running on one of my 8 bit systems,using a atari modem,and phone #.I have a bbs construction program,but having issues with it.Can I get ideas,suggestions,input???

 

BTW I think this is great. I saw "BBS Contruction Set" and I said "DANNG!! Haven't heard of that in a while." That is so cool. Get with Abdul on Boot Factory and maybe he can help you in setting up the drivers for a connecting. He has managed to get quite a few BBS programs to work.

[doctorclu]

So last few days I've been getting this message from YYZ, is all good there? If so, hope things get better soon.

 

"YYZ BBS is offline or down for quick maintenance. Please call back shortly. "

[+bf2k+]

While BBCS was a really neat idea, it was not a very robust BBS and was riddled with problems. I was not able to get that one to work across the internet although I didn't spend a whole lot of time with it.

 

I would recommend getting a copy of BBS:Express 850 and using that. You can download it off the internet.

 

Or buy a copy of BBS:Express PRO from video 61 or the later version TCP/IP Express PRO from Steve Carden.

[Lord Cygnus]

So last few days I've been getting this message from YYZ, is all good there? If so, hope things get better soon.

 

"YYZ BBS is offline or down for quick maintenance. Please call back shortly. "

 

YYZ BBS had a bad SIO cable I discovered. I replaced it and brought the BBS back online. Don't worry, I check the status of the board each day.

 

Of course, sometimes the board may be down because I'm using the SIO2PC through APE to work on .atr images (which YYZ BBS runs on). I really need to buy an additional SIO2USB to do this with my other Atari 130XE instead of having to take the board down every so often.

 

Ahhh, the life of a SysOp!

 

-=[Lord Cygnus]=-

Edited November 2, 2013 by Lord Cygnus

[+DarkLord]

Never ends, does it?

[DocRotCod]

Sorry guys.. BBS was hung on running jobs. Should be ok now.

[+DarkLord]

Sorry guys.. BBS was hung on running jobs. Should be ok now.

 

Hey, no problem Doc - us SysOps all have "down" times.

 

Just glad to see you back up. I've grown quite fond of

all the Atari BBS's we've got going now...

[+DarkLord]

Hmm, back to square one - couldn't get on this evening.

[DocRotCod]

Ok guys my BBS is sick. It was locked up again so I restarted and I noticed the time and data were flipping back and forth every half second between two different times/dates. So I pulled my rtime8 cart out and let it use the IDE+ 2.0 device time and that resolved that.

 

I then proceeded to check the filesystem and had quite a few filesystem errors (mostly related to the online games, not the message bases or userlog).

 

Now that I have cleaned up the filesystem, every time I check the drive, it runs for a bit then the a8 reboots. I'm thinking I might have a bad a8 power supply. I will work to get the BBS back online but that is what is going on and i'm not putting it back up until I know it's stable. I'd give it a few days.

 

Thomas

[+DarkLord]

Hang in there Doc, you'll get it sorted out sooner or later. We

all have those days.

[DocRotCod]

Ok it's back up! I straightened out the filesystem errors. I'll keep an eye on it, but no worse for wear as everything was backed up.

 

Thomas

[+DarkLord]

(Fair warning - I am most certainly ! a programmer - I became familiar with the

scripting Language in BBS Express! ST so that I could get the most I could out

of my BBS. So I'm posting the scripts I wrote with full apologies in advance to those

who truly can program, such as flashjazzcat and others here. I'm posting this

here because I think the 8bit version of BBS express also includes a scripting

language, and thought some of those SysOps might be familiar with this)

 

A short time back, we hit the high message limit on our message bases. BBS
Express! ST only accepts up to 32000 messages. In fact, when we hit that
point, I wasn't even aware there was a limitation and got an error message
that wouldn't allow the BBS software to start once triggered. Fortunately,
among the archives from Rich Sanchez's old support BBS I found a utility that
reset the message bases. All well and good. Of course, once reset, the
counter now shows the current high message as if we just started over again.

So...what's a SysOp to do? Well, turn to the built in scripting language of
course.

Seemed simple enough - &25 returns the high message marker. I thought I'd
just adjust the relevant script to put the &25 into a field, then do a " +
32000", then read the field for display in the menu. Tried that and everytime
the result was "0". Huh, I thought. So just for the fun of it I put " &25 +
1" and the result was the correct amount. Hmm. So I tried a few more times,
bumping the number up each time, and the results were spot on. So I got
ambitious and went with 31000. Results again went back to zero. So just for
the fun of it, I entered an amount that was equal to 32000 - the current high
message count, and that worked. Then I tried 1 digit over that number. Bam,
back to zero. Apparently the scripting language also has a high limit of 32k!
Ouch. Now what to do...

Well, I could just put something like " &25 " plus 32k in plain text, letting
users know there is an additional 32000 messages, but that's not very
appealing to me. (and besides that, who wants to set there and go "hmm,
number xxxx plus 32000, ah - that's the high number!" ).

I've not found a perfect solution so far. I finally put &25 in a field, minus
4000 (current number plus) and then 36 (the actual first 2 digits in the high
message count) like this:

PRINTE ' Total Number Of Messages ---------- 36[TMSGS]'

So now it is showing an accurate number. You can easily see the problem with
this though - I'll have to adjust the scripts every time the thousands digit
rolls over...

This will do for now, but I'm still thinking about it. Any and all
suggestions welcome as always.

Here are the 2 scripts (the first one calls the info, the 2nd one

actually creates it):

 

SCRIPT
ABORT OFF
CLEAR SCREEN

; Small menu script to show users some BBS stats.

DEFINE C_DRIVE = 'C'
DEFINE MENUS_PATH = 'C:\BBS\MENUS_80\'
DEFINE CH_DRIVE
DEFINE CH_DIRECTORY
DEFINE USER_SELECTION
DEFINE MCALL
DEFINE MCALL_DRIVE = 'C'
DEFINE MCALL_PATH = 'C:\BBS\LISTINGS\'
DEFINE LMCALL
DEFINE LMCALL_DRIVE = 'C'
DEFINE LMCALL_PATH = 'C:\BBS\LISTINGS\'
DEFINE TMSGS
DEFINE TMSGS_DRIVE = 'C'
DEFINE TMSGS_PATH = 'C:\BBS\LISTINGS\'

; Next 3 "open" statements grab info for this months call totals,
; last months call totals, and total messages, for insertion into
; the menu screen.

OPEN ('[MCALL_PATH]MTH_CALL.TXT', INPUT)
FINPUT MCALL
CLOSE

OPEN ('[LMCALL_PATH]LM_CALL.TXT', INPUT)
FINPUT LMCALL
CLOSE

OPEN ('[TMSGS_PATH]T_MSGS.TXT', INPUT)
FINPUT TMSGS
CLOSE

PRINTE '\N\N\N\N\N'
PRINTE '\R{}---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---{}\B' CENTER
PRINTE
PRINTE ' The Current Time Is --------------- &23'
PRINTE
PRINTE ' The Current Date Is --------------- &24'
PRINTE
PRINTE ' Total Number Of Messages ---------- 36[TMSGS]'
PRINTE
PRINTE ' Total Number Of Calls So Far ------ &26'
PRINTE
PRINTE ' Total Number Of Calls This Month -- [MCALL]'
PRINTE
PRINTE ' Total Number Of Calls Last Month -- [LMCALL]'
PRINTE
PRINTE ' Total Number Of Calls Today ------- &27'
PRINTE
PRINTE ' The Last Caller Was --------------- &28'
PRINTE
PRINTE '\R{}---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---{}\B' CENTER
PRINTE
PRINTE
PRINTE 'Press Any <\rKey\b> To Continue...' CENTER
GET_KEY USER_SELECTION
IF USER_SELECTION = '' THEN
ENDIF
GOTO EOF

EOF:
CLOSE
DEFAULT_PATH
EXECUTE ('C:\BBS\MENUS_80\SYSNEWS.COM')
EXIT

and the logoff.scr script:

 

SCRIPT
ABORT OFF
CLEAR SCREEN

; This script asks users if they want to leave a 1-line message or
; not, and saves it if they do...

DEFINE PICS_DRIVE = 'C'
DEFINE PICS_PATH = 'C:\BBS\MENUS_80\PICS\
DEFINE CH_DRIVE
DEFINE CH_DIRECTORY
DEFINE COUNTER
DEFINE DELAY
DEFINE MCALL
DEFINE MCALL_DRIVE = 'C'
DEFINE MCALL_PATH = 'C:\BBS\LISTINGS\'
DEFINE TMSGS
DEFINE TMSGS_DRIVE = 'C'
DEFINE TMSGS_PATH = 'C:\BBS\LISTINGS\'
DEFINE USER_SELECTION
DEFINE SELECTION
DEFINE ONE
DEFINE BADLOGF_DRIVE = 'C'
DEFINE BADLOGF_PATH = 'C:\BBS\BAD_LOG.OFF\'
DEFINE USERNUM = &31
INTEGER RC

;This section is used to censor any users whom I do not want to
;have this privilege...and visitors.

IF COMMAND_LEVEL(2) THEN
ELSE
GOTO MONTHLY_CALLS
ENDIF

IF &31 = '29' THEN
GOTO MONTHLY_CALLS
ENDIF

TOP:
CLEAR SCREEN
PRINTE
PRINTE '\i \o' CENTER
PRINTE '\i \o' CENTER
PRINTE '\i Would You Like To Leave A 1-Line Message For Other Callers? (Y/N) \o' CENTER
PRINTE '\i \o' CENTER
PRINTE '\i \o' CENTER
PRINTE '\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n'

GET_KEY SELECTION
IF SELECTION = 'Y' THEN
GOTO ENTER
ENDIF
EF SELECTION = 'N' THEN
GOTO MONTHLY_CALLS
ENDIF

ENTER:
PRINTE
PRINTE 'Please Enter Your 1-Line Message Here:' CENTER
PRINTE
INPUT ONE 74
PRINTE
PRINTE 'Is That Correct? (\gY\bes/\rN\bo/Quit)' CENTER
GET_KEY SELECTION
IF SELECTION = 'Y' THEN
CLOSE
OPEN ('C:\BBS\LOGS\MESSAGE.TXT', OUTPUT)
FPRINTE
FPRINTE 'Before Logging Off, --> &1 <-- Mumbled Something About:'
FPRINTE
FPRINTE '[ONE]'
FPRINTE
CLOSE
GOTO MONTHLY_CALLS
EF SELECTION = 'N' THEN
CLEAR SCREEN
GOTO ENTER
EF SELECTION = 'Q' THEN
CLEAR SCREEN
GOTO TOP
ENDIF

; Routine to count monthly calls

MONTHLY_CALLS:
IF &31 = '1' THEN
ELSE
OPEN ('[MCALL_PATH]MTH_CALL.TXT', INPUT)
FINPUT MCALL
CLOSE
MCALL = MCALL + 1
RC = FILE_DELETE ('[MCALL_PATH]MTH_CALL.TXT')
OPEN ('[MCALL_PATH]MTH_CALL.TXT', APPEND)
FPRINTE 'MCALL'
CLOSE
ENDIF

TOTAL_MESSAGES:
TMSGS = &25 - 4000
RC = FILE_DELETE ('[TMSGS_PATH]T_MSGS.TXT')
OPEN ('[TMSGS_PATH]T_MSGS.TXT', APPEND)
FPRINTE 'TMSGS'
CLOSE

; Routine to show logoff picture

PICTURE:
CH_DRIVE = FILE_CHGDRIVE ('[PICS_DRIVE]')
CH_DIRECTORY = FILE_CHGDIR ('[PICS_PATH]')

; -- 1 = ASCII (text)
; -- 2 = VT52 (mono)
; -- 3 = VT52 (color)
; -- 4 = ANSI (mono)
; -- 5 = ANSI (color)

IF &66 = '1' THEN
TRANSLATION (1)
GOTO ASCII
EF &66 = '2' THEN
TRANSLATION (2)
GOTO ASCII
EF &66 = '3' THEN
TRANSLATION (3)
GOTO VT52
EF &66 = '4' THEN
TRANSLATION (4)
GOTO ASCII
EF &66 = '5' THEN
TRANSLATION (5)
GOTO ANSI
ENDIF

ASCII:
CLEAR SCREEN
COUNTER = RANDOM (3)
IF COUNTER = '1' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF1.ASC')
GOTO BADLOGF
EF COUNTER = '2' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF2.ASC')
GOTO BADLOGF
EF COUNTER = '3' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF3.ASC')
GOTO BADLOGF
ENDIF

ANSI:
CLEAR SCREEN
COUNTER = RANDOM (3)
IF COUNTER = '1' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF1.ANS')
GOTO BADLOGF
EF COUNTER = '2' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF2.ANS')
GOTO BADLOGF
EF COUNTER = '3' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF3.ANS')
GOTO BADLOGF
ENDIF

VT52:
CLEAR SCREEN
COUNTER = RANDOM (3)
IF COUNTER = '1' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF1.V52')
GOTO BADLOGF
EF COUNTER = '2' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF2.V52')
GOTO BADLOGF
EF COUNTER = '3' THEN
VIEW ('[PICS_PATH]LOGOFF3.V52')
GOTO BADLOGF
ENDIF

; Routine to reset users entry to 0 for the BAD_LOG.OFF script.

BADLOGF:
CH_DRIVE = FILE_CHGDRIVE ('[bADLOGF_DRIVE]')
CH_DIRECTORY = FILE_CHGDIR ('[bADLOGF_PATH]')
OPEN ('[bADLOGF_PATH]USER.[uSERNUM]', OUTPUT)
FPRINTE '0'
CLOSE

EXIT:
FOR DELAY = 1 TO 1000 DO
ENDFOR
STATUS_BOX (ON)
CLOSE
DEFAULT_PATH
EXIT

 

Thanks everyone.

Edited November 25, 2013 by DarkLord

[+bf2k+]

Interesting... I wonder if PRO 2.1a (the one I run) supported scripting... don't remember hearing about this. Maybe I'll read my docs.