Michtron v3.0 BBS Software?

[Techman]

No worries from my perspective.

 

Do I even dare to open these original boxes? LOL

 

I don't want to get hopes too high, but I spent some time cleaning up the source, and I have the 'C' code about 90% compiling clean with clang c11 on my Macbook. 

Of course, if we move forward, we must find a way to re-compile to a native executable.

 

1) Does anyone have some working files (config, data, etc.) that they care to share for testing?

 

 

 

 

[Bikerbob]

34 minutes ago, Techman said:

No worries from my perspective.

 

Do I even dare to open these original boxes? LOL

 

I don't want to get hopes too high, but I spent some time cleaning up the source, and I have the 'C' code about 90% compiling clean with clang c11 on my Macbook. 

Of course, if we move forward, we must find a way to re-compile to a native executable.

 

1) Does anyone have some working files (config, data, etc.) that they care to share for testing?

 

 

 

 

Here is the Mich 3 archive I have.

MICH3.zip

[Tillek]

1 hour ago, Techman said:

No worries from my perspective.

 

Do I even dare to open these original boxes? LOL

 

I don't want to get hopes too high, but I spent some time cleaning up the source, and I have the 'C' code about 90% compiling clean with clang c11 on my Macbook. 

Of course, if we move forward, we must find a way to re-compile to a native executable.

 

1) Does anyone have some working files (config, data, etc.) that they care to share for testing?

 

 

 

 

For what it's worth, I have both already opened.   I can send the disks over once I get off work.

 

[Tillek]

Well, assuming the one on the left is Michtron 2.

 

[Bikerbob]

5 hours ago, Tillek said:

For what it's worth, I have both already opened.   I can send the disks over once I get off work.

 

Hey Tillek, has those ever been put up before?

 

Tim, do we have permission from you to post the disks from Mich 3?  I personally would love to get a full version of the disks, as I only have the magazine distro.

 

James

[Techman]

8 hours ago, Bikerbob said:

Here is the Mich 3 archive I have.

 WOW, that brings back some memories. I had forgot that we included a few actual sites MCL. Thank you.

 

8 hours ago, Tillek said:

Well, assuming the one on the left is Michtron 2.

 

Yes, the original V2 (There was a v1 that I wrote for the MBC Sanyo 550)

3 hours ago, Bikerbob said:

Hey Tillek, has those ever been put up before?

 

Tim, do we have permission from you to post the disks from Mich 3?  I personally would love to get a full version of the disks, as I only have the magazine distro.

 

James

 

I personally have no issue, it's orphan ware after 30 years.

 

For what it is worth, I have a 100% clean compile of the C code with CLANG on my MacBook.

[AtariGeezer]

On 10/27/2023 at 6:17 PM, Techman said:

 WOW, that brings back some memories. I had forgot that we included a few actual sites MCL. Thank you.

 

 

Yes, the original V2 (There was a v1 that I wrote for the MBC Sanyo 550)

 

I personally have no issue, it's orphan ware after 30 years.

 

For what it is worth, I have a 100% clean compile of the C code with CLANG on my MacBook.

Any new updates with disks or code?

[Techman]

I found this today, what is interesting is that there was two sets of cables… So I might have another main module.

 

Might also have a new in box copy of this also, I am going to keep an eye out for it as well.

 

-Tim

[Techman]

I just read the MBBS 2.0 manual, I had forgotten that is was also multi-user (meaning you could be on the console while someone was also on the modem). I don’t believe that the ‘DC Port’ (pictured in previous post) worked with v2.0

[IGS GUY]

  I'm attaching this cool demo that used Michtron BBS 3.0 and IGS 2.15 

I'll be retiring January 1st so more time to code. 🙂  I have a Atari 400 (48K) /130XE and a  800XL(Newell 258K with Omniview) 

a 1040STf and a Falcon 030 should be able come up with some fun projects.

...Larry

 

Here's the read me from the ARC file....

 

              STaTus BBS, The Atari BBS in Auckland New Zealand
 
                                Presents ......
 

                     The STaTus "IGS" GEM Desktop demo
 

                                 By STu Lees
                             
                             Date 6th April 1991

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 The First Bit.
 
 Thanks to Larry Mears for creating IGS. Thanks to Tim Purves for creating
 MichTron BBS version 3.0 and his great MCL script, language.
 
 What you need for this demo.

 You will need a copy of IGS215.ACC or greater. This file is available on
 most online services like GEnie, Compuserve, Delphi and the likes. It can
 also be found from ANON FTP, and most BBS's throughout the world.
 You will also need a mono monitor to run this in as well. (Colour is not
 supported in this demo as it was easier to do it in monochrome)
 
 What this demo is all about.
 
 STu and I were sitting down here on day and one of us said "what do you
 think about running the BBS from desktop ?" To cut along story short we
 down loaded IGS215.ACC from GEnie and set out to emulate GEM on the bbs.
 With MBBS you can write custom programs to run on your BBS, so we have
 done just that with the aid of IGS.  When a user logs on to STaTus BBS
 they are polled to see if IGS215.ACC is running at the same time they
 are then polled to see what resolution they are in , colour or mono
 (medium and high resolution). When it finds what res they are in it starts
 to feed as desktop to them. (you will see it in a monday and a piccy is worth
 a thousand words) The user simply clicks on the icon, a window opens before
 their eyes and they click on the selection they want. Also the user can
 save their desktop for future use.
 NOTE FOR IGS SYSOPS,USER: The system takes a few seconds to load depending
                           on the baud rate the user is on.  However once
                           IGS is loaded the speed is blinding. It is
                           quicker than normal ascii.
 
 STaTus BBS (here is the add for us)
 
 STaTus BBS is located in Auckland, New Zealand. We currently have 2 nodes
 on the air and access available by the Public Data Network, thus allowing
 work wide access.  If you are a MBBS sysop we would sure like to hear from
 you and what you are up to with your MBBS. We support 5 menu types, cd_rom
 usenet and over 9000 files available for down loading, online magazines.
 
 
 
 Name :    STaTus BBS
 Phone:    +64-9- 606067 (Auckland)     Node 1
           +64-9- 608485 (Auckland)     Node 2
           (04) 711013 (Wellington)   Paxus FaxNet access to STaTus
 IPDN :    53019500001313           <-Pacnet,AustPac,Tymenet,SwiftNet
 Baud :    300 1200 1275 2400                             Node 1:
 Baud :    300 1200 1275 2400 9600       in MNP3 and PEP  Node 2:
 Times:    24 hours
 Comments: Run on an Mega 2, Usenet,2 CD_ROMS, Multi user. Over 500 megs
           of files. On-Line Magazines. Atari-NZ support area.
           A Multi node Multi user BBS.
 UseNet  : UseNet address : STT@kcbbs.gen.nz          
 Software: MichTron BBS Version 3.0
 Sysops:   Jon Clarke & STu Lees
 Fee   :   Free

 Our email address are :

 GEnie     :     J.CLARKE6                 S.LEES1
 Compuserve:     72000.3555
 USENET    :     Jon_Clarke@kcbbs.gen.nz   STT@kcbbs.gen.nz

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 If you have any questions feel free to drop us some email or a note to
 
 Jon Clarke,

 60a King George Ave.,
 Epsom,
 Auckland,
 New Zealand.
 (NO POSTAL CODE)

 *****
 Once again thanks to Larry Mears for IGS and Tim Purves for MBBS
 *****

 

IGS_STAT.ARC

[+DarkLord]

Huh, wonder why I never heard of this BBS "back in the day". I'd have loved to have visited them! 

 

[Tillek]

6 hours ago, DarkLord said:

Huh, wonder why I never heard of this BBS "back in the day". I'd have loved to have visited them! 

 

Called a lot of New Zealand BBS's back in those days?

[+DarkLord]

13 minutes ago, Tillek said:

Called a lot of New Zealand BBS's back in those days?

 

Nope. Don't actually remember calling *any* which is why I'd have love to have known about them and tried it. 

 

[IGS GUY]

I couldn't afford the long distance charges back in the day.  It's a good demo and I think it's great maybe being able to get Michtron BBS 3.0 up with a full version running.  I thought seeing the demo would help keep the interest up.  

[Tillek]

1 hour ago, IGS GUY said:

I couldn't afford the long distance charges back in the day.  It's a good demo and I think it's great maybe being able to get Michtron BBS 3.0 up with a full version running.  I thought seeing the demo would help keep the interest up.  

I had one running that I wanted to get put back up.... just been a really busy time at work with our deploy coming out this weekend and my team is launching a pilot that has some high level eyes on it.

 

But since we got our good to go, I'm cutting out early to try to get it going before the Zoom meet tonight so we can demo it.

 

Of course, I've had that plan a couple weekends in a row now and... well...

[Lastic]

I've been playing around with the ST Format Michtron 3.0 demodisk using a Wimodem232, and it is an impressive piece of software.
One thing I cannot figure out is how to respond to a Chat with Sysop request , I cannot seem to find the keyboard shortcut.

Downloading files using Syncterm doesn't seem to work, from the Michtron 2.0 manual I found Xmodem CRC uses 12bit ? and Syncterm seems to work only with 16bit and 8bit. Ymodem same issue, haven't got another Wimodem232 to try a download from a real Atari ST unfortunately.

I am trying to reverse engineer the record format of the DOWNLOAD.BBS file.

My reasoning was , if you want to prepare a brand new BBS , instead of going through the process of adding the files and setting the levels , sig and description for each file via the Sysop function Addfiles, you could make a python/C something script to pre-create a DOWNLOAD.BBS file automated in bulk and just copy the corresponding files to their respective sig/directories on your harddisk/SD card.

So far I have figured out the offsets of Filename,Uploader,Level/Sig/NumberOfDownloads/Description/Padding but I'm not there yet, specifically the bytes in BOLD.
 

57 7B 43 D9 00 0B E0 39 00 00 00
01 00 01 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00
x---------------------------------userlevel (1=Registered)
(0 Unreg, 1 Reg, 2 AssSysop 3 Sysop 4 Wizop)
 

                                           x--------- numberdownloads
57 7B 4D F5 00 00 FB 04 00 01 00
01 00 02 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00
         x----------------------------Sig number

Edited November 27, 2023 by Lastic
spacing

[Lastic]

Please disregard the comment about the download functionality of Michtron. It is Syncterm not being able to download, Syncterm simply does not download from Atari BBSes.
Just trying on Biker Bob Clubhouse , Syncterm does not do any downloads correctly whereas TAZ on a real Atari ST does .
So not related to Michtron , the issue lies with Syncterm.

[+DarkLord]

Sorry, that's not right. I download with SyncTerm at speeds up to 38400 on DarkForce! all the time with out issue.

 

This picture shows it in action. Look at that cps rate! Lovely, eh? 

 

 

 

 

[Lastic]

39 minutes ago, DarkLord said:

Sorry, that's not right. I download with SyncTerm at speeds up to 38400 on DarkForce! all the time with out issue.

 

This picture shows it in action. Look at that cps rate! Lovely, eh? 

 

 

 

 

Well  I do not want to derail this topic further, could you reset my password on Darkforce please and I will give it a try with Syncterm.

[+DarkLord]

3 minutes ago, Lastic said:

Well  I do not want to derail this topic further, could you reset my password on Darkforce please and I will give it a try with Syncterm.

 

Understood. Hmm, you sent me a request before - did you not get my reply?

 

Thanks.

 

[Lastic]

2 minutes ago, DarkLord said:

 

Understood. Hmm, you sent me a request before - did you not get my reply?

 

Thanks.

 

This was the last reply I got on the other forum, so I was still awaiting a new reply ?
"Be back in just a minute with your password."

 

[+DarkLord]

1 minute ago, Lastic said:

This was the last reply I got on the other forum, so I was still awaiting a new reply ?
"Be back in just a minute with your password."

 

 

It's there - just checked. I went ahead and PM'ed it here as well. 

 

[Lastic]

Back on topic, thanks to the extensive help of Darklord the issues with downloading via Syncterm seem to be related to my network apart from a few initial wrong parameters in Syncterm.
But downloading via Ethernet LAN or 4G works so that is a temporary solution for my use-case.

Regarding Michtron 3.0

One thing I cannot figure out is how to respond to a Chat with Sysop request , I cannot seem to find the keyboard shortcut or is it a command when in / Sysop mode ?

Using list to display a .msg file it doesn't seem to like ALT-255 ( the top version of this _ ) .

I am trying to reverse engineer the record format of the DOWNLOAD.BBS file.

My reasoning was , if you want to prepare a brand new BBS , instead of going through the process of adding the files and setting the levels , sig and description for each file via the Sysop function Addfiles, you could make a python/C something script to pre-create a DOWNLOAD.BBS file automated in bulk and just copy the corresponding files to their respective sig/directories on your harddisk/SD card.

So far I have figured out the offsets of Filename,Uploader,Level/Sig/NumberOfDownloads/Description/Padding but I'm not there yet, specifically the bytes in BOLD.
 

57 7B 43 D9 00 0B E0 39 00 00 00
01 00 01 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00
x---------------------------------userlevel (1=Registered)
(0 Unreg, 1 Reg, 2 AssSysop 3 Sysop 4 Wizop)
 

                                           x--------- numberdownloads
57 7B 4D F5 00 00 FB 04 00 01 00
01 00 02 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00
         x----------------------------Sig number

[Techman]

typedef struct _download

{

char dwn_name[14];

char dwn_logname[20];

DATE dwn_date;

TIME dwn_time;

long dwn_size;

int dwn_count;

int dwn_level; /* if '0' then hidden */

unsigned dwn_sigs;

int dwn_hidden;

int dwn_revs[7];

char dwn_desc[5][80];

} DOWNLOAD;

 

These might also help you.

 

#define g_hr(p) ((((p) >> 11) & 0x1f) % 12)

#define g_min(p) (((p) >> 5) & 0x3f)

#define g_sec(p) (((p) & 0x1f) << 1)

#define g_pm(time) (((((time) >> 11) & 0x1f) >= 12) ? 'p' : 'a')

 

#define g_yr(p) (((p) >> 9) & 0x7f)

#define g_month(p) (((p) >> 5) & 0x0f)

#define g_day(p) ((p) & 0x1f)

 

[Lastic]

That's is exactly the information I was looking for, thank you very very much.