Hardware recommendations to run 8-bit BBS on Internet

[Albert]

I'm interested in setting up an Atari 8-bit BBS that people can connect to via the internet. I ran BBSs "back in the day" on Atari 8-bit computers and later on PCs (running DOS at the time). For the 8-bit, I was running Carina II, and had a large amount of hardware to support the BBS:

• Atari 800XL w/256K RAM upgrade
• Atari BASIC Rev. C cartridge
• SpartDOS X cartridge
• R-Time 8 cartridge
• 1MB MIO board
• US Doublered 1050 drives (2)
• Indus GT drives (2)
• Adaptec HD controller card
• 40MB HD space (two 20MB drives, one was a Seagate ST225N, the other I think was a Micropolis drive).
• Various modems, last I was using I believe was a 9600 baud US Robotics Courier HST modem
• Commodore 1702
• Magnavox 80-column display
• XEP80 (Carina II supports a secondary display using the XEP80, which was fantastic to watch 80-column users).
• Some dot matrix printer (maybe a Star Micronics? Epson?) to keep a log of who called
• Other stuff I am probably forgetting.

With all the cool hardware people have created over the years, I'm sure some of this could be simplified.

 

What I'm looking for:

• Either an 800XL or 130XE. Would like recommendations on which is better to use. I really dislike the keyboards on the XE. I have plenty of 8-bit computers, so I should have a good machine I can use for this purpose. I also have several unmodified 1200XLs.
• Ability to create a large RAM disk. I was probably using two with the above setup, one with the excess memory I had in the 800XL, plus the 1MB in the MIO. Storing BBS files on the RAM disk was immensely faster than using either floppy or hard drives.
• Ability to connect a modern hard drive or SSD to the system for storage.
• SpartaDOS X or some other capable DOS.
• Some type of clock so the BBS has accurate time (was absolutely essential to have the R-Time 8 cart).
• I assume I can replace the built-in BASIC to Rev. C Atari BASIC, instead of using a cartridge.
• Some way to connect the machine to the internet. I'd need a serial connection or something that simulates one, and the ability to receive "calls" from the internet. I previously used the MIO's serial port for this.
• It would be damn cool if I could access the drives connected to the 8-bit across my network, but that's probably asking too much.
• Need to find a suitable 80 column display I can use with the XEP80. Recommendations of monitors that work with it would be appreciated.

I'd love to connect the BBS to AtariAge so people can play with it directly from the site. In particular it would be fun to run some games, such as RoboWar II. I don't expect it would get a ton of use, but it would be a fun project for me.

 

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

 

..Al

 

[DocRotCod]

Before I took my BBS down, I was using a 576k upgraded 130xe, and IDE Plus 2.0, and a PR: Connection with a UDS-10 Ethernet/Serial adapter.

 

The reason I went this route is it was TOTALLY quiet as I had a CF card for the mass storage.

PM me if you want more details.

 

BTW I'm the guy at the Houston show a few years ago that tried to put the clone Intellivison on the table

[Tillek]

As far as the telnet goes, I'm a big fan of the Lantronix devices. I use an MSS-100 for SFHQ (for the domain name resolution for Fidonet) and a UDS-10 for the Carina system. Other than the lack of a busy signal and IP logging, I've been happy with them. I have not been happy with TCPSer and the Commodore BBS server. I think Lord Cygnus is using the SIO2PC as his interface to his Lantronix, so that might be helpful. Not sure what baudrate that supports. I've considered using that myself, but I prefer the MIO for the "retro street cred".

 

I'm not a big fan of "modern" stuff on my BBS systems (that's just a personal choice) but for backing up, I use SIO2PC with Ape. I'm sure others will have better suggestions.

 

Maybe it might be better to let us know what you might already still have? And how "real" you're going to keep it? I mean, you could go Ultimate 1MB, SIDE2, APE for the printer/modem (and backups perhaps, it's too slow to effectively replace a hard drive).

 

I'd be happy to help you with whatever you need.

[+SoulBuster]

Add Ultimate 1 megabyte to 800XL or 130XE and Side 2.

 

You get 1 Megabyte of memory, SpartaDOS X and RT8 with the Ultimate 1 megabyte and storage with the SIDE 2 at PBI speeds.

 

the Ultimate 1 megabyte is internal and side 2 is a cart.

Edited February 21, 2017 by SoulBuster

[Albert]

Here's what I have:

• Atari 800XL, 130XE and 1200XL computers
• 1050 drives (unmodified)
• At least one Indus GT
• XEP80
• SIDE2 cart
• Commodore 1702 monitors

That's it in terms of relevance to this discussion. I just looked at Compact Flash cards and see you can get them in sizes that are somewhat ridiculous for an Atari 8-bit computer. I read through the SIDE2 manual and it recommends using a 2GB card. Is there an upper limit? I'd need to buy some CF cards.

 

What are the advantages of the Ultimate 1 MB versus the SIDE2? It seems there is quite a bit of overlap in their features.

 

Thanks,

 

..Al

[+SoulBuster]

1 Megabyte of configurable RAM and PBI speeds with SIDE 2

 

You could just upgrade the computer to have more RAM and use only the SIDE 2 for Sparta X, RT8 and storage. Of course the storage would not be at PBI speeds.

Edited February 22, 2017 by SoulBuster

[Kyle22]

I think the U1M is a great idea because then you can have the BBS on APT partition(s) instead of .ATRs.

 

Carina-II doesn't like SDX, so you'll need to boot Sparta 3.x. You also need an RTime8 for the disk based Sparta. This is a problem I am currently struggling with because my RT8 hasn't arrived yet.

 

Also, remember to set only 256 byte sectors (on the BBS drives) in FDISK so Sparta 3 can use the drive.

 

Attached is a picture of my UDS-10 settings. Carina-II requires an ATE1V1<ctrl-m> sequence with these settings.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

Edit: spelling.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Kyle22

[Albert]

Thanks Kyle.

 

I ran Carina II for years with my SpartaDOS X cartridge, so it should work.

 

I'm not familiar with APT partitions, I'll need to read up on them.

 

..Al

[Kyle22]

Really, what were your settings? MOE crashes on me every time.

[Albert]

Really, what were your settings? MOE crashes on me every time.

 

I have no idea, that was an eternity ago! I was using a 1MB MIO board and two SCSI 20MB drives with the system. SpartaDOS X, R-Time 8, and Rev. C BASIC were all stacked up in the 800XL's cartridge connector. I had to be very careful not to bump the cart stack or the computer would crash!

 

Once I get the hardware together I need, I'll try out Carina II with SpartaDOS X, but you'll probably have figured it out by then (perhaps saving me some headaches!)

 

..Al

[Kyle22]

If I get it working first, I'll help any way I can.

[Roydea6]

If I get it working first, I'll help any way I can.

Perhaps Albert was using the original SpartaDos X 4.19 and not the newer 512 sector size SpartaDos 4.44x....

[Kyle22]

That may make a difference.

[gozar]

 

• Ability to create a large RAM disk. I was probably using two with the above setup, one with the excess memory I had in the 800XL, plus the 1MB in the MIO. Storing BBS files on the RAM disk was immensely faster than using either floppy or hard drives.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about setting up a ramdisk, modern flash drives (SIDE2, IDE+, etc.) are faster than ramdisks. On the other hand, you'll want some extended memory if you are running SDX.

 

An IDE+ would get you SDX, RT8, and storage. You'd have to use an SIO device for the serial port though. Going the U1M + SIDE2 would free up the PBI for an MIO, but it would require modification of one of the 8-bits.