Lastic

Zoom desktop client installed , old Logitech eyeball looking webcam installed pointing to the MegaSTe instead of my sleep-deprived face 🙂 Notes prepared , see/hear you all in 12 hours . As a heads-up some of the Michtron specific questions I currently have. NewUser: function currently requests password,street,city,state,zip code and phonenumber. GDPR and EU laws aside, I feel that street and phonenumber are a bit obsolete nowadays, could those be re-used/modified as country and system used to connect to the BBS ? How to setup a News section ? From the demo-disk examples it isn't entirely clear to me if you need to do it yourself from scratch or if there is already some functionality built into Michtron. What I'm looking for is a forum-alike discussion setup but maybe that isn't what you would use the News section for. ANSI/VT52/ASCII support, currently and I might be wrong it looks like Michtron supports everything that the Atari console can display so VT52 and plain text. I have some ASCII .MSG files which are called from the MAIN.M using the list function but some characters aren't displayed whereas in Everest they show up normally. Might be an issue on my end using a hybrid of modern OSes (Linux/Windows) to get these. The idle timer , is there a way to configure it or is it a build-in fixed value ? some functions which were posted in the topic aren't entirely clear to me (without a manual) on their usage. 2 basic things I would like to know currently are , how to pause and ask for a keypress and if there is a way to clear the screen .

Looks like I messed up my bulk csv , so removed the unnecessary data and ran my script again. DOWNLOAD.BBS file for 899 files has a size of 407 Kb . And it works, if I login remotely using Syncterm and start a download , I can hear the DVD-writer spinning up and the download completed succesfully. I can do a file listing of all 899 files, although I am connecting via the DNS name , I basically stay within Belgium with my network traffic. Curious to see how things are holding up when somebody foreign connects ... Last thing for today ( it's 20:57 PM here and I've been busy prepping the BBS for the demo tomorrow since 8:00 AM) making a submenu item in the File menu so the user can download a trimmed down version of my csv , should make it a bit more viewable to scrolling through 899 filenames LOL

So after 7 hours of working onto I'm reading to burn 1 GB of MOD files to a DVD-R+. I went a bit overboard 😁 I downloaded the 8 GB Fading Twilight ISO. I then looked for all subdirectories containg a description file of the content. Some folder didn't have one so I skipped those. That resulted in 27 main directories with a lot of subdirectories 6.291 items, totalling 1,3 GB I then used the magic of grep + tr + sed to create a csv with the MOD detail producer, crew, composer, type of mod , number of files etc. I then zipped all those files into ZIP files adding a little bbs ad texfile. This resulted in 901 ZIP files or a total of 980 MB of data. Matched the corresponding ZIP file with the details csv to create an import csv for my python script, 889 lines and a total of 208 Kb for the CSV file itself Then used this csv and my python script to create the DOWNLOAD.BBS file for Michtron. And I now have a DOWNLOAD.BBS file of 417 Kb. Next up burning the DVD with all the ZIP files, copying the DOWNLOAD.BBS file into Michtron and pray it worked

A bit of an update on my end Guest user has been created as a Registered user for demonstrating my -raw draft- BBS. Menus are now displaying the relevant information for unregistered/registered/sysops From the available functions/procedures Techman posted in the other thread, I've found a chatroom ( 4 in total ) option that works , a send notification to users option that works and added a bit of customization using the system variables ( well basically the username and city of the currently logged on user ) Spend quite a bit of time on this since I wiped of my past months test-users and was struggling with my menus not working until I realized that my 2 remaining users (Lastic and Sysop) were still unregistered , doh ! Tweaked the allowed logon time since the default 30 minutes was a bit short. And now on to populating the File/SIG areas. For the demo purposes I would like to be able to setup the following by tomorrow a >2GB file area located on a USB DVD-R+ the current boot partition having a General FileArea which is the first and currently only .hda file on the BlueSCSI. (a 512Mb GEM partition mapped to a second virtual disk on the BlueSCSI )

I'm still working hard to get a large archive imported in the Files/Sig of my current Michtron setup. If I don't get it finished by Sunday afternoon (my local time) , I will just cleanup my current Michtron setup but make it accesible over the Internet. Need to re-enable the registration process for a new user also , currently it's my 3 accounts I use for testing (regular user/Sysop/priviledged user) It's still very rough, downloaded ASCII art , no real structure in my Files/SIG areas , no News section ( since I still haven't figured out how to set it up) but well at least it should show the basics . Also have to figure out how to use Zoom , from a work/security standpoint I never used it but well can't be too hard to use since I've used every other platform out there (GoogleHangouts/VDO.Ninja (OBS)/WebEX) Be prepared for crappy webcam quallity 😁

That is why I was suggesting that maybe a local forum member might have a chance to revive your harddisk using a different SCSI/ACSI-SCSI adapter. If the disk is still working but the interface is failing , you might be able to replace the interface and still get your old harddisk and setup running again. I'm a bit far away to drop by or lend a helping hand 😁

The current concept/idea The name of the BBS will be the same as the first piracy BBS I visited (sadly I can't find any info on it nor can I remember the Sysop's handle only his real first name) Since back in the days I mostly traded wares just to get my hands on demoscene stuff/trackers/MOD files , this is were the focus will lie on the Atari ST demoscene. Apart from that newer homebrew games and handy utilities that I have gathered and found usefull myself (some I had to dig deep to find them). I do realize that I'm copying a lot of stuff that is already out there in an easier to access format , Fujiology, SNDH.atari.org, demozoo, pouet but well let's go back to the days of X/Y/Z-modem downloads. I was partially inspired by H0ffman (Amiga scener) and his Youtube cracking streams which have sparked an Amiga Retro32 BBS running on MysticBBS (PC) but emulating that AmiExpress look. So I will probably go for ASCII and VT52 , I know , no ANSI but well I think it might be interesting to be different. I bought a second-hand MegaSTe with a broken-off DIN13 connector so currently have it hooked via TV output (yep I got sore eyes). The SCSI disk has died shortly after so that has been replaced by a BlueSCSI v2. Desktop edition NetUSBee Ethernet for NTP sync , I can run an FTP server on the Atari for file transfers ( or UIP tool if I disable STing). Currently experimenting succesfully with hooking up an USB DVD-writer , Extendos and a Dual-Layer DVD+R . Probably will put the historical/bigger collections on DVD and have the current stuff on seperate 512MB partitions on the BlueSCSI. 2 Wimodem PRO's are on their way to Belgium to have an identical setup. The idea is 19200 BAUD, hooking them up to both onboard Serial ports (if Michtron is adapted for it) and have them run on different IP's but the same telnet port. Domain-name points to my dynamic public-IP of my ISP router, port forwarding sends telnet traffic to a tiny Linux loadbalancer which distributes the traffic between both Wimodem's. In short a 2 Telnet node/2 simultanous users BBS. I know , why, well why not 😇 Let me conclude this currently by saying this little project I have given myself has already given me some nice grins, a chance to use my work Network-Engineer background for something that I actually benefit from myself, picking up on my programmer studies-background ( i never had a programming job ) and that warm fuzzy nostalgic feeling.

I would keep Michtron and your restoration progress in this topic , I moved all my "rambling to fellow BBS aficionados" to a different topic.

Thank you , I might be wrong off course, but I thought SIG1..16 point to a drive or directory you specify and it won't descend into subdirectories ? Will try on my end also to experiment a bit further with it.

A warning , this first post will be a rambling from youth experiences up to retro nostalgia but I feel it is a proper introduction on the why. Around 1985 struggling with the then mechanical and a bit later electronic typewriters in typing class, my parents bought me my first computer which was a Colecovision ADAM around 1985. It was a very popular system due to one toystore pushing it very hard in my hometown here in Belgium. This sparked my interest in computers and led me to start my studies as programmer. I found a written-off XT clone PC dumped at the trash by a DTP bureau and took it home, had to go back with my mom and ring the doorbell to ask if I could really have it ( she tought I had stolen it). And so sadly I got stuck in the PC world, I saw an Amiga 500 at a PC Club convention and was blown away, I was still listening to beeper sounds and had CGA graphics ( 4 colors). But the real competition came from a Office supply store which had a little computer shop selling software for several systems (C64/PC) and they were an Atari ST dealership . How I awed at the graphics of game demos running on the ST, I still remember seeing Dungeon Master on ST whilst I was buying Baal the PC version. The aesthetics of the ST line were also a pleasure to the eyes instead of the grey 286 Box I had at home in the meanwhile. But well school used PC's so my parents weren't going to be convinced I should get an Atari ST instead. And so on PC I went from 300 baud calling Public-Domain BBS'es to 2400 Baud . One day I saw a flyer/poster hanging in my city , it had a skull , gothic font and a phone number. Could this be an BBS, I called it with my modem and it was a BBS and it sparked discovering Warez and Piracy , 9600 baud, 56K in the end. Loosely affiliated , some access to the bigger PC boards, calling USA , Germany, until my mother got a huge phonebill and pulled the telephone extension that ran to my room. But maybe it was the right time, BelgianSoftwareAlliance were working with the USA counterparts and cracking down the bigger players in Belgium also . I was in high-school, parties and beer took over and then well life happened, I started working in 1994 ... I physically visited some of the Belgium BBSes, copy-parties , had some classmates who were running BBSes (until their parents plugged the plug). Renegade/Oblivion/Vision-X/Ami-Xpress/PC-Xpress spring to mind regarding BBS systems. But then in 2014 I started my retro nostalgia with Apple PowerPC's, too much working-hours to go on holidays or go out of the house, too much money, so my PowerPC collection grew. Around 2018 I really felt the urge to have an 8-bit computer and didn't go for the common one (the breadbin) but discovered an 130XE (yeah I really like the ST look) and the Atari retro scene and this forum. As such my collection grew, I became an ABBUC member, visited their annual meeting in Germany (I'm half German/half Belgian) but then at the start of the pandemic, the missing link all these years had to be fullfilled, I bought an 1040ST, and more have followed ... So with the ESP and Wifi modems starting to appear (and now since a few years FujiNet) I also rediscovered BBSes and there was that warm nostalgic feeling again. After getting to know the ST ( I was a noob but I did run GEM on DR.DOS 6.0 on my 386 until 2002) downloading so much archives and software , and having decided that 2024 is hobbies-before-work year the idea started to grow ... Looking around what BBS software there was on the ST, I stumbled on the Michtron thread and well here we are

I will make a seperate topic then in the Guru club seems more appropiate. Then it can become a bit of blog instead of side-tracking this topic 😁 DVD Jukebox hooked up via SCSI to an Atari or ?

A question to all involved parties in this thread. I feel that I'm hijacking this thread a bit with the progress of setting/working up/on my BBS. If you feel that this should be a seperate thread , I will open one in the Atari BBS Gurus Club. my domainname hosting only allows access to their API if I'm a reseller so I found another workaround in case my dynamic public IP changes. I've found and modified a python watchdog script that checks if my public IP is changed and sends me an SMS That way I can update the A record at the domainname hosting manually. Bought a Nano PI Neo that can serve as the load-balancer (pen) for 2 Telnet nodes and running the public IP watchdog. Since it runs a very low-mem footprint debian might still find/have other uses for it . I burned an ISO 9660 version of the Dual-Layer Fading Twilight DVD but although Extendos would recognize it, I could not access the mounted D drive. I started to have the same issue with the already working/tested DVD+R and noticed how the drive would not spin up completely. USB power from the NetUSBee is not enough. Now I have the USB DVD-Writer connected to a powered USB HUB -> connected to NetUSBee USB port. And it works, 8 GB of data accessible from the Dual-Layer DVD. Hooking up 2 USB DVD-writers however doesn't seem to work, I guess they get the same USB device ID so Extendos only mounts the first one it finds and ignores the other. I still have several untested ACSI to SCSI external adapters so might give that at try in the future, not important currently. Since Michtron expects a flat directory structure , I will need to move all data from subfolders to the root of the DVD and begin the process of creating descriptions for them. My bulk import Python script still works with a fixed date instead of the current date but for bulk adding all these files it will serve it's purpose. Once that has been done or at least a trial has been setup/tested , comes the hard part, artwork and custom menus , I do have a bit of a concept visualized in my head but still ages away from the real thing. But focus on getting the basics/foundation done.

A deep-hearted thank-you Tim for taking up the development again after all these years and everbody chiming in. Maybe another forum member can have a look at your hard-drive ? ZMODEM and 19200 baud support would already be a HUGE plus. Being able to use a second serial port on Atari's that have those , is icing on the cake. One last , non-urgent request, does anybody , Tilek ? , yourself have the ability to scan or take a picture of the Michtron 3.0 BBS manual at least the relevant pages regarding the commandset and keyboard shortcuts? I seem to be unable to enter a chat when logged on onto the console as Sysop pressing SHIFT-F1 (info from the version 2.0 manual)

I haven't looked into bigDOS yet. Your setup is way nicer than mine, mine is still a simple test I did. I took an ISO burned it to a DVD, have Extendos map the USB DVD-writer as my D drive ( C is the BlueSCSI hooked up to the internal ACSI/SCSI adapter in the MegaSTe) and currently have a subdirectory of the DVD mapped directly as File SIG 16. Downloads from the File SIG in Michtron (so directly from that subdir on the DVD) seem to work fine but haven't tested it extensively yet. I haven't explored the scripting or commands in Michtron 3.0 yet , I'm working with a PDF version of the Michtron 2.0 manual but that doesn't seem to cover newer features and some of the syntax has changed. For now just trying to figure out a good approach on getting the basics done and building further upon it, heck I have been wanting to accomplish this since I was 16-17 years old but live got in the way. It's a nice project filling me with nostalgia that I finally want to bring into realisation.

A bit of progress on my side As of next week I will be the proud owner of 2 Wimodem Pro's once my friend ,currently on vacation in the USA, brings them back to Belgium. That saves me from 20/30 EUR custom handling + 21% import taxes ( which basically boil down I pay the price of a 3rd modem just to get 2 ) In the meanwhile I have 1 Wimodem232 and 1 Wimodem clone connected to both Modem1 and Modem2 ports on the MegaSTe. Modem2 is not working with Michtron as from the previous conversations but it does have telnet connectivity. So I got an eureka moment with my telnet load-balancing idea. I have a domain-name linked to the dynamic public IP of my ISP (just a regular internet user here). I have a DMZ and port-forwarding defined towards a LAN IP. Currently testing with my Ubuntu laptop but I will probably migrate it to a Raspberry Pi , I have setup the following using https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xenial/man1/pen.1.html pen <internal-port of the DMZ/LAN IP> Wimodem232_WLAN_IP:6400:1 Wimodem_clone_WLAN_IP:1040:1 And it works like a charm, it balances between both Telnet modems and if both are busy , you can't connect and will receive a BUSY message. Next step using REST API towards my domain hosting , run a watchdog that checks if my dynamic public IP has changed, push a new A record so DNS is updated , et voila. Also found a way around the 512MB partition limits of TOS 2.05 to host huge collection of files , USB-CD/DVD-writer connected to a NetUSBee , Extendos and now I can link the SIG directories of Michtron to the CDROM drive. Still have to get my hands on Dual-Layer DVD's and see if that works. And the continue to enhance my python script so I can bulk import file-data into the DOWNLOAD.BBS file. But still a long road , the basis of a Michtron BBS is there now to work further on the concept,customisation and nitty-gritty of the BBS. I must admit out of all projects I ever started in life , this one has me grinning like a 15 year old again.

Good morning everybody It's 05:45 AM over here , getting up to start working. Nice to see your machine still working after all those years and an interesting setup, thanks for sharing.

Just for my own understanding are we talking about the 3rd serial port that sits on a card on the VME BUS or the second (SCC) onboard Serial port ?

This is what I found from a post on Exxos forum U306 (MC68901) appears to control "Modem 1" while UA04 (Z85C30) appears to control "Modem 2" and "Serial 2". Serial 2 being the LAN port on a MegaSTe.

Are these the onboard serial ports Modem1 and Modem 2 ? Since I don't have the VME card with tthe 3rd serial port, is that also a standard one or does it allow higher speeds also ?

The Mega STe has 2 standard Serial Ports (on the picture just beneath the power connector) and an extra one on a card ( left of the power connector) . Mine only has the 2 standard ones but a normal Mega STe would have the 2 standard serial ports + extra serial port. Currently working but I will see if I can find more relevant technical info later after work. A patched version would basically allow a standard MegaSTe to have 3 modems connected without the use of the DC Port Extender.

My thanks in advance

Just throwing my crazy ideas out here until I get my hands on 2 Wimodem232 Pro's (end of February) to have at least a baseline of same modem types with same settings. MegaSTe setup with the 2 standard serial ports. I have a Wimodem232 connected on Serial 1 which is detected and allows callers to connect. I have a Wimodem clone connected on Serial 2 which is detected but Michtron keeps saying there is a call detected altough I did not connect to it ? This might be due to the Wimodem clones firmware or settings hence this will become easier if I have 2 Wimodem232's. My current setup Wimodem232 fixed LAN IP , fixed port WimodemClone different fixed LAN IP, different port I was basically thinking of using a Software Loadbalancer that makes a pool of 3 IP's 1 VIP or the main LAN IP and port to which users can connect ,which is load-balanced and which is NATed to a public WAN IP with dyndns behind it for accessing it from the Internet. 2 seperate IP's and ports for both Wimodems, and let the software loadbalancer check if telnet is BUSY then switch to the other next available IP. If both are busy well I guess then I need a 3rd serial port In theory this setup would allow for 2 connected users simultanously or well that is what I'm thinking what would be working.

A few more questions regarding Michtron BBS itself uploads only allow Xmodem ? Was there any further plans to include Ymodem or Zmodem ? downloads also allow up to Ymodem-G , no further plans to include Z-modem ? the MAINT program only allows to set the modem speed up to 9600 , is this the limit of the software or would 19200 (or higher) be feasible ? And last but not least, a merry Christmas and a happy NewYear to all .

So far I've been able to make a Python script that reads a csv file with the file details and transforms it into a DOWNLOAD.BBS file. Only need to work on the date and time bit-shifting. Then try to enhance it further.

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