Connecting your BBS to the Internet

[+DarkLord]

Hmm, I'm a bit confused by this. Honestly, you seem to be at the stage where

things are normally working. Most of the config files that people sent me as examples

worked, in some fashion or the other, so I don't know what's happening with

your setup. 

 

I know I never had to go looking for a way to get RING to connect. /puzzled...

 

Wish I could be of more help... 

 

[Bikerbob]

Ok.. so how do I see what the UDS does when it gets a connection from the net?

 

If I run a terminal and try to connect there should be something that happens that I can see or respond to correct?

 

If I want to mod source for the UDS I need to know how it works

 

James

[Tillek]

Yeah... there is something wrong.  Whether it's just a setting or whatnot is the issue.

 

Which is why I was suggesting working interactively so we can put it to bed in a working session and not keep going back and forth.

 

[Bikerbob]

Ok got my Eiffel 3 working correctly. Yeah one victory. Back looking at this again. I do have a mss100.. the modem emu seems much better than the uds10.

But I am confused on the configuration because I don't see anywhere to set the TCP servers port number... It would have to have the port? How do you call it??

 

James

[Tillek]

Ok... so I explained this to you and Darklord in private messages, so this is mostly for the benefit of the rest of the class and in far more detail hopefully since you guys got the short version......

 

Nice thing about the MSS-100 is that you can do both Raw and Telnet.  From the manual...

 

The MSS supports TCP/IP socket connections to ports 2001 and 3001.

Opening a TCP session to a 300n port will form a raw TCP/IP connection to the serial port. Use a 200n port when you need Telnet IAC interpretation.

(I removed a bit in the middle about the MSS-VIA which is another device we're not talking about here).

 

So when you're doing your port forwarding rules, usually you can set the source and destination port.

For me, I have it set like this (the rule names should say it all)  SFHQ can accept Telnet (5983) or Raw (5431) connections... just connect to the right port for your preference!  Internally, they're 2001 and 3001 respectively.

 

 

[Tillek]

It should be noted though... you're not REQUIRED to set up both.  For the longest time, I didn't bother.  But it's only one more port forward rule and it can't hurt.  If people have issues with one mode, they can try the other.

 

[Bikerbob]

3 hours ago, Tillek said:

It should be noted though... you're not REQUIRED to set up both.  For the longest time, I didn't bother.  But it's only one more port forward rule and it can't hurt.  If people have issues with one mode, they can try the other.

 

ok, thanks.. I am using Rogers Cable here (FIDO a subsiduary) and have not had a lot of luck with the ports.. lets hope this works out better.

 

Now what about serial port setting..  access?? dynamic? DTR wait? modem control? modem emulation ( I assume YES on this one)

 

James

Edited April 1, 2021 by Bikerbob

[Bikerbob]

Something is not working.. 

 

I can connect from a remote machine (within the network) 192.168.0.25 (address of the mss - static) on ports 23 and 7000 (configuration ports) 

 

I have Stalker open and can talk to the mss via serial.. AT command etc..

 

I cannot connect to STalker on remote mode via ports 2001 2002 or 2003 - by the manual should work. 

 

 

[Bikerbob]

No idea why this does not seem to work.. but it does not.. 

 

James

[Tillek]

20 hours ago, Bikerbob said:

ok, thanks.. I am using Rogers Cable here (FIDO a subsiduary) and have not had a lot of luck with the ports.. lets hope this works out better.

 

Now what about serial port setting..  access?? dynamic? DTR wait? modem control? modem emulation ( I assume YES on this one)

 

James

 

Here are the working settings from the MSS-100 that is currently running with STar Fleet HQ

 

 

 

[Tillek]

6 hours ago, Bikerbob said:

Something is not working.. 

 

I can connect from a remote machine (within the network) 192.168.0.25 (address of the mss - static) on ports 23 and 7000 (configuration ports) 

 

I have Stalker open and can talk to the mss via serial.. AT command etc..

 

I cannot connect to STalker on remote mode via ports 2001 2002 or 2003 - by the manual should work. 

 

 

If you have an MSS-100, you only have 2001 and 3001.... the 200x, 300x is for the other variants that have more ports/connections (the MSS4 is basically 4 MSS-100's in one device).

 

Let me know what you get with the settings I put in above.  You also might want to try having ATC LOGOUT as part of your "init" string.

 

[Tillek]

5 hours ago, Bikerbob said:

No idea why this does not seem to work.. but it does not.. 

 

James

What time do you usually work on this stuff?  Maybe we can schedule a time.  Your messages tend to come in the wee hours of the morning for me, so I probably won't be hanging around with you at 1am on a "school night"... but maybe Friday (this weekend being Easter, I won't be staying up late Saturday, but normally I could if we needed to).

 

[Bikerbob]

4 hours ago, Tillek said:

What time do you usually work on this stuff?  Maybe we can schedule a time.  Your messages tend to come in the wee hours of the morning for me, so I probably won't be hanging around with you at 1am on a "school night"... but maybe Friday (this weekend being Easter, I won't be staying up late Saturday, but normally I could if we needed to).

 

well most nights I would start working on this around 8pm 9pm..   THis morning I found that my machine could make an internal connection to 192.168.0.25 at 9600baud, but not 19200.. hmmm

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Bikerbob

[moonlight_mile]

I am not 100% following this thread but I was testing my mss100 a few years ago as and outgoing modem and an incoming modem for a real hardware bbs. I do remember there was one setting i had to change to answer calls and change that setting back to make calls. Here are the pics of my settings. 

 

I think it was the access setting I was always flip flopping. 
 

 

[Tillek]

6 hours ago, Bikerbob said:

well most nights I would start working on this around 8pm 9pm..   THis morning I found that my machine could make an internal connection to 192.168.0.25 at 9600baud, but not 19200.. hmmm

 

The only baud rate that should matter is the one between the Lantronix box and the machine who's serial port you're connected to.  Obviously, they need to be the same.

 

There aren't any baud rates on the "calling" machine, because it's telnet.

 

Now if the calling machine is connected also to a Lantronix box, the baud rate on that box has to match the machine connected to it, but it doesn't have to match the BBS machine because the Lantronix boxes are talking over TCP, so it doesn't matter.

 

So I'm not sure what you mean by this.  Maybe, silly as it sounds... we need a diagram.  Maybe the problem is in the test environment.  To keep it simple.....

 

For the calling machine, PC with Syncterm.  The entry for the BBS should have the 192.168.0.25 (the BBS Lantronix, right?) and Telnet to port 2001.

 

For "BBS" machine, I'd probably just set the baud to 9600, make sure the Lantronix is also set to 9600 and the rest of the settings as above and I usually just ran ANSITERM and left it in term mode.  If oyu type AT and get OK, you're ready.  (Also, if that doesn't work, try ATC LOGOUT and then try AT again... ATC tells it to issue a command (as if you were telnetting in to change settings and LOGOUT makes sure you're logged out of that port so that it's ready to accept a connection... something you don't have to worry about with a UDS).

 

If you try to connect with SyncTerm at that point, you should see the "RING"

 

An issue to consider with the ST's.... They have flaky serial ports.  So unless you're using one of the HSModem type fixes, anything over 9600 could be borked for reasons totally unrelated to any setup issues.  You can always try a HS modem driver later and try raising the baud to 19200 after you're already sure you have a working setup.

[Tillek]

Well, I realized I didn't say it specifically... but the settings I posted were SFHQ's current working configuration.

[+DarkLord]

Well...the ST's serial port has a reputation of being buggy.

 

With that in mind though, adding a patch to the AUTO folder

and using software like HSModem pretty much fixes all that.

 

DarkForce has run at 19.2 pretty much since inception. 

 

Weirdest thing (to me) is if you're using a "high speed" modem,

i.e., 19.2 and above, you have to set both the lowest and highest

connect speeds to 19.2, according to Express's manual.

 

[Bikerbob]

1 hour ago, DarkLord said:

Well...the ST's serial port has a reputation of being buggy.

 

With that in mind though, adding a patch to the AUTO folder

and using software like HSModem pretty much fixes all that.

 

I dont have a patch or HSModem.. can you link for me?

 

James

[Bikerbob]

I think I have it running.. please call the bbs

 

bikerbobsclubhouse.ddns.net:5590

 

James

[+DarkLord]

8 hours ago, Bikerbob said:

I think I have it running.. please call the bbs

 

bikerbobsclubhouse.ddns.net:5590

 

James

 

Hmm. Tried just now - timed out, said it couldn't connect. Maybe someone else was on? I'll try again in a few.....

 

[+DarkLord]

9 hours ago, Bikerbob said:

I dont have a patch or HSModem.. can you link for me?

 

James

 

Let me check something real fast first....

 

[Bikerbob]

worked for 2 calls last night.. 

 

I got it to work by starting the program first.. then powering up the mss100

 

If I had the mss100 up and running when trying to start Foresight it would go into this loop it does when it detects someone on the line when it boots.. it goes into a login.. garbage spewed.. it logged off.. and then shutdown. I could not get a proper start up. without doing it the first way..

 

BUT when I did.. I was able to log in remotely.. I did it twice.. so I thought maybe we were good...

 

James

[+DarkLord]

Okay, just wanted to double-check first.

 

On the Mega STe that I use to call OUT to DarkForce and other BBS's,

I use nothing but the serial port CPX for the Control Panel. I'm using

the usual settings, 19.2, 8 - n - 1, etc,.... I always set flow control

to RTS/CTS but whenever I bring the CPX back up, i always says

"unknown". It works. I do have the HSModem software in the AUTO

folder, just disabled. I need to try with it enabled sometime, just to

see what happens.

 

On the Mega ST4 that runs DarkForce, accepting calls IN, I do use the

HSModem software in the AUTO folder, DRIVN.PRG and MFP.PRG. No

patches, then the usual serial port CPX for the control panel with the

same settings.

 

HSModem is a little fun to get setup. I don't have a link, but make sure

you try to get the English version for configuration.

 

If I can't find a link I'll see if I still have my disk here and ZIP it up.

 

[+DarkLord]

Okay, found my RSVE disk and zipped it up.

 

This does include the English versions.

 

It is imperative that you read the instructions carefully.

 

RSVE.ZIP

[Tillek]

5 hours ago, DarkLord said:

Okay, just wanted to double-check first.

 

On the Mega STe that I use to call OUT to DarkForce and other BBS's,

I use nothing but the serial port CPX for the Control Panel. I'm using

the usual settings, 19.2, 8 - n - 1, etc,.... I always set flow control

to RTS/CTS but whenever I bring the CPX back up, i always says

"unknown". It works. I do have the HSModem software in the AUTO

folder, just disabled. I need to try with it enabled sometime, just to

see what happens.

 

On the Mega ST4 that runs DarkForce, accepting calls IN, I do use the

HSModem software in the AUTO folder, DRIVN.PRG and MFP.PRG. No

patches, then the usual serial port CPX for the control panel with the

same settings.

 

HSModem is a little fun to get setup. I don't have a link, but make sure

you try to get the English version for configuration.

 

If I can't find a link I'll see if I still have my disk here and ZIP it up.

 

Are you using port 1 on the MSTe?  If you're using Port 2, that one isn't the standard ST one if I recall (it can do 57.6 and I don't think it needs any special drivers).