BBS like its 1996; Door Games, Message Nets & More..
#1
I'd like to invite you all to join the BBS scene of 2020. These single board computers and SoC's are perfect for retro computing, and even running bulletin board systems. However today I'll just help you get logged onto one.

There is still a great ANSI-art scene, with packs being released to this date! http://16colo.rs if you want to view the ANSI scene of 2020. [Viva Blocktronics!!]

The are a few good door game networks these days, as opposed to simply playing door games locally on a BBS we now link them and play on networks like BBSLink or DoorParty. (I run both of those networks on my BBS...)

FidoNet still lives! Also, there are *several* current FTN's, or FidoNet stlye message networks, that are currently active in 2020 with fsxNet being the most popular one by far. Also, Dove-Net is probably a close second... with its focus on Synchronet BBS software. (fsxNet leans more towards Mystic BBS software.)

At any rate you'll need an ANSI-BBS compatible terminal software like SyncTerm or Netrunner... SyncTerm is IMO the better software and is easier to get compiled on ARM computers. I'll walk you thru it, using Manjaro ARM like you have on the PineBook Pro:

First lets handle dependancies... use 'pacman -S' to install:

base-devel
unzip

You also need some curses and SDL dependancies, but they are installed on a Manjaro install.

Then, lets install SyncTerm... (You can head to syncterm.bbsdev.net to read about it yourself, but the following will work from a command line, too.):

(I install from my /Downloads directory.)

wget http://syncterm.bbsdev.net/syncterm-src.tgz
tar xvzf syncterm-src.tgz
[Then head to the directory which might be a little different than my exmaple depending on the date:]
cd syncterm-20200917/src/syncterm
make SRC_ROOT=/home/pinebook/Downloads/syncterm-20200917/src
sudo make install
which syncterm

Now just run syncterm from your GUI or CLI... and make sure in the title bar its running in SDL mode. (This isn't required, but its way better if so.)

You can hit Alt+Enter to go full screen, or drag to size...

You might want to change the following setup options first, with 'hide status line' as the most important:

Default Connection Settings,
connection type = telnet
hide status line
change dl/ul paths, I make mine /Downloads
Program Settings,
confirm exit

Now, just add some BBSes and get to calling! I'd like it if you applied to MY BBS 20 For Beers by pressing 'insert' with the following details:

telnet: 20ForBeers.com
port 1337 (You'll have to press F2 on the entry to edit this after you add.)
Again, be sure hide status line in the entry. This allows you to see all the ANSI art.


Dial in, and type 'meatloaf' when asked for system password - I'm not fully LIVE yet, so a syspass is set.
Hit Esc twice, and enter 'new' to create a new user....

I'll be sure to validate you ASAP!

You can google TELNET BBS LIST for many other (better) BBSes... and if theres interest here, I can tell ya'll the best of the best.

Later, if theres interest, I can writeup how to RUN a BBS.... or, the info is out there...

Come on over and BBS like its 1995!!!
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 pAULIE42o
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#2
No one applied yet, its an easy challenge... compile SyncTerm and join me. Tongue

Or maybe ya'll are already big BBSers and this isn't new news - in that case, whats yer favorite BBS?

CURRENTLY mine is aBSINTHE... it runs on Amiga hardware, 80 column mode but with Amiga Microknight fonts... it rocks!
The SysOp, Anacronist, is a great guy... he's a part of PHeNOM Mystic BBS modding crew... still a mod scene out there too!


If ya'll miss BBSing, its still going strong!! Hope some of you choose that this is a fun little weekend project. If there's interest I can cover how to RUN a BBS, too.

Cheers.
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 pAULIE42o
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#3
(09-18-2020, 04:47 PM)Paulie420 Wrote: No one applied yet, its an easy challenge... compile SyncTerm and join me. Tongue

Or maybe ya'll are already big BBSers and this isn't new news - in that case, whats yer favorite BBS?

CURRENTLY mine is aBSINTHE... it runs on Amiga hardware, 80 column mode but with Amiga Microknight fonts... it rocks!
The SysOp, Anacronist, is a great guy... he's a part of PHeNOM Mystic BBS modding crew... still a mod scene out there too!


If ya'll miss BBSing, its still going strong!! Hope some of you choose that this is a fun little weekend project. If there's interest I can cover how to RUN a BBS, too.

Cheers.
I gave this a go. I am an old BBSer from the '80s and 90s and I got as far as getting something along the lines of "and die". Can I get in from Desterm on my C=128?

Nice to see BBSes showing up again, they can be great social places and lots of fun. I will try again later.

bill
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#4
(09-20-2020, 08:41 AM)wove Wrote: I gave this a go. I am an old BBSer from the '80s and 90s and I got as far as getting something along the lines of "and die". Can I get in from Desterm on my C=128?

Nice to see BBSes showing up again, they can be great social places and lots of fun. I will try again later.

bill

Hmm... so long as you're in any ANSI BBS terminal you should be able to login, and see the ANSI graphics...

About your Desterm on a C128, sure you could use it to login - however unless its updated for telnet you would have to use a serial to ethernet modem... they were popular to build a year ago and are simple enough to put together. Furthermore, there are tons of Commodore BBSes up currently - Image BBS that used to be around is actually being developed in 2020 and they are about to release version 3.0 shortly. Currently Image BBS is at 2.0; and they have downloads available for installing directly to old hardware. Tongue This is a BBS server, tho, and lets you RUN a BBS.

Under this I'm going to post some other BBS info for anyone who wants to jump in... I'll include some Commodore and Amiga boards.
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 pAULIE42o
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#5
I did finally sort out how to get in and create an account.

There were still a couple dial up BBSes I used until about 5-6 years ago when I shut off the land line. My C=128 has not been online since, and I doubt I will setup an ethernet bridge to get it back online. Perhaps you can recommend and ANSI terminal for the Amiga that would run on MorphOS?

Thanks for the BBS and have a nice day.

bill
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#6
(09-18-2020, 04:47 PM)Paulie420 Wrote: No one applied yet, its an easy challenge... compile SyncTerm and join me.

Easy? That sounds like my cue to make hard work of it!

I gave it a shot on mobian running on the pinephhone. It needed build-essential, libncurses5-dev and libsdl1.2-dev to compile successfully. The icon showed up on phosh but didn't launch an application window. I tried the terminal route but no joy.

So had a look at the help blurb:

Code:
usage: syncterm [options] [URL]

options:

-e# =  set escape delay to #msec
-iX =  set interface mode to X (default=auto) where X is one of:
      S[W|F] = SDL surface mode W for windowed and F for fullscreen
      X = X11 mode
      C = Curses mode
      I = Curses mode with forced ASCII charset
      F = Curses mode with forced IBM charset
      A = ANSI mode

The x11 and sdl modes produce a "CIOLIB initialization failed!" message - I guess I missed something during setup. The curses modes only work if logged in from ssh or running an x session.

Managed to connect to a few bbs servers but oddly not the one quoted in your post. There doesn't seem be an obvious way to close a connection so will have to figure that out somehow.

   
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#7
(09-20-2020, 01:11 PM)wove Wrote: I did finally sort out how to get in and create an account.

There were still a couple dial up BBSes I used until about 5-6 years ago when I shut off the land line. My C=128 has not been online since, and I doubt I will setup an ethernet bridge to get it back online. Perhaps you can recommend and ANSI terminal for the Amiga that would run on MorphOS?

Thanks for the BBS and have a nice day.

bill


I did see you appy today - I did validate you and gave you full access to all door games and message networks... theres many more [lol, even better] BBSes and I plan to update this post with a best-of listing... so if yer interested, hang on. Tongue

There surely is an Amiga-terminal, too... I'll ask Anachronist - he runs aBSINTHE BBS; the very best Amiga BBS in 2020. Its my favorite board, hands down... and if yer an Amiga person I think you'd be taken back.... its super rad.

(09-20-2020, 05:31 PM)nas Wrote:
(09-18-2020, 04:47 PM)Paulie420 Wrote: No one applied yet, its an easy challenge... compile SyncTerm and join me.

Easy? That sounds like my cue to make hard work of it!

I gave it a shot on mobian running on the pinephhone. It needed build-essential, libncurses5-dev and libsdl1.2-dev to compile successfully. The icon showed up on phosh but didn't launch an application window. I tried the terminal route but no joy.

So had a look at the help blurb:

Code:
usage: syncterm [options] [URL]

options:

-e# =  set escape delay to #msec
-iX =  set interface mode to X (default=auto) where X is one of:
      S[W|F] = SDL surface mode W for windowed and F for fullscreen
      X = X11 mode
      C = Curses mode
      I = Curses mode with forced ASCII charset
      F = Curses mode with forced IBM charset
      A = ANSI mode

The x11 and sdl modes produce a "CIOLIB initialization failed!" message - I guess I missed something during setup. The curses modes only work if logged in from ssh or running an x session.

Managed to connect to a few bbs servers but oddly not the one quoted in your post. There doesn't seem be an obvious way to close a connection so will have to figure that out somehow.


You probably missed Sdl1.2-dev.... its best to run in SDL mode, but ncurses will work too - especially if you're trying to run in terminal. (Duh.) ...

1984 is pretty cool, new bbs... theres a plethora of them and a handful of really good ones. I'll post a best of shortly, and if you ever get on a desktop the experience is better.... but thanks for trying out my BBS love at any rate!!!

Mine is always up @ 20ForBeers.com  port 1337  password=meatloaf
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 pAULIE42o
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#8
Managed to get the nice speccy style art working with EtherTerm but probably need a physical keyboard to maximise the screen space. Or just use my pc instead.

Some recommendations would be handy, I just connected to a few listed on the telnetbbsguide website. A pine64 bbs might be a fun idea.
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#9
(09-21-2020, 07:42 AM)nas Wrote: Managed to get the nice speccy style art working with EtherTerm but probably need a physical keyboard to maximise the screen space. Or just use my pc instead.

Some recommendations would be handy, I just connected to a few listed on the telnetbbsguide website. A pine64 bbs might be a fun idea.

Lol.. yea I hadn't thought about PinePhone guys.. its much nicer from a fullsize screen and all. Tongue

At any rate I validated you over there, you could play networked door games or checkout the BBS FidoNet networks. Tongue

I explained it all in an email there. At any rate, I'm gonna go do a best of BBS post for anyone who's at all interested.

The Pinebook Pro is really a nice piece of hardware; I can't wait to get my PinePhone and try to help with that project in any way that I can.
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 pAULIE42o
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#10
hihi thanks for this thread, and i had a few go's at making an account at 20 beers but not sure if they went through nor idk how most of this stuff works. but it all looks really interesting & fun ;D Smile
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