From Newsgroup: alt.bbs.sysop
Hello Everyone!
I used to run a DOS based BBS back in the early 90s. Over the last few years I've toyed with the idea of trying to re-create my old BBS and have it accessible to the Internet via telnet access. I guess I should mention up front that I am a retro computer user and I still have my old Commodore 64, Atari 800, and Amiga computers as well as various PC Compatibles (Compaq Portables, Tandy systems, etc...) from 8088s - Pentium systems. About a year ago I felt I had enough of an idea to create my new BBS and have it feature many options and interesting concepts that would warrant the time and effort to begin work on the system. What I'll do next, is explain the software, and hardware that I purchased over the last year, and also built for this project. I'll then explain my issue with trying to get telnet access to my DOS BBS package. Hopefully someone here might be able to help me by pointing me in the direction of a program that may be able to perform the functions I need to get my DOS BBS accepting telnet calls.
[My Hardware / Software]
First, is the PC which will host my BBS
Board. . . . . . . . . . . . : 486
Proc. . . . . . . . . . . . . : Pentium 133 Overdrive
RAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . : 32MB (Will upgrade to 64mb)
Serial . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4 High speed Com Ports (2 built on board, and a 2 port ISA Serial board)
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . : 4GB
External Storage. . . : External Parallel CD-Rom, Multiple 250MB Parallel Zip Drives
Operating Software. : DR-DOS 7.x
BBS Package. . . . . . : Wildcat MultiLine v4.22 (10 Nodes, Only using 4 though)
Second, is the PC which will run the Telnet Server. I actually have two PCs that can run as the Tel Server. I'll list both
Board. . . . . . . . . . . . : AMD Athlon XP 3000+
Proc. . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2.10 GHZ
RAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . : 512MB
Serial . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4 High speed Com Ports via a special PCI 4-Port High Speed Serial card.
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . : 250GB
External Storage. . . : N/A
Operating Software. : XP Pro
BBS Package. . . . . . : N/A
The following is the second PC that I have which I can use if necessary for a Telnet Server. In case the above AMD is too fast for a connection between it and the 486.
Board. . . . . . . . . . . . : Pentium
Proc. . . . . . . . . . . . . : Pentium 233
RAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . : 384 MB
Serial . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4 High speed Com Ports via a special PCI 4-Port High Speed Serial card.
Hard Drive . . . . . . . . : 8GB
External Storage. . . : N/A
Operating Software. : Windows 98SE
BBS Package. . . . . . : N/A
Ok, So here goes my problem. I need a program that will allow the Telnet Server computer to receive incomming telnet connections and then forward them out through the connected serial ports which are connected to the BBS computer via Null Modem Cables (serial port to serial port connections between the BBS PC and Windows Telserver). The BBS should then receive the signal from the Telnet Server PC and think it is a modem connecting. The BBS then does its usual CONNECT and the end user logs in and can access the BBS the same as if he/she dialed in back in the old days.
Ok, so I searched the web for some type of program that can do this. I found a program called TelBBS which was written to allow old Commodore 64 BBSes to receive telnet connections. The way it worked was that a modern PC would receive the incomming telnet signal and then send the data out it's serial port through a null modem cable and to the Commodore 64 running the BBS. I contaced the author of the program and he said that the program can work with Commodore, Atari, Apple IIE, and even old DOS PC based computers. The program just received the incomming telnet data and sent it out through the serial ports to the host BBS system.
So, I downloaded and configured and troubleshot many issues till I finally was able to get the setup working. In the end I had the following lay out.
On the Telnet Server PC
4 instances of TelBBS. One instance per serial port (BBS node).
Example...
Telnet Connection to Node 1 on the BBS: 192.168.1.5 port 3000
Telnet Connection to Node 2 on the BBS: 192.168.1.5 port 3001
Telnet Connection to Node 3 on the BBS: 192.168.1.5 port 3002
Telnet Connection to Node 4 on the BBS: 192.168.1.5 port 3003
One of the really neat features of this TelBBS program is that if a caller tries to connect to a node that is already in use, the Telnet server would send off an ASCII text file that would display on the callers screen. It could say anything, but the general idea is to notify the caller that the line in in use or busy. Please try one of our other access lines. You could then list all the nodes and the IP/ports to connect to them. This was a really nifty feature as it gave the caller an idea as to why they can't connect and also what the other IPs are to connect to the other nodes.
So, back to my progress. I tested the connection and setup between my Telnet Server PC and the DOS Serial port BBS. I was able to connect, sign in, play any game doors, browse messages, post new messages, list file areas, etc... Everything worked perfectly, except one of the most important features of a BBS.
Whenever I tried to download or upload to the BBS the following issues would appear. I tried X, Y and Zmodem protocols and even Kermit. I tried baud rates of 2400 through 115000k.
The transfer progress bar on the client side would progress between 4% and 8% before the bar would drop back down to 1% and start over.
On the BBS console the transfer screen showed the progress of the current transfer and it listed any problems. Each time the screen showed a progress of between 4% and 8% and then would state that it was resending from 0. The CRC error table would keep incrementing stating that it was getting CRC errors.
Alas, no transfers would complete, neither uploads or downloads. So that is where my problem is. I spoke to the author of the program, but he is no longer supporting it. He offered to send me the source in case I wanted to try and get file transfering to work. I would have accepted, but I'm not a programmer, so there wasn't much I could do. :( As it stands I spent a bit of money on hardware to build the BBS computer, and the hardware pieces for the telnet server PC, a bit of money on the BBS software and lots and lots of time putting it all together. While it was a lot of fun building and configuring the systems, in the end I'm stuck with a nice setup that is ready to roll, but due to the transfer issues, I can't go live. :( The last I worked on my BBS project was perhaps from last fall to this spring when I finally had the BBS up and running and was very excited about all the time and effort being well spent. Then the transfer problems and the inability to resolve them, took the wind out of my sails. I gave up and put the system away, knowing that I'd return to it one day. Well, this past Thursday was that day and I really want to get my retro BBS running and ready to take calls. I've spent the last few days searching the Internet for information or other programs like TelBBS. Sadly, I didn't seem to find any. My next thought was to seek out advice and help from members of the BBS community. That is why I am posting this message here and on any other BBS related groups, forums, or websites that I can find. There has got to be a way to get over this hump and to then get my BBS open to the public. I'm hoping some of the experienced telnet BBS sysops might know of other telnet server programs or work arounds that will rectify my problem.
If anyone has any information on a similar program to the one I described above (TelBBS), but one that does work with file transfering between the telnet server/ Windows PC and an old DOS BBS PC via serial connections, please let me know. I'll be truly grateful to anyone who can help me out with this dilema.
Here is the links to the TelBBS program in case anyone reading this is curious about this program.
Direct to the files
http://www.jammingsignal.com/files
To the information page
http://home.ica.net/~leifb/bbs/
Sorry for this long message.
Sincerely,
Disc Master I (John Draugr)
"The Disc Master's Domain BBS"
email: discmaster1 (at) hotmail (dot) com
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