Subj : Re: Future-proofing DOS BBSs To : j0HNNY a1PHA From : akacastor Date : Fri Feb 16 2024 12:05:17 ja> > Running Microsoft Network Client for DOS, a network drive is mapped to ja> > D: inside the DOS session. SHARE.EXE is loaded in config.sys and is ja> > working. ja> ja> Ah, OK. Have you used EtherDFS? Don't know how reliable it is, but it's a ja> lot easier setup than MSFT setup (at least when using FreeDOS). Just the other day I learned of EtherDFS - it looks very useful and definitely looks more straightforward to setup than the Microsoft Network Client (though the Microsoft Network Client is doable, it certainly isn't the lightest). I haven't tried EtherDFS, it isn't clear to me if it supports multiple simultaneous clients with SHARE.EXE etc. There is some instability in the Microsoft Network Client for DOS - I am not sure if it is inherent to the client or if it is specific to my share configuration - after some time accessing files over the network results in "Too many files open" errors and the share must be disconnected and reconnected to fix it. My workaround has been to close/reopen the network share between BBS sessions, which 'mostly works'. I'm still working on debugging it further. ja> totaly makes sense. I wired up 3 FreeDOS 1.3 virtual machines in prox ja> mox, and created serial port connections between them. I haven't dived into proxmox at all yet, another interesting tool to dig into sometime.. ja> Good to know -- I wasn't sure which would be better for BBSs -- DOSBox-X ja> or Staging. Sounds like X is the way to go. It was a while ago when I settled on DOSBox-X, so I can't guarantee that other forks haven't caught up with it, but it does work well for me. ja> > I am now running a version of DOSBox-X with patches to the telnet ja> > emulation, so binary transfers work properly in both directions. I ja> > also added a 'callerid' feature so that the IP address of callers is ja> > passed to the BBS software in the same format as caller ID from a ja> > USRobotics modem. ja> ja> Is this something that can be shared or downloaded from a BBS? I bet the ja> BBS Community would love to have a build like this (with instructions, ja> etc.). I have intended to make the DOSBox-X patches public, the holdup has just been that I wasn't sure my code is ready to send a pull request. So yes it's time for me to get off my ass and share. I will do another cleanup pass on my DOSBox-X patches and send a pull request. If anybody wants to test it in the meantime (compiling from source), let me know and I'll hook you up with my changes. Instructions is a piece I have on my to-do list also, I found it got pretty confusing learning about telnet vs raw socket mode and configuring DOSBox and BBS software, and then when I thought it worked there were still Zmodem issues (the incomplete telnet escaping of FF bytes).. It didn't help that DOSBox is a moving target, with documentation for different forks that sometimes are the same but sometimes have differences, and sometimes outdated documentation. Related to this, it might be useful to include information about some common Y2K patches and fast-machine patches often required by DOS software. ja> > scanners.) The Telnet Ringdown server project is at ja> > https://github.com/akacastor/ringdown ja> ja> This was the missing piece for me. Fantastic, I'm going to check it out. ja> This could be a fantastic package to get multinode DOS BBSs up easier and ja> more securely. The telnet ringdown project was just started this week, so it hasn't been thoroughly tested, and I have been adding fixes and features daily. It seems to be working well in my testing. There is a bit of cleanup to do in the source code, consider it a beta version right now. Some simple bot detection has been added - for the first 20 seconds of the connection or until Escape is pressed (while the front-end mailer prompt is displayed), the ringdown server monitors data sent by the client to see if it's an obvious bot login attempt like 'root' or 'admin'. If the client sends suspicious strings then a 5 minute ban is placed on their IP. ja> I'd like to try this with FreeDOS v1.3 proxmox and avoid DOSBox ja> altogether, but that may be a different problem to solve :) Finding weird problems to solve is why we are here, I guess. :) I looked a bit at 86box, that is kind of going in the other direction though, lower level emulation so a bit heavier load. 86box looks like a great option for an accurate DOS environment, but it doesn't have a telnet softmodem built in so would need that added, or a workaround. I do like the low level emulation of 86box, when I run into an issue in DOSBox I have been sanity checking by testing in 86box to see if it is broken DOS software or an emulation issue. Chris akacastor --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64) * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150) .