How to get a Multi-node BBS to work flawlessly within DOSBox reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BryanLee35 · 2023-01-06 19:11 Hey Everyone, I'm posting this message just so I could help someone else out there that maybe wondering how to get a BBS or DOOR Program to work flawlessly within DOSBox. I personally don't need to use DOSBox for the BBS I'm hosting however I will often work with it just so that I can get the software working under Linux or Mac OS and so i needed to figure out a way to do this and so I wanted to share with you all what I've learned. DOSBox isn't a great option to run a DOOR or a BBS software because of a Disk Caching issue it seems to have however if you mount a folder as DRIVE C: use the option -t floppy for the mount command as it will disable Disk Caching and then all your multi node programs will work without any issues. For Example: If I have a folder on my C: drive named BBS (C:\\BBS) i would open DOSBox and mount the folder this way: mount -t floppy c c:\\bbs Most of you are probably already familiar with how to use DOSBox with socket inheritance but if not I plan on doing a video tutorial on how to setup a telnet server such as GAMESRV and pass the connection to DOSBox and start the BBS software.... I plan on doing the video tutorial this weekend as it is suppose to rain but if something should comes up I will have to postpone till the following weekend but I at least wanted to let you all know I found the method mention above worked very well with 3 different BBS software titles I was playing with including my own. Anyway I really hope this helped someone else out that may needed a fix for the disk caching issue I was having. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- analog_potatoes · 2023-01-06 21:34 Good write up. Curious why dosbox instead of dosemu? Or Docker? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- codefenix · 2023-01-06 21:35 You're right about DOSBox not being suitable for multi-node 16-bit doors, and that is precisely why many of us use **DOSBox-X** instead, which supports SHARE, file-locking, and record-locking (see: [DOSBox-X’s Feature Highlights](https://dosbox- x.com/wiki/DOSBox%E2%80%90X%E2%80%99s-Feature-Highlights)). I've been using it specifically for Yankee Trader for the last couple of years and it works wonderfully. And as a general rule of thumb, at least in my opinion, DOS doors should always be run as single-node, unless the door's documentation makes it clear that it supports multi-node use, or is at least multi- node aware. Because many, with few notable exceptions, were written with single-line BBSes on single-tasking DOS machines in mind anyway. So if the docs don't mention multi-node capabilities at all, or explicitly state that it's not supported (which is the case with more doors than most people realize), then the sysop should leave multi- node use disabled when setting up the door on the BBS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BryanLee35 · 2023-01-06 22:11 Hi Codefenix, I have tried using DOSBox-X for the same reasons and I agree with you DOSBox-X is the better choice of all the different versions available however with some of the BBS software I was still having issues with some features such as built in Multi-Node chat programs didn't seem to work very well because it would require seeing text between two different DOSBox window / Instances and there were other BBS features that didn't seem to work as smooth until I mounted the drive as a floppy drive. I've tried everything I could think of and this was the only thing that seemed to fix the issue. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BryanLee35 · 2023-01-06 22:14 I considered using dosemu but I didn't see a Mac OS version and I thought if I'm going to make it as easy as possible for someone new to setting up a BBS I wanted to package it with a multi-platform option so that's really the only reason to consider DOSBox but perhaps I'm mistaken there might be a version for Windows/Mac/Linux ?? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- codefenix · 2023-01-06 22:54 Ah, interesting. Admittedly I never tried chat functionality under DOSBox-X, so that's good to know. Thanks for sharing the tip. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Distribution-Radiant · 2023-01-06 23:12 Random thought I had - can DESQView run within DOSBox? ... I know it would be a horrible idea, but that's how I ran a 2 line BBS on a 386. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BryanLee35 · 2023-01-07 01:04 Hi Distribution-Radiant, Technically yes it can be done but not with the Native DOS version DOSBox emulates... you'll need to install a real version of MS-DOS by mounting a DISKIMAGE and formatting the DISK..... same way people are using DOSBox to install and run Windows 98 it's quite a pain but it does work really well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- veeb0rg · 2023-01-07 03:37 The issue I had running a bbs in dosbox was the clock. The bbs never would run the next day event as the date never increases only the time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BryanLee35 · 2023-01-07 04:38 I know exactly what you're talking about because at first I had the same issue however DOSBox-X and DOSBox-Staging versions have patches that resolved that issue. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- veeb0rg · 2023-01-07 06:57 Good to know. I run my bbs in a vm these days. Works really well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro1337_000 · 2023-01-16 05:19 works on my dosbox but the installer craps out at the end. i can still run dv after the install ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro1337_000 · 2023-01-16 05:20 your bbs should only launch when a user connects. you need a front end to pick up and then launch the bbs in dosbox ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2023-01-16 05:23 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro1337_000 · 2023-01-16 05:24 On the renegade site [renegadebbs.net](https://renegadebbs.net) there's a perl script that a guy made for launching a renegade bbs with dosbox ​ [https://renegadebbs.net/files/linux.perl.dosbox.telnet.bbs.server.v0. 5/linux.perl.dosbox.telnet.bbs.server.v0.5/](https://renegadebbs.net/f iles/linux.perl.dosbox.telnet.bbs.server.v0.5/linux.perl.dosbox.telnet .bbs.server.v0.5/) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bleuge · 2023-02-14 19:33 hi!, Is there more information anywhere to setup, for example, PCBoard in a DOSBox-X (or -staging) ? I would like to test it under W10, but running it in Raspberry pi would be fun. I don't understand how the dynamic of a fossil driver works with DOSBox to able it to responde for example a Netrunner client trying to connect? Any examples of configuration? software to install, etc? Thanks!