Hi All,
I've been playing around with an old piece of software (OBBS, 1984) and after a bit of work I've got it running a BBS on my Acorn BBC Micro. It's not on 24/7 and still in the early testing stages. You can connect from either a BBC Micro which should give you Mode 7 colour or from a telnet client like Syncterm from a PC.

If you wanted to give it a try you *should* be able to connect at beebs.ddns.net:6502 it's 9600 baud 8n1. If you're connecting from a PC you DO want line feeds and you DON'T support BBC Mode 7 graphics. Pressing enter at the command? prompt will give you the menu if you need it.

It's early days so there may well be problems that I'd love to hear about to iron out, so I can only apologise if your connection drops. You can check its online status at beebs.ddns.net if it's online it would be great if you could swing by and leave a message!

... I came, I saw, I had no idea what was going on, so I left.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Re: BeeBS the BBS running on a BBC Micro
By: Vela025 to All on Sun Jan 07 2024 12:26 pm

Ooh, I'll have to check this out. I've got a special love for BBS's that run on original hardware.

With I could connect on a BBC Micro but that's a little tricky given I'm in the states. ;)
_____
xadara.com | final-zone.net
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Win32
* Origin: Final Zone (21:3/122)

Re: BeeBS the BBS running on a BBC Micro
By: Vela025 to All on Sun Jan 07 2024 12:26 pm

Howdy,

I've been playing around with an old piece of software (OBBS, 1984) and after a bit of work I've got it running a BBS on my Acorn BBC Micro. It's not on 24/7 and still in the early testing stages. You can connect from either a BBC Micro which should give you Mode 7 colour or from a telnet client like Syncterm from a PC.

I was always curious about OBBS - I've chatted to Rob about viewdata stuff, and I thought his BBS package also operated a similar way.

I tried to connect with icyterm that can display mode 7 graphics, but maybe something is different?


...ëîåï
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Re: BeeBS the BBS running on a BBC Micro
By: Vela025 to All on Sun Jan 07 2024 12:26:48

Hi, Vela025.

If you wanted to give it a try you *should* be able to connect at beebs.ddns.net:6502 it's 9600 baud 8n1. If you're connecting from a PC you DO want line feeds and you DON'T support BBC Mode 7 graphics. Pressing enter at the command? prompt will give you the menu if you need it.

It's early days so there may well be problems that I'd love to hear about to iron out, so I can only apologise if your connection drops. You can check its online status at beebs.ddns.net if it's online it would be great if you could swing by and leave a message!

Just been on there - as I'm sure you know because I assume that was you helping me out by pressing the *correct* keys and typing all the hints and tips for me :)

Thank you for standing that up - it's a real find. I more-or-less missed out on BBS the first time around, and what I did see was on DOS / EGA 80 column so it was pretty fun to see a BBC based system.

Any recommendations for Beeb terminal software? I have a 32k Beeb up in the loft (I believe it turns 40 this year) but I don't fancy my chances of getting its floppy drives working. I imagine it might be possible to emulate ROMs using the types of cheap modern hardware we all have lying around - or maybe emulating a cassette is easier? Dunno. I saved it from a skip and, self destructing RIFA capacitors aside, it just worked... but I don't have any software for it yet.

I hope it sticks around... at least long enough for me to get my Beeb running actual software and able to connect to it :)

Thank you again for a fun experience!



BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

Maybe pop over the border to Canada I think they may have had them there in v small numbers! There's always emulation with BeebEm but you'll be missing the last line of text...which is the menu response line. You can connect with just regular telnet/terminal emulation you just won't get the colours. I usually log in using syncterm which works a treat as long as I set linefeeds on on the BBS itself.

Take Care!

... A friend asks only for your time, not your money.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Hi Deon,
I think i got your message last night, but your sign in went a little wrong (but if you were using viewdata that would explain it). Want me to set you up with a new username or you could sign in again but with a new account. I have replied to you on there if you wanted to log on.

If you check the website it tells you how to connect from a pc beebs.ddns.net, basically any terminal emulator. It's not viewdata, but does send mode 7 colour control codes so can colour text and backgrounds. When you select if you want mode 7 colour there is assembly language that either strips out these codes and substitutes them with a space or it sends the codes; which results in odd characters on a usual vt100 but displays the correct colours on a BBC (like on the website).

I had contacted the developer of Icy Term to see if they might be able to add support for this, but looking at the activity on the github page I don' think it's still in active development.

Hope to see you back at some point,
Vela 025

... People who live in stone houses shouldn't throw glasses.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Hi BobW,

No probs was great to see you on there, and hope to see you again soon. I think I should be able to get the chat to sysop back up and working soon so can prob help you more. I've sent a message on BeeBS with some ideas with how to get your Beeb on the board (even without a disk drive).

Take care,
Vela 025

... What has four legs and an arm ... ? A happy rottweiler.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Re: Re: BeeBS the BBS running on a BBC Micro
By: Vela025 to Kurisu on Mon Jan 08 2024 07:40 am

I usually log in using syncterm which works a treat as long as I set linefeeds on on the BBS itself.

Oh certrainly, I'll be trying that when I can catch it on and not occupied. :) _____
xadara.com | final-zone.net
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Re: Re: BeeBS the BBS running on a BBC Micro
By: Vela025 to Bob Worm on Mon Jan 08 2024 07:54:07

Hi, Vela.

No probs was great to see you on there, and hope to see you again soon. I think I should be able to get the chat to sysop back up and working soon so can prob help you more. I've sent a message on BeeBS with some ideas with how to get your Beeb on the board (even without a disk drive).

I managed to get onto the board via my Beeb yesterday morning - I dropped you a "hurrah" note and some Acorn love on the retro board but I wasn't able to connect back in yesterday evening or today so I hope the Beeb is still alive and well?

It felt oddly successful being so early to the party, especially when connecting via the Beeb :) I guess this is what the good old days were like!

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

Hi BobW,
Yeah I got your message, and BobC replied too. It's not online 24/7 but you can check the status at http://beebs.ddns.net It's usual time is 5pm-9pm GMT and longer during the weekends. Let me know if the website says the status is online but you can't get on. It was oddly busy last night so may have been engaged, but you should get a message saying that when you connect.
The past few mornings I've had a late start to work so have been able to put it on in the morning, but I had an early start today so couldn't.

Looking forward to seeing you there again; maybe even on you Beeb!
See you soon!
Vela025

... Everyone hates me because I'm paranoid.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Hey Bob,
Sorry it looked like it timed you out this morning, I've put in a new activity timer which seemed to be working fine yesterday...but not today it seems. What do you use to connect? I've noticed when you type I get a whole word/sentence at a time rather than letter by letter. I've upped the inactivity timer to 3 min so hopefully that might fix any issues.
Take Care,
Vela025

... Backup not found: (P) Panic (Any other key) Panic.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Re: Re: BeeBS the BBS running on a BBC Micro
By: Vela025 to Bob Worm on Fri Jan 19 2024 02:07:17

Hi, Vela.

Hey Bob,
Sorry it looked like it timed you out this morning, I've put in a new activity timer which seemed to be working fine yesterday...but not today it seems.

Thanks for the vigilance and for going out of your way to fix it, but I'm quite convinced this one is my fault.

Using the raspberry pi to take a serial login and then telnetting from there, it defaults to line mode - which is clearly not optimal. Once I've logged in I then switch it to character mode for easy menu navigation... which works great until I need to enter a line of text - as soon as I press enter it gives me a timeout message. Presumably it's a CR/LF thing one way or the other, I've not had chance to thoroughly debug it.

What do you use to connect? I've noticed when you type I get a whole word/sentence at a time rather than letter by letter. I've upped the inactivity timer to 3 min so hopefully that might fix any issues.

I'm currently using ARCterm 7 on the Acorn A3020 to connect, in its BBC mode. Beautiful colours, which is a win... or will be once I figure out this end-of-line issue. The terminal software doesn't seem to have an option for how to end lines, possibly I can get telnet to translate it for me?

Either way I'll need to do some packet captures and figure out which combination works and which breaks it, so you might see a couple more timeouts when the BBS is back on later :)

Thanks!

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

Is it only a problem after login or before? If it's after login I can change you linefeed options in the terminal setup bit of the menu, or you can do it once you get to the menu (which I'm assuming is writing over itself) type T (for terminal settings), Y (for lower case) and Y for linefeeds, then Y for BBC colour.
Just putting Risc OS Direct on my Pi4 which apparently can support the 24bit software I'll try ArcTerm and see how I get on.

I've been pattern matching tropical bird print wallpaper for the past two days, anything is a welcome distraction from lining up bird beaks!

... Humpty Dumpty was pushed.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Re: Re: BeeBS the BBS running on a BBC Micro
By: Vela025 to Bob Worm on Fri Jan 19 2024 11:19:10

Hi, Vela.

Is it only a problem after login or before? If it's after login I can change you linefeed options in the terminal setup bit of the menu, or you can do it once you get to the menu

It does it everywhere, I just normally haven't remembered to switch into character mode until I'm "inside". I'll give it a bash changing the setting.

Just putting Risc OS Direct on my Pi4 which apparently can support the 24bit software I'll try ArcTerm and see how I get on.

I'd be very interested to hear about serial support on that setup - I have been back-burnering a project for a while now involving the serial port because at the points where I have any time to look at it I'm away from the real hardware and the serial port isn't emulated by RPC...

I've been pattern matching tropical bird print wallpaper for the past two days, anything is a welcome distraction from lining up bird beaks!

That sounds awful. We got my mother in law in to do our wallpaper in the lounge, perfectly aligned and pattern matched. Then I dropped a door I was hanging and took a chunk out of the middle of one of the sheets so we had to get her back in to re-hang a middle sheet - oh how we laughed :\ She did an outstanding job, again, though!

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

What is the address again??? I've NEVER been able to connect - but I think I have it right. ???



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Re: Re: BeeBS the BBS running on a BBC Micro
By: paulie420 to Vela025 on Sat Jan 20 2024 11:51:33

Hi, Paulie.

What is the address again??? I've NEVER been able to connect - but I think I have it right. ???

It's beebs.ddns.net:6502 - it seems to mainly run morning and evening, UK time, presumably when Vela's around to keep an eye on it :)

I don't think I'd leave a 40 year old computer on all day, at least not since one of the RIFAs in my Beeb's power supply *violently* ejected the magic smoke!

Cheers,

BobW
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: >>> Magnum BBS <<< - bbs.magnum.uk.net (21:1/205)

It's beebs.ddns.net:6502 - it seems to mainly run morning and evening,
UK time, presumably when Vela's around to keep an eye on it :)

I don't think I'd leave a 40 year old computer on all day, at least not since one of the RIFAs in my Beeb's power supply *violently* ejected the magic smoke!

100%; I'm just on a different time zone... :P

Glad yer enjoying the machine - I'll get there one day, no worries!



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Hey Paulie,

It's beebs.ddns.net:6502 and the online status can be checked at beebs.ddns.net

Take care,
Vela025

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Yeah you're right no serial support, I thought it might support telnet like hearsay. I've not got far with Risc Direct on the Pi4 as it will not work with my HDMI to VGA adapter (even using the exact same settings in config.txt I use in the rpi3 and risc open). Once I'm finished here I'll put it on my rpi3 instead and see how it is then.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)