Looking for a virtual modem for Linux

[trile...@gmail.com]

These days my CP/M activities are largely limited to emulators (MyZ80, Z80Pack, YAZE, and a couple of TRS80 emulators) running under Linux Mint.

Having played around with some BBS packages (Synchronet, Mystic), I've got an inkling to resurrect my old RCP/M system and see if I can get it on the Internet, so I'm in search of a virtual modem package for Linux. The only thing I've scared up so far is VmodemD.

Does anyone have any experience with it, or can suggest something similar? My l337-ness has so far proven inadequate to whipping VmodemD into line.

-Nathanael

[Jon Saxton]

Nathanael;

I'm not sure what you mean by a "virtual modem package". Nor is it
clear to me what you are trying to connect:

. linux to real computer
. linux to emulated computer
. emulated computer to real computer

I suspect it is the first in which case you'll undoubtedly have two
cables, one to connect to the computer as a terminal emulator and the
other to connect to the computer's serial port.

If this is the case then I can certainly help because I have just
undertaken precisely the same exercise. See
http://triton.vg/SecondLight.html

I think the third pairing is pretty straightforward although I have not
tried it myself. I am not sure the second is necessary; there are
usually other solutions.

--
Former sysop of Tesseract RCPM+ which operated
in the 1980s from Dural, NSW, Australia.
http://triton.vg/TesseractRCPM+Catalog.html

[Udo Munk]

Can be done with z80pack, it has 4 SIOs for the Z80, which bind to TCP/IP server sockets on the UNIX side. So the Z80 System can be reached over the network. I've used this to run a MP/M server on the internet, where one could telnet to one of the consoles, or use a CP/NET client.

All you need to do is copy the file net_server.conf from ~/z80pack-x.y/cpmsim/conf into the cpmsim directory, and edit the port settings. If you run cpmsim with the file in place, it will tell you that the sockets are open now, and you can connect to the system. Try it with MP/M and telnet to one of the ports to get a console.

Some BBS software then only needs to be configured for the I/O ports of one of the SIOs, see MP/M BIOS for example.

[trile...@gmail.com]

Sorry for the lack of clarity.

In brief, I want to be able to telnet into an RCP/M (probably RBBS, as that's what I'm familiar with) and telnet out with Mex or ZMP.

Something similar can be done with Renegade BBS and DOSBox ( see http://blog.mathewmullen.com/renegade-bbs-in-ubuntu-linux-telnetmulti-node/ )

Udo Monk wrote:

"Can be done with z80pack, it has 4 SIOs for the Z80, which bind to TCP/IP server sockets on the UNIX side.... Some BBS software then only needs to be configured for the I/O ports of one of the SIOs"

I know z80pack does that; I'll take a look at the MPM BIOS in the morning. But I'm assuming RBBS and Mex have to talk to something Hayes-compatible. Am I wrong?

--Nathanael

[Udo Munk]

On Friday, February 21, 2014 5:10:27 PM UTC+1, trile...@gmail.com wrote:
> In brief, I want to be able to telnet into an RCP/M (probably RBBS, as that's what I'm familiar with) and telnet out with Mex or ZMP.

If you telnet to a z80pack cpmsim running MP/M you'll get one of the consoles, and if a RBBS is running on that console, you can login in and use it.

One client TCP/IP socket also is available, I have used kermit on CP/M 2.2 to connect to an Internet kermit server, but one could connect to such a RBBS system too of course. A disk image with configured kermit source, that uses this client TCP/IP socket, is available.

> I know z80pack does that; I'll take a look at the MPM BIOS in the morning. But I'm assuming RBBS and Mex have to talk to something Hayes-compatible. Am I wrong?

I don't know what this RBBS software does, but it has to talk to some sort of SIO of course. And if it sends some modem strings probably can be configured too, a null modem would be good, because TCP/IP does all the connection stuff, no modem commands needed.

[Peter Dassow]

On 21.02.2014 08:06, Jon Saxton wrote:

> I'm not sure what you mean by a "virtual modem package". Nor is it
> clear to me what you are trying to connect:
>
> . linux to real computer
> . linux to emulated computer
> . emulated computer to real computer
>
> I suspect it is the first in which case you'll undoubtedly have two
> cables, one to connect to the computer as a terminal emulator and the
> other to connect to the computer's serial port.
>
> If this is the case then I can certainly help because I have just
> undertaken precisely the same exercise. See
> http://triton.vg/SecondLight.html
>
> I think the third pairing is pretty straightforward although I have not
> tried it myself. I am not sure the second is necessary; there are
> usually other solutions.
>

That's a Modem Emulator for Linux, afaik it transforms AT commands into
TCP/IP packets or similar (I didn't took a deeper view into it, sry):
http://www.jbrain.com/pub/linux/serial/

Regards
Peter

[Jon Saxton]

I mistook OP's intention. I thought he was resurrecting a physical
computer. Now I understand that the project is to put an emulated RCPM
online. In that context my response is meaningless.