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Age of Reason BBS

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Gene Buckle

unread,
Mar 25, 2011, 9:57:10 AM3/25/11
to comp.sys.apple2
To: comp.sys.apple2
Due to the number of folks that have contacted me wondering where the board
went, I've decided to put Age of Reason back online.

For those that don't know what I'm talking about, Age of Reason is a telnet
accessable BBS that's running on an Enhanced Apple IIe, using GBBS Pro as the
host software. AoR also features the adventure game Land of Spur, as it was
when last run on the Tacoma, WA BBS Dura Europos in the late 80's.

I use a tweaked copy of Jim Brain's tcpser[*] running on a Windows 2008 server
to handle the TCP/IP end of things. The IIe thinks it's talking to a 2400 baud
Smartmodem. :)

There is a small glitch in the hang-up routine - when you sign off, you'll
see the board start sending a modem init string. At that point, just close the
telnet session. I suspect I broke something when playing with the configuration
last night and I'll look into fixing that as soon as I can.

Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy the system!

Age of Reason: telnet://aor.retroarchive.org


g.
* - The software needed to send a IAC WILLDO ECHO telnet negotiation sequence
in order to prevent many telnet programs from handling local echo - without it,
yyoouudd ggeett oouuttppuutt lliikkee tthhiiss wwhheenn yyoouu entered
text.

--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.simpits.org/geneb - The Me-109F/X Project

ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://www.scarletdme.org - Get it _today_!

Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical
minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which
holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd
by the clean end.
--- Synchronet 3.15a-Win32 NewsLink 1.91
The Retro Archive - telnet://bbs.retroarchive.org

D Finnigan

unread,
Mar 25, 2011, 10:31:22 AM3/25/11
to
Gene Buckle wrote:
> To: comp.sys.apple2
> Due to the number of folks that have contacted me wondering where the
board
> went, I've decided to put Age of Reason back online.
>

Yay for peer pressure. :-)

I have account number 30. Logging in ... right now.

--
Mac GUI Vault - A source for retro Apple II and
Macintosh computing.
http://macgui.com/vault/

datajerk

unread,
Mar 26, 2011, 1:07:32 PM3/26/11
to
On Mar 25, 7:57 am, "Gene Buckle"

<gene.buc...@bbs.retroarchive.org.remove-nx0-this> wrote:
>   To: comp.sys.apple2
> Due to the number of folks that have contacted me wondering where the board
> went, I've decided to put Age of Reason back online.
>
> For those that don't know what I'm talking about, Age of Reason is a telnet
> accessable BBS that's running on an Enhanced Apple IIe, using GBBS Pro as the
> host software.  AoR also features the adventure game Land of Spur, as it was
> when last run on the Tacoma, WA BBS Dura Europos in the late 80's.
>
> I use a tweaked copy of Jim Brain's tcpser[*] running on a Windows 2008 server
> to handle the TCP/IP end of things.  The IIe thinks it's talking to a 2400 baud
> Smartmodem. :)
>
> There is a small glitch in the hang-up routine - when you sign off, you'll
> see the board start sending a modem init string.  At that point, just close the
> telnet session.  I suspect I broke something when playing with the configuration
> last night and I'll look into fixing that as soon as I can.
>
> Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy the system!
>
> Age of Reason: telnet://aor.retroarchive.org
>
> g.
> * - The software needed to send a IAC WILLDO ECHO telnet negotiation sequence
> in order to prevent many telnet programs from handling local echo - without it,
> yyoouudd  ggeett  oouuttppuutt  lliikkee  tthhiiss  wwhheenn  yyoouu  entered
> text.
>
> --
> Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007http://www.f15sim.com- The only one of its kind.http://www.simpits.org/geneb- The Me-109F/X Project

>
> ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
> A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.http://www.scarletdme.org- Get it _today_!

>
> Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical
> minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which
> holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd
> by the clean end.
> --- Synchronet 3.15a-Win32 NewsLink 1.91
> The Retro Archive - telnet://bbs.retroarchive.org

I posted about your BBS today including screen animations and
instructions on how to get "online".

Thanks!

http://jerkwerks.com/?p=1003

Gene Buckle

unread,
Mar 28, 2011, 10:04:46 AM3/28/11
to datajerk
To: datajerk

datajerk wrote:
> I posted about your BBS today including screen animations and
> instructions on how to get "online".
> Thanks!
> http://jerkwerks.com/?p=1003

Hehe. That's great! Thanks for writing that up! The animation was great. :)

g.


--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007

http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.simpits.org/geneb - The Me-109F/X Project

ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.

http://www.scarletdme.org - Get it _today_!

D Finnigan

unread,
Apr 6, 2011, 6:52:33 PM4/6/11
to
Gene Buckle wrote:
> There is a small glitch in the hang-up routine - when you sign off, you'll
> see the board start sending a modem init string. At that point, just
close
> the
> telnet session. I suspect I broke something when playing with the
> configuration
> last night and I'll look into fixing that as soon as I can.
>

I'm getting trouble connecting:

Last login: Wed Apr 6 17:42:45 on console
15831lab:~ root$ telnet aor.retroarchive.org
Trying 75.145.20.98...
Connected to aor.retroarchive.org.
Escape character is '^]'.
ATXtS0t1&21&02Sb=128
TX3 =1&C &D S2E=1t8
TXX_S0_1& 1&/2S2= 28_AT 3S0=_&C_&D_S2=1j8
ATX S0e1&C1yD2 2=E28Te3Sf=1&Cs&D S2]128
rTX3S0=1&S2=1m82= 28ATX3a0=1&l1&D2e2=c28 ATo3Se=1&C1&D2l2=n28

Gene Buckle

unread,
Apr 11, 2011, 11:49:22 AM4/11/11
to dog_cow
To: dog_cow
dog_cow wrote:
> From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2

>
> Gene Buckle wrote:
>> There is a small glitch in the hang-up routine - when you sign off, you'll
>> see the board start sending a modem init string. At that point, just
> close
>> the
>> telnet session. I suspect I broke something when playing with the
>> configuration
>> last night and I'll look into fixing that as soon as I can.
>>
>
> I'm getting trouble connecting:
>
> Last login: Wed Apr 6 17:42:45 on console
> 15831lab:~ root$ telnet aor.retroarchive.org
> Trying 75.145.20.98...
> Connected to aor.retroarchive.org.
> Escape character is '^]'.
> ATXtS0t1&21&02Sb=128
> TX3 =1&C &D S2E=1t8
> TXX_S0_1& 1&/2S2= 28_AT 3S0=_&C_&D_S2=1j8
> ATX S0e1&C1yD2 2=E28Te3Sf=1&Cs&D S2]128
> rTX3S0=1&S2=1m82= 28ATX3a0=1&l1&D2e2=c28 ATo3Se=1&C1&D2l2=n28
>
Yep. I went on vacation and a day later the board lost its mind. :)

It's been restarted and seems to be ok.

Moose

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Jul 27, 2012, 8:38:39 PM7/27/12
to
> The Retro Archive - telnet://bbs.retroarchive.org
> Yep. I went on vacation and a day later the board lost its mind. :)

I'm trying to connect but can't. Is the BBS still online ? Hope the board hasn't "lost it's mind" again, or worse still, "pinin' for the fjords". ;)

Moose

Apple2Games

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Jul 28, 2012, 10:18:23 AM7/28/12
to

> I'm trying to connect but can't. Is the BBS still online ? Hope the board hasn't "lost it's mind" again, or worse still, "pinin' for the fjords". ;)

I had tried about two weeks ago but couldn't connect.

Gene Buckle

unread,
Aug 2, 2012, 5:30:22 PM8/2/12
to Apple2Games
To: Apple2Games
Apple2Games wrote:
> From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2
>
>
>> I'm trying to connect but can't. Is the BBS still online ? Hope the board hasn't "lost it's mind" again, or worse still, "pinin' for the fjords". ;)
>
> I had tried about two weeks ago but couldn't connect.

Sorry folks, I finally pulled the plug on it and turned the hardware over to
a friend of mine. I didn't have the time that the board really needed.

I'll get something online to replace it eventually, but it won't be on an
Apple II.

g.
--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home.
Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.

ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://www.scarletdme.org - Get it _today_!

Buying desktop hardware and installing a server OS doesn't make a
server-class system any more than sitting in a puddle makes you a duck.
[Cipher in a.s.r]
--- Synchronet 3.15a-Win32 NewsLink 1.91

Moose

unread,
Aug 2, 2012, 8:06:31 PM8/2/12
to
On Friday, 3 August 2012 07:30:22 UTC+10, Gene Buckle wrote:
> Sorry folks, I finally pulled the plug on it and turned the hardware over to
> a friend of mine. I didn't have the time that the board really needed.
>
> I'll get something online to replace it eventually, but it won't be on an
> Apple II.

Perfectly understandable Gene. :) Thank you for keeping the dream alive as long as possible. :) Look forward to your next BBS. :)

Jason Scott's BBS Documentary has really re-lit the BBS fire inside me and the Get Lamp text adventure documentary has relit the text adventure fire inside me .... These documentaries are really incredibly dangerous ! All of a sudden you are back to 20+ years ago, and you start thinking of resurrecting / re-living things .... Any free time you had can quickly be soaked up ... ;)

If anyone else is interested in BBS's (and there's quite a few here ;), and is thinking of setting up a BBS, Synchronet is great and free web BBS software that is telnet-able:

http://www.synchro.net/
http://wiki.synchro.net/resource:doors

And here's a terrific BBS using Synchronet (stacks of doors, etc)
telnet://convolution.us

I played quite a lot of Axe & Fang (text adventure) on Convolution the other day, and this together with Jason Scott's Get Lamp documentary have inspired me to resurrect my old Text Adventure engine / code and I am now updating it (adding lots of extra functionality) and starting to develop some text adventures (all done in Pascal, so I should be able to transfer these to pascal on the Apple ][).

Moose

Lon Seidman

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Aug 3, 2012, 3:38:37 PM8/3/12
to
On Thursday, August 2, 2012 8:06:31 PM UTC-4, Moose wrote:
> If anyone else is interested in BBS's (and there's quite a few here ;), and is thinking of setting up a BBS, Synchronet is great and free web BBS software that is telnet-able:
> http://www.synchro.net/
>
> http://wiki.synchro.net/resource:doors
>

I have an extra Apple IIe and an older CFFA sitting around. I am totally up for setting up an Apple II telnet accessible BBS. I've been having a really tough time getting the serial interface working though. I have a USB serial adapter for a PC that is just not talking with the IIe's serial interface properly.

Anyone have any pointers or hardware I can look at to get this thing up and running?

ke...@hackaday.com

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Aug 4, 2012, 3:13:11 AM8/4/12
to
USB serial devices are seriously hit and miss with real RS232 equipped devices, might be better off getting a ~20 buck PCI card with 2 serial ports and a printer port ... though those can be sketchy as well

What I have encountered in most usb serial products that dont work is the thing is running off of 3.3 volts to avoid having to shift the voltages from a 5 volt part (USB signals are ~3v with a 5v power).

Heck I even got a USB to TTL serial device based on a microchip MCP2000 that claimed total 5 volt compatibility out of the box, set to 3v and would not work with any of my 5 volt embedded systems. Remove a regulator, patch a couple wires and it works fine for those, but what a pain in the butt, boiled down to misunderstanding ... now elevate that to +- 12v inverted signals and ...

BLuRry

unread,
Aug 4, 2012, 6:34:22 PM8/4/12
to
If you don't care about running the original hardware, I'll have Hayes Micromodem support to get DiversiDial working in Jace in the near future. Novation Cat might be another possibility, but it won't be a full Cat emulation given how much those boards could do!

-B

Gene Buckle

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Aug 6, 2012, 11:00:06 AM8/6/12
to Moose
To: Moose
Moose wrote:
> From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2
>
> On Friday, 3 August 2012 07:30:22 UTC+10, Gene Buckle wrote:
>> Sorry folks, I finally pulled the plug on it and turned the hardware over to
>> a friend of mine. I didn't have the time that the board really needed.
>>
>> I'll get something online to replace it eventually, but it won't be on an
>> Apple II.
> Perfectly understandable Gene. :) Thank you for keeping the dream alive as long as possible. :) Look forward to your next BBS. :)

You're quite welcome. It was a lot of fun to run. The next one I put online
will be older (both softward & hardware) than the Apple IIe. :)

Gene Buckle

unread,
Aug 6, 2012, 11:04:54 AM8/6/12
to
To: Lon Seidman
Lon wrote:
> From Newsgroup: comp.sys.apple2
I would recommend BBS Server - it's a nice little windows app that does the
same job as tcpser. I tweaked my copy of tcpser to issue a telnet negotiation
sequence to turn off local echo (IAC WILLDO ECHO) to keep things like tthhiiss
from happening. :)

If BBS Server also has this issue, let me know and I can fix it and drop a new
build for you (just email me directly). If you follow the wiring diagram for
the null modem adapter in the BBS Server (or tcpser) docs, you should be just
fine.

Egan Ford

unread,
Aug 7, 2012, 11:50:50 AM8/7/12
to
On 8/3/12 1:38 PM, Lon Seidman wrote:
> Anyone have any pointers or hardware I can look at to get this thing up and running?

Have you considered a cheap single port terminal server? I picked up a
used Lantronix MSS1-T 10baseT/DB25 single port terminal server from eBay
for $10. This way you do not have to enslave a PC and it consumes a lot
less power.

Wayne A. Arthurton

unread,
Aug 7, 2012, 7:43:50 PM8/7/12
to
I have been able to run a BBS on KEGS using their serial port -> TCP port emulation. It was a rough test, but worked very well.

addre...@invalid.invalid

unread,
Aug 11, 2012, 10:59:48 PM8/11/12
to
"Gene Buckle" <gene....@bbs.retroarchive.org.remove-11iy-this> wrote:

> I would recommend BBS Server - it's a nice little windows app that does the
> same job as tcpser. I tweaked my copy of tcpser to issue a telnet negotiation
> sequence to turn off local echo (IAC WILLDO ECHO) to keep things like tthhiiss
> from happening. :)
>
> If BBS Server also has this issue, let me know and I can fix it and drop a new
> build for you (just email me directly). If you follow the wiring diagram for
> the null modem adapter in the BBS Server (or tcpser) docs, you should be just
> fine.


Thanks I'll check it out!

Lon Seidman

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Aug 12, 2012, 7:24:39 PM8/12/12
to
I found a couple of those serial servers on Ebay and they're on their way. Any suggestions for what software I should run? I'm not sure what's out there that's truly public domain these days.

Sean Fahey

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Aug 12, 2012, 9:24:09 PM8/12/12
to
On Sunday, August 12, 2012 6:24:39 PM UTC-5, Lon Seidman wrote:

> I found a couple of those serial servers on Ebay and they're on their way. Any suggestions for what software I should run? I'm not sure what's out there that's truly public domain these days.

>>>

ProLine - http://www.morgandavis.net/blog/2009/08/09/proline/

Not PD, but free to use. Other options are the Alfa/Prime stuff.

http://software.bbsdocumentary.com/APPLE/II/PRIME/

I'm a little ignorant concerning GBBS, METAL etc. status.

addre...@invalid.invalid

unread,
Aug 14, 2012, 7:55:39 AM8/14/12
to
I will look for one! Thanks for the tip.

marco oriani

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Aug 14, 2012, 12:24:47 PM8/14/12
to
I tried with GBBS and it worked! It didn't worked with Proline though.

Lon Seidman

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Aug 19, 2012, 2:18:18 AM8/19/12
to
Hi all,

So I have the serial adapter in hand, now I'm just waiting on a serial cable to get everything hooked up. I was shocked to learn I didn't actually have a serial cable in my huge rats nest of old gear in my basement.

I did have a question about how to get the BBS software to assume the MSS1-T is a modem.. Is there a way to have the serial server pass along a "CONNECT 2400" or whatever to the BBS software so it knows to do its thing upon a successful connection?

-Lon

Egan Ford

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Aug 19, 2012, 9:57:41 AM8/19/12
to
It'd probably be easier to hack the BBS software to accept what ever
connect string the MSS1-T sends (if any).

Lon Seidman

unread,
Aug 19, 2012, 4:31:29 PM8/19/12
to
On Sunday, August 19, 2012 9:57:41 AM UTC-4, Egan Ford wrote:
> It'd probably be easier to hack the BBS software to accept what ever
>
> connect string the MSS1-T sends (if any).

It unfortunately doesn't send much of anything, I'm going to keep tinkering as I think I still have some cabling issues to troubleshoot. But advice from anyone with experience with one of these telnet servers would be appreciated!

Egan Ford

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Aug 20, 2012, 9:38:44 AM8/20/12
to
If you can send me a link to the software you are using I can take a
shot at it. My experience with terminal servers have be limited to UNIX
machines where a telnet connection sets DTR high and a disconnect sets
DTR low. The low signal sends a SIGHUP to UNIX and logs out the user.
It should be possible to write or find BBS software that can use DTR.

I have to imagine that the author of a BBS package would start with a
null modem connection and simply use DTR for development.

addre...@invalid.invalid

unread,
Aug 22, 2012, 10:53:28 PM8/22/12
to
Egan Ford <data...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> If you can send me a link to the software you are using I can take a shot
> at it. My experience with terminal servers have be limited to UNIX
> machines where a telnet connection sets DTR high and a disconnect sets
> DTR low. The low signal sends a SIGHUP to UNIX and logs out the user. It
> should be possible to write or find BBS software that can use DTR.
>
> I have to imagine that the author of a BBS package would start with a
> null modem connection and simply use DTR for development.

I haven't yet settled on a package but I think I'm going to go with
proline. Weekend project :)

Sean Fahey

unread,
Aug 23, 2012, 4:38:45 PM8/23/12
to
On Wednesday, August 22, 2012 9:53:28 PM UTC-5, (unknown) wrote:

> I haven't yet settled on a package but I think I'm going to go with
> proline. Weekend project :)

Y2K patch

http://www.darsys.net/proline.html

Lon Seidman

unread,
Aug 25, 2012, 4:21:16 PM8/25/12
to
On Thursday, August 23, 2012 4:38:45 PM UTC-4, Sean Fahey wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 22, 2012 9:53:28 PM UTC-5, (unknown) wrote:
> http://www.darsys.net/proline.html

Thanks for that. Anyone have any tips for getting this to work with a telnet server? Specifically what modem driver I should use ?

Egan Ford

unread,
Aug 25, 2012, 11:36:06 PM8/25/12
to
On 8/25/12 2:21 PM, Lon Seidman wrote:
> Specifically what modem driver I should use ?

Null modem? One that detects DTR.

Lon Seidman

unread,
Aug 29, 2012, 3:15:52 PM8/29/12
to
Doesn't look like there's a null modem driver on my Proline installation. Anyone have one out there? There is something called 'modem emulator' but that doesn't seem to transact any data with the serial port.
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