Good afternoon All,

Are there any native Modem/Dialup support options available for Mystic? I'm looking to cater to a specific user base for vintage computer users wanting
to true experience of dial-up modems. I will be starting with 2 modems.

I've heard some people mentioning Frontdoor, TSPSER, and several others. I'm using Linux and I'd like it to be transparent and just work like my PCBoard
BBS did in the 90's.

Thanks in advance to anyone that has recommendations.

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS | 1984BBS.NET | Washington, DC (21:3/114)

I'm looking to cater to a specific user base for vintage computer users wanting to true experience of dial-up modems. I will be starting with 2

I have no answer for you, but I'm sad that the network is such that phone
calls likely travel over IP at some point, these days, so it's still somewhat different.

I doubt it'd be particularly different as an experience, but do not have the experience or second-hand knowledge to state anything.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Re: Modem/Dialup options for Mystic
By: dejavu to All on Mon Jun 15 2020 04:12 pm

Are there any native Modem/Dialup support options available for Mystic?

You probably need to use something like sexpots:

http://wiki.synchro.net/util:sexpots

You may even be able to use mgetty in some form - ie: once a connection is made, it calls "telnet" to get to the BBS...

...δεσ∩

... There are things that are so serious that you can only joke about them
--- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

On 16 Jun 2020, alterego said the following...

Re: Modem/Dialup options for Mystic
By: dejavu to All on Mon Jun 15 2020 04:12 pm

Are there any native Modem/Dialup support options available for Mysti

You probably need to use something like sexpots:

http://wiki.synchro.net/util:sexpots

You may even be able to use mgetty in some form - ie: once a connection
is made, it calls "telnet" to get to the BBS...

Thanks alterego, I appreciate the recommendation and I have sexpots on my
list.

...δεσ∩

... There are things that are so serious that you can only joke about
them --- SBBSecho 3.11-Linux
* Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS [1984bbs.net] Washington, DC (21:3/114)

Hello dejavu!

On 15 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

Are there any native Modem/Dialup support options available for Mystic?

I've heard some people mentioning Frontdoor, TSPSER, and several others. I'm using Linux and I'd like it to be transparent and just work like my PCBoard BBS did in the 90's.

I'm using mgetty which can handle incoming modem calls and also transfer FTN logins to e.g. ifcico for processing of incoming mail over dial-up.

The downside is that you will always get a login: prompt (albeit with an informative banner above it), requiring ordinary users to type in a username (e.g. "bbs", matching a local user account on your machine) before they get transferred to the BBS. The actual transfer is (at least in my case) made by way of a script launching telnet to a local port which the BBS listens on. And then the user will have to login to the BBS "as usual".

mgetty can also do some other things, e.g. handle fax calls.

I'd be glad to share my configs if you would go the mgetty way. :)

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/21 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

Re: Modem/Dialup options for Mystic
By: dejavu to All on Mon Jun 15 2020 04:12 pm

Good afternoon All,

Are there any native Modem/Dialup support options available for Mystic? I'm looking to cater to a specific user base for vintage computer users wanting to true experience of dial-up modems. I will be starting with 2 modems.

I've heard some people mentioning Frontdoor, TSPSER, and several others. I' using Linux and I'd like it to be transparent and just work like my PCBoard BBS did in the 90's.

Thanks in advance to anyone that has recommendations.

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS | 1984BBS.NET | Washington, DC (21:3/114)
■ Synchronet ■ fsxNet FTN<>QWK Gateway

I don't know about Mystic specifically, but you can probably do some mgetty trick. There are tutorials for accepting modem connections in Linux around... I'd say you can configure mgetty to call the BBS instance when accepting a modem connection.

---
■ Synchronet ■ Havens BBS havens.synchro.net
* Origin: fsxNet FTN<>QWK Gateway (21:4/10)

On 15 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

Are there any native Modem/Dialup support options available for Mystic?

I was looking at trying to get this working in Windows. I came across a utility aptly named Dialup-To-Telnet, which also referenced another piece of software named Argus. (https://www.randm.ca/bbs/dialup-to-telnet)

I didn't get too far as I couldn't even get the modems to connect let alone pass it to the BBS. I was using a cable phone line & a voip phone line
(ulaw) for testing. I got a CONNECT 9600 once and then a bunch of garbage after that.

That's when I decided that even if I could get the software configured, I wouldn't know what kind of phone line the other side would be using or what
the phone network looked like in between.

At work we have a postage machine that worked over phone lines, and it
suddenly stopped be able to reload postage one day. It turns out the fiber-optic phone company we used switched something on their end that caused it to stop working. No warning, no notice, they just flicked a switch one
day to break it. Our fax machines still worked, but not this piece of equipment.

For some reason the company decided to get a traditional copper POTS line instead of replacing the postage machine with one that worked over the internet. It's worked fine ever since.

I'm not about to pay $46.95 for one copper POTS line from Bell for my BBS.

Jay

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/06/11 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Northern Realms BBS | bbs.nrbbs.net | Binbrook, ON (21:3/110)

On 16 Jun 2020, Zip said the following...

Hello dejavu!

On 15 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

Are there any native Modem/Dialup support options available for Mysti

I've heard some people mentioning Frontdoor, TSPSER, and several othe I'm using Linux and I'd like it to be transparent and just work like PCBoard BBS did in the 90's.

I'm using mgetty which can handle incoming modem calls and also transfer FTN logins to e.g. ifcico for processing of incoming mail over dial-up.

The downside is that you will always get a login: prompt (albeit with an informative banner above it), requiring ordinary users to type in a username (e.g. "bbs", matching a local user account on your machine) before they get transferred to the BBS. The actual transfer is (at least in my case) made by way of a script launching telnet to a local port
which the BBS listens on. And then the user will have to login to the
BBS "as usual".

Hey Zip!

It sounds like mgetty is working out well for you, however prompting for a login prompt is going to be a deal breaker for me. I would like the process
to be seamless so the user just gets presented with the Mystic login prompt.

Still question, but have you ever attempted to see if the user authentication could be done in the background? As long as that's possible I'm sure mgetty would be a great solution.

mgetty can also do some other things, e.g. handle fax calls.

I'd be glad to share my configs if you would go the mgetty way. :)

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/21 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS [1984bbs.net] Washington, DC (21:3/114)

On 16 Jun 2020, Warpslide said the following...

On 15 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

Are there any native Modem/Dialup support options available for Mysti

I was looking at trying to get this working in Windows. I came across a utility aptly named Dialup-To-Telnet, which also referenced another
piece of software named Argus.
(https://www.randm.ca/bbs/dialup-to-telnet)

Hey Warpslide,
Thank you for the recommendation. I will check this out as well.

I didn't get too far as I couldn't even get the modems to connect let alone pass it to the BBS. I was using a cable phone line & a voip phone line (ulaw) for testing. I got a CONNECT 9600 once and then a bunch of garbage after that.

One suggestion I have is to use 1200 baud for your initial testing, it seems
to work very well.

That's when I decided that even if I could get the software configured, I wouldn't know what kind of phone line the other side would be using or what the phone network looked like in between.

At work we have a postage machine that worked over phone lines, and it suddenly stopped be able to reload postage one day. It turns out the fiber-optic phone company we used switched something on their end that caused it to stop working. No warning, no notice, they just flicked a switch one day to break it. Our fax machines still worked, but not this piece of equipment.

This was most likely caused by a codec change on the VoIP equipment. I've found the best codec to use for VoIP lines which disbles compression. More
to come on the compression topic when I get my dedicated line in for dialup users in the coming days.

For some reason the company decided to get a traditional copper POTS line instead of replacing the postage machine with one that worked over the Wa>

internet. It's worked fine ever since.

Wa> I'm not about to pay $46.95

for one copper POTS line from Bell for
my Wa> BBS.


The only comment I have is when the internet goes down that copper POTS line will still be up during war :) You'll still have a BBS online and passing mail if there are dial-up modem options on the mail hubs :)

Wa> Jay

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/06/11 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Northern Realms BBS | bbs.nrbbs.net | Binbrook, ON (21:3/110)

I'll be in touch with you when I have my dedicated VoIP number and modem attached to my BBS. I've built all the dialup testing around my old PCBoard BBS that answers the modem flawlessy and a POTS telephone simulator and a VoIP/Asterisks system to ensure that everything will work. When it's all
said and done I am going to perhaps try to find someone to publish an article on the subject and configuration settings.

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS [1984bbs.net] Washington, DC (21:3/114)

Thanks alterego, I appreciate the recommendation and I have sexpots on
my list.

I would second his recommendation. I have used it as a dial-up front-end
in the past for software other than Synchronet. It worked good when I
needed it.




... Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?
--- MultiMail
* Origin: Possum Lodge South * possumso.fsxnet.nz:7636/SSH:2122 (21:4/134)

On 16 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

One suggestion I have is to use 1200 baud for your initial testing, it seems to work very well.

Hmm, maybe I'll give it a try again. I did get a DID for my BBS & it's just sitting there. 1200bps though? *shudders*

This was most likely caused by a codec change on the VoIP equipment.
I've found the best codec to use for VoIP lines which disbles
compression. More to come on the compression topic when I get my dedicated line in for dialup users in the coming days.

Yeah, we used to be with a local cable provider. They were then gobbled up
by a national player & that's when all the changes started.

The only comment I have is when the internet goes down that copper POTS line will still be up during war :) You'll still have a BBS online and passing mail if there are dial-up modem options on the mail hubs :)

If we're preparing for war, I should get my HAM license & go packet radio, seeing as we're already at 1200 baud anyway. Then I don't even need to worry about copper! ;)

I'll be in touch with you when I have my dedicated VoIP number and modem attached to my BBS. I've built all the dialup testing around my old PCBoard BBS that answers the modem flawlessy and a POTS telephone simulator and a VoIP/Asterisks system to ensure that everything will
work. When it's all said and done I am going to perhaps try to find someone to publish an article on the subject and configuration settings.

I do have Telegard up & going - I should maybe test with that & see if I fare any better as it has built-in modem support. Dammit, now I have more work to do... ;)


Jay
... You tiny little lifeforms. You precious little lifeforms. Where are you?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/06/11 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Northern Realms BBS | bbs.nrbbs.net | Binbrook, ON (21:3/110)

On 16 Jun 2020, Blue White said the following...

Thanks alterego, I appreciate the recommendation and I have sexpots o my list.

I would second his recommendation. I have used it as a dial-up front-end in the past for software other than Synchronet. It worked good when I needed it.

Hey Blue White,
Thank you for the message. If I recall sexspots is a windows application and
I couldn't find linux support for it. I will take a look at it this evening and see if I can locate a linux build of it available.

... Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?
--- MultiMail
* Origin: Possum Lodge South * possumso.fsxnet.nz:7636/SSH:2122

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS [1984bbs.net] Washington, DC (21:3/114)

On 16 Jun 2020, Warpslide said the following...

On 16 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

One suggestion I have is to use 1200 baud for your initial testing, i seems to work very well.

Hmm, maybe I'll give it a try again. I did get a DID for my BBS & it's just sitting there. 1200bps though? *shudders*

Yeah, 1200bps just for a test. I found that I was having a really hard time at 9600bps, specifically with error correction and just getting constantly disconnected until I identified what was the root cause. More to come on
that soon.

Wa> de> This was most likely caused by a codec change on the
VoIP equipment. Wa> de> I've found the best codec to use for VoIP lines which disbles Wa> de> compression. More to come on the compression topic when I get my Wa> de> dedicated line in for dialup users in the coming
days. Wa>

Yeah, we used to be with a local cable provider. They were then gobbled up by a national player & that's when all the changes started.

The only comment I have is when the internet goes down that copper PO line will still be up during war :) You'll still have a BBS online passing mail if there are dial-up modem options on the mail hubs :)

If we're preparing for war, I should get my HAM license & go packet
radio, seeing as we're already at 1200 baud anyway. Then I don't even need to worry about copper! ;)

I just downloaded the last 365 days of mail in the Ham Radio section and
fired off about 10 messages regarding packet. After I add the modem for the dialup users that are requesting it, my next endeavor is to add a packet interface, perhaps with BPQ as someone else mentioned they are using. It
would be fantastic if all the Hub owners could add HF Packet support and we wouldn't need to rely on the (1984) Internet :)

Wa> de> I'll be in touch with
you when I have my dedicated VoIP number and mo Wa> de> attached to my BBS. I've built all the dialup testing around my old Wa> de> PCBoard BBS that answers the modem flawlessy and a POTS telephone Wa> de> simulator and a VoIP/Asterisks system to ensure that everything will Wa> de> work. When it's all said and done I am going to perhaps try to find Wa> de> someone to publish an article on the subject and configuration settin Wa>

I do have Telegard up & going - I should maybe test with that & see if I fare any better as it has built-in modem support. Dammit, now I have
more work to do... ;)

My apologizes for the additional work :) Have fun and let me know if 1200bps works for you, and that's just an initial test until you select a non-compressed codec on your VoIP adapter.

Jay
... You tiny little lifeforms. You precious little lifeforms. Where are you?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/06/11 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Northern Realms BBS | bbs.nrbbs.net | Binbrook, ON (21:3/110)

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS [1984bbs.net] Washington, DC (21:3/114)

Hello dejavu!

On 16 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

It sounds like mgetty is working out well for you, however prompting for
a login prompt is going to be a deal breaker for me. I would like the

Yes, it's a big disadvantage...

Still question, but have you ever attempted to see if the user authentication could be done in the background? As long as that's possible I'm sure mgetty would be a great solution.

I have looked through the options for it but so far haven't found anything there. Perhaps if one could insert something between it and the modem, auto-entering the username or so...

I'll let you know if I come up with something!

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/21 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

On 17 Jun 2020, Zip said the following...

Hello dejavu!

On 16 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

It sounds like mgetty is working out well for you, however prompting a login prompt is going to be a deal breaker for me. I would like th

Yes, it's a big disadvantage...

Still question, but have you ever attempted to see if the user authentication could be done in the background? As long as that's possible I'm sure mgetty would be a great solution.

I have looked through the options for it but so far haven't found
anything there. Perhaps if one could insert something between it and the modem, auto-entering the username or so...

I'll let you know if I come up with something!

Awesome! I will test it out one evening this week. Question for you, I understand when the Internet came around and telnet was introduced Mystic
must have decided to remove the dial-up modem support code, can't enough of
us request we would like that code added back in to support dial up modem, as
I know myself and many others are trying to make them have a vintage come
back in the vintage computing arena, it's causing everyone to use other BBS packages other than Mystic.

Other folks are chosing to use Synronet with 'Sexpots' as the front end
dialer. I'm also seeing other's use Front door and many others.

I'd love to hear yours and everyone else's feedback. I understand dialup modems are a thing of the past, however by alienating the vintage computer industry is just plain out not smart, every from that era are the original
BBS SysOp's from the 80's and 90's, we need native dialup support in Mystic...

I've come to like Mystic and I've put a ton of work into my BBS so far,
however without dialup support it doesn't meet my initial use case to support low speed dialup modems, teletypes, and packet radio. I might as well go back to PCBoard.

Comments, suggestions?

Zi> Best regards

Zip Zi>
--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/21 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS [1984bbs.net] Washington, DC (21:3/114)

Hello dejavu!

Thank you for your message!

On 17 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

must have decided to remove the dial-up modem support code, can't enough of us request we would like that code added back in to support dial up modem, as I know myself and many others are trying to make them have a

That would be nice, however I must admit that I'm not sure if Mystic had dial-up support initially or if it has always been Telnet/SSH based...

modems are a thing of the past, however by alienating the vintage
computer industry is just plain out not smart, every from that era are
the original BBS SysOp's from the 80's and 90's, we need native dialup support in Mystic...

I agree it's a nice thing to have! Probably I'll stick with mgetty+Mystic for now, but used to run FD+RA in the mid-90s. :)

Back to mgetty -- before "discovering" mgetty and all its niceties when it comes to detecting FTN calls (EMSI etc.) I created a bash script based modem handler (with accompanying systemd service configuration) for handling incoming calls and transferring those to Mystic using socat, which I think could work for you if FTN calls are not a priority.

Please feel free to grab the files here and adjust (COM port device names, user/group, init strings etc.) as needed:

https://scbbs.nsupdate.info/files/modem-frontend.zip

Enjoy! :)

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/21 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

On 16 Jun 2020, Blue White said the following...

Hey Blue White,
Thank you for the message. If I recall sexspots is a windows
application and I couldn't find linux support for it. I will take
a look at it this evening and see if I can locate a linux build of
it available.

No it is actually multi-arch, I think. I used it on a debian linux box.
IIRC, I had to compile it from source, but the source came with
synchronet. You can probably pull the source separate of synchronet as
well.

#

--- MagickaBBS v0.15alpha (Linux/armv7l)
* Origin: Possum Lodge South * possumso.fsxnet.nz:7636/SSH:2122 (21:4/134)

I agree it's a nice thing to have! Probably I'll stick with
mgetty+Mystic for now, but used to run FD+RA in the mid-90s. :)

Back to mgetty -- before "discovering" mgetty and all its niceties when
it comes to detecting FTN calls (EMSI etc.) I created a bash script
based modem handler (with accompanying systemd service configuration)
for handling incoming calls and transferring those to Mystic using
socat, which I think could work for you if FTN calls are not a priority.

Please feel free to grab the files here and adjust (COM port device
names, user/group, init strings etc.) as needed:

https://scbbs.nsupdate.info/files/modem-frontend.zip

Enjoy! :)

Best regards
Zip

Wow, that is a very impressive script you have there. I'd like to try it out as see if it works for me, it looks like it was created for RHEL or CentOS
from the directory names, I run Debian and I'm a little rusty right now,
after a long break and I'm not sure I could implement your code without requiring several stiff drinks and basic instructions.file :)

Also, I see in the script where it references a variable for the BBS's IP and the BBS's port number, however I don't see any any of the files where that variable is defined.

-Dejavu

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Linux/32)
* Origin: 1984 BBS [1984bbs.net] Washington, DC (21:3/114)

Hello dejavu!

On 17 Jun 2020, dejavu said the following...

it out as see if it works for me, it looks like it was created for RHEL
or CentOS from the directory names, I run Debian and I'm a little rusty

Actually it was created on a Debian 10.4 machine.

You will need the "liblockfile-bin" and "socat" packages installed and
perhaps something more.

right now, after a long break and I'm not sure I could implement your
code without requiring several stiff drinks and basic instructions.file
:)

:)

Here you go:

1. Put the files in place, the paths are in the ZIP file.

2. chown root:staff /usr/local/sbin/modem-frontend.sh

3. chmod 0755 /usr/local/sbin/modem-frontend.sh

4. Rename the /etc/systemd/system/modem-frontend@ttyUSB0.service.d directory
to match some part of the name of your modem device, e.g. if your modem is /dev/modem you might want to:
mv /etc/systemd/system/modem-frontend@ttyUSB0.service.d \ /etc/systemd/system/modem-frontend@modem.service.d

This is to allow for different configuration for different devices (modems),
if you have multiple modems.

5. Edit /etc/systemd/system/modem-frontend@<your modem device shortname>.service.d/local.conf:

5a. Set User= and Group= to a user on your system used for BBS stuff, i.e.
not a highly privileged user. You might even want to try User=nobody and Group=nobody to see if that would work.

5b. Change the Environment=... lines to match your configuration, e.g.
specify your modem device, serial port speed and other stuff. The defaults
are under the "CONFIGURATION" heading in /usr/local/sbin/modem-frontend.sh;
you only need to set environment variables for the things you want to change.

NOTE: The modem init string needs to tell the modem to auto-answer; modem-frontend.sh doesn't actually send an answer command (ATA).

6. Make systemd aware of your changes:
systemctl daemon-reload

7. Try starting it:
systemctl start modem-frontend@<your modem device shortname>
...e.g.:
systemctl start modem-frontend@modem

8. Check the output:
systemctl status modem-frontend@<your modem device shortname>
...e.g.:
systemctl status modem-frontend@modem

9. In case of failure, stop the service:
systemctl stop modem-frontend@<your modem device shortname>
...e.g.:
systemctl stop modem-frontend@modem
...and try to figure out what the error could be.

10. If all is OK, set the service to auto-start at boot time:
systemctl enable modem-frontend@<your modem device shortname>
...e.g.:
systemctl enable modem-frontend@modem

The systemd stuff is because Debian switched to systemd a while back instead
of using traditional /etc/init.d scripts for services.

It's good to know that modem-frontend.sh will complain about the incoming
RINGs as "unknown" (it is waiting for CONNECT); this is known and OK. :)

Also, I see in the script where it references a variable for the BBS's de>

IP and the BBS's port number, however I don't see any any of the files de> where that variable is defined.

The defaults are under the "CONFIGURATION" heading at the beginning of the script, i.e. 127.0.0.1 as IP and 2323 as port.

If one doesn't set the environment variables BBS_HOST or BBS_PORT in the systemd files the scripts uses the defaults.

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/21 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)