Hi folks,

I've got a lovable old 386 box here that I'm using for BBSing and other purposes by way of a wifi232 device (basically: wifi over serial, it emulates
a modem and goes out via telnet).

Something I've encountered is that a number of DOS terminal apps (so far, ProComm Plus, Telix, QModemPro show this) attempt to be too smart by half
when it comes to "dialing" and not let you send arbitrary characters as "numbers" to dial.

For instance, to call into Vertrauen, you'd send the "modem" the command ATDTvert.synchro.net:23. If this is done in terminal mode (communicating directly with the modem), then all is well.

However, if you try to use the phonebook function of these apps, then the
dial string gets mangled.

The only other app I've been able to use that behaves is Kermit, but I'm
really not a fan of its interface.

Are there any other decent pure DOS bbs clients that work with "modems" but don't try to be overly clever regarding what they're told to dial?

thanks!

Re: Wifi232 on a retro PC
By: Karu to All on Sat Feb 13 2021 09:05 pm

Hi folks,

I've got a lovable old 386 box here that I'm using for BBSing and other purposes by way of a wifi232 device (basically: wifi over serial, it emulates
a modem and goes out via telnet).

Something I've encountered is that a number of DOS terminal apps (so far, ProComm Plus, Telix, QModemPro show this) attempt to be too smart by half when it comes to "dialing" and not let you send arbitrary characters as "numbers" to dial.

For instance, to call into Vertrauen, you'd send the "modem" the command ATDTvert.synchro.net:23. If this is done in terminal mode (communicating directly with the modem), then all is well.

However, if you try to use the phonebook function of these apps, then the dial string gets mangled.

Maybe try removing the ":23" portion?

The only other app I've been able to use that behaves is Kermit, but I'm really not a fan of its interface.

Are there any other decent pure DOS bbs clients that work with "modems" but don't try to be overly clever regarding what they're told to dial?

I have a Wifi232 adapter with modem emulation firmware that allows for phone number aliases (e.g. ATP"5551212=q-link.net:5190") and then you can enter just "5551212" in your dialing directory. Here are the docs for the wifi modem I'm talking about:
https://commodore.software/downloads/send/557-c64net-wifi/11471-c64net-wifi-firmware-3-1-docs

Maybe yours has a similar feature?
--
digital man

Sling Blade quote #23:
Karl: I reckon I'm gonna have to get used to looking at pretty people.
Norco, CA WX: 49.4°F, 86.0% humidity, 0 mph SSW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs

Re: Wifi232 on a retro PC
By: Digital Man to Karu on Sat Feb 13 2021 10:19 pm

Maybe try removing the ":23" portion?

No such luck. I was able to see what Qmodem thinks it was doing, and while th :23 is optional, what's actually getting dialed when I call for "vert.synchro.net" is something like "vrt.syncr.nt:23"

Maybe yours has a similar feature?

I was able to abuse the speed dial system like you suggested. This partiuclar modem doesn't have the arbitrary phone number thing, but it does have 10 speed dial slots, so that'll work in the meantime. I had a peek at the source code for this one (http://github.com/ssshke/vintage-computer-wifi-modm) and it looks pretty straightforward.. I might just hack on it and add this ability :)

And with that, we've got the perfect 90s BBSing machine!

Only thing to figure out is why all the terminal apps seem to think I'm "offline" even after successfully calling out. It's probably something silly like DSR/DTR not being configured or asserted.

Either way, ty for the pointer. Glad to see the man behind Sync is still aroun :)

No such luck. I was able to see what Qmodem thinks it was doing, and
while th :23 is optional, what's actually getting dialed when I call
for "vert.synchro.net" is something like "vrt.syncr.nt:23"

Maybe yours has a similar feature?

Qmodem is interpreting AT commands while dialing from its phone book (ie. "e", "h", "o" are all Hayes compatible commands which is why the dialer interprets them as invalid digits). However when Qmodem is in command mode, no translation occurs (as expected (which allows people to customise a dial sequence such as "AT H0E0V1 DT vert.synchro.net:23" (ie. attention, onhook, echo off, verbose result codes, dialtone, number))).

You will need to use some kind of translation table to convert a phone number to a DNS or IP address (this must be supported by the modem device you are using).

I conduct all my BBS activities in Oracle VirtualBox and use virtual modems (eg. COM/IP and NetSerial).

COM/IP uses an prescribed telephone number format that does the translation (eg. "71.95.196.34:23" can be aliased as "07109519603400023" (ie. zero-padded octets with zero-padded 5-digit port suffix)).

NetSerial can be configured to use a translation table (eg. "c:\bbs\phone_book.txt"):

=====================================
719519634,vert.synchro.net,23
=====================================

will interecept any ATD (dial) command for "719519634" and make the necessary string substitutions.

Only thing to figure out is why all the terminal apps seem to think
I'm "offline" even after successfully calling out. It's probably
something silly like DSR/DTR not being configured or asserted.
Either way, ty for the pointer. Glad to see the man behind Sync is
still aroun :)

Try including "&C1&D2" in your modem initialisation string ("&C1" - DCD signal to indicate the true state of the remote carrier signal; "&D2" - causes the modem to close an active connection and return to command mode when the DTR signal is changed from ON to OFF).

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

Something I've encountered is that a number of DOS terminal apps (so
far, ProComm Plus, Telix, QModemPro show this) attempt to be too smart
by half when it comes to "dialing" and not let you send arbitrary characters as "numbers" to dial.

What version of Telix are you using ? because Telix 3.51 can dial "vert.synchro.net" from the phone book.

Terminate 5.00 also works.

However both Telix and Terminate have a phone number character limit in the phone book entry (25 characters) (so you will not be able to put something like "binarydreamsbbs.ddns.net:53412" in their phone books).

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30