This article was originally written by Nick in 2009 and in keeping with what I wanted to do in archiving all of these difficult to find how-to’s I figured I would post it here. If you find it helpful please go visit him and let him know!

Setting up Renegade with

NetFoss for Telnet under

XP

     [Settings]
     Command=c:rgnetfossnf.bat /n*N /h*H c:rgrenegade -n*N -Q -B115200
     StartPath=c:rg
     Port=23
     Nodes=256
     StartNode=1
     Debug=1
     View=Normal
     Log=net2bbs.log
     Semaphore=wait.sem
     KillList=kill.txt
     KillMsg=You are not welcome here.
     KillMsgFile=goaway.ans
     Editor=notepad.exe
     Resolve=1
     ResolveMsg=Resolving your IP Address, One moment...

@echo off
c:rgnetfossnetfoss.com %1
rem ** If running a non-door32.sys system, add a " %1" to end of above line **
if errorlevel 1 goto end
c:rgnetfossnetcom.exe %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
c:rgnetfossnetfoss.com /u
:end

Originally I wasn’t going to have any file areas. I changed my mind and while I don’t have the menu complete I have started adding file areas.

I also put in a couple more local doors now we are up to LORD, Usurper, Falcon’s Eye, BRE, Global Wars and Darkness. I intend on going interBBS eventually and will also add on a few more games as well.

You can access the BBS-Scene IRC server from the eXternal menu now.

A few more Fidonet echoes have become available and I will also be adding on more networks as time permits. If you don’t feel like messaging online I have installed the Bluewave QWK download door.

As always, if you have any problems or something isn’t working right feel free to contact me here. Leaving me a message on the board is OK but email is much faster and I will get it wherever I am.

I will have a couple more tutorials to post soon as well, of course specific to my system.

So I finally managed to get EleBBS working together with Fastecho and Radius! Very happy about it. Synchronet seems pretty cool and I’ll continue playing with it in a VM but my “production” board will continue to be ELE. I will eventually post my setup for anyone who is interested. Not that there are more than a handful of BBSes left but still…

I’ve also gotten a Fido node number. If you need to reach me that way you can send netmail to 1:3634/24. It’s up 24/7 and accepts crash.

After doing a lot of hunting I finally came across this guide and am putting it here for posterity. I did switch from Argus to Radius (an Argus Clone) and went through this guide exactly as spelled out and it’s working perfectly. Waiting now for a message back from the NC with a node number. The original guide can be found here. 

Updated 12/29/12 – I have also updated the bottom of the post a couple of items if you are in a multi-network situation.

Synchronet Setup For FidoNet

(Windows XP)

File names are BACKBONE and nodelist. As was explained to me by Rob Swindel the

author of Synchronet BBS. BACKBONE.NA is the North American BACKBONE FILE.

Make sure to contact your coordinator for the appropriate File Extension and or File.

Also you may talk to your coordinator about getting the current nodelist.%%% <- extension

is a number which changes with every release.

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The directions over at the SBBS wiki didn’t seem to work for me so I did some hunting and found the following instructions which allowed it to work using Netfoss:

Synchronet BBS 3.1x USAGE

Synchronet already has its own FOSSIL support, but using NetFoss in place
of the internal FOSSIL can allow DOS doors to run considerably faster,
often by a factor of 2 or more times faster then the internal speed, with
lower CPU usage. You can use NetFoss to run all or just some or all of
your door programs, and run others using the internal FOSSIL.

Synchronet can create a DOOR32.SYS file, but we do not suggest running
NetFoss in DOOR32.SYS mode because Synchronet is unable to create both a
DOOR32.SYS and a standard drop file at the same time. For this reason the
DOOR32.SYS mode should not be used at the time this guide was written.

Here is how to configure the “Legend Of The Red Dragon” door in Synchronet
3.10j using the Non-DOOR32.SYS mode:

Name LORD
Internal Code LORD
Start-up Directory C:SBBSXTRNLORD
Command Line c:sbbsnf.bat /N%# /H%H start.bat %#
Clean-up Command Line
Execution Cost None
Access Requirements
Execution Requirements
Multiple Concurrent Users Yes
Intercept Standard I/O No
Native (32-bit) Executable Yes
Use Shell to Execute No
Modify User Data No
Execute on Event No
Pause After Execution No
BBS Drop File Type GAP DOOR.SYS
Place Drop File In Node Directory
Time Options…

Notice that the Native (32-Bit) Executable option is enabled. This needs
to be turned on in order for Synchronet to not enable its own internal
FOSSIL driver. REPEAT – even though you are not using DOOR32.SYS as your
dropfile, Native (32-Bit) Executable must be enabled. Additionally, make
sure to change the command line to reflect the directory that you
installed NetFoss and the Start-up directory should either reflect where
your door is located if you don’t use a batch file to start the door, or
could have the startup directory point to your current node directory
where the dropfiles are created. (If you do the later, you should launch
the door with a batch file that first uses the CD command to Change the
Directory to where the door is located.

When using the Non-DOOR32.SYS mode, you must edit your NF.BAT file to add
the ” %1″ at the end of the second line, as explained earlier in this
document. Instructions can also be found in the NF.BAT.

Make sure to change the Command line in NF.BAT to reflect the directory
that you installed NetFoss in, and the Start-up directory should reflect
where your door is installed.

In the LORD door example above, the start.bat is the batch file located
in the Start-up Directory which actually runs this door game.

I mentioned yesterday that I needed a bit of help setting some things up. I still do but as I’ve searched I’ve found a wealth of information out there. Unfortunately there seems to be less and less as time goes by so I am going to try and repost some of it here and save for posterity. This site’s been up for almost 13 years now and I don’t plan on taking it down any time soon.  I’ve come across this tutorial in several places but I think it needs to be updated and also kept with setups for other stuff as well.

Graphical Setup Tutorial for Argus

by David Moufarrege HTML version of this document and low.res. images are made by Max Masyutin
Original version of this document is available in http://www.filegate.net/ipfn/i-util/ATUTHLP.ZIP

Modified slightly to remove dead links by Janis Kracht 03/17/03

Further modified by Richard Miles 11/14/2012 – I’ve hosted all of the images on my system here and linked to them rather than the original site. Argus is no longer supported or updated but most of the information below is still valid.

(more…)

So as I mentioned in an earlier post, the BBS is back online. You can access it through the links above and to the right OR via telnet at rmiles.myhomeseer.com

I am in the process of trying to get netmail back up and running in addition to echomail but seem to be having problems. Right now I’ve got EleBBS and Fastecho setup and can use either Radius or Argus as the mailer. I need someone who can help me troubleshoot.

From the board I can write a netmail (although EleBBS won’t let me access the nodelist for some reason). Exit the BBS and I run FASTECHO SCAN. It detects the netmail and pulls out a ?.msg leaving it in the EleBBS message base directory. FASTECHO PACK seems to do nothing.

It’s been 16 years or more since I had a BBS/Mailer/Tosser up and running and back then I used Renegade/Gecho/FrontDoor and ended up going to Proboard/Fastecho/Allfix/Maindoor. I have no frigging idea how I had it set up and don’t think I have access to the files anymore so that I could look at my config.

Any help would be appreciated.

I mentioned last week that I was going to put my Electronic Bulletin Board System (BBS) back online and I have done so. BBSes are old school, how we connected to each other BEFORE the web. Back in the day I ran a dial in system but today it’s telnet only. There are TWO ways you can get to the board to check it out. There are links to it on top of the page as well as over to the right. You can get to it there using a flash applet. The other way, if you are familiar with telnet is to get to it at telnet://rmiles.myhomeseer.com Port:23

I’ve still got a bunch of work to do on it but here are the details.

WinXP running in a virtual machine.
5-Nodes running EleBBS v0.09.g1 under Telsrv. If need be I may add nodes later. If it looks like something I will permanently keep on line I’ll also build a dedicated server for it.

No nets yet, a couple of local message bases. I will correct that very soon.
Two games for now, LORD and Usurper. I may add Falcon’s Eye later and will certainly take requests but I have found that it’s a lot more fun only hosting one or two games than having 100 of them with one person on each.

I will also NOT have any file areas. I may put some of the old BBS files back online via ftp but if so I will also be putting ads on there ti recoup the cost I will incur from the bandwidth. The BBS is hosted from my home but the webserver is NOT and I have to pay if I go over my bandwidth quota. As a matter of fact even though I hate them I may go ahead and add one to the top of the BBS page as well.

It’s been about 15 years since I had a board up and running so I’m a bit rusty. If something’s not working correctly, PLEASE let me know and I’ll get it fixed.

I mentioned something in my post the other day about how this web site got started as an electronic bulletin board system and started getting all sentimental so I am in the process of setting up a telnet/web bbs site. LOL.

It’ll take me a few days but I’ll have it online, door games and all, very soon. I’ll post links for all you old farts that remember how we used to connect…