• Newbie Questions

    From The Godfather@21:1/111 to All on Sun Apr 12 19:44:12 2020
    Hey All,

    Setting up my first BBS in over 20 years. I ran WWIV, now modding a Mystic BBS.

    Couple of likely dumb questions but frankly, I couldn't find on the Wiki Page.

    1. I'm runing Windows, not Linux. Does someone have a sample batch file or commands that launch the servers and BBS? While I can manually type the command in to activate the server, I am unable to figure out how to load a sysop view/menu that allows me to watch the activity of the BBS, chat with users, answer pages, upgrade their access while online, etc.. Any assistance would be appreciated.
    2. I had my telnet up and running perfectly. I have my URL host forwarding to my IP address, set that IP address in Mystic, and it worked perfect for two days. When I try to telnet in, I get nada. I'm assuming my router must be changing IP addresses? Or am I missing someting? I have my router set to
    port forwarding, etc... Nothings changed there. I am however using one IP address for all of the household activity, and I am unclear if my kids streaming activity would merit different settings for the BBS?
    3. There used to be a .GIF to ANSI converter years ago that worked well enough to use as a starting point for artwork. I don't have talent these days to create the ANSI I used to. If such a utility is not out there, is there "free to use" art avaiable on the file servers to download?

    Any assistance would be much appreciated. The mods and menu enhancements are coming along just fine....

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Another Droid BBS # andr01d.zapto.org:9999 (21:1/111)
  • From SirRonmit@21:2/120 to The Godfather on Tue Apr 14 16:55:57 2020
    I am running on a Windows 7 32-bit Virtual Machine, and here is what I did:
    1. Simply add a shortcut to your START menu. This way, whenever the computer boots up, the server will run for you. Worst part can be if you suffer a power glitch and the computer reboots without first shutting down the server, it leaves an instance (say a lock file) in place and you have to manually delete that (I just use a batch file within my autoexec.bat file for this).
    The shortcut should be something like, "C:\MYSTIC\MIS.EXE SERVER". Just make sure the Drive and Folders match your own (I never run programs from my C:
    for my BBS'.
    If you want to manually copy & paste a shortcut to that STARTUP folder, just paste the "C:\mystic\mis.exe server" shortcut (you can google how to create a shortcut if you need) into your "C:\User\YOURNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" folder.

    2. I had the same problem at first as well. Once my router kicked in, I had
    to manually enter my telnet port to my dialup program (I use NetRunner). eg.
    I run my BBS on port 62323 (because my ISP blocks 23 & 2323 from the outside world).
    I use my internal IP from NetRunner to access my BBS (you can always access
    it locally if you are on the machine that is actually running the BBS) Again,
    I use a virtual machine under a linux-based system on a server down in the basement myself. eg. 192.168.1.75:62323 .. that same telnet port is
    accessible from outside the house from my tablet & cell phone (but I had to change the IP to my cable modem IP (eg. 68.69.120.1:62323).

    3. I, too, also had a great program for converting .GIF to .ANSi back in the day. My 3.5" floppy failed, so I can't access it and can no longer find it on the Internet. I tried those free online converters, but did not like the outcome.

    If you have questions, just ask.

    Tim N
    admin@f4fbbs.com

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A44 2020/01/16 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Files 4 Fun BBS (21:2/120)
  • From The Godfather@21:1/111 to SirRonmit on Wed Apr 15 14:44:33 2020
    Thanks for the tips, I had not thought about adding a batchfile to startup.
    I solved the telnet issue by setting my computer to a static IP, and setting a DCHP reservation within my router to the IP address. Everythings running smoothly now.

    Now on to figuring out how to install python to run mod scripts installed in
    my themes/scripts directory. I installed the weather mod, so this will be a fun learning day!

    Thanks again.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
    * Origin: Another Droid BBS # andr01d.zapto.org:9999 (21:1/111)
  • From HSM@21:2/162 to SirRonmit on Wed Apr 15 13:09:38 2020
    On 14 Apr 2020, SirRonmit said the following...
    3. I, too, also had a great program for converting .GIF to .ANSi back in the day. My 3.5" floppy failed, so I can't access it and can no longer find it on the Internet. I tried those free online converters, but did
    not like the outcome.


    If you ever find it holler! I remember using a great program that resulted
    in great ansi's. I've tried everything I can find now and nothing works well.

    -=- Gary aka HSM -=-
    -=TheFreeSpeak.com=-

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/04/11 (Windows/64)
    * Origin: -=- TheFreeSpeak.com -=- Pittsburgh, PA -=- (21:2/162)
  • From SirRonmit@21:2/120 to The Godfather on Wed Apr 15 12:16:24 2020
    Thanks for the tips, I had not thought about adding a batchfile to

    Now on to figuring out how to install python to run mod scripts

    Sounds good!

    I work 2-days on 2-days off due to the current world-wide epidemic. Feel free to ask away - if I am unavailable, there are some very awesome guys on here that are full of knowledge :)

    Tim N
    admin@f4fbbs.com

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A44 2020/01/16 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Files 4 Fun BBS (21:2/120)
  • From FreshRich@21:2/166 to HSM on Wed Apr 22 01:15:20 2020
    3. I, too, also had a great program for converting .GIF to .ANSi back the day. My 3.5" floppy failed, so I can't access it and can no longe find it on the Internet. I tried those free online converters, but di not like the outcome.


    If you ever find it holler! I remember using a great program that resulted in great ansi's. I've tried everything I can find now and nothing works well.

    I think it's called AnsiRez. ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/mirrors/artpacks/programs/dos/editors/ansirez1.zip

    or maybe AnsiConvert: ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/mirrors/artpacks/programs/dos/editors/ansicv22.zip


    |11ƒrêsh|03Rîch |06«<|14LÉGÅÇÿ|06>» |08bbs|07.|08därkcärnïväl|07.|08örg|07:|0823

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/03/29 (Windows/32)
    * Origin: Dark Carnival (21:2/166)