Amiga to PC Null-Modem/Telnet

[danwood]

Hey chaps, I've been trying to experience some Telnet BBS via my A500 and a null-modem to a PC running Putty or Hyper Term.

I can see the A500 output on the PC but not vice-versa. I'm using NComm, been years since I used it and it seems geared towards dial-up everything. Are there any settings I need to enable/tweak to get the A500 to see the PC's output?

[Rob]

What baud rate are you using.

[danwood]

What baud rate are you using.

2400, thought I'd try it slow.

Also been asking on Facebook, a user there thinks NComm may be expecting a dial-tone or modem tone perhaps.  Can't seem to find any show only on carrier or on data-ready etc. though.

[CodePoet]

Hello,

It sounds more like a handshaking issue, you might be using a really 'dumb' Null Modem cable with just TXD, RXD and GND lines wired through - What you want is a setting like 2400,N,8,1

Ie: 2400 baud, No parity, 8 data bits, no stop bits (turn off any flow control under NComm and on your PC such as RTS/CTS and DTR/DSR)

[danwood]

Hello,

It sounds more like a handshaking issue, you might be using a really 'dumb' Null Modem cable with just TXD, RXD and GND lines wired through - What you want is a setting like 2400,N,8,1

Ie: 2400 baud, No parity, 8 data bits, no stop bits (turn off any flow control under NComm and on your PC such as RTS/CTS and DTR/DSR)

Yes that's the exact settings I have actually.  I can see Amiga output in Hyperterm but the Amiga is not seeing anything from the PC at all, just says Modem Not Available when I try dialling or doing any file transfer actions.

Does NComm work like this, or is it for dial-up only, wondering if there's any other programs I could try?

[gertsy]

Yep Ncomm is expecting signals from the modem telling it what's going  on. Check all the config settings in Ncomm turning off everything that relates to a modem. Ring detect, data ready, stuff like that. It may be that Ncomm wont work without  a modem or modem eliminator in line as it expects a data terminal ending device.
You could run BBS software on the Amiga and putty should telnet fine to that from the PC.

[danwood]

Yep Ncomm is expecting signals from the modem telling it what's going  on. Check all the config settings in Ncomm turning off everything that relates to a modem. Ring detect, data ready, stuff like that. It may be that Ncomm wont work without  a modem or modem eliminator in line as it expects a data terminal ending device.
You could run BBS software on the Amiga and putty should telnet fine to that.

Ah I was told on Facebook that NComm would do the trick, seems I've been using the wrong tool.   Unless I'm being totally dense I can't see any options like that, only baud rate settings and handshaking etc.

In this screenshot he's using JRComm, but the version on Aminet needs 2.0 or above, anyone have the older version (asked Blake but no reply as yet).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blakespot/12421642963/in/set-72157621596272210/

Or which BBS software should I try?  I basically want to connect to a BBS via my Amiga and use it through my PC/null-modem, which I think should work?

I was a bit too young to experience the BBS scene back in the day so a lot of these tools are bit alien to me, by the time I got into comms in the mid 90s the WWW had taken over, so keen to experience it.

[Duce]

Excelsior! BBS is extremely easy to setup and more than capable, not to mention it's now entirely free.  I use Zeus BBS myself, but it's still a commercial product (albeit very cheap) and love it to death, but it might be overly complex for your needs.

I'd give E! a shot if I were you, or even DLG, which is available on Aminet for free, including source code.

Excelsior is very CNet like, and most people either have a love or hate relationship with the default CNet type interface, but it's easy enough to use on the users end, and E! is dead simple to install and setup, and fully featured enough to run long term with full UUCP and FTN support built in if you take a shine to BBS'ing and want to run your own.  If you need a hand with anything, just holler - I run a rarely visited and largely irrelevant Amiga BBS blog and have run all the BBS softs for extended periods going back to the late 80's.

Excelsior! BBS can be found at:  http://www.excelsiorbbs.com/

[danwood]

Excelsior! BBS is extremely easy to setup and more than capable, not to mention it's now entirely free.  I use Zeus BBS myself, but it's still a commercial product (albeit very cheap) and love it to death, but it might be overly complex for your needs.

I'd give E! a shot if I were you, or even DLG, which is available on Aminet for free, including source code.

Excelsior! BBS can be found at:  http://www.excelsiorbbs.com/

Excellent thanks, I'll give them a try this afternoon.  I notice the Excelsior manual says it's for AmigaDOS Release 2... wonder if it will work with my 1.3 1mb based machine?  I see DLG needs 2.0 too (AmigaDOS 2.x).  Any that would work on a stock 1.3 A500 if not?

[Kernel]

Excelsior! BBS is extremely easy to setup and more than capable, not to mention it's now entirely free.  I use Zeus BBS myself, but it's still a commercial product (albeit very cheap) and love it to death, but it might be overly complex for your needs.

I'd give E! a shot if I were you, or even DLG, which is available on Aminet for free, including source code.

Excelsior is very CNet like, and most people either have a love or hate relationship with the default CNet type interface, but it's easy enough to use on the users end, and E! is dead simple to install and setup, and fully featured enough to run long term with full UUCP and FTN support built in if you take a shine to BBS'ing and want to run your own.  If you need a hand with anything, just holler - I run a rarely visited and largely irrelevant Amiga BBS blog and have run all the BBS softs for extended periods going back to the late 80's.

Excelsior! BBS can be found at:  http://www.excelsiorbbs.com/

I used to run Zeus, Paragon, and Citadel back in the day!  Where would I find Zeus today?  Before I got out of the scene I was starting to maintain some multi-user chat program... forget what it was called.

LOL... in fact I found this searching for my old BBS name on Google just now:

http://www.megalextoria.com/usenet-archive/news117f1/b143/comp/sys/amiga/00044929.html

[danwood]

Managed to sort the problem, it was a crap USB to serial adaptor!  Got a £20 one from Maplin and works fine, guess you get what you pay for.

[Duce]

Kernel - http://www.zeusdev.co.uk/

Great program and last time I had any questions I got a real prompt response.  Was a Zeus beta tester back in the old days and it's a great program still.

[gertsy]

Managed to sort the problem, it was a crap USB to serial adaptor!  Got a £20 one from Maplin and works fine, guess you get what you pay for.

On the PC side��
So you've got your Amiga with Ncomm terminaling into your PC successfully?
Superb and well done.  Now you have access to the interweb using the tools Blake mentions in his screen shot. Good ole getty. Arrh the memories. When I saw the JRcomm screen shot I got a good dose of nostalgia adrenaline. Those ansi coloured text screens are as clear and vivid in my mind as they were 20 years ago.
What speed and parity setup did you end up using?  The one mentioned a few posts ago?

[Kernel]

Managed to sort the problem, it was a crap USB to serial adaptor!  Got a £20 one from Maplin and works fine, guess you get what you pay for.

What brand did you get?  Pic would be good too - thanks!

[Duce]

Dan,

Most of the professional level BBS softs will require 2.0 at a bare minimum, unfortunately.  Most of 'em rely on ARexx quite a bit.