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FBB Packet-radio BBS mini-HOWTO
Miroslav "Misko" Skoric, YT7MPB, skoric at eunet dot rs
v1.49, 2010-07-18
This mini-HOWTO covers the installation and use of the most popular
amateur packet-radio BBS server software "FBB". That software works
under Linux, DOS and Windows operating systems. It serves as a bul-
letin board system (BBS), a mailbox for personal messages, a database
for various texts, documents and binary files, a server for small use-
ful calculations etc. Packet radio is a way of connecting computers
via amateur radio stations.
1. Introduction
I have been using FBB amateur radio software since early nineties. It
was the time of DOS operating system, so most of us, system
administrators (or, so called system operators - sysop's), used
various packet radio server software for DOS. Versions of FBB packet
radio BBS server software for DOS, today are known as "DosFBB".
I still administer one DosFBB database in the SRV (Amateur Radio Union
of Vojvodina, a part of SRJ). It is DosFBB v7.00g23 that runs on a
486DX computer with 16 MB of RAM and Hercules b/w graphics. Since
December 1999, it runs without any re-boot (excepting some power
failures). Before that, it was a bit tricky to set up all memory
management properly, in order to avoid "frozen" system. Although this
server runs under DOS, its "radio clients" don't depend on that. In
fact, users of that DosFBB might run their client software under DOS,
Windows, Linux or any other operating system that offer amateur packet
radio abilities.
I have also used DosFBB v5.15c on a 286/12 box at home. Five years
ago, when I got better box, Pentium I at 166 MHz with 32 MB of RAM and
VGA color graphics, I switched to a Windows version of FBB ("WinFBB").
Author of the software, a radio amateur from France, Jean-Paul F6FBB,
has made many versions of WinFBB, including 16 bit variant for Windows
3.x and Windows 9x as well as 32 bit variant for Windows NT. I have
run both variants until now (at the moment it is 16 bit WinFBB
v7.00g25 that runs great under Windows NT 4.0).
Update: In late 1999, I upgraded my system to Celeron 400 MHz, added
more 64 MB of RAM and switched to bigger hard disk that will have
enough room to install Linux and try LinFBB ...
Update: Since Spring 2001, I run WinFBB v7.00i (17 March 2001) under
Windows 2000 Professional.
The main difference between DosFBB and WinFBB is that the second one
offers you to do other jobs with your computer, while FBB is running
as just any other application. Besides that, it is always nice to copy
some text from another application (for example, from an Internet
email) and to paste it into a packet radio message, or vice versa.
Update: In July 2001, I added more 128 MB of RAM so my home system is
very confortable now.
Finally, you should be aware what I want to have here:
1. WinFBB when I run Windows.
2. LinFBB when I run Linux. It should be an
Xwindow application that may be
started/stopped similarly to WinFBB.
That's why X11 LinFBB package is used.
3. LinFBB when I run Linux, but as a daemon
that runs in the background. In addition,
an interface for a local user (myself)
is needed, as well as an interface to
monitor the radio channel.
4. All three versions must be capable to
share the same configuration files, i.e.
to be able, for example, to begin a new
session from the exact position where the
other version has finished its own last
session.
5. I am not an expert in Linux, so I am
only able to install "factory-made"
packages for Linux (just like to install
self executing software packages under
Windows). I mean of RPM packages. So, there
are no source (re)compilations here at the
moment, but in the future we will see :-)
2. How to install X11 (Xwindow) version of LinFBB
· First of all, you should have running Linux with a GUI installed. I
am fully satisfied with Gnome GUI but I suppose that KDE will be OK
too (or any other GUI available).
· Download or copy LinFBB (the main ftp site is ftp.f6fbb.org
<http://ftp.f6fbb.org/> but there are many mirror sites too). For
example, if you get a file like
x700e_full.tgz
it means that it is X11 version 7.00e and it contains all you need in
tgz archive to install the BBS. On the other hand, a name like
xd700g_full.tgz
means that it is not X11 but daemon version 7.00g and it is also com-
plete to unpack. Further,
x700f01.tgz
and
x700g.tgz
are "upgrades" to any previous "full" package. For example, after I
have upgraded to x700g.tgz I started to run X11 LinFBB 7.00g (04
August 1998). BTW, X11 versions are not maintained anymore, but I
still run it here. It has some bugs but I like it.
· Copy the archive file in /tmp directory.
· You have to make a "base" directory where your FBB will be
installed. For example you may type: mkdir /usr/local/fbb if you
want FBB to be there. You have to be logged as
· Then, you should locate yourself in that directory: cd
/usr/local/fbb.
· Now, you should unpack the archive: tar xvzf /tmp/x700b25.tgz (<--
use the right name of the archive here).
· When you finished unpacking the archive, you may continue
installing the software: ./install.sh is the command for that. The
setup will ask you for the 'base' directory where FBB will be
installed. If you chose /usr/local/fbb again, you will be told that
such directory already exists and all files will be overwritten. It
is OK, so you should answer yes. If everything is fine, you should
see on the screen that fbb system directories are created. At the
beginning of that procedure, program will ask you for BBS's
callsign, name of the city, QTH locator, your name etc. That
details will become a part of /usr/local/fbb/init.srv file.
· After that, you MUST check this file again manually in order to fix
some other details needed (because installation script does not fix
all parts within that file).
· Well, so far - so good. After you have checked all configuration
files, you may start the software: ./xfbb.sh (<-- type this within
an xterm or something similar). When you start your BBS for the
first time, it will ask you to create some files it needs, so you
should answer "yes" to the questions.
3. How to install LinFBB in addition to existing WinFBB
Notice: Folks, you see, at my place, I have a dual-boot system,
consisting of Windows NT and Linux (each of them having their own
partition(s) and file system). I wanted to have 'independent'
operating systems that won't see each other. So I made two NT's
partitions as NTFS partitions and rest of the space used Linux as ext2
& swap partitions. Well, at first I have installed WinFBB under NT
and X11 LinFBB under Linux. Both of them worked, but there was a big
"problem": I could not share their system files. You might say: So,
what a big deal. But, my FBB's should serve as packet-radio
forwarding stations (regardless of which one I boot at the moment), so
it was really needed for new LinFBB to "know", for example, the
position where WinFBB has stopped the mail exchange last time (and
vice- versa, of course).
· Well, in order to allow both WinFBB under Windows NT and LinFBB
under Linux to use the same system files, it is needed to put these
files in a place that both operating systems are able to "see". So
I do that by re-installing WinFBB onto a FAT (FAT16) partition that
is recognized by NT and Linux too. The best way to do that is to
install a "fresh" copy of WinFBB on a FAT partition and to copy
complete "old" WinFBB from NTFS partition over the fresh
installation (whenever you are asked to rewrite existing files, you
should answer "yes").
· When that is finished, you should have a "clone" of the existing
old WinFBB, but this time on the FAT partition that is visible from
under Linux. Anyway, you should check if the "new" one installation
is able to run properly as the "old" one.
· I could also recommend you to check the file tree of WinFBB in
order to become more familiar with it. The file tree of LinFBB is a
bit different so it is advisable to note various details here and
there.
· Some files can't be used as they are under both operating systems
(without some necessary changes). That's why some file names should
be renamed (or, at least, you should make appropriate copies of
some files):
init.srv -> init_w.srv
forward.sys -> forw_w.sys
port.sys -> port_w.sys
protect.sys -> prot_w.sys
FBB is able to recognize and accept those renamed files.
· Make a backup of the actual WinFBB (I do that by copying the whole
WinFBB file structure into the other Windows partition that won't
be shared with Linux, like NTFS one). You'll never know when a
catastrophe may happen, so as a result, you won't be able to start
neither of the "old" WinFBB or the "new" LinFBB. As a precaution,
the backup might be the easiest way to recover at least the old
WinFBB for a while (until you configure your new LinFBB, OK?).
· Now, you should restart your machine and boot into Linux. Log on as
'root' or make 'su' from a user's account.
· Mount a shared FAT directory (where FBB files are): mount -t vfat
/dev/hda2 /mnt/win (for example). If that works, later you may
adopt that change within your /etc/fstab configuration.
· Copy LinFBB archive to /tmp directory.
· Position yourself to the 'base' directory: cd /usr/local/fbb (for
example).
· Unpack the archive: tar xvzf /tmp/filename.
· Start the installation script ./install.sh and, after asked for the
'base' installation directory, chose /usr/local/fbb. It doesn't
matter if the program warns you that such directory already exists
so existing files will be overwritten (by the way, if you choose a
mounted directory shared with NT, many original WinFBB files,
located there, would be over-written by LinFBB files, so after
returning to Windows, WinFBB might not be as functional as before
this installation).
· Copy /usr/local/fbb to /mnt/win/fbb but do *not* rewrite existing
files with the new files having the same names.
· Copy /mnt/win/fbb/init_w.srv to /mnt/win/fbb/init_l.srv file.
· Edit /mnt/win/fbb/init_l.srv to what is needed for Linux. You may
use the existing file /mnt/win/fbb/init.srv as an example.
· Copy newly edited /mnt/win/fbb/init_l.srv over the
/mnt/win/fbb/init.srv (if you do not do that, maybe you wouldn't be
able to start LinFBB using ./xfbb.sh, like me at the first time).
· Copy /mnt/win/fbb/system/port_w.sys to
/mnt/win/fbb/system/port_l.sys file.
· Edit /mnt/win/fbb/system/port_l.sys to what is needed for Linux and
LinFBB. You may use the existing file /mnt/win/fbb/system/port.sys
as an example.
· Edit /mnt/win/fbb/xfbb.sh in order to fix the right path.
· Ensure that you are in FBB's main directory: cd /mnt/win/fbb (for
example).
· Start the script ./xfbb.sh to run LinFBB. If everything is OK,
your LinFBB under Linux should run with the same configuration as
your "old" WinFBB under Windows. From this point, both FBB's should
behave very similar (actually, I must admit that WinFBB has much
better visual quality than X11 LinFBB, but probably the reasons for
that you may find in Windows-vs.-Linux-GUI quality "battle field").
FYI, my actual WinFBB is v7.00g25 (05 January 2000) and X11 LinFBB
is v7.00g (04 August 1998).
· Although this combination WinFBB/X11 LinFBB works fine, I have
noticed some problems. For example, LinFBB was not able to use
amsat forward_to_file routine (located in /mnt/win/fbb/system/fwd
directory), because that file was composed like this (for example):
A AMSAT
*
P @
*
C D:\FBB\SYSTEM\SAT\AMSAT.TXT <-- looks familiar to DOS/Windows only
*
G AMSAT
*
--------
On the other side, LinFBB's amsat.sys (located in /etc/ax25/fbb/fwd
directory) has suggested something like this:
A AMSAT
*
P @
*
C /var/ax25/fbb/sat/amsat.txt <-- looks familiar to Linux only
*
G AMSAT
*
--------
Well, then I copied LinFBB's amsat.sys into /mnt/win/fbb/system/fwd
directory so it could become functional. As a result, I got two
amsat.txt files, one of them for each of WinFBB/LinFBB, and of course,
both files appeared on different locations: the first one was
/mnt/win/fbb/system/sat/amsat.txt and it was filled by WinFBB; the
other one was in /var/ax25/fbb/sat/amsat.txt and was filled by LinFBB.
I didn't like it that way.
In order to have only one result, regardless of FBB version, the newly
copied amsat.sys had to be slightly changed:
A AMSAT
*
P @
*
*C /var/ax25/fbb/sat/amsat.txt
C /mnt/win/fbb/system/sat/amsat.txt
*
G AMSAT
*
--------
As you can see now, when LinFBB is active, its amsat.sys will not
forward into its "native" location of amsat.txt. Instead of that, it
will go to the location of the WinFBB's amsat.txt and just add some
new materials into it, OK?
Well now it's up to you to decide what to do with your growing
amsat.txt. An old DosFBB manual says that the 'batch' file (I suppose,
the old good APPEL.BAT) should be adopted in order for SATUPDAT.EXE
can update sat tracking data and, after that, to erase AMSAT.TXT
because it is not needed anymore. Well, I haven't found a way to
manage that in both WinFBB and LinFBB. Actually, whenever I perform
housekeeping from either of them, it seems that AMSAT.TXT remains
intact. Happily, it doesn't grow too much, so it's not a big problem.
Any suggestion here?
4. How to install Protus password utility
Notice: Well, I have been using Protus connection filters for a long
time now. At first, it was the version 3.1/1.2 for DosFBB515c and,
later, version 3.3 for Dos/WinFBB700. I have found Protus as very
useful utility because of its implementation of automated BBS-to-BBS
forwarding protection, using MD2 algorithm. One of the reasons to
cover Protus in this document is the fact that its author haven't made
a manual in English yet. I keep trying to translate original manuals
from Spanish into English, but it is a hard work. Any good 'Spanish-
to-English' translator is welcomed to contact me: skoric at eunet dot
rs
Protus offers several interesting features:
· It can send a presentation message to all users, informing about
possibility to make users' access more safe,
· It can send messages to users who have usual, non-restricted
access, informing about utility's existence,
· It can send messages to users who have no valid access (before
disconnecting them),
· It can send messages to new users who have connected the BBS for
the first time, informing them about the password utility.
· It can send messages to users who have entered wrong password
(before disconnecting them),
· It can inform sysop about almost everything related to users'
connections (new user on the system, unsuccessful connections etc),
· Messages mentioned above could be translated into various languages
and used similarly as various language files that FBB system use,
· Messages mentioned above could be different for different BBS
ports,
· Protus could be activated/deactivated at various intervals of time
using CRON.SYS system file,
· Passwords could be managed remotely, using an external server,
developed by Jose EB5IVB,
· ...
Well, let's see what should be done in order to implement secure
access to the FBB packet radio BBS, using Protus type of, so called,
c_filter:
· Users of Dos/WinFBB versions of Protus already know that it is
needed to create a new directory \FBB\PROTUS where several *.PRT
files should be placed. In addition, the main C_FILT*.DLL files
should be copied into \FBB\BIN directory, as well as a couple of
"system", (i.e. config) *.PRT files that are going to be within
\FBB\SYSTEM directory.
· After the sysop has copied all files into their proper locations,
it is needed to make some configuration. The most important files
are two "system" ones: CONFIG.PRT and USERS.PRT that should be
carefully adopted to any particular situation. Other *.PRT files
will work as they are in original, but they may be translated
because they are originated in Spanish (those files are just the
parts of information that are sent to users who connect to the
BBS). For your information, I usually don't care much about,
because my BBS's are so called "open systems". It means they work
quite normal for all users in the same way as they worked before
implementing Protus. Only a couple of callsigns have password
installed and, when connecting, they know what they are doing, so,
they don't need any additional info. Your mileage may vary.
· So far - so good. After everything mentioned has been done, you
have to restart your FBB in order for Protus utility to be
activated. In all connections to your BBS (including console), you
should see a line like this: {PROTUS-4.0} just after the well known
line [FBB-7.00-AB1FHMRX$]. It only gives an information that Protus
is active on the system. Users of your BBS who don't have their
passwords, connect just normally as before. Users who's callsigns
have password implemented, are prompted for password just after
their connections. roman }
· The author of Protus, Jesus EB5AGF, has made several working
"modes" of its utility. It is possible for users to have various
kinds of passwords: a fixed phrase (similar as those you are used
to when connect to the Internet via telephone line, but this way
the phrase can be masqueraded within the longer answer); a
changeable answer to the 5 random numbers (just like usual FBB
sysop's password); a mode that uses automatic answer from user's
client packet programs; implementation of MD2 and MD5 algorithms;
FBB-to-FBB automatic protection etc. FYI, my WinFBB is equipped
with 16-bit Protus 4.0 (13 August 1999). There is also a 32-bit
module of the same date that would be called from within 32-bit
WinFBB (I haven't tested those 32-bit applications).
· Well, the situation regarding working location of Protus files
under LinFBB is somewhat different. I have become familiar to the
directory structure that DosFBB and WinFBB versions of Protus have
been using, so I considered that it was enough to implement the
same directory structure when I started the installation of Protus
under LinFBB. It was wrong. After having pulled out the remaining
hair, the things started to work, so, now I am going to tell you
what to do.
· I have already told you that I have been running here both WinFBB
under Windows NT and LinFBB under Linux (see also Linux+WinNT mini-
HOWTO and Lilo mini-HOWTO). That means all Protus stuff has already
been installed in a way WinFBB has required, except Linux
executable of c_filter file. I put that one file into /fbb/bin
directory and, after the next restart of LinFBB, I got the info
mentioned above: {PROTUS-4.0}. But the password protection was not
likely to work. I was told by the author to make a new directory
/var/ax25/fbb/protus and put *.PRT files there. I didn't move
files from \FBB\PROTUS but rather copied them into the new
location, because I wanted Protus to continue working under WinFBB
as before. The utility still didn't want to run, unless I also
copied additional two *.PRT files from \FBB\SYSTEM to the same new
location (/var/ax25/fbb/protus). After I did that, Protus became
functional.
· Well, I suppose, the above info would be useful for those of you
who intend to run *both* Windows and Linux FBB's on the same
machine. For the majority of LinFBB-only users, it is just
important to make /var/ax25/fbb/protus where all *.prt files should
be placed. Only c_filter executable should go to /fbb/bin and
that's it.
· About FBB-to-FBB protection: *both* partners have to install
Protus. Password for the forwarding partner's callsign must be the
same at *both* sides of the link. The versions of Protus don't need
to be the same (neither the versions of FBB, neither the operating
systems, HI!). Anyway, MD5 algorithm will only work if both parties
have Protus 4.x and above (I still don't use that, but it is not a
problem, because my two boxes, DosFBB-Protus3.3 and WinFBB/LinFBB-
Protus4.0, make all things OK with MD2).
· One of the interesting features of Protus is to log unsuccessful
connections. Due to the different locations of *.prt files here, I
have separate logs for WinFBB and LinFBB "c_filtering". Those of
you who are going to run only one operating system and appropriate
version of FBB, will have one complete log of connection errors,
users make when try to connect your BBS.
· As it was told earlier, if you implemented password protection for
only some of your users (but not for all of them who connect
normally) - your system is considered as the "open" one. It means
that will be logged only unsuccessful tries to enter the system by
"protected" callsigns. But, if you decided that your BBS can be
accessed by only those callsigns who have Protus password, that
means your system is the "closed" one. Then, there is no way a
user could enter your FBB unless its callsign has given a password
within your Protus. Any unauthorized try to connect your BBS is
also logged.
· In addition, you may decide to have a "guest" access or a "read-
only" as default for some BBS's access ports and/or for users who
enter the wrong password. Many combinations are possible. You
could even password protect your own FBB console!
· To finish with this topic for now, just to inform you that my X11
LinFBB is equipped with Protus v4.1b7 (15 February 2000). It has
some minor bugs, for example, it logs incoming connections with a
SSID of -48 if a user doesn't have a SSID at all (of course, in
such case a SSID of -0 would be expected).
}
5. How to install "xfbbd", a daemon version of LinFBB
Notice: You see, folks, that I keep trying to get as many as possible
versions of this great software (Jean-Paul, F6FBB, must be very proud
after reading these words now). What I think when mention "as many as
possible versions" means that we have learned how to get both WinFBB
and X11 LinFBB on the same computer. But, that's not all. There is a
variety of daemon versions of LinFBB. In this section we are going to
discuss how to *add* a daemon LinFBB to the existing two: X11 LinFBB
and WinFBB!
· Well, many amateurs have suggested me to install a couple of
packages that weren't look to me as really requested for LinFBB
daemon to work. Anyway, I installed those packages before the
installation of LinFBB itself:
libax25.rpm
ax25apps.rpm
ax25tool.rpm
· Now it is the right time to install fbbsrv.rpm package. The archive
was composed to make its own directories, as "base" directories.
The last new version to start with, that I have managed to find as
a .rpm package, was 7.01f Release 4 (09 December 1999).
· A file called fbb.conf, serving as the replacement for init.srv, is
placed in the location: /etc/ax25/fbb.conf
· Unless you are going to install daemon-only system, you should make
a backup of the following existing files:
dirmes.sys
etat.sys
heard.bin
inf.sys
statis.dat
tpstat.sys
· Now you have to edit /etc/ax25/fbb.conf and change some paths in
case you already have X11 LinFBB installed on a different path.
Here you have some examples that cover my particular situation...
· Directory of data files, instead of /var/ax25/fbb, should be
/mnt/win/fbb/system
· Directory of config files, instead of /etc/ax25/fbb, should be
/mnt/win/fbb/system
· Directory of message files, instead of /var/ax25/fbb/mail, should
be /mnt/win/fbb/mail
· Directory of compressed files, instead of /var/ax25/fbb/binmail,
should be /mnt/win/fbb/binmail
· Directory of users, instead of .../home/fbbdos/..., should be
.../mnt/win/fbb/users... (case you don't mind that both your WinFBB
and LinFBB users handle the same location for users' files)
· Directory of YAPP files, instead of /home/fbbdos/yapp, should be
/mnt/win/fbb/users/yapp (the same reason as above)
· Directory of documentation files, instead of /var/ax25/fbb/docs,
should be /mnt/win/fbb/docs
· Directory of pg programs, instead of /usr/local/pg, should be
/mnt/win/fbb/pg
· Path and filename for import file, instead of C:\FBB\MAIL.IN should
be /mnt/win/fbb/mail.in
· Now you have to edit /usr/sbin/xfbb.sh and change some paths in
case you already have running X11 version of LinFBB on a different
path. Here you have an example that cover my particular
situation...
· Base directory of XFBB software, instead of /var/ax25/fbb, should
be /mnt/win/fbb
· So far - so good. Now it is the time to start LinFBB daemon. The
command for that is in the location: /usr/sbin/xfbb.sh and it may
be executed within an xterm. If everything is OK, you should get
several system messages on your screen, ending with something like:
xfbbC/X server running ...
xfbbd ready and running ...
· Well, daemon itself can't be used to access the BBS so it is needed
to activate a client that is /usr/sbin/xfbbC. It has a couple of
parameters (a callsign/password pairs that are stored in
/fbb/passwd.sys). Note that xfbbC can also be activated within
another xterm.
· If you are like me, you would like to activate one more xterm with
xfbbC in a way to monitor your radio frequency. If you have enough
room on your screen, you may place all three xterm windows side by
side.
· When you finish your xfbbC console session, it is suitable to use
the same xterm to eventually stop the daemon. First of all, with
the command ps ax you should locate PIDs of xfbb.sh shell and
daemon itself, that you may kill after that.
6. How to install an upgrade to a daemon version of LinFBB
6.1. LinFBB v7.02g
Notice: Well, the main trouble I have discovered with 7.01f daemon was
the absence of Protus c_filter protection. As I told you before,
Protus is a "third-party" product, so it might have some problems with
the compatibility to LinFBB itself. Anyway, it is also possible that a
daemon version of LinFBB has some special requirements over some
"third-party" software.
· I also noticed that my version of Protus was newer than the version
of daemon LinFBB I had at first. Besides that, some hams, including
F6FBB himself, have suggested me to upgrade LinFBB. I have also
found a "problem" that I am still new in compiling Linux software,
so, I'd rather look for pre-compiled packages for easy
installation.
· Jose, HI8GN, has offered daemon LinFBB v7.02g as a .rpm package (18
September 2000). I got it from his site:
http://hi8gn.dynip.com/indice.html
<http://hi8gn.dynip.com/indice.html>. But, when I tried to install
it over the previous version 7.01f, it complained about some
existing LinFBB files.
· Then I had to uninstall the old package, after what some config
files remained in their locations, but with new .rpmsave
extensions. It was nice, so I could use them later to update my
new-installed config files.
· BTW, the installation of Jose's package was performed without
problems, but the new daemon was not likely to run as I expected,
although I tried to configure it as best as I could. Not quite
sure, but it looked to me that F6FBB is likely to implement some
changes not only to the main executables but to shell files too.
So, I have decided to save copies of these new xfbbd and xfbbC
executables from 7.02g package (I have made it with adding
extensions like .702 to the files). After that, I *uninstalled* the
rest of that 7.02 .rpm, in order to install the previous version of
LinFBB once again - the version that I was satisfied with.
· So far - so good. The "old" 7.01f version was installed again and
tested one more time to be sure it was OK. Then, I just copied the
previously saved executables from the new package, over the "old"
executables. In a couple of minutes, the new daemon LinFBB v7.02g
has come in place and function. Comments...?
· Well, the new daemon is likely to check for some more directories
than the older version (mostly related to 7plus operations). Next,
its xfbbC console client looks better than the previous version.
But, I still miss graphical xfbbX client, that I have found not
able to become activated. I hope it will be fixed soon. Finally,
Protus c_filter utility is active too.
· An interesting question might be: is that now a really upgraded
LinFBB daemon or not? Actually, I haven't changed the "old" script
xfbbd.sh with the new one, because during the first tests with the
new 7.02 I was getting lots of error messages. Looks that the
directory structure was a bit complicated for me to set properly
within the new version of xfbbd.sh. After I returned to xfbbd.sh
from 7.01 package, the BBS finally started to be run, though
without some functions like over-night maintaining (that one
problem I solve in a way to boot the BBS as WinFBB under Windows NT
where that task is OK). In addition, there are still some
mysterious messages telling that m_filter has not been found or
something like that. The next tasks are to solve these issues.
6.2. LinFBB v7.03
Notice: As I have said in the previous section, I haven't found an
easy way to upgrade FBB's (its main executables), without temporary
uninstalling an older version, then to install the new version - in
order to get new executables. After that is done, a reverse procedure
must be put in place.
· Well, it was needed to get 7.03 package (09 December 2000) as an
.rpm package from www.f6fbb.org/versions.html
<http://www.f6fbb.org/versions.html>, that was suggested by Jean-
Paul, F6FBB. Anyway, soon after there appeared several mirror
sites, offering 7.03 too.
· If you use GnomeRPM, it is easy to uninstall your actual LinFBB (If
you just try to install new .rpm over the existing LinFBB you will
get some error messages complaining that you already have FBB
installed on the computer). Anyway, after the uninstallation, there
you will find some config files as .rpmsave files, so you could use
them later again.
· Installation of 7.03 package will give you new executables in
/usr/sbin directory. Those new executables should be temporary
given extensions like .703 (for example).
· So far - so good. Now you should *uninstall* the 7.03 package (of
course, .703 files won't be unistalled automatically). Uninstall?
Why? You will find out soon, read on ...
· Once again, you should *install* the last one version of LinFBB
daemon, that works OK with its own xfbb.sh (in my case, that is
7.01f).
· For sure, many of you might find it odd, but now it is the right
time for the executables from /usr/sbin (I mean of all fbb
executables, except those who were renamed to .703) to get their
new extensions (in my case, that is .701).
· Well, after that is performed, .703 files should *lose* their
previously attached extensions, in order to become usable.
· Folks, on that point I usually hold my breath, cd to /usr/sbin and
type: xfbb.sh following with an Enter. If everything is fine,
several lines should scroll on the screen, ending with something
like:
xfbbC/X server running ...
xfbbd ready and running ...
· If you don't get something similar on your xterm utility), you're
out of luck, so you might go through the procedure once again in
order to be sure you did all what was needed to be done :->
· /usr/sbin/xfbbC is the easiest way to check if your new 7.03 is in
the game or not. When I mention xfbbC it is good to let you know,
that I kept living in a belief that xfbbC is also useful for
regular telnet users (who are also supposed to 'connect' to the BBS
via the same computer's console, where LinFBB is running from).
But, I have discovered that my users, who were not declared as
sysops, are allowed to read all messages (including all private
messages), as well as to have some other sysop's abilities. I did
think it was a matter of probably wrong declared security flags.
But, it was not.
· Recently, I was informed that xfbbC is suitable mostly for sysops,
so the other users (who might also have access to the local
keyboard) should rather try something less dangerous, like this:
telnet localhost 6300
· ... where 'localhost' and '6300' may vary from BBS to BBS. I was
pleasantly surprised when discovered that telnet is much more
suitable for ordinary BBS users than sysops' client xfbbC.
· Folks, I also think of writing a chapter about FBB's system
configuration. Until something like that appears in this howto, you
should know that all of those callsigns who are going to use xfbbC
have to be added into your passwd.sys file. In addition, all of
these folks who are going to telnet the BBS, have to be declared as
users with the 'M' flag (modem users). It is up to your security
precautions, if either of them would eventually have 'root'
capabilities to that one Linux machine itself.
· My next task is to use an old i286/12 MHz box, having only 1 MB of
RAM, running DOS 5.0, as a card so I would like to 'connect' to the
BBS from that one 'telnet client' box. If that succeeds, it would
be a good preparation for installing another LinFBB (in the local
school club), where several old 286 computers will be also
available. It would be nice to offer more than one student-amateur
the opportunity to 'connect' the BBS simultaneously, using a bunch
of vintage
6.3. LinFBB v7.04
Notice: Maybe I have already explained that I use Red Hat 6.2 at home.
That's why I usually look for .rpm packages that have been made for
that particular Linux distribution, but not only that. I have also
tried to use Red Hat 7.1 but it seemed not to support an older Xwindow
application, LinFBB 7.00g (04 August 1998). When I noticed that
issue, I returned back to Red Hat 6.2.
· Well, I started by downloading the package xfbb-7.04-2.i386.rpm (07
August 2001) from www.f6fbb.org/versions.html
<http://www.f6fbb.org/versions.html>
· Folks, this time I finally decided to install version 7.04 as a
completely "fresh" installation, i.e. without some parts of any
previously used "daemon" on the disk. It means that I have
uninstalled the last daemon version I was using before, and, in
addition, I also removed the old executables. Of course, before the
uninstalation, I made the backup of some config files that are not
version depending (like /etc/fbb.conf), in order to avoid editing
the same "defaults" once again and again :-)
· The setup procedure has reported some dependency issues. I didn't
want to get bored with them so I repeated the installation once
again with "--force" and "--nodeps" options.
· So far - so good. Then, I replaced a couple of "default" files with
the saved ones. After that being accomplished, I mounted a FAT
partition with WinFBB's system files, made a pray and started
LinFBB's daemon. It was also an interesting new experience to try
HI8GN's script /usr/sbin/fbb start (activated in an xterm) to start
the server. Although there were no usual lines:
xfbbC/X server running ...
xfbbd ready and running ...
on my screen, TNC's PTT lamp confirmed that a beacon was really
transmitted.
· Then I wanted to try HI8GN's script /usr/sbin/monitor to see what's
going on the frequency. Although I got something like:
Connecting localhost ... Ok
Authentication in progress ... Ok
Monitoring channel 0 ...
there appeared no traffic on the screen. In order to really monitor
the channel, I had to start another xterm and type:
telnet localhost 6300
Bingo! From the usual FBB's prompt I entered the gateway and typed the
familiar "M" ("Monitor") command. Interestingly, as soon as I
"telnet-ed" to the BBS, /usr/sbin/monitor window, mentioned above,
started to copy whatever was going on the telnet xterm as long as that
telnet session was closed. I was in doubt if that was OK or not,
because there I expected to see the traffic from the radio channel -
regardless being connected to the system or not. Any suggestion here?
· Well, then I wanted to use /usr/sbin/bbs, in order to connect to
the client's (or better to say: sysop's) console (xfbbC). Looks
that there was a line in HI8GN's script:
xfbbC -c -f -h localhost -i [callsign] -w [password]
with missing ./ (dot slash) before xfbbC, so the script was not likely
to be executed. Instead of that it reported that command couldn't be
found. Anyway, xfbbC v3.01 itself appeared to work nice. It is still
possible to monitor the working channel too (using the "M" command
from within the gateway), but this is not a valuable solution because
while "Monitor ON", it is not confortable to do anything else within
the gateway. Once again, solutions are welcomed!
· Although the active xfbbC session can be easily terminated using
"B" ("Bye") command, a fooled /usr/sbin/monitor can not. The user
has to find its process number, (PID), using ps ax command and then
kill that process.
· At the end of the game, daemon itself should be stopped. HI8GN's
script /usr/sbin/fbb stop returns:
Shutting down xfbbd: [OK]
but /usr/sbin/fbb status reports:
Checking, the FBB daemon
xfbbd (pid) is running...
Looks that /usr/sbin/fbb stop does not terminate daemon *every* time
the command is executed, but re-start it (the only difference is the
new PID of the process and ps ax can show that new PID). So, there is
a question why it returns that [OK] when it is obvious that daemon
is not stopped, but rather re-started.
· Well, if you are like me, you may also want to experiment with some
special sysop's commands, from within an xfbbC session. For
example, "/R" command ("Re-boot PC") shuts down xfbbC and
/usr/sbin/fbb status reports:
Checking, the FBB daemon
xfbbd dead but subsys locked
while "/A" command ("Stop BBS") returns:
Stop-request accepted, no connection.
before shutting down xfbbC client itself.
Further attempts to re-start either xfbbC client or xfbbd server
(using /usr/sbin/fbb start) are not successful, unless an additional
/usr/sbin/fbb stop is executed. The result is:
Shutting down xfbbd: [FAILED]
Now another /usr/sbin/fbb status reports:
Checking, the FBB daemon
xfbbd is stopped
so finally, daemon might be re-started again. Here it is also a
mystery why it returns that [FAILED] when it is obvious that daemon
is really stopped (maybe it is a "failure" when we try to stop the
same thing twice).
There are some other commands: "/K" (Re-boot BBS with housekeeping),
"/M" (Re-boot BBS immediately) and "/L" (Re-boot BBS, waiting users to
disconnect) - all of them with slight different behavior. Anyway,
those three commands have something in common: they all re-start the
daemon (with different PIDs, of course).
· Finally, what I would like to have is to manage housekeeping and
other maintaining tasks. Until now, that is not accomplished. I
suppose that I should make some more fine customization in system
paths. Any suggestion about is welcomed.
7. How to use LinFBB's "xfbbX", a GUI client for Linux
2002-10-20
Well, soon after the installation of LinFBB v7.04 .rpm package, I
noticed a new "kid on the block", i.e. a new item within the Start
menu (under Gnome environment). That was a "HamRadio" group, having
several "Xfbb version 7.04" sub-items and one of them was "xfbbd X
Client".
It seemed that a mouse click on that "xfbbd X Client" icon was not
likely to return any response, although xfbbd daemon has been
successfully running before invoking the client. That's why I have
been asking for help (related to that issue) from other LinFBB users,
but it seemed there was no one capable to solve that problem. Anyway,
it looks to me that there is a "dead" link from this "xfbbd X Client"
icon to an existing executable.
Trying to find a solution, the other day I was browsing the /usr/sbin
directory. I have noticed something that I have already seen for
several times. That was xfbbX file. Well, I am sure that I tried to
use this executable earlier, but without much success. This time, I
have entered the full path, like this:
/usr/sbin/xfbbX
and, finally, the GUI client appeared on the screen.
So far - so good. Soon after, I realized that 'Monitoring' window was
capable to monitor the actual traffic on the radio frequency, but not
only that. Headers of all packets appear in green and the actual
information is in blue, so it is easy to distinguish what is the
header and what is the text info (comparing to my old X11 LinFBB
application where everything came in black). What I could describe as
a disadvantage of the 'Monitoring' window, is that the scroll bar does
not give you much of the previous, already scrolled traffic.
The 'All channels' screen was even better, so the system user
correspondents' traffic appeared in green, the local user's traffic
was in black and the port information was in yellow. Unfortunately,
there's no easy way (if any) to change colors (and that's the standard
feature in WinFBB) for both 'Monitoring' and 'All channels' windows.
Maybe I haven't managed yet to find a switch for that, so any useful
info about is appreciated.
What I have also found a bit annoying, was that both windows mentioned
above, appear not arranged side-by-side, a form that would be more
suitable. Besides that, the third window, 'Console', has to be
activated with another mouse click (instead of being activated
automatically with the other two windows). Actually, the whole thing
of xfbbX client seems to be primarily useful for sysops looking only
for BBS's command line, in order to execute some server's commands
etc. That's why I have found a bit strange why the console window must
be activated separately (OK, I know that's the same with WinFBB's
windows, but why not to add some additional feature?)
Anyway, the 'Console' connection window has almost the same
functionality as WinFBB's 'Console' window. Here I think of the
commands given at the BBS's command prompt, because they are invoked
from the usual language *.TXT files.
But, the big disadvantage of today's version of xfbbX client, I've
found here, is the absence of several useful icons, that I was very
fond of within the WinFBB's user interface. For example, there are no
icons for pending mail, users information, disconnect a user, edit a
message text or a header etc. It looks to me that xfbbX developers are
not likely to offer the full comfort that we have within WinFBB's GUI.
It makes me wonder why? There are lots of commands that can not be
easily activated without the proper icons. It drives me crazy whenever
I have to re-boot to Windows to start WinFBB, in order to perform some
simple tasks mentioned, using the mouse.
Besides that, there is no way to activate that nice message editor
screen, very useful in WinFBB (also existed in an old Xwindow LinFBB
application v7.00g from 1998!) The same goes for replying a message,
where a sender does not get the text of a message to be replied to,
within the new message body. In short, I don't like absence of all
those earlier implemented, but now abandoned features.
Well, I can't imagine what Jean-Paul, F6FBB, and other developers
would do in the future, but I am not satisfied with the idea to only
keep further development of LinFBB server side, but, in the same time,
to abandon the development of LinFBB's graphical client side. And not
only that: It looks that MS Windows client for LinFBB server, xfbbW
has been reported to be much more functional that described xfbbX,
while, in the same time, WinFBB server development has been also
stopped. A bit confusing situation, isn't it?
Some amateurs think that it is just a result of "global" IT situation:
Linux (as well as other Unix-type platforms) is better suited for
servers, but Windows is better for clients. If so, it looks that
LinFBB packet-radio system operators, "sysop's", seem to be forced to
run at least two computers, in order to get the same functionality
they always had with WinFBB. I'd rather suggest to Jean-Paul, F6FBB,
and other developers to transfer all known WinFBB's GUI features to
xfbbX GUI environment, in order to avoid using two computers.
2002-10-30
A couple of paragraphs ago, I said that "xfbbd X Client" icon didn't
work under Gnome environment. It did make me wonder if it would work
under KDE graphical user interface. So, this time I started KDE (and I
did it as "root" so, in addition, I also got a mailbox icon on the
desktop, named "fbb X11". When I located the mouse pointer over that
icon, there appeared some more description: "F6FBB bbs Server for
Packet Radio").
Well, when I tried to click on that icon, I got a KFM Warning message
box explaining that program /root/.xfbbX could not be executed.
Fortunately, a "right click" on the icon allowed to enter file's
Properties. The Execute card gave me a possibility to change the path
for a program to be used. So, I did some browsing and located the new
path: /usr/sbin/xfbbX. After that, another click resulted in running
the GUI client.
Interestingly, there is some slight difference between xfbbX
appearance under KDE and Gnome. Actually, each KDE's xfbbX window has
"FBB" logo in the upper left corner (Gnome's windows haven't that).
That may indicate that xfbbX client was produced primarily for KDE
environment. Besides that, it seems that other features are almost the
same, regardless being within KDE or Gnome environment.
On the other side, the already mentioned "xfbbd X Client" item (within
the Start menu, under the "HamRadio" group), still does not work. I
suppose that there should also be some modifications, related to
program executable paths, but I do not know how to manage that.
Anyway, it does not matter because xfbbX is running here this or that
way.
2003-06-30
A recent email from Jose, HI8GN, related to the xfbbX GUI client,
about the RPM package:
"The reason of the why not the xfbbd X Client didn't give you any
answer is for several causes. 1) if the xfbbd daemon is not running
the xfbbd X client won't run. 2) if the xfbbd is dead in its process.
3) if the xfbbd was not shutoff correctly, but delete the xfbbd lock
file as this:
. /etc/init.d/rc.fbb stop or service rc.fbb stop, and then it was run
and didn't create the xfbbd lock file, the shell script looks for the
existence the /var/lock/subsys/xfbbd or /var/lock/subsys/xfbbX lock
file and 4) if the xfbb X11 Server it is running it create a xfbbX
lock file by that the xfbbd X client won't neither run
the same thing makes the X11 Client the one it verifies that the xfbbd
is not running
if you make a click on the Icon that says fbb X11 Client and it
doesn't run it is because the one is seeing that there is a process of
the xfbbd running like as daemon. the script rc.fbb I have also
modified it so that it can not be executed twice.
if exist xfbbX lock file the xfbbd X client won't run if exist xfbbd
lock file the fbb X11 won't run.
Lastly if you execute the command fbb in the console or in xterminal
in the desktop, you will see what I mean that simple."
Thanks Jose!
8. How to use LinFBB's "xfbbW", a GUI client for Windows
2002-11-17
Notice: Well, folks, I couldn't try to install and use LinFBB client
for Windows, because I have not had a second computer for that
purpose. The only way to check how this client works, was to borrow a
laptop machine and give it a try.
The first task was to link that Windows laptop to a Linux desktop. I
had some difficulties with the network card on the desktop box,
because it seemed not to be likely to start the appropriate eth0
interface. I'll give you some more details about the equipment here:
Linux is Red Hat 6.2 and my ISA network card has UMC UM9008 chip. Long
ago, I used some utilities that should "recognize" ISA cards (if I
remember their names, that were isapnptools, pnpdump etc).
What I do know, is that such tools should have add some new lines into
the existing files, like /etc/conf.modules or, to create some new
files, like /etc/isapnp*. Well, I have forgotten what exactly should
be done, so I went to look for the right tools. The one that was
looking suitable was /sbin/isapnp. Although I got its response on the
screen, telling that the UM9008 chip was recognized, there was nothing
added to the system files, nor new files seemed to be created.
What I also tried to use, was the old good Linuxconf tool, that was
already installed per default within RH 6.2 Linux. I found the right
place to add the information related to NIC's IRQ and I/O address.
There I seemed to make a little mistake, so I put the value of 220
(for the I/O address), instead of 0x220 that would better fit. The
result was as one may expect: the interface eth0 continued to report
that a ne module had not found a card at that one address. Then I
checked the actual I/O address the card uses under Windows OS (was the
same) and tried to fix the parameters (Thanks goes to a UK ham who
advised me to have to let Linux know the proper IRQ and I/O
addresses).
Interestingly, Linuxconf added a couple of new lines into
/etc/conf.modules too. In short, the next time during the system boot,
the interface eth0 reported a green [OK], so I could establish the
link. So far - so good.
The next task was to download the client package from the FBB's main
site. I did it from the "Newest version" web page and the number of
the version was 1.12 (it seems that was not a pretty much new version,
or maybe the content on that "newest" page has not been updated
recently - another task for Jean-Paul?). Anyway, I installed it
without any problem, configured its part related to the LinFBB server
it was about to access, changed the console font to my favorite one
(Tahoma) and started the utility.
At the first sight, the client looked great, because Linux clients
still prefer so small letters, that are hard to read (compared to
characters on a Windows screen). Now I tried the most used commands
like List, Read, Send Reply etc. All of them worked great. What I have
found a bit strange, was that the message justification did not work
in its message editor window. You see, I like my messages to be
justified on both sides. I hope a solution for that problem will be
found soon.
Another issue with xfbbW client is that seems not to allow a multiple
click onto more than one BBS callsign within pending forward list,
comparing to WinFBB's behavior. You know, I am not very fond of
opening the same pending forward window repeatedly again and again, in
order to start (or to stop) more than one forwarding action.
In general, I like xfbbW client. I hope to install some newer
version(s) soon, and I hope some of its features will be upgraded and
some new ones will be added in the future. What I would also like to
have, is to activate the maintenance of the BBS (a "housekeeping"
task) from that client's menu. Another thing I miss at the moment, is
the absence of the xfbbW's help system. I mean of a real Windows help,
because there's not much use of a Help menu, having only Copyright and
About information :-))
9. How to compile LinFBB's executable files
9.1. fbbsrc.704h (using Red Hat 7.1)
2003-01-01
Notice: Until recently, I preferred to download "factory-made"
executables in RPM format (something like ZIP in MS Windows world).
After getting a RPM package, a click on it activates the program that
unpack and install its content. Well, it is great whenever your RPM
has been "manufactured" for the very similar distribution of Linux you
have. If not ...
· Well, I have already had the package xfbb-7.04-2.i386.rpm (07
August 2001), that was running OK under RH 6.2 distro. And not only
that. Its "packer", Jose HI8GN, has explained that this package was
actually compiled and linked with utilities that came with RH 6.2 -
so under that distribution should be no problems at all.
· One day I finally decided to abandon another 4-5 year old version
of an X11 LinFBB application that I knew it would not run under Red
Hat Linux newer than 6.2 distribution. I decided to stay with
LinFBB's daemon only, so it was also the right time to upgrade the
Linux system itself. Another handy installation that I had, was RH
7.1 and I used it. After finishing that task, I rushed to re-
install the RPM package mentioned above (just to test if it would
eventually work), but as expected it didn't want to run.
· I had no choice but to browse web sites in order to find a RPM
package that would fit my RH 7.1 distribution. Unfortunately, it
looked that there was no one recompiled LinFBB RPM for 7.1 RedHat
version. The only solution was to try with tarballs. So, what I
have downloaded from www.f6fbb.org/versions.html
<http://www.f6fbb.org/versions.html>, was xd704h-src.tgz archive.
· So far - so good. Well, folks, I am not very good of "deepest"
secrets of Linux, so I was not sure where might be the best place
to unpack the archive. According the readme file, it might be a
"fbbsrc" directory, so I considered that /usr/src would be the best
location to copy archive's fbbsrc.704h directory tree.
· Well, the fbbsrc.704h directory consists of 12 files and 7
subdirectories, one of which is src subdirectory. As the readme
suggested a user to "goto fbbsrc/src" directory, I concluded that
/usr/src/fbbsrc.704h/src was the right place.
· The readme also suggested to "update the variables" at the
beginning of Makefile files, but I did not do that because I was
not sure what exactly should be put in there. So I have just left
the file(s) intact.
· The next task was to run make command from the shell and it took
half a minute to be finished. The results were several xfbb
executable files that I quickly moved to /usr/sbin directory. BTW,
some people rather suggest to run make install (instead of make),
in order to avoid multiple copying of compiled executables, but I
found that way as not functional.
· Soon after, I tried to activate xfbbd - the new LinFBB's daemon and
it seemed to work without visible difficulties. Using a home LAN
including a Windows laptop, I also started fbbW - a LinFBB Windows
client. It recognized the daemon in a second and I've only noticed
that there was no Protus password utility running.
· According the readme, the next task should be to "compile the xfbbC
client". That operation should be done from a place called
"fbbsrc/client" but the only available directory under
/usr/src/fbbsrc.704h/src was X11.
· After clicking on its icon, I recognized the second one file named
Makefile (they have mentioned "updating" of both Makefile files, so
I hoped to reach the proper place once again, regardless of two
unfamiliar paths). Besides that, they have also suggested to use
"at least the version 2.1.37b of ax25-utils" and I found not to
have something like that installed (in the case they have possibly
meant of a suit of libax25, ax25apps and ax25tool - than it should
be OK). Anyway, then I activated make command from the shell one
more time and the result was in getting xfbbC executable.
· As usual, xfbbC client is to be invoked from within an xterm (or
similar) command line environment. It also seemed that it was fully
functional. So far - so good.
· The next issue was to "compile the xfbbX client", but this time a
user was requested to have a version of Motif installed. Well, what
I already knew was that I haven't had any Motif software in the
box, but a couple of Lesstif RPM packages were somewhere around. I
installed them using --force and --nodeps options in order to avoid
various dependency 'obstacles'. In sum, Lestiff stuff has come to
its place on the hard disk.
· This one time, I did make some "updates" related to Makefile paths
and tried to run make command from the shell (for the 3rd time
now). At the first sight, it seemed that I got no answer, because
there appeared neither xfbbX nor xfbbX_cl executables. In order to
"make" missing files, I just copied the appropriate executables
from an earlier LinFBB version (which I backup-ed before).
· Finally, I managed to activate xfbbX client without visible
problems, although I knew it was not an up-to-date version
(compared to the daemon itself). Regardless of that detail, the GUI
client worked properly.
· As I just mentioned, I also noticed that the first console
connection was without familiar {PROTUS-4.1b7} designation (that
means there was no c_filter utility running). So, I had to check
and double-check all the paths and system directories, described in
the Protus section of this mini-HOWTO. At the first sight, it
looked to me that everything was fine, but the utility was not
likely to start. Finally, I copied its main executable into yet
another system location: /usr/lib/fbb/filter, re-started the system
once again and Protus returned back to its function.
· That was all. I am satisfied with what I have done for the first
time. What I have to do in the future, will be to check if the
procedure described in this section was the right one, although
most of the BBS's main features seemed to be active (just like as
if they were running under RH 6.2 distribution using LinFBB
packages in RPM format mentioned earlier). The only "mystery" was
how to activate some system administering tasks: maintenance (a
"housekeeping"), get user's data and other tasks easily accessed
from under WinFBB main console (for example). Until now I haven't
solved that, but that is not a real problem because I can also run
WinFBB whenever my Windows is active, and from there I can perform
sysop's tasks, using a mouse click or like.
9.2. fbbsrc.704j (using Red Hat 7.1)
2004-01-03
Notice: The other day I tried to upgrade my Red Hat 7.1 distribution
to Red Hat 9.0 - in order to get more up-to-date system, being also
capable to be upgraded from its original Netscape 4.76 browser to
Netscape 7.1 (In fact, the more newer Netscape I need for other
purposes - not related to FBB stuff at all - but I have not succeeded
to perform a kind of a 'browser-only' upgrade (In fact, Netscape 7.1
needs newer Glibc and some other things not easily being upgraded
within under Red Hat 7.1). That's why I decided to upgrade the
complete Linux system - i.e. not just reinstalling it Netscape
Messenger email directory tree etc). So, at first, I made cca. 450 MB
of free space on my / partition, hoping that would be enough to
upgrade. But, RH 9.0's setup asked for even more 400 MB - that I
couldn't made. Then I tried to make a 'fresh' installation of RH 9.0
and it also looked that I had better supply a larger hard disk
(besides that, it seemed that RH 9.0 performed a bit slower on my
system than the old RH 7.1). Finally, I made a decision to re-install
RH 7.1 again.
After I did it, one of the first tasks to do was to install LinFBB. I
took some browsing in order to find something newer than that
fbbsrc.704h and I've got fbbsrc.704j tarball from
ftp://www.f6fbb.org/pub/f6fbb/distrib/linux/src
<ftp://www.f6fbb.org/pub/f6fbb/distrib/linux/src>
· At first, I extracted .tgz package to the /usr/src directory.
fbbsrc.704j consists of 7 subdirs and 12 files. According to its
readme, at the beginning I should 'goto fbbsrc/src directory' so I
went to /usr/src/fbbsrc.704j/src
· The readme also suggested to "update the variables" at the
beginning of Makefile files, but I just left the file(s) intact.
· The next task was to run make command from the shell and it took
almost two minutes to be finished. The result was new xfbb
executables (clr_user, epurmess, epurwp, fbbgetconf, maintinf,
reqdir, xfbbC and xfbbd) that I quickly moved to /usr/sbin
directory.
· Then I copied fbb.conf (previously backup-ed) as well as other
config stuff that should go to /etc/ax25/fbb directory. I have not
created new directories LinFBB should use as a and a 'data tree' -
all of which suggested by /usr/src/fbbsrc.704j/FBBTREE file. If I
haven't copied my backup-ed fbb.conf (that, in turn, has been
configured to share config files with my WinFBB on a spare FAT16
partition) and if I wanted to activate LinFBB's daemon before
copying my particular fbb.conf - then I had to create those FBB-
trees. In opposite, LinFBB couldn't run.
· Soon after, I tried to activate LinFBB's daemon and it seemed to
work without visible difficulties (using a temporary home LAN with
a laptop, I performed telnet xfbbd_IP_address 6300, from Windows'
utility Command Prompt. It recognized the daemon in a second and
I've only noticed that there was no Protus password utility
running). The latter I solved by copying
/var/ax25/fbb/protus/c_filter file to a location
/usr/lib/fbb/filter and re-starting LinFBB. To make more tests, I
have also installed xfbbW (Windows client for LinFBB). It also
worked fine.
· According the readme, the next task should be to "compile the xfbbX
client". That operation is to be performed from a place called
"fbbsrc/client" but the only sub-directory available under
/usr/src/fbbsrc.704j/src was X11 subdir. I went there, but before
trying to activate make again, I also installed a couple of LessTif
RPM packages of version 0.93.18-1 (lesstif, lesstif-mwm, lesstif-
devel and lesstif- clients). In fact, I haven't had a version of
Motif to be installed.
· Once again, I did not make "updates" related to Makefile paths and
just tried to run make from the shell (for the 2nd time now). In a
half a minute, I got two new executables: xfbb and xfbbX_cl. I also
copied them to /usr/sbin directory, accompanied with xfbbX shell
script. The difference to the older version 704h was that this time
I haven't had to apply the GUI client executables from an earlier
version I have backup-ed previously. That means, I could be sure
now that both server and client parts of LinFBB are of the very
same version.
· Then I entered /usr/sbin/xfbbX and soon after XFBB Setup screen
appeared, asking to enter the Callsign and Password. From the Help
menu, I checked for About and Copyright and I was satisfied when
noticed that it was 7.04j version of the Linux GUI client.
9.3. fbbsrc.704j (using Red Hat 9.0)
2004-01-05
Notice: Although I managed to compile all parts of the newest LinFBB
version, I was not so happy because my Linux platform was still the
old one: Red Hat 7.1 and I wanted to have 9.0 version. That's why I
started planning what to do with the things intended to be backup-ed
before the another fresh installation of Linux. The main trouble were
the existing Netscape 4.76 email folders, because it was obvious that
the 4.76 directory structure greatly differ from Netscape 7.1 folder
tree. In fact, a user of Netscape 4.76 email only has to make a backup
copy of the hidden .nsmail directory that, in turn, has to be restored
into the same location after the eventual next re-installation of the
Red Hat 7.1 distribution. That is a simple task to do. But, the
problem with newer Netscape 7.1 was that it has the different
directory tree when compared to its predecessor, in addition to a
slightly changed email structure. In fact, I tried to use Netscape
4.76's .nsmail directory with the fresh Netscape 7.1 installation and
that just didn't want to run properly. Than I looked for another way
to accomplish that task and here is how I did it.
I already knew that Netscape and Mozilla software (in particular the
newer one versions of them) converge in a way they seem to use a
similar or the very same "engine" as well as the directory structure.
Having in mind that the newer Red Hat 9.0 distribution have not
offered any version of Netscape software at all and that Mozilla
packages remained in the newer Red Hat's - I decided to perform the
following steps:
1. to make a simple upgrade from Red Hat 7.1 to Red Hat 9.0 (in order
to keep the original Netscape's 4.76 .nsmail directory structure
intact, but to get an up-to-dated version of Mozilla which comes with
this particular Red Hat upgrade and that is the same as Mozilla after
the 'fresh' installation of RH 9.0);
2. to make an import of the existing email from Netscape 4.76 to
Mozilla (interestingly, the new Mozilla only supports an import from a
"Netscape 4.x");
3. to make a backup copy of the new Mozilla's directory structure;
4. to make a 'fresh' installation of Red Hat 9.0 (in order to ensure
the stable environment that, in turn, will also have the same new
Mozilla);
5. to make a 'restore' of Mozilla's directory structure (previously
backup-ed);
6. to install the new Netscape 7.1 that, as mentioned, will use the
same directory structure as the new Mozilla;
7. to have a choice: to run either Netscape or Mozilla (if you get
bored from either of them :-)).
Well, these steps were the nice mental exercise, but finally I got
them all running as I wanted. After I got sure that the Internet email
and browsing capabilities of my new Red Hat 9.0 became OK, I got to
the beginning of LinFBB installation procedure. Now I am not going to
repeat the items from the previous LinFBB sub-section, but what I
would like to say is that the step 4. (a couple of paragraphs above)
have not brought some X Window development packages, needed for
compiling of xfbbX. I mean, once again I managed to compile xfbbd and
xfbbC without problems, but a make of xfbbX haven't produced the
result I expected. In fact, it returned something like this:
[root@localhost X11]# make
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char ...
In file included from ../../include/xfbb.h:34,
...
...
xfbbabtd.c: In function `DisplayInfoDialog':
xfbbabtd.c:428: warning: comparison between pointer and integer
make: *** [xfbbabtd.o] Error 1
[root@localhost X11]#
I was advised by the friendly FBB-hams that obviously something of the
X Window development stuff have been missing, so I started to explore
the RPM's I already have installed:
[root@localhost root]# rpm -qa *lesst*
lesstif-devel-0.93.18-1
lesstif-clients-0.93.18-1
lesstif-mwm-0.93.18-1
lesstif-0.93.18-1
[root@localhost root]#
· As long as I know, all these lesstif packages don't belong to
either Red Hat 7.1 nor 9.0 distribution. I have probably
downloaded them as a '3rd party' software. Besides that, I also
noticed that Red Hat 9.0 installation CD's do include the
following:
lesstif-0.93.36-3.i386.rpm
lesstif-devel-0.93.36-3.i386.rpm
openmotif21-2.1.30-8.i386.rpm
openmotif-devel-2.2.2-14.i386.rpm
· Well, a nice try to 'upgrade' to lesstif-0.93.36-3.i386.rpm ended
up with an error report on the conflicts with the existing
lesstif-0.93.18-1 - so I gave up;
· Then I entered a 'loop' of failed dependencies as follows:
lesstif-devel-0.93.36-3.i386.rpm required
XFree86-devel and lesstif = 0.93.36
XFree86-devel-4.3.0-2.i386.rpm required
fontconfig-devel and pkgconfig
fontconfig-devel-2.1-9.i386.rpm required
freetype-devel >= 2.1.2-7
· Then the following stuff got installed without complaints:
[root@localhost root]# rpm -i freetype-devel-2.1.3-6.i386.rpm
[root@localhost root]# rpm -i fontconfig-devel-2.1-9.i386.rpm
[root@localhost root]# rpm -i pkgconfig-0.14.0-3.i386.rpm
[root@localhost root]# rpm -i XFree86-devel-4.3.0-2.i386.rpm
· Well, at this point I tried to recursively install
lesstif-0.93.36-3.i386.rpm once again but it conflicted with the
existing lesstif-0.93.18-1 - so I gave up once again;
· While pulling out the remaining hair, I just tried another make
within the X11 directory and ... Bingo! ... xfbbX finally got
compiled! Only God knows which one of the packages above was/were
the missing part(s). Case some of you knows, please let me know.
· And, as they said: ... and after all that had happened, what
remained has just gone to a legend ... :-)
What remains to be explored (at least for me) is to see how to
maintain various sysop's tasks (ex. how to execute 'housekeeping'
mechanism by a mouse click or like) - from within xfbbX. Your
suggestions are welcomed (they can be added as contributions to the
next releases of this mini-HOWTO!).
9.4. fbbsrc.704o (using Mandrake 9.1)
2008-01-13
Notice: I started to play with Mandrake release 9.1 for i586 (Bamboo)
some two years ago. That version was equipped with kernel
2.4.21-0.13mdk and, as you can expect, after the installation of the
new OS, I decided to put fbbsrc.704j on it because I was familiar with
version 7.04j. Unfortunately, in that particular iteration I have only
managed to compile the server part of LinFBB (xfbbd) and despite my
best efforts I couldn't have produced the graphical client (xfbbX). As
you have learned above what I was experiencing with earlier LinFBB
versions when I was about to compile GUI clients, I tried to follow
the same procedure once again: I mean to ensure that Motif (LessTif)
was there etc. But whatever I tried to install/uninstall I haven't
got any success with the client. So, I ended up with running xfbbd v.
7.04j and xfbbX v. 7.00g24 (dated Oct 16 1999) which was included in
7.04j tarball. You can imagine that I was not happy with such
confusing situation, so I decided to try something that reached the
markets in Sep 2007: a new version 7.04o
Since the previous version I was using, it seems that LinFBB has
changed its maintainer, though I don't know if Bernard, F6BVP took the
'job' from F6FBB officially or not. Regardless of that, I expected to
see some improvements in a way they constructed GUI clients to make it
easier to compile xfbbX - regardless a distribution of Linux being
used. This time I downloaded the package from F6BVP's location:
http://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/BBS-f6fbb/xd704o-src.tgz
<http://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/BBS-f6fbb/xd704o-src.tgz>
The procedure with xd704o-src.tgz is the same as it was with earlier
versions of LinFBB - so I am not going to replay how to compile the
executable files. A new fact for me was that the base directory tree
of LinFBB keeps changing (it started to change from version 7.04n).
Now, almost all parts of the program have to be placed in
subdirectories of /usr/local but at the first moment I missed that
point. To be precize, I was used earlier to put new executables into
/usr/sbin directory with other similar files, the configuration files
into /etc, etc. When I tried to activate xfbbd within the old
locations, nothing happened so I thought the compilation process might
have failured. After recognizing my mistake and moving the program
parts in accordance with instructions provided (always read the
manuals!), another incarnation of LinFBB daemon started to run
immediately. To be honest, I haven't noticed anything special with it,
so I rushed to compile the client xfbbX.
By the way, besides the location I downloaded xd704o-src.tgz from, I
also noticed http://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/BBS-f6fbb/xd704o_i386.tgz
<http://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/BBS-f6fbb/xd704o_i386.tgz> which I
supposed to be a version for older CPUs, like PI or PII. Instead, it
appeared that it was the complete structure of LinFBB's new directory
tree, including already compiled versions of xfbbd and other
executables, minus the client xfbbX - which found me a bit
disapointed.
I did not have any option but to try compilation of xfbbX by myself.
At first, I tried to position myself to the proper location, as
follows:
[root@server src]# cd X11
Then I invoked make command:
[root@server X11]# make
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xfbbabtd.o xfbbabtd.c
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xfbbcnsl.o xfbbcnsl.c
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xfbbedtm.o xfbbedtm.c
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xfbbedtu.o xfbbedtu.c
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xfbblcnx.o xfbblcnx.c
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xfbbmain.o xfbbmain.c
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xfbbpndd.o xfbbpndd.c
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xeditor.o xeditor.c
xeditor.c: In function `ManageFindDB':
xeditor.c:1511: warning: implicit declaration of function `_XmGrabTheFocus'
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -c -o xfbb.o xfbb.c
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -o xfbb xfbb.o ../arbre.o ../autobin.o ../balise.o ../bidexms.o ../conf.o ../console.o ../date.o ../devio.o ../dos_1.o ../dos_dir.o ../driver.o ../drv_aea.o ../drv_ded.o ../drv_hst.o ../drv_kam.o ../drv_mod.o ../drv_pop.o ../drv_sock.o ../drv_tcp.o ../edit.o ../ems.o ../error.o ../exec_pg.o ../fbb_conf.o ../fortify.o ../forward.o ../fwdovl1.o ../fwdovl2.o ../fwdovl3.o ../fwdovl4.o ../fwdovl5.o ../fwdovl6.o ../fwdovl7.o ../fwdutil.o ../gesfic.o ../ibm.o ../info.o ../init.o ../init_srv.o ../init_tnc.o ../initfwd.o ../initport.o ../k_tasks.o ../kernel.o ../lzhuf.o ../maint_fw.o ../mbl_edit.o ../mbl_expo.o ../mbl_impo.o ../mbl_kill.o ../mbl_lc.o ../mbl_list.o ../mbl_log.o ../mbl_menu.o ../mbl_opt.o ../mbl_prn.o ../mbl_read.o ../mbl_rev.o ../mbl_stat.o ../mbl_sys.o ../mbl_user.o ../mblutil.o ../md5c.o ../modem.o ../nomenc.o ../nouvfwd.o ../pac_crc.o ../pacsat.o ../qraloc.o ../redist.o ../rx25.o ../serv.o ../serveur.o ../statis.o ../themes.o ../tnc.o ../tncio.o ../trait.o ../trajec.o ../trajovl.o ../variable.o ../warning.o ../watchdog.o ../waveplay.o ../wp.o ../wp_mess.o ../wpserv.o ../xfwd.o ../xmodem.o ../yapp.o xfbbabtd.o xfbbcnsl.o xfbbedtm.o xfbbedtu.o xfbblcnx.o xfbbmain.o xfbbpndd.o xeditor.o -L/usr/lib -lm -lax25 -L/usr/X11R6/lib -L/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/lib -lXm -lXt -lXpm -lXext -lX11
/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lXpm
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [xfbb] Error 1
[root@server X11]#
At that point it looked to me that something was missing within the
installation of LessTif/Motif but I don't have any idea about what
might be wrong. If somebody has some ideas, it may help, so please do
not hesitate to contact me via email: skoric at eunet dot rs
Interestingly, I faced to the very same symptoms earlier when tried to
compile the GUI front-end of fbbsrc.704j where all I managed to have
was the following:
cd /usr/src/fbbsrc.704j/src/X11
[root@localhost X11]# make
gcc -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -O2 -g -funsigned-char -D__LINUX__ -DPROTOTYPES -I../../include -I/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -I/usr/include/netax25 -o xfbb xfbb.o ../arbre.o ../autobin.o ../balise.o ../bidexms.o ../conf.o ../console.o ../date.o ../devio.o ../dos_1.o ../dos_dir.o ../driver.o ../drv_aea.o ../drv_ded.o ../drv_hst.o ../drv_kam.o ../drv_mod.o ../drv_pop.o ../drv_sock.o ../drv_tcp.o ../edit.o ../ems.o ../error.o ../exec_pg.o ../fbb_conf.o ../fortify.o ../forward.o ../fwdovl1.o ../fwdovl2.o ../fwdovl3.o ../fwdovl4.o ../fwdovl5.o ../fwdovl6.o ../fwdovl7.o ../fwdutil.o ../gesfic.o ../ibm.o ../info.o ../init.o ../init_srv.o ../init_tnc.o ../initfwd.o ../initport.o ../k_tasks.o ../kernel.o ../lzhuf.o ../maint_fw.o ../mbl_edit.o ../mbl_expo.o ../mbl_impo.o ../mbl_kill.o ../mbl_lc.o ../mbl_list.o ../mbl_log.o ../mbl_menu.o ../mbl_opt.o ../mbl_prn.o ../mbl_read.o ../mbl_rev.o ../mbl_stat.o ../mbl_sys.o ../mbl_user.o ../mblutil.o ../md5c.o ../modem.o ../nomenc.o ../nouvfwd.o ../pac_crc.o ../pacsat.o ../qraloc.o ../redist.o ../rx25.o ../serv.o ../serveur.o ../statis.o ../themes.o ../tnc.o ../tncio.o ../trait.o ../trajec.o ../trajovl.o ../variable.o ../warning.o ../watchdog.o ../waveplay.o ../wp.o ../wp_mess.o ../wpserv.o ../xfwd.o ../xmodem.o ../yapp.o xfbbabtd.o xfbbcnsl.o xfbbedtm.o xfbbedtu.o xfbblcnx.o xfbbmain.o xfbbpndd.o xeditor.o -L/usr/lib -lm -lax25 -L/usr/X11R6/lib -L/usr/X11R6/LessTif/Motif2.0/lib -lXm -lXt -lXpm -lXext -lX11
/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lXpm
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [xfbb] Error 1
[root@localhost X11]#
Then too I got no clues what was caused the errors close to the end
of the sequence above and I would really appreciate if somebody would
be kind enough to give me some pointers. Actually, all 'make' tries
just haven't produced either xfbbX or xfbbX_cl files (or I happened
not to find them elsewhere?). The only idea I've got was just to try
executing (i.e. mouse clicking on) the original xfbbX shell script
(dated 09/07/03) which resulted in opening XFBB's main GUI window,
asking for callsign, pasword etc. I am not so sure if things should
have gone that way, because as explained in earlier installations, I
managed to compile xfbbX and xfbbX_cl files, move them to /usr/sbin
and activate from there.
After some Internet searching for ideas, I got an email from VK5KMG:
"Hi there Misko, it might be more of a help if you included your
complete operating system,ie: computer,processor and so on. As to the
ax25 stuff you will need libax25-0.0.11 ax25-apps-0.0.6
ax25-tools-0.0.8. You should be able to get rpm's of these.
Th original compile error was in regard to the updated ax25stuff
wnerein you will have to edit the necessary files to reflect the use
of the later versions,,,,,alternatively if you are using a 2.2 kernel
( though the later updated stuff works quite ok on the earlier
kernels) you would need the ax25-utils package, then FBB would compile
up ok using the earlier stuff.
To get the X stuff compiled you will have to go into the relative dir
in src and compile the files in there and install manually."
I have also downloaded the following versions of AX25 packages from
the Net:
libax25-0.0.11-1.i386.rpm ax25-apps-0.0.6-178.i586.rpm
ax25-tools-0.0.8-324.i586.rpm
Although all three complained for bad file signatures or like, I
managed to install all of them. What followed a repeated 'make'
command, was the same failed output. For your information, I tried to
tweak appropriate Makefile file before doing make in fbb/source/X11
directory, for several times now, but nothing helped.
According to earlier 'symptoms' of that type of an error, I was
suspicious that I have forgotten to install some parts of developing
software - related to graphical environment. In order to check what
actually was installed per default (Mandrake 9.1 distribution), I did
the following test:
[root@localhost src]# rpm -qa *lesst*
lesstif-0.93.36-2mdk
[root@localhost src]#
It was obvious that some of the X Window development parts of lestiff
routines were missing here. I started Mandrake 9.1 Control Center's
RpmDrake, searching there for possible lestiff-related packages and
found three of them. After having them installed, I performed another
test:
[root@localhost src]# rpm -qa *lesst*
lesstif-mwm-0.93.36-2mdk
lesstif-clients-0.93.36-2mdk
lesstif-0.93.36-2mdk
lesstif-devel-0.93.36-2mdk
[root@localhost src]#
Then it seemed that I finally got all four parts of lestiff, but
regardless of that I was not able to compile the xfbbX client.
I would appreciate if someone has new pointers to solve this issue.
10. How to access the "xfbbd" server from a DOS client?
Notice: In some of the previous chapters, I announced my plans to use
an old i286/12 MHz box, having only 1 MB of RAM, running DOS 5.0, as a
card so I would like to 'connect' to the BBS from that one 'telnet
client' box. If that succeeds, it would be a good preparation for
installing another LinFBB (in the local school club), where several
old 286 computers will be also available. It would be nice to offer
more than one student-amateur the opportunity to 'connect' the BBS
simultaneously, using a bunch of vintage
10.1. NCSA Telbin DOS client
2003-06-30
First of all, I have been looking for networking software that does
not require much of hardware resources. Several hams keep advising me
to try this or that way, but Jose, CO2JA, sent me his distribution
copy of NCSA Telnet utility. According to its own howto document,
that is actually a "NCSA Telbin DOS client", being "used at The
University of Port Elizabeth (Sep '94)". So far about software's
earlier "official" usage.
Well, it seems that NCSA TCP/IP kernel only runs on packet drivers
now. That's why I looked for appropriate packet drivers for my old ISA
network card, equipped with the UMC's UM9003AF chip. CZ20000.COM
packet driver seemed to be the most suitable one.
Before implementing the driver I also needed the proper diagnostic
utility to check and/or modify NIC's IRQ and I/O address in order to
avoid possible hardware conflicts (you know, under DOS it is less
easier to resolve interrupt hardware conflicts case a user has several
ISA cards that are not of P'n'P type /as PCI cards are/). It seemed
that DIAG.EXE ("The Ethernet Adapter Diagnostic Program, Ver. 2.13" -
that comes with E1000 and E2000 series Ethernet cards) was fully
capable to handle my card's parameters, so I choose the values of IRQ
5 and I/O 320 that weren't occupied by other resources.
Then I could execute the following DOS command:
cz2000 0x60 5 0x320
in order to activate the NIC.
Now the configuration file CONFIG.TEL should be modified in order to
satisfy my particular needs, including local (DOS client) and remote
(Linux server) IP addresses etc. In a couple of minutes that was
finished so the main executable TELBIN.EXE successfully started
running on my old 286 DOS box.
If you want, you may put cz2000 0x60 5 0x320 and telbin commands into
a dedicated TELNET.BAT file in order to make your telnet utility
easier to activate. Should you plan to use your old DOS box for only
accessing the Linux FBB server, both lines may be added to the
AUTOEXEC.BAT start up file.
10.2. Xrouter 176b
2003-07-20
A "YL" (the amateur "young lady") from the UK, Paula Dowie G8PZT, has
suggested me to try her own product, XROUTER MULTI-PROTOCOL ROUTER,
that is "an AX25 and IP packet router for the amateur packet radio
network, using a standard PC and DOS". Actually, it seems that Xrouter
has much more functions that I need now, but anyway it was intriguing
to test its features, in order to connect LinFBB via LAN. Paula said
that "Xrouter http://pzt.org.uk/software/software.htm
<http://pzt.org.uk/software/software.htm> will run on a 286 DOS
machine, and will act as a telnet client". She added that, Xrouter's
"outgoing text is composed in a one line buffer, so the receive window
is only 22 lines".
According to Paula's email signature, seems she's very active in
helping to the amateur digital radio activities:
> Packet: G8PZT @ GB7PZT.#24.GBR.EU (44.131.91.2) [Kidderminster]
> Email: g8pzt@blueyonder.co.uk _/\_
> GB7PZT: 01562-745527 24h 300-33,600 8,n,1 ()
> Software: XServ BBS, Xrouter, PEARL off-line-reader. />
> Web Site: www.pzt.org.uk (also www.qsl.net/g8pzt) ===>--->>\----
> Telnet: (BBS): gb7pzt.dyndns.org:88 and 44.131.91.2:23
> Telnet: (KIDDER): g8pzt.ath.cx and 44.131.91.245
> HTTP: http://g8pzt.ath.cx/ and http://44.131.91.245
So, I went to visit the site to see what it was about and to download
the package. There were two compressed files, rout172.zip and
rout176c.zip so I decided to get both of them (the latter is the newer
one, 28/7/02 but the other one is also not so old, 15/11/01).
According to sysop's manual XROUTER.TXT the ethernet driver allows
connection with Windows, Linux, NOS and BPQ. At the moment I am
primarily interested in connections to LinFBB (and maybe to WinFBB
too). Xrouter's hardware requirements include at least one COM port
or Ethernet card and I used only the Ethernet card for the first time
because I am not going to use Xrouter for anything else but for
accessing LinFBB over my home network.
As described in the previous section, related to "NCSA Telbin DOS
client", I have managed to activate my NIC using the command:
cz2000 0x60 5 0x320
After doing that, there was a requirement to use the software
component ETHDRV.EXE (supplied with Xrouter), like this:
ethdrv 125
where "125" stands for a software interrupt in the range 60 - 127 (125
is used as an example that, BTW, works here without any problem). On
the other side, the same software interrupt must be defined as the
INTNUM parameter, that is a part of the INTERFACE block within
XROUTER.CFG configuration file.
And, finally, there was a command:
xrouter
to activate the main executable. As mentioned before, all three lines
above may be incorporated into an XROUTER.BAT (or whatever similar)
batch file to make user's life easier.
Well, although in my case the first two lines responded in positive
manner, the last one rather suggested that I had some errors in the
configuration. The nice thing is that errors are reported with a
detail such the exact line of XROUTER.CFG where an error is made. In
fact, Xrouter is able to support lots of various "ports" and has a
plenty of other features, so it was not easy to solve the config
issues I faced to. With some help from other hams I managed to adapt
the following configuring blocks:
INTERFACE=8
TYPE=EXTERNAL
PROTOCOL=ETHER
MTU=1600
INTNUM=125
ENDINTERFACE
and
PORT=6
ID=Ethernet LAN
INTERFACENUM=8
CHANNEL=A
FRACK=1000
RESPTIME=200
MAXFRAME=7
PACLEN=240
ENDPORT
So far, so good. Now I got Xrouter's main screen from where I could
enter telnet and other commands. But I was still not able to connect
to the LinFBB. Finally, I got the suggestion to reconfigure another
Xrouter's system file, IPROUTE.SYS. It seemed that the missing part
was to change the default route, as follows:
route default 6 * d
Then I became capable to access my LinFBB server.
10.3. JNOS 1.11f
2007-04-09
Similarly to Xrouter, JNOS is much more than a simple 'telnet client'
for DOS machines. And yes, its telnet ability is fine so I use it to
make casual connections to my LinFBB server without problems.
On the other side, I always wanted to offer a 24/7 mailbox service to
the radio amateurs in my area. Having in mind that the computer the
LinFBB server runs on is everything but a brand new machine, and if it
failured I would stay without my primary working computer, I started
thinking to use the old 80286 box as a full-time mailbox. In fact,
JNOS might be one of the best solutions for that:
- It provides complete mailbox operations for incoming users,
- It supports low-end computers, like my 80286 with 1MB RAM,
- It supports mail forwarding with LinFBB servers, including
forwarding over Ethernet,
- etc.
10.3.1. Plans
Here it is a diagram of my planned ham radio systems:
__________________________ _____________________________
|80286 CPU, 12MHz, 1MB RAM| |P II CPU, 400MHz, 224 MB |
|MS DOS 5.0 | |Linux Mdk 9.1 / Win2000Pro |
|JNOS 1.11f for DOS | |LinFBB 7.04j / WinFBB16 7.00i|
|configured AXIP tunnel |-- Ethernet --|BPQ32 with AXIP tunnel |
|TNC2 in KISS mode | 10 mbps |tel. modem port 33k6 |
|2m VHF radio | (LAN) |dial-up to the Internet |
|network card | |network card |
--------------------------- -------------------------------
The idea was to use the 286 box as a 24/7 amateur radio mailbox. The
local users would connect to the mailbox using their VHF stations.
While logged, they are offered to read bulletins that have been
supplied by the LinFBB machine. In addition, users can sent replies to
the bulletins' authors as well as to write other personal emails. JNOS
is planned to run 24/7 which means its services would be available
regardless the LinFBB computer is active or not.
Having in mind that LinFBB is just one of the applications I use when
working with the P II computer, and the fact that I don't have enough
resources to finance some better equipment, I found it as rational to
use LinFBB only when really needed - including forwarding purposes.
That means, the local packeteers would have no problem if the P II
computer is off while I am at work or something. The 286 box is going
to provide all mailbox services.
When I return home from work and switch the LinFBB server on in order
to exchange the content of its mailbox with remote BBS stations using
'telnet forwarding' via the Internet, it would establish another
'telnet forwarding'session - this time with JNOS mailbox added. Of
course, in that case I would need to keep my dial-up connection to the
Internet alive as long as the content of the LinFBB mailbox is
exchanged with remote servers. The telnet sessions within the home
LAN (Ethernet) can take as much time as needed and during those
sessions LinFBB and JNOS mailboxes would exchange both bulletins ('SB'
messages) and personal stuff ('SP' messages).
10.3.2. Realization
I have already had a version of JNOS which was dated somewhere in mid-
nineties. First of all, I searched the web in order to learn how
things changed during the last decade and, as a result, I discovered
that the last version of JNOS So I downloaded and installed it -
though I was not sure which options were activated ("defined" in the
JNOS jargon) and which were not ("undefined").
According the instructions, I ensured that my network card's driver
was started before any part of the JNOS program itself. It is
important because at the early stages of JNOS booting process, the
JNOS ports are configured, including the port which uses the network
card. So, I managed to set up two ports:
- A port that provides radio access using TNC2 in KISS mode,
- A port that provides telnet access using the network card.
The first tests of the equipment proved that both radio and telnet
outlets were working, but nothing was considered as finished until the
JNOS system was capable to exchange the content of its mailbox with
the LinFBB server. Having in mind that the LinFBB server's telnet
port has been in use for a long time now, I just set up another
forwarding 'partner' that was JNOS. The same I did at the JNOS side,
though it was a tricky business because I was used to configure FBB
systems and haven't handle any JNOS system since the early nineties.
So far - so good.
Unfortunately I faced to the issues I heard of for several times:
Telnet is not the best option to make a forwarding between FBB and
JNOS. In fact, there is no complete technical description of that
behavior available, but what happens is that both FBB or JNOS somehow
do not understand what the other party 'wants to say'. To be precise,
during the so called handshaking part of the session, both systems
have to exchange their FBB. Whatever happens during that telnet
session, often the result is a broken link.
After making several tests without much success, I had to subscribe to
a couple of mailing lists and asked for help. The majority of hams
suggested to use an AXIP connection instead of telnet. Frankly
speaking, I heard of the AXIP and AXUDP connections long ago, but I
haven't learned much of them because I did not need them at the time.
In short, AXIP (or AXUDP) are used to 'encapsulate' the usual radio
traffic of the AX.25 type into the internet-like TCP/IP packets. When
you have such encapsulated packets of data, it is easy to transfer
them using the wired links - including the Internet or the Ethernet in
my case. More details on how to configure AXIP (or AXUDP) you can find
in another document: AX.25 howto.
The good thing is that Linux has a 'native' support for the amateur
radio networking, which means you do not have to install some "node"
or "switch" software that is used as an interface between LinFBB
server computer and other amateur radio mailbox systems (more details
about the specific setup in my case will follow in the next versions
of this document). The good thing at the JNOS side is that it also
does not need a "node" or "switch" software that runs bellow the JNOS
software itself. That means both LinFBB and JNOS system operators
('sysops' in the ham terminology) are required just to activate and
configure native AXIP or AXUDP features of their mailbox systems. In
opposite to that, WinFBB (FBB for Windows) sysops have to install
additional "node" or "switch" packages, called BPQ or others.
After some fine tuning and additional 'tweaking' the LinFBB and JNOS
systems, I am capable to exchange the amateur radio messages between
the two mailboxes. Of course, the experimentation is far from over,
because there are several minor issues to work on. Stay tuned ...
10.4. Improving the home LAN connections
2007-11-17
As mentioned earlier, I had an old NIC of ISA type equipped with UMC's
UM9003AF chip in the DOS computer. On the Linux/Windows side I also
used an ISA card which was activated with either module 'ne' in Linux,
and was recognized as 'NE2000 compatible' in Windows 2000. For some
unknown reason the card was not recognized by Windows XP at all. A
friendly ham Paul, N6RME, wanted to donate his spare card of PCI type,
equipped with 3Com's 3C905 chip. I decided to move 'NE2000 compatible'
ISA card from Linux to DOS machine because I expected not to have
problems with its DOS drivers. Besides that, that NIC also had a UTP
connector - just like the 'new' 3Com's card, sent by Paul, which meant
I could replace the old coax cable with a UTP (FTP) one. So I did.
With the new card at the Linux/Windows side, I started with
configuration. W2k recognized the NIC as 3Com Ethernet Link XL 10/100
PCI NIC (3C905-TX) at I/O address of E400 and IRQ 7, while XP
recognized it as 3Com 3C905TX at the same address of E400 but IRQ 5.
Linux Mandrake 9.1 has found it as 3c905 100BaseTX [Boomerang]. At the
first moment I wanted to continue with using the module 'ne' but
obviously it was not possible and I got an error message when re-
booted Linux. Then I tried to tweak the I/O and IRQ's in Linux with
using 'netconf' tool but always got an error. I have also tried to
change a value within the computer's BIOS from 'Legacy ISA' to
'PCI/ISA PnP' because the new card is PCI and accordingly not likely
to work with settings for earlier ISA card. It did not help, until I
replaced the module wonder if there might be a more proper "3c90x"
module to play with.
To be honest, I haven't improved the link between the two so much (if
any) - it still runs as a 10 Mbps link because of the slower 'NE2000
compatible' card at the DOS side. But, with upgrading the cables to a
newer standard I increased the chances for further options: To include
those two computers in some more complex home LAN, using a hub or a
switch.
11. How to communicate with LinFBB in Serbian?
2003-08-01
Gentle folks, I am a Serb and I live in Serbia. My language is
Serbian and I communicate with FBB in that language. If you like to
expand the language capabilities of your LinFBB (and-or WinFBB too), I
include two system language files: SRPSKI.HLP and SRPSKI.TXT for your
convenience. As you can see, the files are in the Latin alphabet
although I would like to have them in the Cyrillic too. Case some of
you have ideas or links on how to manage that, you are welcome to
help.
11.1. SRPSKI.HLP
=====BOF=====
##############################
# SRPSKI.HLP for FBB 7.00g #
# (Serbian help file) #
# by Misko,YT7MPB 02Jul99 #
##############################
#################
# -1 za goste #
#################
@@ -1 ?
Imate ograniceni izbor naredbi:
B : bye-diskonekt
H : ovaj tekst
KM : brise sve PROCITANE poruke za vas
LM : ispis naslova SVIH poruka za vas
O : izbor opcija (jezik,stranice..)
RM : cita sve poruke za vas
RN : cita sve NOVE poruke za vas
S : upucuje poruku (SEND)
T : poziva SysOp-a
###################
# 0 je za SERVER #
###################
@@ 0 ?
*** nema takve naredbe !!!
C : statistika konektovanja
D : dokumentacija i informacije
Q : QTH lokatori
N : adresar stanica (CALLBOOK)
T : sateliti i njihove putanje
F : povratak u BBS mod
B : diskonekt iz bbs-a
Upisite: ? <slovo> za detaljniju pomoc (na pr.. ? T )
@@ 0 C
Konekt-statistika
-----------------
Razne statistike o upotrebi servera, liste i slicno.
@@ 0 D
Informacije
-----------
U ovom delu mozete pronaci razne informacije i dokumentaciju ako postoje.
Naredbe su brojcane.
@@ 0 N
Adresar
-------
Ovde se nalaze informacije koje su korisnici bbs-a ostavili o sebi.
(ime, adresa, telefoni, ...).
Mozete upisati i svoje podatke ....(preporucujemo).
@@ 0 Q
Lokatori
--------
Razni proracuni vezani uz lokator (iz koordinata u LOC, iz LOC u koordinate,
QRB, sumirajuci QRB vise lokatora, azimuti...).
@@ 0 T
Putanje satelita
----------------
Proracun putanja, orbitalnih parametara, karakteristike raznih satelita
(ukoliko za njih postoje podaci).
@@ 0 F
Povratak u BBS
--------------
Naredbom: F <enter> se mozete vratiti nazad u BBS mod.
@@ 0 B
Bye - diskonekt
----------------
Naredbom: B <enter> prekidate QSO sa bbs-om.
###########################
# QRA-locator server is 2 #
###########################
@@ 2 ?
*** nema takve naredbe !!!
Q : proracun koordinata iz lokatora,
L : proracun lokatora iz koordinata,
D : proracun QRB i azimuta izmedju dva lokatora,
C : sabiranje QRB izmedju pocetnog LOC i vise drugih lokatora,
F : povratak u server meni,
B : diskonekt iz bbs-a.
Ukucajte: ? <slovo> za detaljniju pomoc (na pr.. ? L).
@@ 2 Q
naredba Q
---------
Izracunava koordinate iz lokatora. Rezultat je u stepenima/min. i gradima.
Gradijani nam bas i nisu zanimljivi pa zavisno od jezika se nece ni ispisati.
@@ 2 L
naredba L
---------
Izracunava lokator iz koordinata. Koordinate se mogu uneti u decimalnim
stepenima, stepen./min. i gradijanima.
Primer unosa u stepenima i minutima: 1:45:00 (smer)
Ovaj smer zamenite sa Sever, Jug, Istok, Zapad prema potrebi. Pazite da
prvo slovo bude VELIKO, na pr.. 1:45:00 Sever
@@ 2 D
naredba D
---------
Izracunava QRB i azimut izmedju dva lokatora. QRB je u km, azimut u stepenima.
@@ 2 C
naredba C
---------
Sabira izracunate QRB. Nakon unosa polaznog LOC svi sledeci QRB se nakon
proracuna dodaju ukupnoj sumi km.
Ako nemate digitron ili racunar mozete ovde izracunati rezultate contesta :))
@@ 2 F
naredba F
---------
Vraca vas nazad u SERVER mod pa mozete probati neki drugi modul servera.
Ako ponovo posaljete F <enter> vracate se u BBS mod.
@@ 2 B
naredba B
---------
Prekidate vezu bez vracanja u BBS mod.
###################
# STATISTICS is 3 #
###################
@@ 3 ?
*** nema takve naredbe !!!
O : zauzeca na bbs-u u %,
G : opsta statistika bbs-a,
L : spisak konektovanih stanica,
H : graficki prikaz dnevne upotrebe bbs-a,
J : graficki prikaz nedeljne upotrebe bbs-a,
I : spisak svih stanica koje su do sada bile u bbs-u,
F : povratak u SERVER-MENI,
B : diskonekt iz bbs-a,
Ukucajte: ? <slovo> za detalje o nekoj naredbi ( na pr.. ? L).
@@ 3 O
naredba O
---------
Procenat upotrebe raznih resursa servera, mailbox-a i DOS modula.
@@ 3 G
naredba G
---------
Opsta statistika servera (broj poruka, konekta, vremena...)
@@ 3 L
naredba L
---------
Konekt lista. Za svaki konekt ispisuje se: port, znak, pocetak i vreme
trajanja konekta. Lista se daje unazad, a ispis se prekida sa A.
@@ 3 H
naredba H
---------
H : graficki prikaz upotrebe BBS-a po satima od 00 - 24h,
H CALL : graficki prikaz upotrebe BBS-a od strane CALL. Moguci su i "dzoker"-
znaci.Na pr. H YU7* ce dati ispis za sve YU7 stanice koje su bile tu.
@@ 3 J
naredba J
---------
J : graficki prikaz upotrebe BBS-a po danima u sedmici od Pon do Ned,
J CALL : graficki prikaz upotrebe BBS-a od strane CALL. Moguci su i "dzoker"-
znaci.Na pr. J YU7* ce dati ispis za sve YU7 stanice koje su bile tu.
@@ 3 I
naredba I
---------
I : abecedni spisak stanica koje su koristile BBS. Moguci su i
"dzoker"-znaci.Na pr. I YU7* ce dati listu svih YU7 stanica.
@@ 3 F
naredba F
---------
Vraca vas nazad u SERVER-MENI pa mozete da probate neki drugi modul servera.
Ako ponovo posaljete: F <enter> vracate se u BBS mod.
@@ 3 B
Bye - diskonekt
----------------
Naredbom: B <enter> prekidate vezu, bez potrebe da se vracate u BBS mod.
######################
# DOCUMENTATION is 4 #
######################
@@ 4 ?
Dokumentacija
-------------
Da bi procitali neki tekst sa liste samo upisite njegov broj.
Nove stvari se upisuju putem NEWDOC servera iz BBS-a (? NEWDOC).
L ispisuje listu fajlova.
Sysop: OPIS se moze menjati D naredbom ( na pr.. D BBS.DOC opis).
@@ 4 F
naredba F
---------
Vracate se nazad u SERVER-MENI pa mozete probati neki drugi modul servera.
Ako ponovo posaljete: F <enter> vracate se u BBS-mod.
@@ 4 D
naredba D (samo za SysOp-a)
--------------------------
Izmena opisa dokumentacionih fajlova.
@@ 4 L
naredba L
---------
Daje spisak postojecih tekstova.
@@ 4 R
------
naredba R
---------
Ako ste otisli u neki od DOCS poddirektorijuma sa R se vracate na raniji DIR.
#####################
# NOMENCLATURE is 5 #
#####################
@@ 5 ?
*** nema takve naredbe !!!
N : promena licnih podataka: imena, adrese...,
R : pretrazuje bazu za podacima o nekoj stanici,
I : lista konektovanih znakova,
F : povratak u server meni,
B : diskonekt iz bbs-a.
Ukucajte: ? <slovo> za detalje o naredbi (na pr.. ? N ).
@@ 5 N
naredba N
---------
Ako nema podataka o vasem imenu, adresi, tlf ili su netacni, mozete ih
uneti ili menjati ovom naredbom.
Ukoliko na pitanje odgovorite sa razmakom ili <RETURN> nece se promeniti
taj podatak.
Ukoliko je sve OK, samo odgovorite slovom N na (D/N) pitanje.
SysOp : sysop moze menjati podatke korisnika naredbom N CALL.
@@ 5 R
naredba R
---------
Pretrazuje bazu podataka u potrazi za podacima o nekom pozivnom znaku.
Na pr. R YU7APV <enter>.
@@ 5 I
naredba I
---------
Abecedni popis stanica koje su do sada konektovale ovaj BBS.
@@ 5 F
naredba F
---------
Vraca vas nazad u SERVER-MENI pa mozete probati neki drugi modul servera.
Ako ponovo posaljete: F <enter> vracate se u BBS.
@@ 5 B
Bye - diskonekt
----------------
Naredbom: B <enter> prekidate vezu, bez potrebe da se vracate u BBS mod.
#######################
# TRAJECTOGRAPHY is 6 #
#######################
@@ 6 ?
*** nema takve naredbe !!!
T : izracunava putanju/polozaj nekog satelita,
P : prikazuje orbitalne parametre,
C : karakteristike amaterskih satelita,
F : povratak u server meni,
B : diskonekt iz bbs-a.
Posle naredbi C, P i T mozete da upisete L za SPISAK satelita.
Ukucajte ? <slovo> za detalje o nekoj naredbi ( na pr.. ? C ).
@@ 6 T
naredba T
---------
Izracunava putanju satelita. Nakon sto ste odabrali satelit za koji zelite
proracun morate uneti datum i vreme za koje zelite podatke. Svi podaci su
bazirani na vasem lokatoru ukoliko ste ga upisali inace se racuna prema
lokatoru ovog bbs-a.
Za popis satelita upisite L <enter>.
@@ 6 P
naredba P
---------
Ispisuje orbitalne parametre satelita koji se koriste u proracunima.
Za popis satelita upisite L <enter>.
@@ 6 C
naredba C
---------
Daje karakteristike i informacije o izabranom satelitu.
Za popis satelita upisite L <enter>.
@@ 6 F
naredba F
---------
Vraca vas nazad u SERVER-MENI pa mozete probati neki drugi modul servera.
Ako ponovo posaljete: F <enter> vracate se u BBS-mod.
@@ 6 B
Bye - diskonekt
----------------
Naredbom: B <enter> prekidate vezu bez potrebe da se vracate u BBS-mod.
###############
# 9 is DosFBB #
###############
@@ 9 ?
Moguce naredbe u DosFBB delu su:
? i HELP : ovaj tekst,
O : opcije (stranice po liniji, bazni broj...),
BGET : Autobin download,
BPUT : Autobin upload,
DIR : ispis sadrzaja direktorijuma (LIST je daleko bolja)
DU : disk usage - spisak DOS dir's sa pojedinacnim zauzecem,
EDIT : editovanje fajla,
GET : download (ispis) tekst fajla,
PUT : upload (upis) tekst fajla,
CD : promena direktorijuma,
COPY : kopiranje fajla,
DEL : brisanje fajla,
MD : napravi direktorijum,
RD : obrisi prazan direktorijum,
XGET : XMODEM download (tel. modem),
XPUT : XMODEM upload (tel. modem),
X1GET : 1k-XMODEM download (tel. modem),
YGET : YAPP download (ili YMODEM via tel. modem),
YPUT : YAPP upload,
ZGET : ZMODEM download (tel. modem),
TYPE : ispis ASCII fajla sa paginacijom,
LIST : ispis fajlova sa kratkim opisom ako postoji,
PRIV : odlazak u posebni, privatni direktorijum,
VIEW : pogled u sadrzaj arhiviranih fajlova (ARJ, ZIP, LZH, ARC),
WHERE file : pretraga po disku za fajlovima,
NEW : ispis novih fajlova od zadnje primene NEW,
EXIT,F i QUIT: povratak u BBS-mod,
B : diskonekt iz bbs-a.
Diskove mozete menjati kao i u DOS sa A:,C:,D: (ukoliko postoji vise diskova)
Za detalje ukucajte ? <naredba> (na pr.. ? WHERE).
@@ 9 HELP
naredba HELP
------------
Ispisuje spisak svih raspolozivih naredbi u DosFBB delu.
@@ 9 B
Bye - diskonekt
----------------
Naredbom B <enter> prekidate vezu bez potrebe da se vracate u BBS-mod.
@@ 9 CD
naredba CD
----------
Koristi se za promenu direktorijuma, na pr.. CD \YAPP. Za "natrag" jedan dir
koristite naredbu: CD <enter>.
@@ 9 COPY
naredba COPY
------------
Sluzi za kopiranje fajlova. (na pr.. COPY TEST.TXT TEST2.TXT)
Kopiranje preko vec postojeceg fajla nije dozvoljeno (greska).
@@ 9 DEL
naredba DEL
-----------
Sluzi za brisanje fajlova. Mozete obrisati SAMO fajlove koje ste vi poslali.
@@ 9 DIR
naredba DIR
-----------
DIR prikazuje sadrzaj direktorijum,a bilo onog u kojem ste sada bilo drugog
ako unesete punu putanju ("path") na pr. DIR \YAPP.
"Dzokeri" su dozvoljeni, na pr.. DIR *.SYS
@@ 9 DU
naredba DU
----------
DU (Disk Usage) ispisuje zauzet/slobodni prostor na disku.
@@ 9 EDIT
naredba EDIT
------------
Sluzi za editovanje (ispravku) tekst fajlova. Nakon njene primene ulazi se
u poseban editor sa malom grupom posebnih naredbi, sto je previse pa ne bi
dalje o ovome ....
@@ 9 EXIT|QUIT|F
naredbe EXIT,QUIT i F
---------------------
Sve znace isto: izlaz iz DosFBB nazad u BBS-mod.
@@ 9 GET
naredba GET
-----------
Ovo upotrebite ako zelite da preuzmete/procitate neki TEKST fajl sa BBS-a.
Ispis je kontinuiran. Na pr. GET PHONE.BBS.
Pazite, neki fajlovi nisu tekstualni i ova naredba nije za njih. Tacnije,
dobijate cudne znakove na ekranu ako probate GET sa NE-tekstualnim fajlovima.
@@ 9 LIST
naredba LIST
------------
Daje spisak fajlova (kao i DIR), ali uz njih ispise i kratki opis ukoliko
postoji.
@@ 9 MD|MKDIR
naredba MD ili MKDIR
--------------------
Pravi novi direktorijum unutar onoga u kojem se koristi. Na pr MD TEST.
Nema svrhe da se ovo proba, osim uz dobro objasnjenje SysOp-u (hi)...
@@ 9 NEW
naredba NEW
-----------
Vrlo zgodno jer vam daje spisak SVIH NOVIH fajlova u SVIM direktorijumima od
kako ste poslednji put dali NEW. Koristite je kad udjete u DOS, lakse je nego
DIR "okolo-naokolo".
@@ 9 O|OL|ON|OR|OP|
naredba O
---------
Daje dosta raznih stvari:
O <enter> ispisuje stanje ovoga ispod za vas slucaj,
OP - iskljucuje ispis po stranicama,
OP br. - ukljucuje ispis po stranicama sa <br.> brojem linija po strani,
OL - spisak mogucih jezika za koriscenje u bbs-u,
OL br. - prelazak na jezik <br.>,
ON - ispis osnovnog (pocetnog) broja za listanje poruka,
ON br. - upis novog osnovnog (pocetnog) broja <br.>.
To je broj koji se sabira sa onim sto upisete kod rada sa porukama.
Kako je nezgodno kucati R 20002 postavite ON 20 (isto kao i ON 20000)
i posle kucate samo R 2, a BBS vam cita poruku 20002 (20000 + 2, ok?)
OR - uklj/isklj citanje licnih poruka za druge korisnike,
OM - uklj/isklj mogucnost auto-listanja novih licnih poruka kod konekta.
@@ 9 PUT
naredba PUT
-----------
Sluzi za upis nekog vaseg tekst fajla u BBS. Ukoliko vec postoji isto ime,
stari fajl se prvo mora obrisati (naravno, samo ako je to bio vas fajl).
Na pr. PUT INFO.C64 snima u bbs fajl pod imenom INFO.C64
@@ 9 PRIV
naredba PRIV
------------
PRIV naredba daje pristup u posebni direktorijum, samo vas ili jos neciji.
To moze u dogovoru sa SysOp-om, ako ima mesta na hard disku.
Takav DIR moze da postavi samo SysOp.
@@ 9 RD|RMDIR
naredba RD ili RMDIR
--------------------
Brise prazan direktorijum koji ste vi napravili.
@@ 9 TYPE
naredba TYPE
------------
Daje ispis tekst fajla po STRANICAMA ukoliko tako zelite (vidi OP naredbu).
@@ 9 VIEW
naredba VIEW
------------
naredbom VIEW moze se "pogledati" sta sadrzi neki arhivirani fajl.
To su svi fajlovi sa: .ARJ .ZIP .LZH .ARC nastavcima.
Primer: VIEW SP
@@ 9 XGET|XPUT|X1GET|ZGET
naredbe XGET, XPUT, X1GET, ZGET
-------------------------------
SAMO ukoliko BBS ima i telefonski modem-port i ako ste preko njega
konektovani. One sa GET su za skidanje , a sa PUT za upis fajlova i to:
XGET - XModem
X1GET - XModem-1k
ZGET - ZModem
YGET - YModem
Upotreba je ista : naredba <ime_fajla>
VAZNO: na BBS-u moze biti postavljen dozvoljeni dnevni limit u kb za preuzimanje.
@@ 9 YGET|YPUT|BPUT|BGET
naredbe YGET, YPUT, BPUT, BGET
------------------------------
Koriste se za skidanje/slanje binarnih fajlova putem radio veze.
YGET i YPUT za YAPP protokol (YAPP, TPK, PTM..)
BPUT i BGET za Autobin protokol (SP, GP, Turbopacket..)
YGET preko modema za YModem protokol
Upotreba je ista : naredba <ime_fajla>
VAZNO: na BBS-u moze biti postavljen dozvoljeni dnevni limit u kb za skidanje.
Napomena: NE koristite YAPP ako nemate program sa "yapp resume" mod-om !!!
##################
# BBS-mode is 14 #
##################
@@ 14 A|ABORT
(A)bort tj... prekid ispisa iz BBS-a.
OK, ako ste poceli da citate nesto pogresno, ali uzmite u obzir sva kasnjenja
kroz mrezu dok "A" ne stigne do BBS i prekine ispis....
@@ 14 B
B naredba vas diskonektuje iz BBS-a (uz jos neke podatke).
Bitno je da samo tako izlazite iz BBS-a, a ne diskonektom jer ce vam samo tako
ostati podesene nove vrednosti za naredbu L ("List").
Ukoliko se veza prekine tako necete izgubiti poslednje stanje.
@@ 14 C|CW
CW naredba ispisuje stanice u konferenciji.
C naredba vas ubacuje u konferenciju tj... "bla-bla" okrugli sto u kojem sve
sto pisete ide svima koji su takodje trenutno u konferenciji na bbs-u.
U konferenciji sve naredbe pocinju sa tackom u prvoj koloni !!!
.C[port] call [via digi1 digi2...] konektuje stanicu na portu,
.H vam daje ovaj tekst,
.W ispisuje prisutne stanice u konferenciji,
.Q vraca vas iz konferencije nazad u BBS-mod.
@@ 14 CB
Pomocu naredbe CB CALL dobicete adresu za trazeni znak iz callbook-a
sa CD ROM-a (kad ga budemo ugradili, hi), na pr.: CB YU7APV
@@ 14 D|DOS
Naredba ima dvostruko znacenje:
1. Samo D bez argumenata vas prebacuje iz BBS u DOS mod. Tu mozete kao i na PC
slati/skidati fajlove, kopirati, citati.....
Paznja: DOS deo ima svoje, drukcije naredbe. Napravite HELP kada udjes u
njega !
2. D uz argument vam daje download nekog tekst fajla. Na pr D \yaesu\ft-411.mod
i BBS ce vam poslati fajl FT-411.MOD iz YAESU direktorijuma. U vezi ovog
pogledajte i pomoc za W naredbu (?W).
VAZNO: samo programi koji imaju uobicajene ekstenzije tipa: .TXT, .DOC, .INF
se mogu normalno procitati. Svi ostali se moraju preneti posebnim
nacinom (vidi pomoc za YAPP prenos).
@@ 14 F
F naredba vam daje pristup serveru i dodatnim mogucnostima.
Server koristi sistem menija gde ulazite prvo u glavni meni.
Za objasnjenja koristite uvek samo: ? <enter>.
@@ 14 G
G naredba daje pristup Gateway-u. Upotrebljivo tek kod BBS-ova sa
vise portova na razlicitim frekvencijama.
@@ 14 ?|H|HELP
Spisak mogucih naredbi ili GRUPE naredbi (vise njih sa istim PRVIM slovom).
A :(abort) - prekida ispisivanje necega,
B :(bye) - diskonekt,
C :(conference) - ulaz u konferenciju (bla-bla vise stanica),
CB: Trazenje adrese ARS sa CD ROM-a (ako je ugradjen CD citac),
D :(DOS) - ulaz u FbbDOS ili download fajla,
F :(FBB) - ulaz u server (adresar, sateliti, lokatori...),
G :(gateway) - pristup drugim frekvencijama BBS-a (ako postoje),
H :(pomoc) - tekst za pomoc kad vam zatreba,
I :(info) - info o sistemu ili grupa naredbi White Page servera,
J :(jheard)- spisak nekoliko poslednjih konektovanih/slusanih stanica,
K :(kill) - brisanje poruka,
L :(list) - listanje poruka,
M :(make) - kopira poruku/bilten u fajl,
N :(name) - menja vase ime,
NH: - upisuje BBS na koji ce ici poruke za vas (MYBBS, HomeBBS...)
NZ: - upisuje postanski broj vaseg QTH,
NQ: - upisuje vas grad ili mesto,
NL: - upisuje vas QTH lokator,
O :(option)- odabir opcija (stranice, jezika.....),
PS: - spisak prisutnih servera (nije isto sto i "server mod"),
PG: - pokretanje ili popis posebnih DOS programa,
R :(read) - cita poruke,
S :(send) - salje poruke,
T :(talk) - zove SysOp-a,
TH:(themes)- pristup tematskoj podeli biltena (novo u FBB 7),
V :(verbose)- cita poruke sa kompletnim putanjama ili verzija BBS-a,
W :(what) - spisak fajlova u DOS delu,
WP: - White Page server, pomoc detaljnije sa: ? WP,
X :(expert)- menja status korisnika: normal ili expert,
Y :(yapp) - protokol za prenos binarnih (najcesce programskih) fajlova,
Z :(delete)- brise fajl,
> :(text) - salje kratki tekst nekom drugom korisniku (sada) u BBS-u,
= :(conn.) - konektuje vas sa nekim drugim korisnikom (sada) u BBS-u,
! :(info) - kratki info o bbs-u,
Opsirniju pomoc za sve naredbe dobijate ukoliko otkucate: ? <naredba>.
Na pr: ? c ? f ? y .....
@@ 14 I|INFO
I daje INFO fajl o ovom BBS-u (ukoliko postoji informacija).
WhitePages server naredbe:
I CALL daje podatke o stanici, preuzete iz WP servera,
ID broj zapisa u WP bazi podataka,
I@ BBS daje listu korisnika nekog BBS-a (I@ YU7A),
IH ruta daje poznate korisnike sa zadatom hijerarhijskom rutom (IH YUG),
IZ ZIP daje korisnike sa zadatim postanskim brojem (IZ 21000).
U vecini WP naredbi dozvoljeni su "dzoker" znakovi.
@@ 14 J|JA|JB|J1|J2|JK
JK daje spisak poslednjih 20 konektovanih stanica,
JA daje spisak poslednjih 20 konektovanih stanica na portu A (JB - port B),
J1 daje spisak poslednjih 20 slusanih stanica na portu A (J2 - port B),
JK CALL daje spisak nekoliko poslednjih konekta stanice CALL,
@@ 14 K|KILL|KM|KK
K broj1 broj2 .. brise poruke koje ste poslali ili primili. Mozete obrisati
i ono sto niste procitali od licnih poruka.
KM naredba brise SVE poruke za vas koje ste procitali. Ovo NECE obrisati one
koje niste procitali.
@@ 14 L|LIST|LB|LM|LN|LL|LS|L<|L>|L@|LU|LR|LC|LD>|LD<
L lista sve NOVE pristigle poruke/biltene od poslednje primene L naredbe,
LB lista biltene,
LD> GGMMDD lista sve poruke pristigle posle datuma GGMMDD,
LD< GGMMDD lista sve poruke pristigle pre datuma GGMMDD,
LM lista poruke upucene licno vama,
LN lista poruke upucene licno vama koje jos niste procitali,
LL 10 lista poslednjih 10 poruka,
LS <text> pretrazuje NASLOVE poruka u potrazi za textom <text>,
L< CALL lista poruke koje je poslao CALL,
L> CALL lista poruke za CALL,
L@ lista lokalne biltene bez @ BBS polja,
L@ CALL lista @CALL poruke,
L 220- lista samo poruke od 220 pa navise,
L 220-230 lista poruke izmedju 220 i 230,
LU lista sve neprocitane poruke koje ste poslali/primili,
LR lista poruke UNAZAD od najstarije prelistane prema najnovijoj u bbs-u,
LC posebno listanje po vasem uslovu. Prvo zadate uslov na pr.. LC DX i od tada ce
sve gornje naredbe za listanje (osim LM i LN) listati SAMO poruke poslate
za DX. Ako stavite "dzoker" na pr.. LC *DX* onda ce listati sve poruke koje u
polju "Za" imaju slova DX (VHFDX, DXHF, DXCC...). Za povratak u "obicno"
listanje ukucajte LC *
Da dobijete spisak mogucih LC polja ukucajte: LC ?
@@ 14 M|MH|MV|MA|MVA|MHA
M <por.br.> <ime> : kopira poruku <br.> u fajl <ime>,
MH <por.br.> <ime> : isto, ali kao kod citanja u formatu R naredbe,
MV <por.br.> <ime> : isto, ali kao kod citanja u formatu V naredbe,
Napomena: sve ove naredbe ce PREPISATI preko starog fajla (ako postoji).
Naredbe: MA, MHA i MVA imaju istu upotrebu, ali nece prepisati stari fajl
nego ce DODATI novi tekst na kraj starog fajla.
@@ 14 N|NAME
Naredbom N mozete upisati ili promeniti svoje ime (do 12 znakova max.).
Na pr. N Haralampije
Pogledajte jos i: NP, NL, NQ, NZ, NH naredbe.
@@ 14 NH|HOMEBBS|MYBBS
Ovom naredbom upisite svoj maticni ("home") BBS na koji vam dolaze poruke.
Na pr. NH YU7A
Sve licne poruke za vas, koje kasnije stignu, bice upucene na BBS koji ste
naredbom NH odredili.
@@ 14 NP
Za promenu lozinke kod porta za telefonski modem.
@@ 14 NQ
Naredbom NQ upisite svoj QTH (grad ili mesto).
@@ 14 NL
Naredbom NL mozete upisati svoj QTH lokator, sto je vazno za razne proracune
u server modu.
@@ 14 NZ
Naredbom NZ upisite svoj postanski broj. Na pr. NZ 21000
@@ 14 O|OP|OR|OL|ON|OM
Naredba O ispisuje vase licne parametre u ovom BBS i to:
- jezik koji koristite,
- da li je ispis po stranicama i sa koliko linija (pre pitanja: Dalje?),
- bazni broj za poruke,
- zelite li da vidite i tudje licne poruke ili ne (ako sistem dozvoljava),
- zelite li spisak novih poruka za vas odmah po ulasku u BBS.
OL sluzi za izbor jezika na kojem ce BBS komunicirati sa vama.
Otkucajte OL za spisak mogucih jezika, a onda ponovite sa odabranim jezikom.
Na pr. OL 4 za promenu u jezik broj 4 sa spiska mogucih jezika.
OP sluzi sa formatiranje stranica listanja/citanja.
Podesava nakon koliko linija ce BBS prekinuti ispis i cekati vasu odluku
da: prekinete, idete dalje i slicno. Upisite na pr.. OP 20 za 20 linija pre
pitanja za dalji rad.
Ukoliko ukucate samo OP bez broja, dobijate stalni ispis bez prekidanja.
ON podesava tzv. osnovni (pocetni) broj kod citanja poruka.
Kako ovaj tip BBS-a poruke i biltene razlikuje samo po njihovom broju, koji
stalno raste sa dolaskom novih poruka, ubrzo postane malo nezgodno kucati
na pr.. R 20050 20056 itd. Zato naredbom ON 20000 podesite "bazu" na 20000 i
dalje radite kao da nema tih 20000 tj... od tada kucate: R 50 56 itd. Inace,
naredbe: ON 20 i ON 20000 su ista stvar.
Naredbom OR mozete odabrati da li zelite da citate/listate licne poruke
ostalih korisnika bbs-a. Ako je ukljuceno, moze biti nezgodno ako vam stigne
ispis, recimo 200 komadica nekog fajla koji vas ne zanima.
Naredbom OM, prilikom svakog konekta u bbs, prvo dobijate spisak NOVIH
poruka za vas a zatim uobicajeni bbs prompt.
@@ 14 PG
Naredba PG startuje usluzne programe iz posebnog direktorijuma. PG <enter>
daje samo spisak tih malih programa. Pokretanje nekog od programa sa spiska:
PG <ime_programa_bez_ekstenzije> <parametar_programa_ako_treba> <ENTER>
@@ 14 PS
Naredba PS daje spisak ugradjenih "servera" u ovom BBS-u. Ti serveri nisu
isto sto i tzv. server-mod samog BBS-a. To su posebni programi koji po nalogu
korisnika odrade razne stvari automatski. Sa serverom se komunicira kao i sa
nekim amaterom - slanjem "licne" poruka tom serveru.
Na pr. REQDIR server ce vam spremiti sadrzaj direktorija koji zelite i u vidu
licne poruke za vas uputiti na vas maticni BBS.
Primer:
Naredba: SP REQDIR <enter>
Naslov: \yapp\*.* @ YU1A <enter>
Tekst: Ostavite prazno, na kraju: CTRL-Z <enter>
ce vam poslati licnu poruku na bbs YU1A, u kojoj je sadrzaj YAPP
direktorijuma ovog BBS.
@@ 14 R|RM|RN|RU|R>|R<
R <broj> cita poruku <broj>,
R <broj1> <broj2> itd cita poruke po navedenim brojevima,
RM cita SVE poruke za vas - i one vec procitane (ne zaboravite na brisanje),
RN cita sve NOVE poruke za vas (samo NEprocitane),
RU cita sve poruke za vas koje jos niste procitali,
R< <poz_znak> cita sve poruke koje su poslate od strane stanice <poz_znak>,
R> <tekst> cita sve poruke za pozivni znak ili temu <tekst>.
@@ 14 S|SB|SR|SC|SP
Naredba S se koristi za slanje licnih poruka i biltena:
S SVIMA za otvorenu poruku samo na ovom BBS (ne ide dalje),
SB PRODAM @YU za otvoreni bilten na sve BBS u Jugoslaviji sa temom prodaje,
SP YT7MPB@YU7A za licnu poruku YT7MPB koja treba da ode/ostane u bbs-u YU7A,
SR <broj> salje odgovor na poruku <broj>. BBS ce sam da doda sve ostalo
u vezi adrese primaoca, kao i "Re:" u naslovu.
SC <broj> <CALL> kopira poruku <broj> za <CALL>. Na pr. dvojici primalaca ide
isti tekst. Pre CTRL-Z mozete dopisati neki komentar, a
kopija poruke <broj> se sama dopise posle tog komentara.
To je moguce u svim varijacijama (@EU, @YUG, @WW, @YU7 itd.).
@@ 14 T
Naredba T trazi od BBS-a da pozove SysOp-a na razgovor. Nema nikakvog
argumenta, samo T <enter>. Ukoliko SysOp nije prisutan ili se ne javi
na poziv u roku od 1 minuta, dobijate informaciju da mu ostavite poruku.
@@ 14 TH
Izlistava poruke slozene po temama, ranije podesenim u BBS-u.
Na pr. sve poruke, poslate za OS2, DOS, NT4 i sl. mogu da budu u temi OPSISTEMI.
Moguce naredbe su:
H (list themes) - popis tema u bbs-u,
L (list) - listanje poruka o izabranoj temi,
R msg# (read) - procitaj poruku broj <msg#> u izabranoj temi,
broj - idi na teme <broj>.
@@ 14 U
Naredbom U mozete da posaljete neki tekst fajl u BBS. Sintaksa je kao
i kod MS-DOS. Pogledajte i pomoc za D i W naredbe (? D ? W).
@@ 14 V
Naredba V daje kratku informaciju o porukama, verziji BBS programa itd.
Takodje moze da radi i kao naredba R za citanje poruka. Tada prikazuje
zaglavlja sa putanjama i usputnim bbs-ovima, pa pravi daleko veci ispis.
@@ 14 W
Naredba W je nesto kao DIR ili CAT naredba. Dobijate spisak svih fajlova
i direktorijuma koji su na raspolaganju korisnicima. Vaze sva MS DOS
pravila. Primeri:
W
W *.DOC
W \IBM\*.*
@@ 14 WP
WP je interni server BBS-a. To je velika baza podataka o korisnicima stvorena
bilo direktnim upisom podataka od strane samih korisnika, bilo analizom svih
zaglavlja koja prate svaki bilten/poruku. WP sadrzi podatke o pozivnom znaku,
imenu korisnika, postanskom broju i "home"-BBS-u sa H-adresom.
Ukoliko je WP aktivan, mozete bilo kome poslati licnu poruku iako ne znate
koji je njegov "home"-BBS. Ukoliko server ima tu informaciju, sam ce je
dodati, ako je (ponekad) nema - trazice od vas da adresu sami unesete.
Sa bilo kojeg BBS-a, mozete WP serveru poslati pitanje o nekom korisniku:
Naredba: SP WP @BBS (@BBS zamenite sa znakom BBS-a sa kojeg zelite odgovor),
Naslov: unesite neki tekst (nebitno, napr. Info)
Tekst: YU1A ? (napr. trazite info o YU1A)
/EX ili CTRL-Z
Takodje je dozvoljeno koristiti i dzokere pa mozete traziti info za
na pr. sve stanice sa prefiksom YT:
YT* ?
Napomena: da bi se smanjio QRM, odgovor ce imati maksimalno 100 redova, bez
obzira koliko ima pravih informacija.
U vezi sa ovim, pogledajte i pomoc za I naredbe (? I).
@@ 14 X
Naredba X prebacuje vas korisnicki status iz "normal" u "expert" i obrnuto.
Status "normal" daje kompletniji i opsirniji odgovor od BBS-a,
Status "expert" daje kratki i sazetiji odgovor od BBS-a.
@@ 14 Y|YAPP|YW|YI|YN|YU|YD|YZ
Sve naredbe koje pocinju slovom Y rade binarni transfer fajlova pomocu tzv.
YAPP protokola.
YW lista direktorijum programa,
YN lista "novitete" od poslednje upotrebe naredbe YN,
YU fajl ubacuje - snima fajl u BBS,
YD fajl salje vam - "skida" file iz BBS-a,
YI kao i YW, samo dobijate i kratki opis programa,
YI fajl daje kratku informaciju o fajlu (ako je upisana kod unosa fajla),
YZ fajl brise fajl.
YAPP mogu koristiti samo vlasnici racunara sa programom koji sadrze i
taj protokol. Na pr za PC :YAPP, THS, TPK, modifikovani SP, s tim da bi trebalo
upotrebiti prg koji podrzava tzv. RESUME mod. To znaci da kad se veza prekine,
dodjete opet i nastavite tamo gde ste stali. Takvi su prg: TPK, ZACC, PTM,
AUTOYAPP itd.
YAPP se takodje moze upotrebiti iz FbbDOS-a, ali su onda druge naredbe.
@@ 14 Z
Naredba Z brise fajl iz BBS mod-a.
@@ 14 >
Znak > omogucuje da nekom drugom ko je takodje prisutan u BBS-u, posaljete
kratku poruku (jedan red). Nesto kao "Break" u fonijskoj vezi. Primer:
> YT7MPB Hi OC ! Pozovi me kad zavrsis !
Napomena: pre naredbe > pogledajte koga jos ima u BBS-u naredbom !
@@ 14 =
Znak = daje mogucnost da stupite (kroz BBS) u direktnu vezu s nekim ko je
takodje u BBS-u. Ako nije zauzet necim dobijate odgovor *** Connected to ...
a obe strane mogu prekinuti takvu vezu sa CTRL-Z i vratiti se u BBS-mod.
Primer:
= YT7MPB
Pre toga naredbom ! pogledajte da li je YT7MPB trenutno u bbs-u.
@@ 14 !
Naredba ! daje spisak stanica u BBS i jos poneke informacije o sistemu.
#################
# GATEWAY is 16 #
#################
@@ 16 H|B|K|C|D|J|M|P
Gateway naredbe:
B : bye -diskonekt za drugog, a vas vraca nazad u BBS,
K : converse mod,
C : konekt,
D : diskonekt,
H : pomoc,
J : spisak poslednjih 20 slusanih stanica,
P : direktni skok s porta na port. P1 - idi na port1 (port je sam TNC),
M : monitor on/off,
W : W <fajl> otvara "capture" file, samo W <enter> ga zatvara.
Prvo odaberete port. Ukoliko nije zauzet, bice vam dodeljen i preuzece vas
znak. Kad nekog konektujete, ulazite u "converse" mod (kao i primenom K
naredbe). Povratak u "command" mod je ESC ili: > <enter>.
@@ 18 C
C naredba: ulazite u konferenciju,
CW naredba: ispisuje stanice koje su u konferenciji.
Napomena: sve naredbe u konferenciji pocinju tackom u prvoj koloni!
.C<port> <call> konektuje stanicu <call> na portu <port>,
.H daje vam ovaj tekst,
.W ispisuje spisak stanica u konferenciji,
.Q izlazite iz konferencije.
=====EOF=====
11.2. SRPSKI.TXT
=====BOF=====
##############################
# SRPSKI.TXT for FBB 7.00i #
# (Serbian text file) #
# by Misko,YT7MPB 07Jul03 #
##############################
#
# 255 karaktera max.po liniji.
# ----------------------------
#
# Ne menjajte broj i raspored linija!
#
# Ime jezika - What language is this ?
#
Srpski
OL: Izabrali ste Srpski jezik.$W
#
# Definicija odgovora Da i Ne
#
Da
Ne
#
# Dani i meseci
#
NedPonUtoSreCetPetSub
JanFebMarAprMajJunJulAvgSepOktNovDec
#
# Strane sveta (za QTH-lokator server)
#
Sever
Jug
Istok
Zapad
#
#
#T_MES: Dobrodoslica
#
# za BBS:
#
$O Mailbox, QTH $?.$W
#
# za expert:
#
$O BBS, $c.$WZdravo $I! (prethodni QSO je bio: $x $Y)$WNove poruke su: $Z - $L, aktivnih ima $N.$W
#
# normal user
#
$O BBS, QTH $c $?.$WZdravo $I, nalazite se na kanalu $=.$WQSO $d $H (prethodni QSO je bio: $x $Y)$WU BBS-u ima $N aktivnih poruka,$W$Z je poslednja koju ste listali, $L je poslednja stigla u BBS.$WFilter za listanje poruka (LC) je: $l (* = sve).$W
#
# Upis podataka
#
Upisite sa N svoje ime (na pr.. N Petar) : $W
Upisite sa NQ svoj grad (na pr.. NQ Novi Sad) : $W
Upisite sa NH najblizi BBS (na pr.. NH YU7A) : $W
Upisite sa NZ postanski broj (na pr.. NZ 21000) : $W
#
#
# za goste:
#
Zdravo $I, na raspolaganju vam je ogranicen izbor naredbi.$W
#
# tekst za onog ko uleti na 'BBS only' port:
#
Ovaj kanal je samo za BBS stanice! //q $W
#
# prvi put u BBS-u:
#
Pozdrav za prvi konekt ovom BBS-u!$WOdgovorite na pitanja, snimite HELP i prijatna vam zabava!$W
#
# poruke za vas:
#
Niste procitali nove poruke za vas: $0 kom.$W
#
# procitane, neobrisane poruke:
#
Naredbom KM obrisite $0 kom. licnih poruka koje ste procitali.$W
#
# bye-bye:
#
U BBS-u ste boravili: $: - CPU vreme: $.$W73! $I, dodjite opet...$W
#
# odgovor na "!"
#
BBS i server F6FBB tipa, ver. $E - $* aktivnih kanala.$W$%$W$N aktivnih poruka - poslednja poruka $L.$WOvaj konekt traje: $: PC vreme: $.$W
#
# neka standardna pitanja i poruke
#
#T_QST
ENTER = nastavak, A = prekid, C = bez prekidanja, N = sledeca poruka -->
Promeniti (D/N) ?
Hvala $I.$W
$WPrekid !!$W$W
Napraviti (D/N) ?$W
$WVas izbor (L za listu, F za kraj) :
ENTER = nastavak, A = prekid, R broj = procitaj broj ->
#
# poruke o greskama...
#
#T_ERR
*** Greska $I: Netacan odgovor.$W
*** Greska $I: Pogresna naredba $0.$W
*** Greska $I: Zaboravili ste razmak posle naredbe !$W
*** Greska $I: Samo su brojevi dozvoljeni !$W
*** Greska $I: Nedostaje tekst posle poz.znaka.$W
*** Zalim $I, nema pomoci za $0.$W
*** Greska $I: Nedostaje znak primaoca.$W
*** Greska $I: Nedostaje znak.$W
*** Greska $I: Nepoznat fajl.$W
*** Greska $I: Znak $0 nije dozvoljen ovde.$W
*** Greska $I: Ne postoji poruka broj %M.$W
*** Greska $I: Ime fajla $f ne postoji.$W
*** Greska $I: Ne mozete obrisati poruku %M (ili je vec obrisana)$W
*** Greska $I: Broj %M ne postoji.$W
*** Greska $I: Pogresan port.$W
*** Greska $I: Upotrebite CD naredbu.$W
*** Greska $I: Polje $0 je predugo.$W
*** Greska $I: Adresa za $0 je pogresna.$W
*** Zao mi je $I, danas ste vec snimili %dkb. $W
*** Greska $I: Nema nista !$W
*** Greska $I: Nedostaje ime fajla.$W
*** Greska $I: Kako se zove odredisni fajl?$W
*** Greska $I: Ne govorim taj jezik, a sumnjam da postoji takav!$W
*** Greska $I: Ne diraj ono sto nisi poslao! (na $f mislim)$W
*** Greska $I: Nepoznat direktorijum $0 (ili nije prazan).$W
*** Greska $I: Nema takvog direktorijuma$W
*** Greska $I: Nemoguce je napraviti direktorijum $0.$W
*** Greska $I: A gde vam je "path" ?$W
*** Greska $I: "Path" predug.$W
*** Greska $I: Taj "path" ne postoji !$W
*** Greska $I: Nemoguce kreirati fajl $f.$W
*** Vreme isteklo !!!$W
#
# Tekstovi za pojedine celine
#
# BBS prompt:
#
#T_MBL
#
# expert prompt:
#
($*) $O BBS >$W
#
# gost prompt:
#
($*) $O BBS (B,H,KM,LM,O,RM,SP SYSOP,T,?) >$W
#
# normal prompt:
#
($*) $O BBS (B,C,D,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,PS,PG,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z,?) >$W
#
# ostale poruke:
#
Nema takve poruke (filter za listanje je (LC): $l).$W
Nema novih poruka za vas.$W
Naslov poruke za %G (max. 30 slova):$W
Tekst poruke, zavrsite sa Ctrl-Z ili /EX u novom redu : $W
Poruka %M je obrisana.$W
#
# odgovor na V naredbu:
#
Program F6FBB v.$E, $N aktivnih poruka, poslednja poruka je $L.$W
#
# ostale poruke
#
Upisite svoje ime :$W
Ime je upisano kao $I... Hvala. $W
#
# Novo u 5.15c5: Slovo I
# Novo u 7.0b20: Slovo F
Call Zadnji conn #ukup RPBSXLFEMUI Ime Password PRIV-dir.$W
$V nije prisutan, mozete da mu ostavite poruku (SP SYSOP).$W
Pricekajte malo dok pozovem SysOp-a .....$W
$V nije u blizini. Pozovite ga ponovo (T) ili mu ostavite poruku (SP SYSOP).$W
$V je na vezi:$W
Molim vas pricekajte, SysOp bi da razgovara s vama.$W
Ekspertni mod. Otkucajte: X <enter> za povratak u Normal mod.$W
Normalni mod. Otkucajte: X <enter> za povratak u Ekspert mod.$W
Server mod. Otkucajte: F <enter> za povratak u BBS mod.$W
Datoteka $f je kopirana.$W
Poruka za $G je ponistena (nije bilo naslova).$W
OP: kontinuirani ispis.$W
OP: $p linija po stranici (pre pitanja za nastavak).$W
Korisnik je konektovan, editovanje nije moguce.$W
$0 $1 $2 $3 $j $K = $4'$5
#
#
ON: osnovni broj za poruke : $0 (dodaje se broju koji unesete).$W
#
#
(B)id, (F)rom, (V)ia=@BBS, (T)o, T(I)ttle, (S)tatus, T(Y)pe, (Cr)End >$W
R,P,B,S,X,L,E,M,U $W(N)ame,pass(W)ord,lan(G)uage,pri(V)-dir,(H)omeBBS (Z)ip-code >$W
Znak $0 je nepoznat. Da ga kreiram (D/N) ?
Obrisati $0 (D/N) ?
Moguci jezici su:$W
($0):$1
$W--- Kraj poruke $M za $G od $P ---$W$W
Poruka $0$WW
#
# zaglavlje kod citanja poruka:
#
Poruka od : $P$WZa : $G$0$WTip/Status : $t$s$WDatum/vreme : %j %K$WBid/Mid : $R$WDuzina : $n$W
#
# zaglavlje kod listanja poruka:
#
Vas filter za listanje (LC) je: $l$W$WPor# TSLD Duz Za @ BBS Od Datum Tema $W
#
# sadrzaj svake linije kod listanja poruka:
#
$M $t$s$r%r $n $G$0 $P %i $1$W
Naslov : $S$W$W(Do sada vec procitana %C puta u ovom BBS-u)$W$W
Bid (Mid) : $R$W
Poslata prema:
$0 ruta prema $v$W
#
# prompt za fwd
#
F>$W
>$W
#
# poruke tokom fwd
#
NO - pogresan parametar$W
NO - BID$W
OK $W
*** Done$W
Poruka #%M Duz : $n$W
Nemam forward prema $A, SysOp ce to da sredi.$W
Upisite odgovor za $G @ $v$W
###############################################################################
# New texts for 5.14
OR: Pristup svim licnim porukama$W
OM: Ispis novih licnih poruka za vas po ulasku u BBS : $0$W
Upisite pozivni znak BBS-a na koji zelite da vam se salju poruke:$W
Upisite svoj postanski broj :$W
HomeBBS : $0$W Post.br : $1$W
# umesto ovog dole mozda ubaciti "Upozorenje ! Nema WP-rute prema $G$W
Nema WP-rute prema %G. Pritisnite ENTER za prekid i ponovo adresirajte.$W
###############################################################################
Trenutno ima $0 zadrzanih poruka$W
(A)rchive,(K)ill,(L)ocall,(Q)uit,(R)ead,(V)erbose,(U)nhold ?
#
# Traitement
#
# T_TRT
############################################################################
# Line added from 515c45
Poruka je prihvacena i zadrzana na uvid SysOp-u pre razmene.$W
###############################################################################
*** Zauzet(o), molim pricekajte...$W
*** Zauzet(o), nema konekta trenutno....$W
*** $0 nije konektovan..$W
$W$B*** Connected to $0 kroz BBS (prekid sa Ctrl-Z).$W
*** Disconnected$W
*** Trenutna poruka ("break") od $0 *** (odgovor sa: > $0 tekst...)$W
*** Kraj poruke ("break") ***$W
Mali prekid za poruku od $0.$W
Zahtev "Stop" je zatrazen od $0. Code : $1$W
Zahtev "Stop" je prihvacen, nema konekta.$W
Zahtev "Reset" je prihvacen, inicijalizujem.....$W
ENTER=nastavi A=prekid -->$W
Zahtev za prekid je odbijen.$W
BBS mod. Otkucajte: F <enter> za povratak u server mod.$W
#
# server meni
#
# T_MEN
#
$WSERVER (B,C,D,F,N,Q,T,?=pomoc) >$W
$W
$W(C) Connect-statistika$W(D) Dokumenti, informacije$W(N) Callbook$W(Q) QTH-LOC$W(T) Sateliti$W(F) Povratak u BBS$W(B) Disconn.$W$W Za pomoc otkucaj ? slovo$WSERVER-MENI (C,D,N,Q,T,F,B ?=pomoc) >$W
#
# statistika
#
# T_STA
$WSTATISTIKA (G,H,I,J,L,O,F,B ?=pomoc) >$W
$W
$W(G) Ukupno$W(H) Zauzece po satima$W(I) Poz. znaci$W(J) Zauzece po danima$W(L) Detaljna conn. lista$W(O) Zauzece u % $W(F) Povratak u SERVER-MENI$W(B) Disconn.$W$W Za pomoc otkucaj ? slovo$W$WCONN-STAT (G,H,I,J,L,O,F,B ?=pomoc) >$W
Zauzece po danima$W
PON UTO SRE CET PET SUB NED$W
Zauzece po satima$W
0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 Sati$W
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8 0 2$W
$N Aktivnih poruka$W
Konekta od $j: $0$W
Konekti$W Prosecno trajanje : $0min $1s$W
Pros. conn. dnevno : $0$W
Najveca guzva : u $0 i $1 sati$W
Zauzece u % $W
BBS : $0 % $W
SERVER : $0 % $W
SERVER detaljnije:$W
DOS : $0 % $W
QTH lokatori : $0 % $W
Dokumentacije : $0 % $W
Conn. statistika : $0 % $W
Callbook : $0 % $W
Sateliti : $0 % $W
$0 $1 $2 $3 $j $K = $4'$5"$W
#
# callbook deo
#
#T_NOM
#
$WCALLBOOK (I,N,R,F,B ?=pomoc) >
$W
$W(I) Spisak svih znakova$W(N) Promena ili upis tvojih podataka$W(R) Citanje podataka drugih$W(F) Povratak u SERVER-MENI$W(B) Disconn.$W$WZa pomoc ukucaj ? slovo$W$WCALLBOOK (I,N,R,F,B ?=pomoc) >$W
$WPoz.znak: $0$W
$WPrethodni conn. $j u $K$W
Ime i prezime: $1 $0$WAdresa : $2,$3$WQTH LOC : $4. $WTlf,kucni : $5 $WTlf,posao : $6$WHome-BBS : $7$W
Prezime :$W
Ulica i broj :$W
Grad/mesto :$W
Telefon u stanu :$W
Telefon na poslu :$W
QTH LOC :$W
$WUkupno: $0 poz.znakova$W
*** Znak $0 nepoznat.$W
*** Neispravan QTH LOC !$W
#
# sateliti
#
#T_TRJ
#
$WSATELITI (C,P,T,F,B ?=pomoc) >
$W(M) Promene parametara$W
$W(C) Karakteristike$W(P) Orbitalni parametri$W(T) Orbite$W(F) Povratak u SERVER-MENI$W(B) Disconn.$W$WZa pomoc ukucaj ? slovo$W$WSATELITI (C,P,T,F,B ?=pomoc) >
$WLokator : $0 Satelit $1$W
--------------------------------------------------------------$W
| Time | Az. | El. | Dpl. | Dist. | Alti. | Lon | Lat | Ph. |$W
| UTC | Deg | Deg | KHz | Km | Km | Deg | Deg | 256 |$W
--------------- $j-$a ------ Orbite #$0 ---------------$W
| $0:$1 | $2 | $3 | $4 | $5 | $6 | $7 | $8 | $9 |$W
Unesite datum za proracun (dd/mm/gg) :
Unesite vreme za proracun (HH:MM) :
$WMolim pricekajte...$W
$WNemam informacija za taj satelit.$W
Izmene od $j-$y.$W
Ime satelita :
Referentna orbita :
Referentna godina :
Referentni dan :
Mean anomaly :
Arg. of perigee :
R.A.A.N. :
Inclination :
Eccentricity :
Mean motion :
Derived mean motion :
Estimated step :
Doppler frequency :
$WOrbitalni parametri za $0$W
Broj orbite : $0$W
Epoch year : $0$W
Epoch day : $0$W
Mean anomaly : $0$W
Arg. of perigee : $0$W
R.A.A.N. : $0$W
Inclination : $0$W
Eccentricity : $0$W
Mean motion : $0$W
Derived mean motion : $0$W
Estimated step : $0$W$W
($0) $1
(F) Kraj$W
#
# qth lokatori
#
#T_QRA
#
$WQTH-LOKATOR (C,D,L,Q,F,B ?=pomoc) >
$W
$W(Q) QTH -> duz.i sir.$W(L) duz.i sir. -> QTH$W(D) QRB i azimut$W(C) QRB sabirnica$W(F) Povratak u SERVER-MENI$W(B) Disconn.$W$WZa pomoc ukucaj ? slovo$W$WQTH-LOC (C,D,L,Q,F,B, ?=pomoc) >
$WQTH Lokator :
Koordinate u centru polja :$W
Duzina : $0 step. $1' $2 : $3 grad. $2$W
Sirina : $0 step. $1' $2 : $3 grad. $2$W
$WRadni format$WU stepenima : 1 : 45 : 00 (smer).U gradijanima : 1.5 (smer)$W(smer) zamenite sa Sever, Jug, Istok, Zapad.$W
$WDuzina (Istok/Zapad) (F,Q=kraj) :
$WSirina (Sever/Jug) (F,Q=kraj) :
$WQTH Lokator (F,Q=kraj) : $0$W
$WOd QTH LOC (F,Q=kraj) :
$WDo QTH LOC (F,Q=kraj) :
Azimut : $0 step. $1'$W
Udaljenost: $0 Km$W
$WVas QTH Lokator (F,Q=kraj) :
$WDo QTH LOC ? (F,Q=kraj) :
Proracun br. $0 - Ukupna udaljenost: $1 Km$W
Kraj proracuna.$W
#
# Modul DOS
#
#T_DOS
#
$W$u:$0>$W
Direktorijum $0 obrisan.$W
Fajl ne postoji.$W
$0 $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7$W
Prekinut upis $f.$W
Fajl $f je snimljen ($0 bytes).$W
Unesite fajl $f (kraj = Ctrl Z).$W
$0 bytes kopirano.$W
$W$j $T FBBDOS V$E$W$WPomoc u FBBDOS-u dobijate sa: H <enter>.$W$WDownload u toku danasnjeg dana = %dkb$WDozvoljeno je max = %mkb$W
$WMoguce naredbe su:$W
Fajl $f obrisan.$W
$0 bytes slobodno.$W
#
# Modul dokumentacija
#
#T_INF
#
$WDOC (#,R,B,F H=pomoc) : >
$W(D) Label
$W(L) Lista$W(broj) Cita doc. broj$W(R) Nazad na prethodni nivo$W(B) Disconn.$W(F) Povratak u SERVER-MENI$W$WZa pomoc ukucaj ? slovo$W$WDOC (#,L,R,B,F H=pomoc) >
Ne postoji !!
#
# gateway
#
#T_GATE
#
Sada ste na kanalu $=, port $!. $g dostupnih portova.$WH = pomoc. Q = Bye.$W
Broj porta (Q = Bye) :
Kanal $0 dodeljen na $1.$W
Nema slobodnih kanala na tom portu.$W
Cmd :
Konvers mod. Esc ili > (return) za command mod.$W
*** Greska $I: Vec ste na tom portu!$W
*** Greska $I: Pogresan port.$W
*** Gateway nije dostupan.$W
#
$O: Pogresna naredba $0. (B,C,D,J,K,H,M,P,?)$W
Saljem $f...$W
Otvoren $f log fajl.$W
Zatvoren $f log fajl.$W
#
# Modul YAPP
#
#T_YAP
#
Spreman za slanje $f $0 protokolom.$W
Spreman za prijem $f $0 protokolom.$W
Zalim, $0 nije moguc na ovom portu.$W
Kratak opis fajla (40 znakova max) :
$0 $1 $2 $3 $4$W
#
# KONFERENCIJA
#
#T_CNF
#
Nalazite se u konferenciji (Pomoc= ".?").$W
$H. Stanice u konferenciji :$W
Call: $0, kanal $1.$W
$H $0 ulazi u konferenciju.$W
Izlazite iz konferencije.$W
$H $0 napusta konferenciju.$W
[$H - $0]$W
Nema nikog drugog u konferenciji.$W
$H $0 : Retry count exceeded.$W
$H $0 busy.$W
$H $0 nije u konferenciji!$W
#
###########################################################
# New in 5.15c5:
# T_THE : Module THEMES.
#
Poruka Duz Za Od Naslov (Tema :%T)$W
$M%r $n $G $P $1$W
%T - %t biltena (B,F,H,L,R,broj) :
#############################################################
=====EOF=====
In order to add Serbian to your FBB, you have to add/change a couple
of lines within your LANGUE.SYS like in the following example:
=====BOF=====
#
# File that decides what language each user will use in the first
# connect. He can change language himself later...
# All prefixes not listed here, will receive language no 1 (English).
# 3 parametres :
# Number of languages - Number in PC at the time - Console-language.
13 2 1
#
ENGLISH
FRANCAIS
ESPAGNOL
ITALIANO
NEDERLAN
DEUTSCH
CATALA
NORSK
PORTUGUE
DANSK
SVENSKA
HRVATSKI
SRPSKI
#
# 1 : English
# 2 : French
# 3 : Spanish
# 4 : Italian
# 5 : Dutch
# 6 : German
# 7 : Catalan
# 8 : Norwegian
# 9 : Portuguese
# 10: Danish
# 11: Swedish
# 12: Croatian
# 13: Serbian
#
9A* 12
C3* 7
CT* 9
CU* 9
DU* 1
D* 6
EK* 1
E?3* 7
E?5* 7
E?6* 7
E* 3
F* 2
H* 2
I* 4
LA* 8
ON1A* 5
ON1B* 5
ON1C* 5
ON1K* 2
ON4* 2
ON5* 2
ON6* 2
ON7* 2
ON8* 1
ON9* 1
OZ* 10
PY* 9
P* 5
SK* 11
SM* 11
TU* 2
TK* 2
VE2* 2
YU* 13
YT* 13
YZ* 13
4N* 13
4O* 13
#
3A* 2
3B* 2
#
=====EOF=====
12. How to make better ham radio rules?
2003-10-26
Notice: Gentle folks, here I am going to discuss some
rules'n'regulations issues that we, radio amateurs, face to every day.
These problems make rather significant obstacles for this nice
alternative way of communication to be more developed and more widely
used.
First of all, anybody who might be interested in running Linux amateur
radio software, as a way of using radio amateur stations on the
international HF waves, in a digital manner, has to learn manual
analog Morse telegraphy and pass the similar manual Morse skill test.
For a long time now, I have been trying to explain myself, why manual
Morse telegraphy is still being kept as the legal requirement without
an amateur is not allowed to use HF radio frequencies under 30 MHz, in
order to contact Linux and other remaining digital radio amateurs
world-wide. I still have no answer to that question, except that all
of those who have wasted lots of time learning Morse, now don't want
to allow newcomers to use the same capabilities - but without the same
(useless) test!
You all know, there are so many Linux enthusiasts world-wide
(including myself) who have been fighting against all types of
monopols (like a company from Redmond, USA). The Morse obligatory
test is the same: just another type of a monopoly!
That's why I have been trying to persuade all relevant authorities to
remove such outdated regulatory principles, that make more and more
obstacles for not only Linux users, but for other kinds of computer
users - when it comes to the modern ICT technologies. I hope, all of
you, readers of this mini-HOWTO, can understand now what does it mean
to use outdated rules and regulations endlessly . For example, I often
contact various people from the academic world, either students or
scientists, in order to motivate them to join amateur radio wireless
activities. They mostly refuse to think about the amateur (also called
"ham") radio, as soon as they hear they have to pass the Morse test,
as the legal requirement before they become allowed to connect to
remote computing radio users world-wide, using the HF radio bands and
devices.
What I am sure, the absence of those high educated people within the
digital ham radio is one of the most negative consequences in the ICT
areas today!
I have been thinking what to do since the early ninetees, when I was
the secretary of YU7 (Vojvodina province in Serbia) amateur radio
union. It seemed to me that it was a very hard task to persuade the
people who govern the amateur radio organizations, to remove such
outdated rule. When I realized that removing the mandatory manual
Morse test seemed to be almost impossible to be expected in a short
period of time, I decided to suggest the implementation of another
regulatory principle. It should be a major innovation: To make a new
type of the amateur radio license, a Ham Digital Licence (the HDL in
short). The HDL licensees would be allowed to use all amateur radio
frequencies, including all international HF bands under 30 MHz. But,
they rather should be allowed to use only digital sub-bands and types
of the amateur radio emissions a.k.a. "modes", including the usage of
computers, equipped with the LinFBB packet radio software. Besides
that, the HDL holders may only use modified and/or dedicated radio
transmitters, without the capability for both voice microphone and
Morse key connections, in order to avoid possible misuse of unwanted
amateur activities (like voice SSB operations).
All HDL candidates should have to learn topics like computer hardware
and software in general (operating systems and system software
configuration, amateur radio software setup etc), connecting the
amateur radio stations to the computers (connecting radio modems to
the transmitters etc), building simple antennas (like 1/2 wave wire
dipole for 20m that I used long ago), the English language (or German
etc) in the written exam etc. The Morse requirement would not be used
anymore, as well as some other obsolete tests, like highly complicated
radio circuits or skills needed for building home-brew radios from the
scratch (instead of buying modern factory manufactured devices). Of
course, the regulatory issues should also be tested (like band plans -
in particular recognizing the sub-bands dedicated for digital ham
radio). Next are RFI issues and how to avoid them etc.
I believe that amateur radio digital activities have their future only
if we all do our best to improve the regulatory principles that govern
this fine hobby. You should also know that, besides the telegraphy
skill requirement for an HF access, here in Serbia we have some
further restrictions: we all have to be the members of the national
amateur radio unions (SRV union in YU7 province and SRS union in
Serbia in whole), as the legal requirement, before we become allowed
to use any type of the amateur radio activities. Such a nonsense does
not exist elsewhere!
Should you want help us to adopt internationally known principles,
that do NOT require to join any type of the amateur radio
organizational system, i.e. the amateur radio society (that only wants
to get our membership money), you are invited to lobby for us. Our
conservative amateur society leadership also has their email address:
yu0srj@eunet.yu (I suppose they may have more than one email address,
but you may try to use this one). You may also use an Internet search
engine and scan for information related to "Savez radio amatera
Jugoslavije" and "Savez radio amatera Srbije". Your help would be
highly appreciated. Case you need more info regarding our national
legal issues, do not hesitate to contact me.
If you find yourself interested enough in making amateur radio rules
and regulations better and more updated (say to spread the idea of
liberalize the whole ICT areas and make them free of any kind of
monopols), I would suggest you to look for your national radio amateur
society and/or national telecommunication regulatory agency (like FCC
in the USA). Lobby to them in order to remove the obsolete manual
Morse proficiency test. In addition, should you have some
opportunities to attend to some ICT meetings and conferences or
something like that, you are also invited to let me know.
Case we all do our best to remove obstacles mentioned above and allow
the new people, who may wish to enjoy the amateur radio digital and
Linux-related operations, to do so, the technology would become the
part of more homes. I hope you, the readers, may help. So I look
forward to hear from you soon!
13. Bibliography
2010-07-18
Notice: I often participate in various (inter)national ICT conferences
in Serbia and abroad, presenting technical papers and delivering half-
day and full-day tutorials, covering basic ideas and useful mission of
the amateur radio hobby and its possible usage in engineering
education. What I have been doing is to spread - as much as possible -
the knowledge about existing open source products, including Linux and
amateur radio free software. Besides that, I have been writing various
articles for a variety of scientific and other magazines. Here you
have the list of those articles and paper topics submitted to the
conferences.
In case you want to re-publish or forward my volunteer paper works to
some journals or other public media around, you are free to contact
me. Some of my papers are written in Serbian Cyrillic, some of them
are in English and some of them even combined!
- "U prilog I.A.C.", MI (the youth scientists' organization
newspaper), No. 69, 1990.
- "U prilog I.A.C. (2)", MI (the youth scientists' organization
newspaper), No. 70, 1990.
- "Vise od radio-amaterskog hobija", Vojska, No. 163, 1995.
- "Korak ka zvezdama", Vojska, No. 200, 1996.
- "Die Gefahr von Innen - Internet gegen Amateurfunk",
AMSAT-DL Journal, No. 4, Dez./Feb. 96/97.
- "Kakva nam organizacija (ne) treba?", Radioamater,
Feb. 1997.
- "Kakva nam organizacija (ne) treba? (2)", Radioamater,
Apr./May. 1997.
- "Sateliti umiru padajuci", Vojska, No. 235, 1997.
- "The Internet is not the Enemy", QST, Aug. 1998.
- "Novi radio-amateri za novi vek", Antena, June 2000.
- "Racunarske komunikacije putem radio-veza i
zastita pristupa", Bezbednost, No. 3, 2000.
- "Paket-radio - Racunarske komunikacije putem radio-veza",
proceedings, "Info-Teh", Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2001.
- "Racunarske komunikacije putem radio-amaterskih veza",
proceedings, "YU-Info", Kopaonik, Serbia, 2002.
- "Computer Communications over radio", presentation,
"Linux FEST", Belgrade, Serbia, 2002.
- "Paket-radio - Radio-amaterske digitalne veze",
proceedings, "Kongres JISA", Herceg Novi, Montenegro, 2002.
- "Paket-radio (2) - Modemi za radio-veze",
proceedings, "Info-Teh", Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2002.
- "Alternativne racunarske mreze", festival catalog,
"INFOFEST", Budva, Montenegro, 2002.
- "Alternative computer networks", proceedings, "TELFOR",
Belgrade, Serbia, 2002.
- "With rule and regulation improvements to the progress"
proceedings, "TELFOR", Belgrade, Serbia, 2002.
- "Racunarske komunikacije putem radio-amaterskih veza (2)",
proceedings, "YU-Info", Kopaonik, Serbia, 2003.
- "Racunarske komunikacije putem radio-amaterskih veza (3)",
proceedings, "YU-Info", Kopaonik, Serbia, 2003.
- "Paket-radio (3) - Programske mogucnosti na strani servera",
proceedings, "Info-Teh", Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2003.
- "Paket-radio (4) - Legal rules and regulations in the amateur
computer networks", proceedings, "Info-Teh", Vrnjacka Banja,
Serbia, 2003.
- "Packet-radio (2) - With rule and regulation improvements to the progress",
proceedings, "Kongres JISA", Herceg Novi, Montenegro, 2003.
- "Alternativne racunarske mreze (2)", festival catalog,
"INFOFEST", Budva, Montenegro, 2003.
- "Alternativne racunarske komunikacije putem radio-veza",
Info M, 6-7/2003.
- "Legal Rules and Regulations in the Amateur Radio Computer Networks",
proceedings, "22nd ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference",
Hartford, CT USA, 2003.
- "Favoritism", IEEE Potentials, Oct/Nov 2003
- "Alternative computer networks (2)", proceedings, "TELFOR",
Belgrade, Serbia, 2003.
- "With rule and regulation improvements to the progress (2)"
proceedings, "TELFOR", Belgrade, Serbia, 2003.
- "XI Telekomunikacioni forum - TELFOR 2003", Info M, 8/2003.
- "Aktivnosti organizacije IEEE Computer Society - YU Chapter"
Info M, 8/2003.
- "Yugoslavia IEEE Student Branch", IEEE Region 8 News,
Vol. 7 No. 1, Feb/Mar 2004
- "Radio-amaterske racunarske mreze", tutorial, "Info-Teh",
Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2004.
- "Radio-amaterske racunarske mreze", tutorial, "Kongres
JISA", Herceg Novi, Montenegro, 2004.
- "The Amateur Radio as a Learning Technology in
Developing Countries", proceedings, "ICALT/TEDC 2004",
Joensuu, Finland, 2004.
- "The Amateur Radio in Engineering Education", seminar,
"IEEE-EESTEC Technical Conference 2004", Arcavacata
di Rende (Cosenza), Italy, 2004.
- "The Conference Low-Down", IEEE Potentials, Feb/Mar 2005
- "ICALT 2004, IEEE Novi Sad SB, Serbia & Montenegro",
IEEE Region 8 News, Vol. 8 No. 1, Mar 2005
- "The Conference Low-Down", IEEE Potentials, Apr/May 2005
- "The Amateur Radio Networking And Computing", proceedings,
"PSU-UNS ICEE 2005", Novi Sad, Serbia, 2005
- "Radio-amaterske racunarske mreze", tutorial, "Info-Teh",
Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2005 (intro: dr D. Surla, PMF)
- "Radio-veze", round table session, "Kongres JISA", Herceg
Novi, Montenegro, 2005.
- "The New Amateur Radio University Network - AMUNET",
proceedings, "9th WSEAS CSCC Multiconference",
Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece, 2005.
- "The perspectives of the Amateur University Network -
AMUNET", WSEAS Transactions on Communications, Vol 4,
pp 834, Sep. 2005.
- "Conferences in Serbia and Montenegro", IEEE Region 8 News,
Vol. 8 No. 3, Sep 2005.
- "The Conference Low-Down", IEEE Potentials, Dec 2005
- "Divided We Fall", The Institute, IEEE, Dec 2005
- "University Networking Through the Amateur Radio Communications",
plenary lecture, "3rd WSEAS/IASME Int. Conf. on Engineering
Education", Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece, 2006.
- "The New Amateur Radio University Network - AMUNET (Part 2)",
proceedings, "10th WSEAS CSCC Multiconference",
Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece, 2006.
- "University Networking Through the Amateur Radio Communications",
tutorial, "10th WSEAS CSCC Multiconference",
Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece, 2006.
- "Education in Peril", The Institute, IEEE, Sep 2006
- "The Conference Low-Down", IEEE Potentials, Dec 2006
- "Amateur Radio in Engineering Education", tutorial, "Info-Teh",
Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2007.
- "Paket-radio (5) - Programske mogucnosti na strani klijenta",
proceedings, "Info-Teh", Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2007.
- "Summer Schools on the Amateur Radio Computing", proceedings,
"12th Annual Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer
Science Education", ACM ITiCSE 2007, Dundee, Scotland, 2007.
- "Amateur Radio in Engineering Education", tutorial, "EUROCON",
Warsaw, Poland, 2007.
- "Bringing New Life in Old Computers", proceedings, "26th ARRL
and TAPR Digital Communications Conference", Hartford, CT USA,
2007.
- "The Conference Low-Down", IEEE Potentials, Sep/Oct 2007
- "My trip to Eurocon - a member's view", IEEE Region 8 News,
Vol. 10 No. 3, Dec 2007.
- "Amateur Radio in Engineering Education", tutorial, "Info-Teh",
Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2008.
- "Paket-radio (6) - Privatnost podataka i zastita ucesnika u
radio-amaterskim mrezama", proceedings, "Info-Teh", Vrnjacka
Banja, Serbia, 2008.
- "Amateur Radio in Engineering Education",
tutorial, "5th WSEAS/IASME Int. Conf. on Engineering
Education", Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 2008.
- "The New Amateur Radio University Network - AMUNET (Part 3)",
proceedings, "12th WSEAS CSCC Multiconference",
Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 2008.
- "Amateur Radio Telecommunications and Networking in Education",
tutorial, "IARIA ICWMC 2008", Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece, 2008.
- "The Conference Low-Down", IEEE Potentials, Sep/Oct 2008
- "Amateur Radio in Engineering Education", workshop,
"TELFOR", Belgrade, Serbia, 2008.
- "Amateur Radio: More than a hobby!", tutorial,
"IAENG IMECS 2009", Hong Kong, China, 2009.
- "Wasted Gear", IEEE Computer, Feb 2009
- "Amateur Radio: More than a hobby!", tutorial,
"6th WSEAS/IASME Int. Conf. on Engineering Education",
Rodos, Greece, 2009.
- "The New Amateur Radio University Network - AMUNET (Part 4)",
proceedings, "13th WSEAS CSCC Multiconference",
Rodos, Greece, 2009.
- "Amateur Radio in Education", book chapter in "Handbook of
Research on Human Performance and Instructional Technology",
ISBN: 978-1-60566-782-9, October 2009
- "Surveillance as a service", IEEE Computer, Dec 2009
- "Amateur Radio: More than a hobby!", tutorial, IEEE
"ICACT 2010", Phoenix Park, Korea, 2010.
- "Amateur Radio: More than a hobby!", tutorial, DIRF
"NDT 2010", Prague, Czech Republic, 2010.
Besides the published articles and presented works, I am also a member
of the following associations: IEEE Computer Society, IEEE
Communications Society, WSEAS and ACM. In addition, I work on
establishing an academic computer network that would use the amateur
radio stations as the media. Some kinds of proposed networks exist
elsewhere on this planet and I invite their administrators to contact
me in order to cooperate.
14. Further information
14.1. Copyright
Copyright (c) 2000-2010 by Miroslav "Misko" Skoric, YT7MPB.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover
Texts. A copy of the license is available from
http://www.fsf.org/licenses/fdl.html.
14.2. Disclaimer
Use the information in this document at your own risk. I disavow any
potential liability of this document. Use of the concepts, examples,
and/or other content of this document is entirely at your own risk.
All copyrights are owned by their owners, unless specifically noted
otherwise. Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as
affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as
endorsements.
You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before
major installation and backups at regular intervals.
14.3. News
This is not the first release of this mini-HOWTO. I hope to improve it
whenever possible. Besides that, there are other documents that may
help you to use amateur radio stuff on your computer. You can also
look for AX.25 (mini-)HOWTO at the same location where you get this
FBB mini-HOWTO.
This mini-HOWTO would be improved from time to time. If you think that
the HOWTO on your Linux installation CD is some out-of-date, you may
check for newest release on the Internet. It could be found within the
main Linux Documentation Project <http://www.tldp.org/> or some of its
mirrors.
14.4. Credits
This version of mini-HOWTO can thanks to:
Jean-Paul Roubelat, F6FBB, the author of FBB,
Per Olsen, LA6CU, the author of FBB documentation,
Jesus R., EB5AGF, the author of Protus,
Jose Marte, HI8GN, the 'packer' of 7.02g package,
Paula Dowie, G8PZT, the author of Xrouter,
Sima YT1SM, first Serbian translation HLP and TXT (v.5.15c)
Sasa 4N7AM, first Serbian translation HLP and TXT (v.7.00b)
Dragomir Kalaba, a local Linux 'guru'
and a variety of helpful radio amateurs world-wide.
Any comments or suggestions can be mailed to my email address: skoric
at eunet dot rs
14.5. HOWTO
These are intended as the primary starting points to get the
background information as well as show you how to solve a specific
problem. Some relevant HOWTOs are Bootdisk, Installation, SCSI and
UMSDOS. The main site for these is the LDP archive
<http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/> at Metalab (formerly known as Sunsite).
14.6. Mini-HOWTO
These are the smaller free text relatives to the HOWTOs. Some
relevant mini-HOWTOs are Backup-With-MSDOS, Diskless, LILO, Large
Disk, Linux+DOS+Win95+OS2, Linux+OS2+DOS, Linux+Win95,
Linux+WindowsNT, Linux+NT-Loader, NFS-Root, Win95+Win+Linux, ZIP
Drive, FBB packet-radio BBS etc. You can find these at the same place
as the HOWTOs, usually in a sub directory called mini. Note that these
are scheduled to be converted into SGML and become proper HOWTOs in
the near future.
14.7. Local Resources
In most distributions of Linux there is a document directory
installed, have a look in the /usr/doc directory. where most packages
store their main documentation and README files etc. Also you will
here find the HOWTO archive ( /usr/doc/HOWTO) of ready formatted
HOWTOs and also the mini-HOWTO archive ( /usr/doc/HOWTO/mini
<file:///usr/doc/HOWTO/mini>) of plain text documents.
Many of the configuration files mentioned earlier can be found in the
/etc directory. In particular you will want to work with the
/etc/fstab file that sets up the mounting of partitions and possibly
also /etc/mdtab file that is used for the md system to set up RAID.
The kernel source in /usr/src/linux <file:///usr/src/linux> is, of
course, the ultimate documentation. In other words, use the source,
Luke. It should also be pointed out that the kernel comes not only
with source code which is even commented (well, partially at least)
but also an informative documentation directory
<file:///usr/src/linux/Documentation>. If you are about to ask any
questions about the kernel you should read this first, it will save
you and many others a lot of time and possibly embarrassment.
Also have a look in your system log file ( /var/log/messages) to see
what is going on and in particular how the booting went if too much
scrolled off your screen. Using tail -f /var/log/messages in a
separate window or screen will give you a continuous update of what is
going on in your system.
You can also take advantage of the /proc file system that is a window
into the inner workings of your system. Use cat rather than more to
view the files as they are reported as being zero length. Reports are
that less works well here.
14.8. Web Pages
There is a huge number of informative web pages out there and by their
very nature they change quickly so don't be too surprised if these
links become quickly outdated.
A good starting point is of course the Linux Documentation Project
<http://www.linuxdoc.org/> home page, or this one: Linux Documentation
Project <http://www.tldp.org/>, an information central for
documentation, project pages and much, much more.
Please let me know if you have any other leads that can be of
interest.
15. Getting help
In the end you might find yourself unable to solve your problems and
need help from someone else. The most efficient way is either to ask
someone local or in your nearest Linux user group, search the web for
the nearest one.
Another possibility is to ask on Usenet News in one of the many, many
newsgroups available. The problem is that these have such a high
volume and noise (called low signal-to-noise ratio) that your question
can easily fall through unanswered.
No matter where you ask it is important to ask well or you will not be
taken seriously. Saying just my disk does not work is not going to
help you and instead the noise level is increased even further and if
you are lucky someone will ask you to clarify.
Instead describe your problems in some detail that will enable people
to help you. The problem could lie somewhere you did not expect.
Therefore you are advised to list up the following information on your
system:
Hardware
· Processor
· DMA
· IRQ
· Chip set (LX, BX etc)
· Bus (ISA, VESA, PCI etc)
· Expansion cards used (Disk controllers, video, IO etc)
Software
· BIOS (On motherboard and possibly SCSI host adapters)
· LILO, if used
· Linux kernel version as well as possible modifications and
patches
· Kernel parameters, if any
· Software that shows the error (with version number or date)
Peripherals
· Type of disk drives with manufacturer name, version and type
· Other relevant peripherals connected to the same buses
Remember that booting text is logged to /var/log/messages which can
answer most of the questions above. Obviously if the drives fail you
might not be able to get the log saved to disk but you can at least
scroll back up the screen using the SHIFT and PAGE UP keys. It may
also be useful to include part of this in your request for help but do
not go overboard, keep it brief as a complete log file dumped to
Usenet News is more than a little annoying.
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