On 06 Jan 2022, TALIADON said the following...

their way onto the internet. Thanks to projects like the Fujinet, SpectraNet, and TIPI, it's no longer necessary to even have local cop of disk or cassette images; users can mount and use them over the internet. And that, I think, is amazing.

This is precisely why chatting here is a good idea: this is news to me
and as you say, amazing.
I imagine SpectraNet has something of interest for me.

The Spectranet is a modern peripheral for the ZX Spectrum (and clones). It attaches to the edge connector and provides network functionality. It
requires a LAN cable connection (no WiFi) and while using it the computer is limited to 48K BASIC (no 128K BASIC, although the full 128K is available to programs). It contains firmware that intercepts BASIC commands, adding a new syntax for users to access it from BASIC. It can also provide a socket interface, although that's only available via assembly programming. For file support it uses a protocol known as TNFS, and there are multiple TNFS servers set up to use. The protocol allows for auto-running a program when connecting to a TNFS server, so most of these are set up with menuing systems to help
you select which cassette image you want, much like a BBS.

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

On 06 Jan 2022, TALIADON said the following...

I remember watching this with my boy back in the day and thinking to myself how unrealistic the AI was.

Fast forward to 2022: never underestimate your capacity to underestimate.

So, true... I never really thought much about the 'in-between' time of AI from the inception to skynet... it's always easier to examine the edge cases... and usually more interesting... but, it's everywhere now and no sign of skynet yet <g>

Although, I don't really think this limited form of AI is really capable of of ever reaching sentience... I think it will first take another evolutionary step, that I don't think we've a hint of yet... no rush.

_____________________________________________________________________

(,``,"> rusty sez... Re-livin' the dream...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: seeLive's rustyHedgehog - therhh.dynv6.net:2300 (21:2/128)

The Spectranet is a modern peripheral for the ZX Spectrum (and clones).

I had never heard of this. Thank you for the explanation!

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

On 06 Jan 2022 at 01:50p, TALIADON pondered and said...

I'm in the process of setting up a Rpi for some future YouTube videos and guess what I added as the desktop today?

Amazing: Let's play the A47 game.

I found the Pi was complaining about the power supply so I have ordered a Rpi branded supply which do the trick and will arrive in the coming days...

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/11/06 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

I found the Pi was complaining about the power supply so I have ordered
a Rpi branded supply which do the trick and will arrive in the coming days...

Yep, that's pretty important. Obviously, the older (and low-powered) versions don't need much, but the Pi3 and Pi4 need a surprising amount of power...2.5 and 3 amps, respectively!

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

On 06 Jan 2022, McDoob said the following...

The Spectranet is a modern peripheral for the ZX Spectrum (and clones

I had never heard of this. Thank you for the explanation!

No problem. I have one and enjoy it immensely. ByteDelight.com in the Netherlands will occasionally make a batch, but I don't know if he has any in stock right now. (I am not affiliated with ByteDelight.)

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

I found the Pi was complaining about the power supply so I have ordered
a Rpi branded supply which do the trick and will arrive in the coming days...

Not to worry: I'm just happy A47 tutorials are on your schedule.

o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
TALIADON | 2:250/6 | 21:3/138 | TALIADON-BBS@MAIL.COM | o-----------o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
| "Error is a great teacher, and humility its hardest lesson." | o--------------------------------------------------------------o

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: TALIADON BBS (21:3/138)

No problem. I have one and enjoy it immensely. ByteDelight.com in the Netherlands will occasionally make a batch, but I don't know if he has
any in stock right now. (I am not affiliated with ByteDelight.)

OK, I'm sold on this. There's a small backlog due to the global parts
shortage, but I don't mind waiting for this little gem.

o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
TALIADON | 2:250/6 | 21:3/138 | TALIADON-BBS@MAIL.COM | o-----------o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
| "Error is a great teacher, and humility its hardest lesson." | o--------------------------------------------------------------o

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: TALIADON BBS (21:3/138)

No problem. I have one and enjoy it immensely. ByteDelight.com in the Netherlands will occasionally make a batch, but I don't know if he has
any in stock right now. (I am not affiliated with ByteDelight.)

Not really an issue, as I don't have an actual ZX Spectrum. I just thought it was a cool invention...

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

No problem. I have one and enjoy it immensely. ByteDelight.com in the Netherlands will occasionally make a batch, but I don't know if he ha any in stock right now. (I am not affiliated with ByteDelight.)

Not really an issue, as I don't have an actual ZX Spectrum. I just
thought it was a cool invention...

It is, and there are similar devices for many of the old 8-bit machines.

As far as not having an actual ZX Spectrum, if you're a decent solderer you
can remedy that with Harlequin kit, also available from ByteDelight.

The original ZX Spectrum required only one specialized chip: the ULA (an
early FPGA-like chip). However, it's been reverse-engineered and can be duplicated with commonly-available logic chips, albeit a large number of them which results in a somewhat tightly-packed circuit board.

I have not bought any Harlequin kits from ByteDelight, but have assembled several from other sources.

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

On 07 Jan 2022 at 12:00a, TALIADON pondered and said...

Not to worry: I'm just happy A47 tutorials are on your schedule.

They are overdue... today I have been sending emails to about 13 nodes chasing them up re connecting for packets at 1/100 HUB. Gotta push through that housekeeping first, also adding some nodes etc. etc.

I plan to re-watch the old videos so I can note what I want to change about them, then will start to re-do them thereafter.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/11/06 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 06 Jan 2022 at 06:39p, Jeff pondered and said...

As far as not having an actual ZX Spectrum, if you're a decent solderer you can remedy that with Harlequin kit, also available from ByteDelight.

The original ZX Spectrum required only one specialized chip: the ULA (an

I have a ZX81 upstairs with a soldered RAM pack to avoid the wobblies. :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/11/06 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 07 Jan 2022, Avon said the following...

I have a ZX81 upstairs with a soldered RAM pack to avoid the wobblies. :)

Oh, man, that RAM pack was definitely party to many a love-hate relationship.

My first computer was a TS1000, the US equivalent of the ZX81. I still have
it around here somewhere, too. I had the RAM pack, too, and a thermal
printer, both of which were similarly rebranded. I later upgraded to the TS2068, the US equivalent of the Spectrum. It did not have anywhere near the following and support in the US that the Spectrum enjoyed in Europe and elsewhere. I mostly had to rely on what books, magazines, and cassettes I
could manage to get ahold of, which were few and far between, so I used the Timex/Sinclairs more for programming than playing games.

What was the home computer scene like for you in the early 80s?

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

As far as not having an actual ZX Spectrum, if you're a decent solderer you can remedy that with Harlequin kit, also available from ByteDelight.

Sure you're not sponsored? ;)

I used to be pretty good with a soldering iron, but it has been a long time, and I don't have an iron anymore...If I was going to take on a project like that, it'd probably be a C64 clone, though...No offense to ZX Spectrum, but I never owned one, and I did a C64, for a long time.

The original ZX Spectrum required only one specialized chip: the ULA (an early FPGA-like chip). However, it's been reverse-engineered and can be duplicated with commonly-available logic chips, albeit a large number of them which results in a somewhat tightly-packed circuit board.

That's a problem for C64, from what I've heard...I think the SID chip hasn't been reverse-engineered...

I have a few projects, PiBBS for instance, that should keep me busy for at least the winter, anyway.

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

On 06 Jan 2022 at 08:17p, Jeff pondered and said...

I have a ZX81 upstairs with a soldered RAM pack to avoid the wobblies

Oh, man, that RAM pack was definitely party to many a love-hate relationship.

It was :) So many people lost good programs when that sucker burped :)

What was the home computer scene like for you in the early 80s?

Well for me it was TRS-80 and a machine put out by an Australian entrepreneur called Dick Smith called the System 80, you can find images on Google.
The it was into Apple IIe... all of these were at my high school.

At home I started with the ZX81 and did a lot of typing in code to get it to do stuff, then moved onto a BBC Micro B which lasted until I left home.

At uni it was early Apple MACs then in the early 90s I bought my first home PC which was a 386 chip, that was about the time I was using Telix and starting to dial BBS and then run my own :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/11/06 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 06 Jan 2022, McDoob said the following...

As far as not having an actual ZX Spectrum, if you're a decent solder you can remedy that with Harlequin kit, also available from ByteDelig

Sure you're not sponsored? ;)

Yep! Not sponsored, just enthused. I've never bought a Harlequin kit from ByteDelight; I bought mine directly from their creator, Don Superfo. He has a wide range of Harlequin kits with various capabilities: NTSC, PAL, SD mass storage, CF mass storage, built-in Wi-Fi modem... However, he doesn't make or sell the keyboards and cases. I got my keyboards/cases from Djordje Mitik in China, but he is often backlogged and Chinese shipping can be slow.

I used to be pretty good with a soldering iron, but it has been a long time, and I don't have an iron anymore...If I was going to take on a project like that, it'd probably be a C64 clone, though...No offense to
ZX Spectrum, but I never owned one, and I did a C64, for a long time.

`
I didn't own a C64, either, but had some friends who did. If someone made a
C64 kit, though... I'd be all over that.

The original ZX Spectrum required only one specialized chip: the ULA early FPGA-like chip). However, it's been reverse-engineered and can duplicated with commonly-available logic chips, albeit a large number them which results in a somewhat tightly-packed circuit board.

That's a problem for C64, from what I've heard...I think the SID chip hasn't been reverse-engineered...

Yeah, I don't think so, either. There are still some out there, though;
they're quite popular in the chiptune community, I think. The same is true of the Atari 8-bits; they had specialized CTIA/GTIA, ANTIC, and POKEY chips.

I have a few projects, PiBBS for instance, that should keep me busy for
at least the winter, anyway.

Always good to have a hobby, especially in these times! What are your goals
for PiBBS, be they general or specific?

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

On 07 Jan 2022, Avon said the following...

At uni it was early Apple MACs then in the early 90s I bought my first home PC which was a 386 chip, that was about the time I was using Telix and starting to dial BBS and then run my own :)

Ah, yeah, Telix! I still remember the "doodle-dee doodle-dee doodle-dee"
sound it would make when a line on the BBS I ws trying to connect to opened
up!

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

I didn't own a C64, either, but had some friends who did. If someone
made a C64 kit, though... I'd be all over that.

Oh, there's at least one! Hang on, let me see if I can find the right YT video...

https://youtu.be/ZtpRdVTuHQw

That's a full size C64 kit. (SID & VIC chips not included ;) )

Another kit I'm really interested is called the 'Chickenlips 16'. Formerly known as the Commander x16, the creators got a 'friendly' letter from
someone's lawyer requesting that they not use that name...

t's not a C64 clone, though. It's a completely new design, based on the C64/Vic-20. It's being worked on by a group that includes a couple of my favorite YT retro-tech personalities.

It's still just a prototype, and not really a kit computer, but it looks to be very interesting:

https://youtu.be/ayh0qebfD2g
https://youtu.be/sg-6cjzzg8s
https://youtu.be/PWBUMgAl7wY
https://youtu.be/hu3QzMsKb9U

The last video also features a Vic-20 kit computer.

Always good to have a hobby, especially in these times! What are your goals for PiBBS, be they general or specific?

Well, my current goal is to make PiBBS look a LOT less like a generic Mystic install. :) After that, I'll be working on getting some door games installed.

Beyond that, I'm not certain. Really, I just built it to see if I could, on a Pi. The theme, if it's not obvious, will be Pi-centric; lots of stuff for and about the Raspberry Pi.

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

On 06 Jan 2022, McDoob said the following...

I didn't own a C64, either, but had some friends who did. If someone made a C64 kit, though... I'd be all over that.

Oh, there's at least one! Hang on, let me see if I can find the right YT video...

[...]

The last video also features a Vic-20 kit computer.

Awesome! I'll definitely take a look at these!

Always good to have a hobby, especially in these times! What are your goals for PiBBS, be they general or specific?

Well, my current goal is to make PiBBS look a LOT less like a generic Mystic install. :) After that, I'll be working on getting some door
games installed.
Beyond that, I'm not certain. Really, I just built it to see if I could, on a Pi. The theme, if it's not obvious, will be Pi-centric; lots of
stuff for and about the Raspberry Pi.

Mine is also running on a Pi. For a while, I had it running on a Pi Zero. Of course, it's not public yet so there wasn't a lot to really stress it out.

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

Mine is also running on a Pi. For a while, I had it running on a Pi
Zero. Of course, it's not public yet so there wasn't a lot to really stress it out.

PiBBS is running on a 3B+...along with a couple of other projects...So far, there hasn't been any significant draw on resources, but then again, PiBBS
only has maybe half a dozen users right now...It's only been online for a month...

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

On 06 Jan 2022, McDoob said the following...

PiBBS is running on a 3B+...along with a couple of other projects...So far, there hasn't been any significant draw on resources, but then
again, PiBBS only has maybe half a dozen users right now...It's only
been online for a month...

Same here. I think that should definitely suffice. The only problem I foresee is the SD card. If power outages are common in your area, you might consider
a UPS (which, for a Pi, can be as simple as a hefty USB power bank that's always plugged in. SD cards are notorious for getting scrambled when there's
a sudden loss of power. Like, won't even boot anymore scrambled. Sometimes
you can reformat them, sometimes not, but either way you've lost your data.

Also, be sure to backup to some non-SD-based system often.

I'm not poo-pooing the Pi by any means; I have several and absolutely love them! The SD card just a known weakness and it's happened to me.

Jeff.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

Same here. I think that should definitely suffice. The only problem I foresee is the SD card. If power outages are common in your area, you might consider a UPS (which, for a Pi, can be as simple as a hefty USB power bank that's always plugged in. SD cards are notorious for getting scrambled when there's a sudden loss of power. Like, won't even boot anymore scrambled. Sometimes you can reformat them, sometimes not, but either way you've lost your data.

Also, be sure to backup to some non-SD-based system often.

You are absolutely correct, sir! It has happened to me once already, just by hitting the power switch at the wrong time. I'm thinking about using a cheap external SSD for the /home drive, at least. For now, though, I'm stuck with
the 32GB SD card that's in it.

I make (somewhat) regular backups of at least PiBBS on my main PC. And the Pi is plugged into the same UPS as the PC, and the router. Unfortunately, my
modem is in my kitchen, and my UPS is in my living room...but at least I can still perform a safe shutdown when needed!

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

On 06 Jan 2022, Jeff said the following...

No problem. I have one and enjoy it immensely. ByteDelight.com i Netherlands will occasionally make a batch, but I don't know if any in stock right now. (I am not affiliated with ByteDelight.)

Not really an issue, as I don't have an actual ZX Spectrum. I just thought it was a cool invention...

In my opinion, the FujiNet device is the coolest of them all. Inspired by the Spectranet and TI-99/4a TIPI (which contains an RPi Zero), and the lack of
such a device for the Atari 8-bit home computers, it delivered that functionality and so much more. It was originally developed for the Ataris,
but development has been extended to the C64, Apple ][, even the Coleco Adam!

The FujiNet offers local disk image hosting on an SD card and access to disk image servers on the internet. But there's so much more to it! Its driver is written in such a way that sockets can be treated exactly like disk files in AtariBASIC and other languages. The FujiNet itself handles the encryption needed for secure connections, meaning that it's entirely transparent to the Atari. It can decode JSON files/responses and the Atari can request them record-by-record. It even features a SAM speech synthesizer* that can be accessed as a printer.

Speaking of printers, it can also act as a period-appropriate printer. By accessing its built-in web server over a network connection, the type of printer can be selected from a range of options (OkiData, Epson, etc.). When the Atari prints something, it gets converted into a PDF using the actual
font (dot matrix and all!) of the emulated printer. This PDF can then be downloaded to a computer via the built-in web server and printed (or
whatever).

There was an unusual peripheral for the Ataris known as the ATR8000 that was essentially a CP/M computer that used the Atari as a terminal. The FujiNet contains an emulated Z80 processor running CP/M; all that need to be done to access it is to load a terminal program, set the baud rate to 9600, and enter the pseudo-Hayes-style command ATCPM.

I have two of these and they are absolutely amazing. Users developed
networked apps to monitor the 2020 election results in real time (and that's
as political as I'm going to get), as well as a weather app that displays the current weather in the user's area -- in real time -- as well as a forecast
for upcoming days. On an Atari 8-bit!

Jeff.

* The Atari itself does not do the speech synthesis; the FujiNet does. The Atari Home computers had a cassette interface, but only one track of the cassette was used for data. The other track could contain music or other
audio data, and this would be patched directly to the television speaker, providing something for the user to listen to while a program was being
loaded. The FujiNet exploits this to send speech synthesis audio directly to the TV speaker.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: Cold War Computing BBS (21:1/180)

I have a ZX81 upstairs with a soldered RAM pack to avoid the wobblies. :)

That certainly beats the old Blu-Tack solution.

o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
TALIADON | 2:250/6 | 21:3/138 | TALIADON-BBS@MAIL.COM | o-----------o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
| "Error is a great teacher, and humility its hardest lesson." | o--------------------------------------------------------------o

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: TALIADON BBS (21:3/138)

That's a problem for C64, from what I've heard...I think the SID chip hasn't been reverse-engineered...

TBH, even commodore had difficulty in maintaining the analogue nuances (filter response in particular) between the 6581 & 8580 revisions. Like all analogue designs; layout, substrate, masking, lithography, and manufacture, are all components of signal fidelity & frequency response. With the 6581 in particular, Bob Yannes decided to employ rather than mitigate these nuances;
as the silicon/process nuances changed, so did the signal. If you isolate
and play the 6581 & 8580 side-by-side, the differences are certainly perceptible to the human ear.

Unlike most analogue engineers, Bob didn't seem too concerned about marginal parasitics: why add more silicon when you can simply add more 'features'.
This unique (and rather clever IMHO) approach gave the original SID a very unique timbre that's difficult to reproduce in its entirety.

As far as re-engineering goes, I think the SwinSID is as good as it gets, at least for now.

o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
TALIADON | 2:250/6 | 21:3/138 | TALIADON-BBS@MAIL.COM | o-----------o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
| "Error is a great teacher, and humility its hardest lesson." | o--------------------------------------------------------------o

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: TALIADON BBS (21:3/138)

I plan to re-watch the old videos so I can note what I want to change about them, then will start to re-do them thereafter.

We're just grateful for your efforts; whatever is convenient for you my
friend.

o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
TALIADON | 2:250/6 | 21:3/138 | TALIADON-BBS@MAIL.COM | o-----------o-----------o------------o-------------------------o
| "Error is a great teacher, and humility its hardest lesson." | o--------------------------------------------------------------o

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: TALIADON BBS (21:3/138)

I didn't own a C64, either, but had some friends who did. If

someone

made a C64 kit, though... I'd be all over that.

Oh, there's at least one! Hang on, let me see if I can find the right
YT
video...

This sent me down a YT rabbit hole, thank you! Stumbled on the Mega65
project mentioned in The 8 But Guy's video -- it looks amazing. Not in production yet, but they are taking pre-orders. Indsutrial design is retro-fantastic.

https://mega65.org/

"THE 21ST CENTURY REALIZATION OF THE C65 HERITAGE: A COMPLETE 8-BIT
COMPUTER RUNNING AROUND 40X FASTER THAN A C64 WHILE BEING HIGHLY
COMPATIBLE. C65 DESIGN, MECHANICAL KEYBOARD, HD OUTPUT, SD CARD SUPPORT, ETHERNET, EXTENDED MEMORY AND OTHER FEATURES INCREASE THE FUN WITHOUT
SPOILING THE 8-BIT FEEL. HARDWARE DESIGNS AND SOFTWARE ARE OPEN-SOURCE
(LGPL)."


|04a|12LPHA
|03Alpha Complex |15- |11alphacomplex.us:2323

--- Talisman v0.35-dev (Linux/x86_64)
* Origin: aLPHA cOMPLEX: You are in Error. No one is screaming. (21:4/158)

This sent me down a YT rabbit hole, thank you! Stumbled on the Mega65 project mentioned in The 8 But Guy's video -- it looks amazing. Not in production yet, but they are taking pre-orders. Indsutrial design is retro-fantastic.

Don't thank me, thank the guys making the videos! As 8-Bit-Guy said, the
Mega65 may never actually reach production, or may be prohibitively expensive if it does. I agree, it's a cool idea. But don't hold your breath.

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

Don't thank me, thank the guys making the videos! As 8-Bit-Guy said,
the
Mega65 may never actually reach production, or may be prohibitively expensive
if it does. I agree, it's a cool idea. But don't hold your breath.

They are listing it for like $800 USD right now. So yeah, too expensive
for my hobby tastes, might as well and try and find working vintage!


|04a|12LPHA
|03Alpha Complex |15- |11alphacomplex.us:2323

--- Talisman v0.35-dev (Linux/x86_64)
* Origin: aLPHA cOMPLEX: You are in Error. No one is screaming. (21:4/158)

On 2022-01-06 13:40 Jeff said...

Ah, yeah, Telix! I still remember the "doodle-dee doodle-dee doodle-dee" sound it would make when a line on the BBS I ws trying to connect to opened up!

I got into BBS:ing very very late, when there wasn't many boards left to call, but anyway, Telix was my favourite terminal program, I had forgotten about that sound though. :)

I have been using the Telix theme for irssi (IRC client) for more than 20 years :)

Best regards
//beardy

--- ENiGMA 1/2 v0.0.12-beta (linux; x64; 12.22.7)
* Origin: BodaX BBS ~ bbs.beardy.se:23 / SSH port 22 (21:3/158)

On 2022-01-06 15:57 Jeff said...

I'm not poo-pooing the Pi by any means; I have several and absolutely love them! The SD card just a known weakness and it's happened to me.

Same here, I have a bunch, the latest being a Pi3 running RetroPie and Kodi for my TV.
But indeed, SD cards are their weakness, and I've had most of the use-cases
die on me when the SD card dies. What you said about the power loss and power issues is probably the cause indeed, I thought it had to do with overclocking, but the root cause is probably the power indeed.

When overclocking more power is needed, so I guess that has been the cause of mine dying mostly.

There is one sitting in a closet at work that has been powered on since 2012, on the same SD card, but the thing is that it is not overclocked - I now realize.

Best regards
//beardy

--- ENiGMA 1/2 v0.0.12-beta (linux; x64; 12.22.7)
* Origin: BodaX BBS ~ bbs.beardy.se:23 / SSH port 22 (21:3/158)

On 2022-01-06 17:23 Jeff said...

In my opinion, the FujiNet device is the coolest of them all. Inspired by the Spectranet and TI-99/4a TIPI (which contains an RPi Zero), and the lack of such a device for the Atari 8-bit home computers, it delivered that functionality and so much more. It was originally developed for the Ataris, but development has been extended to the C64, Apple ][, even the Coleco Adam!

Wow, that sounds really cool, I have to look into getting one of those..
I have some C64's that I want to use properly some time, but I only have a
tape drive, and a disk drive, no modern disk emulation devices, yet.

Best regards
//beardy

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On 06 Jan 2022 at 08:40p, Jeff pondered and said...

Ah, yeah, Telix! I still remember the "doodle-dee doodle-dee doodle-dee" sound it would make when a line on the BBS I ws trying to connect to opened up!

Now that you mention that sound, so do I - happy memories and a feeling of anticipation :)

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* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

On 09 Jan 2022 at 03:38a, beardy pondered and said...

But indeed, SD cards are their weakness, and I've had most of the use-cases die on me when the SD card dies. What you said about the power loss and power issues is probably the cause indeed, I thought it had to
do with overclocking, but the root cause is probably the power indeed.

I've been wondering about this fragility of SD cards also.

Does anyone know / can suggest some SSD or other hardware that would be better, and how best to add it to the Pi?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/11/06 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Does anyone know / can suggest some SSD or other hardware that would be better, and how best to add it to the Pi?

Any external HDD/SDD with a USB interface can be used in a Pi, just like any other computer. However, unless you're connecting to a Pi4 (which has USB 3), you'll be limited to USB 2 speeds.

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
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On 08 Jan 2022 at 11:10p, McDoob pondered and said...

Any external HDD/SDD with a USB interface can be used in a Pi, just like any other computer. However, unless you're connecting to a Pi4 (which
has USB 3), you'll be limited to USB 2 speeds.

Thanks, yeah it's just something I've not delved into but can see how you could hook in an external HDD drive via USB, I'd need to do some homework on how to get the Pi to boot off it.

I figured there must be some SSD and hardware (a hat or interface) that plugs into the Pi that can accommodate a SSD for quick booting, then folks would use an external HDD connected via USB to add more storage. I think :)

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/11/06 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Thanks, yeah it's just something I've not delved into but can see how
you could hook in an external HDD drive via USB, I'd need to do some homework on how to get the Pi to boot off it.

I figured there must be some SSD and hardware (a hat or interface) that plugs into the Pi that can accommodate a SSD for quick booting, then
folks would use an external HDD connected via USB to add more storage. I think :)

I believe it's possible to install the OS directly to USB storage in NOOBS,
and I know it's possible in PINN. As for migrating an OS to external, and
then making it boot, that's out of my purview.

I'm not aware of any direct (ie sata, nvme) hardware interface for storage. From what I can tell, any enclosure that includes a storage device relies on (and uses) one of the USB ports.

The Pi Compute Module 4, on the other hand...never mind, that's a whole NEW
can of worms... ;)

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

love them! The SD card just a known weakness and it's happened to

me.

Same here, I have a bunch, the latest being a Pi3 running RetroPie and
Kodi for my TV.
But indeed, SD cards are their weakness, and I've had most of the
use-cases
die on me when the SD card dies. What you said about the power loss
and power
issues is probably the cause indeed, I thought it had to do with overclocking,
but the root cause is probably the power indeed.

Just fried an SD card on my RetroPie last week when I installed my Pi in a
3D printed case I got online (it looks like a mini Amiga 1200, couldn't
resist) and the case wasn't well designed, it was touching the SD card
area and it melted the PLA and a little hole in SD card. Lesson learned.


|04a|12LPHA
|03Alpha Complex |15- |11alphacomplex.us:2323

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resist) and the case wasn't well designed, it was touching the SD card area and it melted the PLA and a little hole in SD card. Lesson learned.

Wow! How did it get so hot?

McDoob
SysOp, PiBBS
pibbs.sytes.net

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32)
* Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135)

On Netflix 'The social Dilemma' really shows how bad, bad is. It's mostly interviews with key players from silicon valley and how absolutely afraid they are of what they've created... if they feel it out of control...

That was a freaky documentary, and an important watch!. We don't realize how easily we can be maniuplated without even knowing it's happening!

The timing of writing part 3 of 'Back to the BBS' was timely, as I had just watched the Social Dilemma at the time. I do think that some of the points
are a little twee in the way they are introduced, but still, it gets the
point across and it was great to be able to quote parts of that doco in mine
to try and cajole people across from the 'Social' web owned by a few conglomerates back to the BBS... :)

Cheers,
Al


hyjinx // Alistair Ross
Author of 'Back to the BBS' Documentary: https://bit.ly/3tRINeL (YouTube) alsgeeklab.com

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area and it melted the PLA and a little hole in SD card. Lesson

learned.

Wow! How did it get so hot?

yeah, I don't know. When I pulled the Pi out, the PLA was still all melty
and came away like pulling a grilled cheese sandwhich apart. Needless to
say, that case (which is beautiful) is now just Desk Art.




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Does anyone know / can suggest some SSD or other hardware that would be better, and how best to add it to the Pi?

I currently have a pi running in an 'Argon ONE M.2' case. It has a slot for an M.2 SATA drive. I found a cheap 128GB M.2 drive and been running it for several months now and it runs great!

I installed debian on it btw.. running all kinds of stuff off of it =)

|15Z|07ylone

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Avon wrote (2022-01-09):

On 08 Jan 2022 at 11:10p, McDoob pondered and said...

Any external HDD/SDD with a USB interface can be used in a Pi, just
like any other computer. However, unless you're connecting to a Pi4
(which has USB 3), you'll be limited to USB 2 speeds.

Thanks, yeah it's just something I've not delved into but can see how you could hook in an external HDD drive via USB, I'd need to do some homework on how to get the Pi to boot off it.

Every Pi model (2/3/4) does it slightly differently. AFAIK it is possible with all models.

I figured there must be some SSD and hardware (a hat or interface) that plugs into the Pi that can accommodate a SSD for quick booting, then
folks would use an external HDD connected via USB to add more storage. I think :)

An SSD just for booting? How often and how fast do you have to reboot your Pi? Booting from SD card is not that slow.

The best Pi setup for an SSD would be the Pi4 Compute Module and a carrier board with an M.2 slot. It uses PCIe instead of USB 3.0.

Like https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2021/m2-on-raspberry-pi-tofu-compute-module-4-carrier-board

Not the cheapest solution though.

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* Origin: Birds aren't real (21:3/102)

That's a problem for C64, from what I've heard...I think the SID chip
hasn't
been reverse-engineered...

There are several modern SID replacements now.. The new hotness is the
ArmSID which is a complete ARM based computer that emulates a SID chip
and fits into the original SID socket. :D

Some others are SwinSID/Nano SwinSID, BackSID, FPGASID, SIDKick...

http://midibox.org/forums/topic/21331-sid-clones-listsourcesexperiences/



--- Talisman v0.35-dev (Linux/x86_64)
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I know nothing about Gemini, but am aware some people are still playing with Gopher servers. I've never set one up myself. maybe I should
as an exercise some day. :)

I had someone try and enveigle me into setting up pineapple.zapto.org as a gopher site. It looked like to much effort and beyond my wheel house after having just wrassled PHP and MySQL to a stand still for it.

There are meant to be more gopher sites kicking around now than there were in its "hey day" By an order of magnitude I believe. But since that brief
flicker of interest I haven't looked sideways at it again.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
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I had someone try and enveigle me into setting up pineapple.zapto.org as
a gopher site. It looked like to much effort and beyond my wheel house after having just wrassled PHP and MySQL to a stand still for it.

Gopher was a lot easier than I thought it would be and I am not the sharpest tool in the shed.

More of an hour-or-two project rather than a whole weekend, if you ever get the urge or you get bored or something

With modern, up-to-date distributions, you will want to use this fork, which works with Python3.x if that is what is running on your system:

https://github.com/michael-lazar/pygopherd

From there it's a matter of ensuring you have a service file for it if you're using a systemd-based OS so it can start at boot. You can probably just grab one from someone if you ever decide to do it. Just ask.

Then, you need a gophermap file which is the index file pointing at resources.

I think I did it one night when I had insomnia, never having attempted it before.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Shipwrecks & Shibboleths [San Francisco, CA - USA] (21:1/227)

I know nothing about Gemini, but am aware some people are still playi with Gopher servers. I've never set one up myself. maybe I should
as an exercise some day. :)

I had someone try and enveigle me into setting up pineapple.zapto.org as
a gopher site. It looked like to much effort and beyond my wheel house after having just wrassled PHP and MySQL to a stand still for it.

There are meant to be more gopher sites kicking around now than there
were in its "hey day" By an order of magnitude I believe. But since
that brief flicker of interest I haven't looked sideways at it again.

Spec

There are a lot of gopher and gemini sites, or capsules, as they are known in the gemini world. The problem is there isn't much there that is good. Content matters more than form, and it doesn't really mean much if the format is light and easy on resources, when what is on there isn't really all that interesting.

Many sites are either copies of web sites, or blogs of people wanting to phlog or use gemini.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Gopher was a lot easier than I thought it would be and I am not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Getting the server installed was the easy part. I didn't find a lot that was useful initially on trying to convert my existing data to be gohper friendly
so adding useful content to it was problematic. As I mentioned though, my overclocked chimp brain had just finished coping with PHP/mysql and the odd apache foible and was feeling a little burned out and just shoved it in the
too hard basket.

Spec


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
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There are a lot of gopher and gemini sites, or capsules, as they are known in the gemini world. The problem is there isn't much there that is good.

Sounds suspiciously similar to WWW :P


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
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On 04-17-22 20:24, Spectre wrote to Vk3jed <=-

There are meant to be more gopher sites kicking around now than there
were in its "hey day" By an order of magnitude I believe. But since
that brief flicker of interest I haven't looked sideways at it again.

Yeah, I haven't looked into setting up a Gopher. Maybe one day, though I've been heavily sidetracked by RoIP servers. :)


... To do an injustice is infinitely more disgraceful than to suffer one!
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