Hermes BBS install

[Hardcore SysOp]

Crack registration codes for door games - he already did that for BlackJack Pro and Slycrel.

A lot of people don't even know what a telnet client is. The ftelnet client can be "built in" to your webpage so users can skip the step of installing a telnet client on their computer or launching another program. Check the one out on my BBS web page in my sig. I have a bunch of users that connect up that way for convenience. And you can even upload and download through it!


And I think I already crashed it - welcome back to Sysop'ing! I launched a game of Cups and it froze up and disconnected... Sorry!

Well, I don't feel bad about using a cracked version of Black Jack Pro, because I did pay for it in the past. But as I said, I just don't like having stuff on my board that is registered in other people's names. I think it looks really tacky.

Actually, when I ran my BBS years ago, I did have the ftelnet feature on my web page. I don't even remember how to implement now, or even where to get it for that matter. Please refresh my memory. Did it come as a part of the Hermes II package? My memory is majorly fuzzy.

But the reason why I personally didn't care for it, is because the BBS window was so small. I am 70 now, and with poor vision and a bad back, so I really don't like the little node windows that Hermes puts up in SheepShaver. I almost have to crawl into my screen to even be able to read things.

That was YOU who crashed my board???!!!! So soon???!!! You are FIRED, buddy!

You know what I wish I still had? All of my old ANSI screens. I worked so hard on those to make my board look different from a typical Hermes board. Now I need to start from scratch, as my time permits, and get back into the groove of slowly and patiently messing with all of those tiny ANSI characters. But, I do have the stripped version of Public Address, so that will make the job a little easier, since I can review and edit my work in PB.

So what did you think of the Armageddon BBS website? I put a lot of work into it this past week.

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

BTW, do you know if it is possible to force Hermes II to use a different port other than 23? Using that well-known port is just bad news!

 

[cloverskull]

To be clear here, Mr. Skull, are you suggesting that you are willing to pay a bounty to convince Michael to immerse himself once again into the nostalgic world of Hermes II BBSing? Or are you interested in paying a bounty to have someone’s head removed from their shoulders for some reason?

Just so you understand, with us older guys, brain cells begin to deteriorate a bit, and so we thus become a bit confused regarding certain things that are stated online.

I'd be willing to chip in

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

Well, Michael wrote back to me a few hours ago, and I now know how to change Hermes' port number so that all the bots aren't banging the door on port 23. He was also very impressed with my Armageddon BBS website, and the fact that I not only included piles of information, but that I also gave it historical context. His kind words really touched my heart.

 

[cloverskull]

Hey there! Tried telnetting to your BBS. It connects and then immediately drops. Just FYI.

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

Hey there! Tried telnetting to your BBS. It connects and then immediately drops. Just FYI.

Hmmm .... I wonder if it might have anything to do with the fact that right now I am in the middle of creating a 100 GB disk image, which I will then convert into a sparsebundle. SheepShaver just informed me that it is out of disk space. Creating a large disk image is very CPU intensive, so maybe that is why you got booted. If you want to try again in a bit after the disk image is made, maybe you will be more successful.

I should tell you though that my BBS is still in its virgin state -- meaning that I have not added anything to it yet, nor customized its appearance as I did nine years ago. I've been so busy creating my new/old Armageddon BBS website, and working out my networking issues, which are now finally resolved. Translation: You won't be impressed with my BBS yet, because it is a fresh out-of-the-box board.

 

[Byte Knight]

Actually, when I ran my BBS years ago, I did have the ftelnet feature on my web page. I don't even remember how to implement now, or even where to get it for that matter. Please refresh my memory. Did it come as a part of the Hermes II package? My memory is majorly fuzzy.

But the reason why I personally didn't care for it, is because the BBS window was so small. I am 70 now, and with poor vision and a bad back, so I really don't like the little node windows that Hermes puts up in SheepShaver. I almost have to crawl into my screen to even be able to read things.

From the ftelnet website: "Just head on over to the embed wizard and answer a few questions, then paste the javascript snippet onto your page, and you're done." And you can make the window bigger for your old eyes. Check out this one for my Apple II BBS.

You know what I wish I still had? All of my old ANSI screens. I worked so hard on those to make my board look different from a typical Hermes board. Now I need to start from scratch, as my time permits, and get back into the groove of slowly and patiently messing with all of those tiny ANSI characters. But, I do have the stripped version of Public Address, so that will make the job a little easier, since I can review and edit my work in PB.

There are some modern Mac ANSI drawing programs that are much easier to use including Moebius and Icy Draw. I have used both of these for my BBS.

So what did you think of the Armageddon BBS website? I put a lot of work into it this past week.

Love it - great to see it back in action and modernized!

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

From the ftelnet website: "Just head on over to the embed wizard and answer a few questions, then paste the javascript snippet onto your page, and you're done." And you can make the window bigger for your old eyes. Check out this one for my Apple II BBS.


There are some modern Mac ANSI drawing programs that are much easier to use including Moebius and Icy Draw. I have used both of these for my BBS.


Love it - great to see it back in action and modernized!

Thanks Mr. Byte. You are very bright, and I think your web page BBS is out of sight!

Your web embed looks so much nicer than what I remember from years ago. At the very least, the BBS window is now bigger. I am definitely going to implement that. I just need to decide where to put it. What I will probably do is duplicate one of my current html docs so that the embed blends in with my overall design. Then, I will put a link to the embed page on every other page on my site.

I will surely have a look at those ANSI art programs. I recall trying out some of those years ago, but I didn't like them, because they were missing some of the characters that I needed. Thankfully, I have screen shots of all of my original screens from years ago. So hopefully, I will be able to duplicate them with time.

Right now, I have both Hermes II and Hotline running in SheepShaver. Now that my website is done, and Hotline is done, I can start working on stylizing Hermes with that old retro PC-ANSI graphics look. Right now though, I am going to create some file directories ..... and then start burning my eyes out with the ANSI.

Thanks again for the tips and your kind words. I appreciate it.

 

[Byte Knight]

Another option to get more door games for the latest version of Hermes II would be for someone to add the ability to use outbound RLOGIN connections from Hermes II. There are a bunch of door game servers out there, like Gold Mine, in which you connect from the BBS to the game server. You can even customize it for individual games so it looks like you're hosting the games on your BBS. Maybe Michael would be willing to look into that option if he ever decides to get back into updating Hermes II?

 

[cloverskull]

Hm, I wonder if this would be possible using the python Hermes II capabilities today. Could be cool. That said, for me, the big benefit to running Hermes II at all is playing the native games that can't be played on a typical x86 BBS

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

Hm, I wonder if this would be possible using the python Hermes II capabilities today. Could be cool. That said, for me, the big benefit to running Hermes II at all is playing the native games that can't be played on a typical x86 BBS

Well, I don't know about that, cloverskull, but if anyone here knows python -- I imagine a ton of you -- why not just start writing some new python-based externals for Hermes II?

In fact, when Michael first released Hermes II 3.5.11 with his new External Development System, even though I am not a programmer at all, I mean, zilch, I wrote a new python-based external called "Get to Know You" which presented the user with a series of questions, so that other Hermes users could, well, get to know them better. However, that was nine years ago, and I no longer have it.

Of course, after that, Michael decided to abandon Python, and started developing his Fourth-based external system, which, I guess, he never completed, because he then made Hermes open source.

Anyway, it is just an idea. I mean, if a non-programmer like me could figure out how to write an external, by closely examining the Python-based Leech code, ANYONE could do it. There is just no reason for there not to be a pile of new externals for Hermes II 3.5.11, except for the fact that no one has taken the initiative, I guess.

The same applies to porting Hermes II to macOS. Sadly, I guess no one ever took up Michael's challenge.

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

From the ftelnet website: "Just head on over to the embed wizard and answer a few questions, then paste the javascript snippet onto your page, and you're done." And you can make the window bigger for your old eyes. Check out this one for my Apple II BBS.

Well, it has now been nine days since I submitted a request for my ftelnet to be activated, but so far, nothing. So, I just went to their website and sent them another message. Byte Knight, how long did it take before your board was activated? I already have the javascript embedded in a page on my Armageddon BBS website, but I obviously cannot publicize that fact until those folks activate my account.

 

[Byte Knight]

Well, it has now been nine days since I submitted a request for my ftelnet to be activated, but so far, nothing. So, I just went to their website and sent them another message. Byte Knight, how long did it take before your board was activated? I already have the javascript embedded in a page on my Armageddon BBS website, but I obviously cannot publicize that fact until those folks activate my account.

I'd contact the guy who runs ftelnet, Rick Parrish, via the contact tab at the top of the ftelnet home page. I think I had to do the same thing since I run a nonstandard telnet port. You should also register your BBS on the Telnet BBS Guide as they'll provide a direct telnet link to your BBS too and it's the main BBS search site.

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

I'd contact the guy who runs ftelnet, Rick Parrish, via the contact tab at the top of the ftelnet home page. I think I had to do the same thing since I run a nonstandard telnet port. You should also register your BBS on the Telnet BBS Guide as they'll provide a direct telnet link to your BBS too and it's the main BBS search site.

Thanks for the tip regarding the Telnet BBS Guide. I believe I was actually listed on there nine years ago. Actually, I already did send another message to Rick, as per my previous message. In this day and age, I think it is crazy to run anything on port 23. There are just way too many botnets out there constantly testing for vulnerabilities. I have already seen a few attempts today with someone trying to log in as user #1.

BTW, have you ever tried using Public Address by Colin, whose middle and last name I forget? It was a very modular BBS package, so flexible and not like stiff, rigid Hermes at all. You put together the modules however you liked. I ran it for a while. Now it is very difficult to find a Public Address package at all, much less one that has all the files and modules so that it will run properly. But, I did make available the stripped down version years ago, which I used just for telnetting, and for making my ANSI screens.

 

[Byte Knight]

Anyway, it is just an idea. I mean, if a non-programmer like me could figure out how to write an external, by closely examining the Python-based Leech code, ANYONE could do it. There is just no reason for there not to be a pile of new externals for Hermes II 3.5.11, except for the fact that no one has taken the initiative, I guess.

Yeah, unless it's one of us, nobody is gonna do it. There's even less interest in Hermes II now than there was when you were still running your old BBS. And even if someone did come up with some new Python externals, then the existing non-Python doors would probably stop working...

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

Yeah, unless it's one of us, nobody is gonna do it. There's even less interest in Hermes II now than there was when you were still running your old BBS. And even if someone did come up with some new Python externals, then the existing non-Python doors would probably stop working...

Well, considering that there are only six externals that even work with 3.5.11, if some individual with a lot of initiative were to make a half a dozen or more python-based externals which work with 3.5.11, I think that would be a fair trade-off. We've already got Leech as a python external. Five more, and they would be on equal footing. Then if others got interested, who knows where it would go.

But, honestly speaking, it has been years, and I am a lot older, and I don't even remember now how I made Get to Know You. As I recall, as a non-programmer, even writing Get to Know You was challenging for me. Anything more than that, and I am totally out of my league. In fact, it is more than likely that when I was writing Get to Know You, I probably pestered Michael a few time when I got stuck. In reality, what I pretty much did was basically repurpose the code that was already contained in Leech, and just turned it into something else, with a few variations.

 

[Byte Knight]

Thanks for the tip regarding the Telnet BBS Guide. I believe I was actually listed on there nine years ago. Actually, I already did send another message to Rick, as per my previous message. In this day and age, I think it is crazy to run anything on port 23. There are just way too many botnets out there constantly testing for vulnerabilities. I have already seen a few attempts today with someone trying to log in as user #1.

Whoops - sorry I missed the part where you already contacted him. And one of those attempts this AM was me accidentally typing in #1 by force of habit!

BTW, have you ever tried using Public Address by Colin, whose middle and last name I forget? It was a very modular BBS package, so flexible and not like stiff, rigid Hermes at all. You put together the modules however you liked. I ran it for a while. Now it is very difficult to find a Public Address package at all, much less one that has all the files and modules so that it will run properly. But, I did make available the stripped down version years ago, which I used just for telnetting, and for making my ANSI screens.

I've played around with Public Address a little bit, but didn't find very many door games for it. I've got v0.9.10.5 of it in the Downloads section on CQ II BBS.

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

Whoops - sorry I missed the part where you already contacted him. And one of those attempts this AM was me accidentally typing in #1 by force of habit!


I've played around with Public Address a little bit, but didn't find very many door games for it. I've got v0.9.10.5 of it in the Downloads section on CQ II BBS.

I think that may be the version I ran years ago. I am going to have to go and grab that from you in order to preserve it, just in case the Martians decide to come and abduct you one of these days. I think I found PA years ago in one of those .edu archive sites. I think I may have even contained Colin a few times by email. I can't remember now. I did have some PA game modules that worked with it, but that is all history now.

 

[Hardcore SysOp]

So, Byte Knight, I tried out MuffinTerm as you suggested. If you would like to know my verdict -- with graphics -- please check out this page on the Armageddon BBS website:

https://www.armageddonbbs.net/MuffinTerm-macOS-Terminal-Comparison.html

 

[Byte Knight]

Great news - we have a working serial number for Hermes II v3.1.1! We got the master Mac cracker, Sidd Hartha, together with the original programmer of Hermes and master or encryption, Will Price. With the blessing of the current owner of Hermes II, the original source code was provided to Sidd and he was able to break the encryption for v3.1.1. I've tested it out and it works - no disconnecting when you type in a message or crashing when you try to download a file. Here's the working serial number:

C93E7D9BF0D2E24E128A722EBF521962A7150718486F4F162EE62E7B841B950661D17BABXDC8;X4XAXvjku"DDU"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""XXXXXXXXXX4TDX1718.