Does SexPOTS work with virtual modems ? (eg. an inbound call via TCP/IP on COM/IP or NetSerial) ?

I want to be able to pass BBS callers from an external frontend mailer to WINServer. Unfortunately WINServer only works with Platinum Xpress (a proprietary mailer).

I am not sure how SexPOTS works, but I am hoping it can interoperate a frontend mailer like Radius or Frontdoor with the Wildcat telnet server.

If an external mailer like Frontdoor can exit without dropping carrier, and then SexPOTS can pickup and resume carrier and forward the connection on to WINServer, then SexPOTS might solve my problem.

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Re: SexPOTS
By: Marceline Jones to ALL on Sun Feb 21 2021 07:22 am

Does SexPOTS work with virtual modems ? (eg. an inbound call via TCP/IP on COM/IP or NetSerial) ?

It should so long as the virtual modem presents itself as a COM port to the OS (e.g. Windows).
--
digital man

Sling Blade quote #25:
Karl: they seen fit to put me in here and here I've been a great long while. Norco, CA WX: 66.3°F, 28.0% humidity, 3 mph NE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

It should so long as the virtual modem presents itself as a COM port
to the OS (e.g. Windows). --

When attempting to pass a BBS caller from FrontDoor to Wildcat telnet server, SexPOTS throws an error: "ERROR 5 opening communications device/port". It appears that DOS applications cannot share the COM port. Is this what the problem is ?

However when running SexPOTS in Wait For Caller mode (standalone), it works ok.

Does SexPOTS need to be FOSSIL-aware in order to create a tunnel from DOS processes ?

I am running Frontdoor 2.02 in Windows XP.

Here is my batch file output when FD is trying to load a BBS caller:

==================================================
I:\programs\MAILER\FD>call dobbs.bat
I:\programs\MAILER\FD>EXEBBS 38400 2 10080
I:\programs\MAILER\FD>c:
C:\HOME\BBS\PROGRAMS\MAILER\FD\PACKETS>cd C:\home\bbs\programs\FOSSILS\sexpots C:\home\bbs\programs\FOSSILS\sexpots>sexpots.exe -com 2 -baud 38400 -live -nohangup -host localhost -port 23001

Synchronet External POTS Support v1.30-Win32 Copyright 2015 Rob Swindell

2/28 05:34:40 Synchronet Communications I/O Library for Win32 v1.7
2/28 05:34:40 Build May 10 2015 23:08:35 MSC 1800
2/28 05:34:40 WinSock 2.0 Running
2/28 05:34:40 TCP Host: localhost
2/28 05:34:40 TCP Port: 23001
2/28 05:34:40 Opening Communications Device (COM Port): COM2
2/28 05:34:40 ERROR 5 opening communications device/port: 'COM2'
2/28 05:34:40 Cleaning up ...
2/28 05:34:40 Done (handled 0 calls). ==================================================

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Re: SexPOTS
By: Marceline Jones to DIGITAL MAN on Sun Feb 28 2021 04:51 pm

It should so long as the virtual modem presents itself as a COM port
to the OS (e.g. Windows). --

When attempting to pass a BBS caller from FrontDoor to Wildcat telnet server, SexPOTS throws an error: "ERROR 5 opening communications device/port". It appears that DOS applications cannot share the COM port. Is this what the problem is ?

I've never tried that particular test. I'd be surprised if it did work.

However when running SexPOTS in Wait For Caller mode (standalone), it works ok.

Does SexPOTS need to be FOSSIL-aware in order to create a tunnel from DOS processes ?

No, FOSSIL is a 16-bit DOS/PC-BIOS thing. 32-bit programs can't (and don't need to) use FOSSIL drivers.
--
digital man

Sling Blade quote #12:
Karl (re hammer): I don't rightly know. I just kinda woke up holding it.
Norco, CA WX: 56.2°F, 31.0% humidity, 0 mph WSW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

I am running Frontdoor 2.02 in Windows XP.

You need to look at NET2BBS... and NETFos, I tink they are on the same
website

---
■ wcQWK 8.0

I am running Frontdoor 2.02 in Windows XP.

You need to look at NET2BBS... and NETFos, I tink they are on the same website

I have used TelSrv (which was the predecessor to Net2BBS). To my knowledge, these are telnet servers, and will not handle com ports the same way as virtual modems. Can Net2BBS be put in front of a frontend mailer or between the frontend mailer and the BBS ?

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

When attempting to pass a BBS caller from FrontDoor to Wildcat telnet server, SexPOTS throws an error: "ERROR 5 opening communications device/port". It appears that DOS applications cannot share the COM port. Is this what the problem is ?

I've never tried that particular test. I'd be surprised if it did
work.

Does the "-live" option actually accept a handle ? because it appears to think "com2" is an initialisation file:

================================================== C:\home\bbs\programs\FOSSILS\sexpots>sexpots.exe -com 2 -baud 38400 -live com2 -
nohangup -host localhost -port 23001

Synchronet External POTS Support v1.30-Win32 Copyright 2015 Rob Swindell

2/28 06:39:22 Initialization file does not exist: com2
usage: sexpots.exe [ini file] [options]

Options:

-null No 'AT commands' sent to modem
-com <device> Specify communications port device
-baud <rate> Specify baud rate for communications port
-live [handle] Communications port is already open/connected
-nohangup Do not hangup (drop DTR) after call
-host <addr | name> Specify TCP server hostname or IP address
-port <number> Specify TCP port number
-debug Enable debug log output

...
...
...
==================================================

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Re: SexPOTS
By: Marceline Jones to DIGITAL MAN on Sun Mar 07 2021 05:52 pm

When attempting to pass a BBS caller from FrontDoor to Wildcat telnet server, SexPOTS throws an error: "ERROR 5 opening communications device/port". It appears that DOS applications cannot share the COM port. Is this what the problem is ?

I've never tried that particular test. I'd be surprised if it did
work.

Does the "-live" option actually accept a handle ? because it appears to think "com2" is an initialisation file:

Yes, a com handle is a number. Because you're not passing a number, but rather a string ("com2"), sexpots assumes you just mean to use "-live" without a handle and the argument following is parsed as an additional argument, thus a configuration filename.

The handle value would be ephemeral (not predictable) and a value returned by the original program that opened the com port (e.g. via open() or OpenFile()). So... likely not '2' either.
--
digital man

Sling Blade quote #8:
Karl Childers: I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody.
Norco, CA WX: 54.1°F, 82.0% humidity, 5 mph ENE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

@MSGID: <60444A33.42474.sync@vert.synchro.net>
@REPLY: <603BF650.42394.sync@vert.synchro.net>
@TZ: 41e0

I am running Frontdoor 2.02 in Windows XP.

You need to look at NET2BBS... and NETFos, I tink they are on the same website

I have used TelSrv (which was the predecessor to Net2BBS). To my knowledge, these are telnet servers, and will not handle com ports the same way as virtual modems. Can Net2BBS be put in front of a frontend mailer or between the frontend mailer and the BBS ?

Get NET2BBS its free... amd NetFoss as well...

Joe
---
■ wcQWK 8.0

Re: SexPOTS
By: IB JOE to MARCELINE JONES on Sun Mar 07 2021 12:12:00

Get NET2BBS its free... amd NetFoss as well...

wait! what? PCMike is giving away netfoss now? that's news to me...


)\/(ark

---
■ Synchronet ■ The SouthEast Star Mail HUB - SESTAR

Re: SexPOTS
By: Rampage to IB JOE on Sun Mar 07 2021 03:47 pm

Re: SexPOTS
By: IB JOE to MARCELINE JONES on Sun Mar 07 2021 12:12:00

Get NET2BBS its free... amd NetFoss as well...

wait! what? PCMike is giving away netfoss now? that's news to me...

you guys have it confused.

netfoss has always been free. (you can also run 32bit doors like mannirc on 16 bit bbses)

netserial is 30 day free trial. it is 90usd for one license. from what i've seen, it's a good product.

---
■ Synchronet ■ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::

@VIA: SESTAR
@MSGID: <60453BD5.41156.dove-syncdisc@sestar.synchro.net>
@REPLY: <604530D9.42488.sync@vert.synchro.net>
@TZ: 412c
.h.bRe.n.b: .h.cSexPOTS
.bBy.n.b: .h.cIB JOE .bto .cMARCELINE JONES .bon .cSun Mar 07 2021 12:12:00.n

Get NET2BBS its free... amd NetFoss as well...

wait! what? PCMike is giving away netfoss now? that's news to me...

A Freeware Telnet FOSSIL driver for Windows


NetFoss allows DOS based BBS software to work over a Telnet or Serial
port connection under 32-bit editions of Windows (including Windows 10),
as well 64-bit editions augmented with NTVDMx64 (using NF64).

And....

List of compatible Telnet servers
---------------------------------
The following freeware Telnet servers have been tested with NetFoss:

* Net2BBS by PC Micro. This Telnet Server is included with NetFoss.
It has a small footprint, runs as a console application or service,
and supports IP blocking, Bot detection, anti-hammering, and more.
See Net2BBS.txt for details.
Open Source Freeware. http://netfoss.com

I'm glad to be of service

Joe


---
■ wcQWK 8.0

On 3/7/2021 6:51 PM, Marceline Jones wrote:

I have used TelSrv (which was the predecessor to Net2BBS). To
my knowledge, these are telnet servers, and will not handle
com ports the same way as virtual modems. Can Net2BBS be put
in front of a frontend mailer or between the frontend mailer
and the BBS ?

AFAIK, nobody uses a front end mailer over telnet... I could
be wrong though.
--
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
---
þ Synchronet þ Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com

Does the "-live" option actually accept a handle ? because it appears to think "com2" is an initialisation file:

Yes, a com handle is a number. Because you're not passing a number,
but rather a string ("com2"), sexpots assumes you just mean to use
"-live" without a handle and the argument following is parsed as an additional argument, thus a configuration filename.

Could you have used a socket or pipe instead ?

The handle value would be ephemeral (not predictable) and a value
returned by the original program that opened the com port (e.g. via
open() or OpenFile()). So... likely not '2' either. --

Ah ok. Oh well, I doubt DOS returns a handle.

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net

Re: Re: SexPOTS
By: Marceline Jones to DIGITAL MAN on Sun Mar 14 2021 05:00 pm

Does the "-live" option actually accept a handle ? because it appears to think "com2" is an initialisation file:

Yes, a com handle is a number. Because you're not passing a number,
but rather a string ("com2"), sexpots assumes you just mean to use "-live" without a handle and the argument following is parsed as an additional argument, thus a configuration filename.

Could you have used a socket or pipe instead ?

No, COM port are accessed via a COM handle (on Windows). It's part of the Win32 API.

The handle value would be ephemeral (not predictable) and a value returned by the original program that opened the com port (e.g. via open() or OpenFile()). So... likely not '2' either. --

Ah ok. Oh well, I doubt DOS returns a handle.

No, it definitely would not. I'm not clear what you're trying to do, but I don't think SexPOTS is the right thing for it.
--
digital man

Synchronet "Real Fact" #100:
You can leave a voicemail for The TechDorks (Stephen and I) at 951-523-7535. Norco, CA WX: 46.9°F, 89.0% humidity, 0 mph SSW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net