Heya everyone,

It is I, Al, hyjinx the 3rd of the New Zealand kind.

I wanted to drop by and say hello. It has been too long my dear friends.

Trouble is, I'm always working these days, my business demands so much of me, and then the remaining time I'm either making the odd little video here and there, or I'm with the missus or the kid doing family gubbins.
Now, one of the things I really wanted to do was combine my passion for
working on my old PCs and being able to practically call up BBSes at the
same time. This involved a bunch of things to be a reality. However, today,
I write this from my IBM 5160/XT, now with upgraded Intel InBoard/386
goodness. Yes, my XT (which originally had a sucky 4.77 MHz 8088 CPU and an 8-bit bus), is now running in 32 bits with a 386-16MHz CPU. This is all courtesy of a rare beast of a card from Intel, which I spent faaaar too much money on on Ebay. I will be uploading the video to my Patreon supporters very soon. YouTubes sometime later.

Naturally, I am chuffed about the performance this gives, but it opens up
doors to multi-tasking in a way that the 8088 or 80286 could not. So now, I
can launch the microweb web browser in a separate DesqView window, or write a doc in word, and the BBS will still stay connected. This may sound like 'so what, I have an Amiga pal, I've been doing that shit since 1985', but for the IBM PC under plain-jane DOS, it wasn't a thing. You had to quit an app,
launch another and then do a dance. Then there was networking. If you wanted TCP/IP, you could only ever have one app access the packet driver at once. Anything else, and the app would crash. No longer! I have figured out
something called PKTMUX, which is a packet driver multiplexer, essentially
you can load up multiple packet drivers that pull from the main packet driver and they just have different driver interrupts (i.e. 0x60 for the main
driver, 0x65 for mux1 and, say 0x70 for mux2). Works like a charm!

Some other weirdo out there will find this fascinating.... or is it just me?!
I have Ltning on my Discord channel to thank for this (he runs a BBS somewhere), and I also have Michael Brutman for pointing me in the right direction.

Now, will I say "I'm back, baby".. .Back to the BBS scene? Not totally. I
have quite a bit of busyness that won't go away any time soon. What I will be doing, is coming along more.

Anyways I've prattled on long enough now.

Yours in cyberspace,
Mr "Back to the BBS".

Al / hyjinx


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

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)

Heya everyone,
It is I, Al, hyjinx the 3rd of the New Zealand kind.
Trouble is, I'm always working these days, my business demands so much
of me, and then the remaining time I'm either making the odd little
video here and there, or I'm with the missus or the kid doing family gubbins. Now, one of the things I really wanted to do was combine my passion for working on my old PCs and being able to practically call up BBSes at the same time.

However, today, I write this from my IBM 5160/XT, now with upgraded
Intel InBoard/386 goodness.

Naturally, I am chuffed about the performance this gives, but it opens up doors to multi-tasking in a way that the 8088 or 80286 could not.

Some other weirdo out there will find this fascinating.... or is it just me?!

Now, will I say "I'm back, baby".. .Back to the BBS scene? Not totally. I have quite a bit of busyness that won't go away any time soon.

Thanks for the update, hyjinx!! We love watching your videos and understand when life keeps you away. I'm stoked that you continue to find solutions to current day needs with yesteryears tech - and you have many eyes interested...

Appreciate the update and will be watching, when you're able to post videos. w00t w00t!!



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

I realise that the below message may have not sent properly because my BBS mail sender cron scripty thing has not been running. D'oh!

I have done fixing up of my BBS.. INCLUDING!!! <pause for dramatic tension>
... an upgrade of Mystic from a46 to a49! I've upgraded the many broken mods, including, most importantly, MRC chat! I invite users to log on to bbs.alsgeeklab.com 2323 (telnet) and check it out. I still haven't figured out why I can't get the SSH cipher to work, that's a job for another day I guess!
-Al (hyjinx)

Heya everyone,

It is I, Al, hyjinx the 3rd of the New Zealand kind.

I wanted to drop by and say hello. It has been too long my dear friends.

Trouble is, I'm always working these days, my business demands so much of and then the remaining time I'm either making the odd little video here an there, or I'm with the missus or the kid doing family gubbins.
Now, one of the things I really wanted to do was combine my passion for working on my old PCs and being able to practically call up BBSes at the same time. This involved a bunch of things to be a reality. However, today I write this from my IBM 5160/XT, now with upgraded Intel InBoard/386 goodness. Yes, my XT (which originally had a sucky 4.77 MHz 8088 CPU and a 8-bit bus), is now running in 32 bits with a 386-16MHz CPU. This is all courtesy of a rare beast of a card from Intel, which I spent faaaar too mu money on on Ebay. I will be uploading the video to my Patreon supporters v soon. YouTubes sometime later.

Naturally, I am chuffed about the performance this gives, but it opens up doors to multi-tasking in a way that the 8088 or 80286 could not. So now, can launch the microweb web browser in a separate DesqView window, or writ doc in word, and the BBS will still stay connected. This may sound like 's what, I have an Amiga pal, I've been doing that shit since 1985', but for IBM PC under plain-jane DOS, it wasn't a thing. You had to quit an app, launch another and then do a dance. Then there was networking. If you want TCP/IP, you could only ever have one app access the packet driver at once. Anything else, and the app would crash. No longer! I have figured out something called PKTMUX, which is a packet driver multiplexer, essentially you can load up multiple packet drivers that pull from the main packet dri and they just have different driver interrupts (i.e. 0x60 for the main driver, 0x65 for mux1 and, say 0x70 for mux2). Works like a charm!

Some other weirdo out there will find this fascinating.... or is it just m I have Ltning on my Discord channel to thank for this (he runs a BBS somewhere), and I also have Michael Brutman for pointing me in the right direction.

Now, will I say "I'm back, baby".. .Back to the BBS scene? Not totally. I have quite a bit of busyness that won't go away any time soon. What I will doing, is coming along more.

Anyways I've prattled on long enough now.

Yours in cyberspace,
Mr "Back to the BBS".

Al / hyjinx

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

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Linux/64)
* Origin: bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)

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

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)

I wanted to drop by and say hello. It has been too long my dear friends.

Trouble is, I'm always working these days, my business demands so much
of me, and then the remaining time I'm either making the odd little
video here and there, or I'm with the missus or the kid doing family gubbins. Now, one of the things I really wanted to do was combine my passion for working on my old PCs and being able to practically call up BBSes at the same time. This involved a bunch of things to be a reality. However, today, I write this from my IBM 5160/XT, now with upgraded
Intel InBoard/386 goodness. Yes, my XT (which originally had a sucky
4.77 MHz 8088 CPU and an 8-bit bus), is now running in 32 bits with a 386-16MHz CPU. This is all courtesy of a rare beast of a card from
Intel, which I spent faaaar too much money on on Ebay. I will be
uploading the video to my Patreon supporters very soon. YouTubes
sometime later.

Good to have you back! YEah that ole real life stuff can get in the way of hobbies we love. Sometimes it's those hobbies that keep us from going crazy with real life. It's a hard balance and usually real life will take priority.

Looking foward to some vids.
Welcome Back!

|02-=|10Cozmo|02=-

... Radioactive cats have 18 half-lives

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Lunatics Unleashed (21:3/135)

Good to have you back! YEah that ole real life stuff can get in the way o hobbies we love. Sometimes it's those hobbies that keep us from going craz with real life. It's a hard balance and usually real life will take priori -=Cozmo=-

... Radioactive cats have 18 half-lives

Good to hear from you again Cozmo!

Drop me a netmail or something with your email address and I'll give you a few links to videos not yet on YouTube :)

Al


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

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)

Good to hear from you again Cozmo!

Drop me a netmail or something with your email address and I'll give you
a few links to videos not yet on YouTube :)

Al

OH wow, Cool! Thanks! I netnail you.

|02-=|10Cozmo|02=-

... If at first you don't succeed, blame your parents!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Lunatics Unleashed (21:3/135)

Heya everyone,

It is I, Al, hyjinx the 3rd of the New Zealand kind.

I wanted to drop by and say hello. It has been too long my dear friends.

Hello from Christchurch NZ! How is late Autumn/Winter treating you?

However, today, I write this from my IBM 5160/XT, now with upgraded
Intel InBoard/386 goodness. Yes, my XT (which originally had a sucky
4.77 MHz 8088 CPU and an 8-bit bus), is now running in 32 bits with a 386-16MHz CPU. This is all courtesy of a rare beast of a card from
Intel, which I spent faaaar too much money on on Ebay. I will be
uploading the video to my Patreon supporters very soon. YouTubes
sometime later.

I'm more than slightly jealous! Working Inboard/386s are very hard to find.... good on you for finding one. I look forward to hearing how it performs, I imaging that being stuck with an 8-bit ISA bus will limit things a bit though it will still be miles faster than a 4.77 8088.

Have and IBM XT myself, though eventually got sick of the 4.77Mhz performance and memory limitations & upgraded to a 20Mhz 286 followed by a 386 dx40 by swapping out the motherboard - its much more usable and 386 memory management even in plain DOS is much less of a pain with a 386 than 8088/80286.

Naturally, I am chuffed about the performance this gives, but it opens up doors to multi-tasking in a way that the 8088 or 80286 could not. So
now, I can launch the microweb web browser in a separate DesqView

I believe a 286 with one of a very small number of special chipsets/memory expansion board can multitask in deskqview... but finding these working & fore sale (and then locating working EMS drivers) is soooo hard!

drivers that pull from the main packet driver and they just have
different driver interrupts (i.e. 0x60 for the main driver, 0x65 for
mux1 and, say 0x70 for mux2). Works like a charm!

Makes sense packet driver can only be used by one program at a time. I imagine you would need to do something similar to use a DOS telnet client in Win 3.1, though I haven't tried.

Some other weirdo out there will find this fascinating.... or is it just me?! I have Ltning on my Discord channel to thank for this (he runs a BBS somewhere), and I also have Michael Brutman for pointing me in the right direction.

Yes I find this interesting! Others will too, I'm sure.

Now, will I say "I'm back, baby".. .Back to the BBS scene? Not totally. I have quite a bit of busyness that won't go away any time soon. What I
will be doing, is coming along more.

Anyways I've prattled on long enough now.

Yours in cyberspace,
Mr "Back to the BBS".

We look forward to updates when/if you have time! please keep us informed over here :)

... I've met some interesting personalities myself. Kirk

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

OH wow, Cool! Thanks! I netnail you.

Did you netmail me already? I haven't received it - which addr did you send to?

Cheers,
Al


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

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)

Hello from Christchurch NZ! How is late Autumn/Winter treating you?

I left the UK because I couldn't stand the weather and the darkness. Nobody told me that sub-tropical means 'not-tropical'! I deplore the early sunsets. So, to put it bluntly, I am *not* enjoying it!

I'm more than slightly jealous! Working Inboard/386s are very hard

to find ki> good on you for finding one. I look forward to hearing how it performs, I ki> imaging that being stuck with an 8-bit ISA bus will limit things a bit tho ki> it will still be miles faster than a 4.77 8088.
Yes it is massively faster. The claim on the Intel literature is 10x faster.

I benchmarked it side-by-side the following comparisons:
1) 8088 4.77MHz (well, actually a V20, but that's piddle all difference)
2) 80286 8MHz turbo card in the XT (so naturally an 8-bit card sitting in the socket for the 8088 on the mobo - an Orchid Tiny Turbo 286 card)
3) 80286 ~10-13MHz in an IBM 5162, so a true 16-bit ISA bus system.

You'll just have to watch the video to see how the 16MHz, 32bit CPU performed on an 8-bit bus! It's up on my Patreon and Substack now, and it will likely be up on YouTube this weekend if I get my A into G before I fly to AKL tomorrow.

Have and IBM XT myself, though eventually got sick of the

4.77Mhz performa ki> and memory limitations & upgraded to a 20Mhz 286 followed by a 386 dx40 by ki> swapping out the motherboard - its much more usable and 386 memory managem ki> even in plain DOS is much less of a pain with a 386 than 8088/80286. ki> I believe a 286 with one of a very small number of special chipsets/memory ki> expansion board can multitask in deskqview... but finding these working & ki> sale (and then locating working EMS drivers) is soooo hard!

Yes, I never managed to get it working very well myself. I think I did once upon-a-time with a Rampage/286 from AST, but the experience wasn't wonderful.

Makes sense packet driver can only be used by one program at a time. I ima you would need to do something similar to use a DOS telnet client in Win 3 though I haven't tried.

PKTMUX actually includes a Windows version so you can mux the driver for that too.

We look forward to updates when/if you have time! please keep us informed here :)

Will do!

From WLG to CHC, Chat soon!
-Al


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

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: bbs.alsgeeklab.com:2323 (21:1/126)

Did you netmail me already? I haven't received it - which addr did you send to?

I sent it to 21:1/126 But when i look in my sent box I don't see it so I must not have sent it :(

I sent another to the same addy. Let me know if you recieved it.

Thanks!

|02-=|10Cozmo|02=-

... What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Lunatics Unleashed (21:3/135)