Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Fri Feb 27 2026 07:52 am

It sounds like those Digiboards were pretty serious units. I think it
would have been fun to run a multi-line BBS using one of those, but I
didn't have the money at the time.

Yeah, I would have sprung for more disk space and more backups, too. I wish I had more data from the '90s.

Yeah My BBS was a single line BBS with 40 MB, but I had a shareware CD on line.

Denn

...Rate yourself as a programmer on a scale of 0 to F.

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þ Synchronet þ the Outwest BBS - outwest.synchro.net - Home of BBSBASE 6.0

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: poindexter FORTRAN to DaiTengu on Fri Feb 27 2026 07:52 am

But, finally, after 30-some years, I have a USR modem! Who's laughing
now, US-Robotics?

I was decommissioning an AS/400 a couple of jobs ago, and couldn't help but take home the USR Courier DS modem they'd used for remote support. I'd wanted one for so long back in the dial-up days but settled for Sportsters, the consumer level models that never sat even with a serial port cable plugged in.

Alas, I had no phone line or place to call with it.

I had a 28.8K modem in my first PC, a 486DX2/66 it had a VESA Local BUS video card with 2MB memory, and I think it had 8MB of RAM in it. It was custom built by the guy who did all the IT work at the newspaper my mom worked at, and I was told that the 28.8K modems "had only been out for a week".

I had used 14.4K modems at my high school earlier in the year, and no BBS in my area actually had 28.8K for until I had my computer for at least a month, so that may be true. I got my computer in Februrary of 1994 (for my 16th birthday) and Wikipedia says that's the year the 28.8K modems came out. <shrug>

My parents spent a fortune on it. Or, at least a fortune for us. I'm pretty sure it was around $2300. In today's money, the inflation calculator says that's around $5250. I went all out and built a new PC a year ago, and didn't come close to that figure. I think I spent about $3000, and that was with a $300 keyboard.

But, the last time I built a PC for myself was nearly 10 years earlier, so I'm comfortable with a $300 a year PC :D

I'm glad I didn't wait until this year, it would have cost me $1000 just for the RAM!

...When one connects a 3-phase line, the phase sequence will be wrong.

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þ Synchronet þ War Ensemble BBS - The sport is war, total war - warensemble.com

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: Nightfox to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Feb 26 2026 09:46 am

Digiboards! They rocked. I had a 16 port digiboard running a dial-up WAN back in those days - I was working for a large retailer with 100 stores. The POS system in the stores was essentially a DOS box, and when they shut down at night, it ran a batch file we wrote to zip up sales, credit card data and inventory data, then send it to the hub. The hub system was an OS/2 box running a package called Excellenet, using a 16 port digiboard.

There was a special driver, might have used int14h, a protocol used to share modems over the LAN. The digiboard had 386 processors on it, it did most of the processing on-board. We had 16 modems on it, and when the east coast stores would close, they'd all be busy.

It sounds like those Digiboards were pretty serious units. I think it would have been fun to run a multi-line BBS using one of those, but I didn't have the money at the time.

Synchronet supported Digiboards (Steve Deppe added the support for their int14h driver), but I don't think a lot of (Synchronet) sysops used them. Usually, it wasn't too hard to get 3 or 4 IRQs available for COM ports (I sold multiport 16-bit UART boards that were easy to configure) and running *more* than 3-4 nodes on a single PC (e.g. with DESQview at the time), reliably, was pretty challenging. So the Digiboards didn't really solve the main problem of running a lot of lines/nodes on a single computer, and that problem was the (lack of) a performant and reliable multitasking OS for the PC.

I think I still have a new in the box Digiboard in my garage somewhere (I didn't use them for my 6 or 7 BBS nodes either).
--
digital man (rob)

Synchronet "Real Fact" #111:
Weedpuller "World Of My Own" http://youtu.be/V-gmT5N6kYo
Norco, CA WX: 87.3øF, 30.0% humidity, 3 mph WNW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
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DaiTengu wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

I'm glad I didn't wait until this year, it would have cost me $1000
just for the RAM!

I have 64GB of DDR4 RAM in my desktop box, think I'm sticking with it
(10th gen i7) for a while. I've thought about swapping it with my homelab
server (7th gen i5) but my nicer video card won't fit in its SFF case.





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Digital Man wrote to Nightfox <=-

Synchronet supported Digiboards (Steve Deppe added the support for
their int14h driver), but I don't think a lot of (Synchronet) sysops
used them. Usually, it wasn't too hard to get 3 or 4 IRQs available for COM ports

Says the guy who wrote BBS software! As a meer caller, pre
plug-and-play, I remember trying to get a modem, a serial mouse, an
ethernet card and a parallel printer all working at once. I finally had
to tape a note with the IRQ and port settings to the inside of the
case and start all over when I was given an Apple Laserwriter (which
only had a serial port)




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Re: Re: Multiline BBSes
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Mortar on Fri Feb 27 2026 07:52 am

Mortar wrote to Nightfox <=-

MagorBBS used special plug-in cards that handled all the back-end stuff. You'd have a card that plugged into your PC which had a cable

&TOTSE, the Temple of the Screaming Electron, took a different approach.
The sysop ran Remote Access software, and kept adding 386SX boxes. He

I ran a CNET amiga BBS and ended up using a PME30 30 serial port ras. I had 30 supra modems zip tied to chicken wire suspended in a 2x4 frame allowing air flow all around each modem. Then coax ethernet linked it to the BBS and a T1. Added a slackware box to feed ppp/slp accounts. The amiga was easy to set to this configuration, just change the port from serial.device to telnet.device and later telser.device.

This was later replaced with multiple Bay Network 5000 chasis boxes stuffed with 48 port cards that were fed via the fiber cabinets that had dial toned backhauled from 36 dialing areas throught northern california. The BBS became forgotten mostly at that point.

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þ Synchronet þ datGSguy.com - telnet 64/128/6502 ssh 2222 Rlogin and Web

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Digital Man on Sat Feb 28 2026 08:28 am

Subject: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
@MSGID: <69A3179D.1889.dove.dove-gen@realitycheckbbs.org>
@REPLY: <69A24363.137461.dove-gen@vert.synchro.net>
@TZ: 41e0

Digital Man wrote to Nightfox <=-

Synchronet supported Digiboards (Steve Deppe added the support for their int14h driver), but I don't think a lot of (Synchronet) sysops used them. Usually, it wasn't too hard to get 3 or 4 IRQs available for COM ports

Says the guy who wrote BBS software! As a meer caller, pre
plug-and-play, I remember trying to get a modem, a serial mouse, an
ethernet card and a parallel printer all working at once. I finally had
to tape a note with the IRQ and port settings to the inside of the
case and start all over when I was given an Apple Laserwriter (which
only had a serial port)

I know what you're saying. I was referring more to a dedicate BBS computer that (at the time) wouldn't need anything but the essential peripherals and thus had more IRQs available. Using a 16-bit I/O card gave you (some) more IRQ options as well.
--
digital man (rob)

This Is Spinal Tap quote #7:
Nigel Tufnel: That's just nitpicking, isn't it?
Norco, CA WX: 74.2øF, 35.0% humidity, 4 mph NW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
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Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: poindexter FORTRAN to DaiTengu on Sat Feb 28 2026 08:28 am

I have 64GB of DDR4 RAM in my desktop box, think I'm sticking with it
(10th gen i7) for a while. I've thought about swapping it with my homelab
server (7th gen i5) but my nicer video card won't fit in its SFF case.

You can buy a PCIe extension ribbon cable and mount your GPU outside of your SFF case. I used one and it worked well.

LW
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þ Synchronet þ Fireside BBS, Home of Lone Wolf Software, AI-WX

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: Lonewolf to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Feb 28 2026 09:11 pm

You can buy a PCIe extension ribbon cable and mount your GPU outside of your SFF case. I used one and it worked well.

You'd also need to get power to the GPU, requiring some extension cables for the power connectors. It would be interseting to set up a GPU externally that way.

I seem to recall seeing some GPUs now that use USB 3.x for a high-speed connection, which would be easier to connect to a PC. And I'm not sure, but I imagine that for power, those probably include a power supply so that you can plug them into a wall power outlet.

Nightfox

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þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: Nightfox to Lonewolf on Sun Mar 01 2026 12:37 pm

By: Lonewolf to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Feb 28 2026 09:11 pm

You can buy a PCIe extension ribbon cable and mount your GPU outside of your SFF case. I used one and it worked well.

You'd also need to get power to the GPU, requiring some extension cables for the power connectors. It would be interseting to set up a GPU externally that way.

I seem to recall seeing some GPUs now that use USB 3.x for a high-speed connection, which would be easier to connect to a PC. And I'm not sure, but I imagine that for power, those probably include a power supply so that you can plug them into a wall power outlet.

Nightfox

Yes, I should have mentioned that fact too. I used an external power supply for mine along with a neat little relay that you plugged the external power supply's motherboard connector into and then plugged any power cable from the SFF PC into the relay also. So when you turned on the PC, it also turned on the external power supply and off as well. It was a neat setup.

But then I came across a Dell Workstation 5820 on eBay that has an i9-10900X 3.70 Ghz Zeon 10 core CPU and 4 PCIe slots with two 8 pin PCIe power connectors. The 950 watt PSU has more than enough juice and the case has plenty of room for my two RTX 3060's with 12GB vram each. For $350, I thought it was a great deal. The seller still looks like they have plenty of these units left. I may buy another one.

Lonewolf
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þ Synchronet þ Fireside BBS, Home of Lone Wolf Software, AI-WX

Nightfox wrote to Lonewolf <=-

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: Lonewolf to poindexter FORTRAN on Sat Feb 28 2026 09:11 pm

You can buy a PCIe extension ribbon cable and mount your GPU outside of your SFF case. I used one and it worked well.

You'd also need to get power to the GPU, requiring some extension
cables for the power connectors. It would be interseting to set up a
GPU externally that way.

I seem to recall seeing some GPUs now that use USB 3.x for a high-speed connection, which would be easier to connect to a PC. And I'm not
sure, but I imagine that for power, those probably include a power
supply so that you can plug them into a wall power outlet.

Yeah, the reality is that there's only one game that I really want the
my higher-end card for is War Thunder, and I've stopped playing as much
while I've been busy with other things. My SFF system has a GT 1030
that's better than the built-in video that should suffice for most (and
I played WT on an i7-4790 with it and got 35-40 fps on custom settings)

I get around 140 fps on the high setting now.

I have a lot of stuff, and want to avoid buying any more in 2026 by
making the most of what I have.



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Lonewolf wrote to Nightfox <=-

But then I came across a Dell Workstation 5820 on eBay that has an i9-10900X 3.70 Ghz Zeon 10 core CPU and 4 PCIe slots with two 8 pin
PCIe power connectors.

I love Dell workstations - they're built like tanks and most of the
disassembly is screwless. I supported a couple of generations of them
at work and had a T3400 that ran for 10 years or so...




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Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Lonewolf on Mon Mar 02 2026 10:35 am

I love Dell workstations - they're built like tanks and most of the disassembly is screwless. I supported a couple of generations of them at work and had a T3400 that ran for 10 years or so...

I like them too. A few years ago, I decided to replace my BBS PC with something newer & faster, and rather than build my own like I normally would, I bought a used Dell workstation on eBay. I really like that it's screwless and easy to get into and upgrade - I've upgraded it a few times now (more storage, RAM, & dedicated video card to help with transcoding with my Plex media server), and it has been very easy to upgrade.

Nightfox

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þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Lonewolf on Mon Mar 02 2026 10:35 am

I love Dell workstations - they're built like tanks and most of the disassembly is screwless. I supported a couple of generations of them at work and had a T3400 that ran for 10 years or so...

I still have and use a Dell Optiplex 7010 full desktop, no screws to open, no screws to replace peripheral either.
I also have a Dell Optiplex 790 in a thin case, same thing, I run my plex server on this one, both have the i5 and 16GB RAM.
I love the old Dell's Bought these Dells from work for $50 each years ago, also bought a Dell laptop for $50 at the same time from work.

Denn

...It said "insert disk #3", but only two will fit...

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þ Synchronet þ the Outwest BBS - outwest.synchro.net - Home of BBSBASE 6.0

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Lonewolf on Mon Mar 02 2026 10:35 am

Lonewolf wrote to Nightfox <=-

But then I came across a Dell Workstation 5820 on eBay that has an i9-10900X 3.70 Ghz Zeon 10 core CPU and 4 PCIe slots with two 8 pin PCIe power connectors.

I love Dell workstations - they're built like tanks and most of the
disassembly is screwless. I supported a couple of generations of them
at work and had a T3400 that ran for 10 years or so...

This is my first true Dell workstation, but I gotta say, it is very impressive. It has space for multiple NVMe drives as well as 8 dimm sockets, very expandable. Money well spent for this bargain from eBay.

LW
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þ Synchronet þ Fireside BBS, Home of Lone Wolf Software, AI-WX

Re: Re: Looking for screenshots/a
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Mon Mar 02 2026 10:35 am

I have a lot of stuff, and want to avoid buying any more in 2026 by
making the most of what I have.

I can agree with the point of not wanting to put more e-waste in our lives.
I don't really PC Game aside form FFXIV, so im making do with my amd 5700 ryzen and a 9060 xt 16gb box for the time being.

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