I've made some improvements to Cottonwood BBS these past couple days...
I was able to track down All American BBS's author Nick Smith, and I had a pleasant conversation with him over the phone. Turns out he still has his records of all the registered AA BBS owners, and he was able to look up my name and give me my serial number (which I had lost). So I tested out AA BBS v9.6, which is the last version I got from him (he offered to send me a copy of the last version he released in 1991 or 1992, which I believe he said was v11.2b... just have to wait for him to do some testing to be sure he has a good copy).
As it turns out, it appears that AA BBS works with my 2400 baud modem, which Ivory didn't... It also appears that AA BBS works properly with 64HDD, which both Color 64 and Ivory wouldn't. AA BBS v9.6 comes with 22 online games -- Ivory has none. And it's not as "hardware intensive" as Color 64...
So... Long story short... I switched to AA BBS!
Call COTTONWOOD BBS!
Now running All American BBS!
Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
Operating at 300 - 2400 baud!
Running on two 1541's and SIX "simulated" 1581's!
Bulletins (message boards)! File transfers! Online games!
(951)242-3593
HAPPY HOLIDAYS from COTTONWOOD BBS!
Andrew Wiskow
(aka Balzabaar - SysOp)
>>UPDATE<< Cottonwood BBS
Re: >>UPDATE<< Cottonwood BBS
Wow, that's customer service. How many years has it been since you bought that software?wiskow wrote:Turns out he still has his records of all the registered AA BBS owners, and he was able to look up my name and give me my serial number (which I had lost).
Uh oh. That's how it begins. First you start using 64HDD and then you'll start talking about becoming a telnet BBS to increase user activity and cut costs and the next thing you know the BBS in running under Frodo on your Palm Treo from your trouser pocket.Running on two 1541's and SIX "simulated" 1581's!
Call me Golan; my parents did.
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wiskow
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Re: >>UPDATE<< Cottonwood BBS
Let's see... I think it was 1987 or 1988 that I bought the program from him... so it's been 18 or 19 years! And since then, he moved to Australia, lived there for 6 years, and now he's living in the San Francisco area. So it's pretty impressive that he still has all that documentation on hand. And it didn't take him long to find it, either!gklinger wrote:Wow, that's customer service. How many years has it been since you bought that software?
No, no, no! I truly want this to be a "preservation of history" project, and my goal is to keep everything as "authentic" as possible. Eventually, I hope to increase the amount of "real" drive space I have connected to the BBS, and then have no need for the "simulated" drives. Nick Smith told me that he still has the two or three SFD-1001's and 40 MB Lt. Kernal hard drive that he ran the All American support BBS on. What do you suppose the chances are that I could talk him into giving those to me?Uh oh. That's how it begins. First you start using 64HDD and then you'll start talking about becoming a telnet BBS to increase user activity and cut costs and the next thing you know the BBS in running under Frodo on your Palm Treo from your trouser pocket.
-Andrew
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rbernardo
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Re: >>UPDATE<< Cottonwood BBS
That's an amazing story. I don't think I can easily find anything I had back in 1987 or 1988.wiskow wrote:I think it was 1987 or 1988 that I bought the program from him... so it's been 18 or 19 years! And since then, he moved to Australia, lived there for 6 years, and now he's living in the San Francisco area. So it's pretty impressive that he still has all that documentation on hand.
As long as the BBS runs smoothly and as long as I can access it with my C=, the methods of storage don't really matter to me.wiskow wrote:I truly want this to be a "preservation of history" project, and my goal is to keep everything as "authentic" as possible. Eventually, I hope to increase the amount of "real" drive space I have connected to the BBS, and then have no need for the "simulated" drives.
It doesn't hurt to ask. By the way, speaking of storage, I remember visiting Bob Kadylo in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada a few years ago. He showed me his basement, and there he still had the massive, 3 or 4 PET 4040 dual-disk drives with which he ran a BBS.wiskow wrote:Nick Smith told me that he still has the two or three SFD-1001's and 40 MB Lt. Kernal hard drive that he ran the All American support BBS on. What do you suppose the chances are that I could talk him into giving those to me?
Truly,
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wiskow
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Re: >>UPDATE<< Cottonwood BBS
Good point...rbernardo wrote:As long as the BBS runs smoothly and as long as I can access it with my C=, the methods of storage don't really matter to me.
Well, I'm happy with my setup for now... I would like to have a CMD or Lt. Kernal hard drive one day. I'll just have to be patient and keep a keen eye on the Commodore auctions on eBay.
-Andrew
Re: >>UPDATE<< Cottonwood BBS
As far as I know, the CMD drives can still be purchased new. The website is still up and still taking orders for new drives.wiskow wrote: Well, I'm happy with my setup for now... I would like to have a CMD or Lt. Kernal hard drive one day. I'll just have to be patient and keep a keen eye on the Commodore auctions on eBay.
-Andrew
Things like the hard drives, super cpu, ram drives, etc, are still being sold.
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wiskow
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Re: >>UPDATE<< Cottonwood BBS
Yes, I'm well aware of the cmdrkey.com website. Actually *getting* a drive from Maurice, however, is another issue altogether...Gambit wrote:As far as I know, the CMD drives can still be purchased new. The website is still up and still taking orders for new drives.
Things like the hard drives, super cpu, ram drives, etc, are still being sold.
-Andrew
Re: >>UPDATE<< Cottonwood BBS
I was thinking of making a purchase there, but if there are problems....wiskow wrote:Yes, I'm well aware of the cmdrkey.com website. Actually *getting* a drive from Maurice, however, is another issue altogether...
-Andrew
Is he not shipping? Poor customer service? What problems are you having?
Uh oh. You've opened a Pandora's box, I'm afraid. Maurice Randall, the owner of Click Here Software (the company that owns the rights to CMD hardware) is, to put it mildly, unreliable when it comes to filling orders and unless you're prepared to wait a very long time for equipment to be delivered you should NOT order from him.
I would suggest you take a look at some of the comments about Maurice/CMD posted to comp.sys.cbm (which you can find here). You'll quickly understand why ordering anything from him would be an exercise in futility. You could also take a look at the Click Here Software forums for similar discussions. This thread is a good place to start.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
I would suggest you take a look at some of the comments about Maurice/CMD posted to comp.sys.cbm (which you can find here). You'll quickly understand why ordering anything from him would be an exercise in futility. You could also take a look at the Click Here Software forums for similar discussions. This thread is a good place to start.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Call me Golan; my parents did.