PH> In the final A47 release if you opt to run global editor and look at
PH> 'base type' you'll see the use of Echomail is still present when it
PH> should read 'Networked'

Fixed in the next build! Thank you!

.... Kids: They're not sleeping, they're recharging!

On 30 Dec 2022 at 06:54p, g00r00 pondered and said...
g0> PH> In the final A47 release if you opt to run global editor and look at
g0> PH> 'base type' you'll see the use of Echomail is still present when it
g0> PH> should read 'Networked'
g0>
g0> Fixed in the next build! Thank you!

No prob, and hello and welcome back.

Just wondering if you envisage a new release on the website soon? I've been
holding off updating videos etc. as I wondered if something may be coming out
towards year end again? No stress if not, but if you could let me know what
you're thinking re time lines and that will help steer what I may/may not do
for new videos etc.

Thanks!

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going'
avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

PH> No prob, and hello and welcome back.

Thanks. I am not 100% back to my old pace yet but I am going to be making an
effort to ramp up on development more.

PH> Just wondering if you envisage a new release on the website soon? I've
PH> been holding off updating videos etc. as I wondered if something may be
PH> coming out towards year end again? No stress if not, but if you could

My original plan for all of 2022 was to release 1.12 on December 17th for the
25th anniversary of Mystic. Unfortunately as you know I had to step away from
my usual pace for a good chunk of this year.

I am pretty disappointed that I missed that date, but I didn't feel comfortable
releasing A48 (let alone 1.12) because I am not up to speed with how its been
working (or not working) for the community.

I still want to get A48 out sooner than later, so I just need to get feedback
from those in the community using it to see how its holding up compared to A47.

I did have some additional plans cooking for the 25th anniversary but all of it
had to be put on the back burner.

If you have been using A48 or have heard any rumblings I would love to hear
your thoughts on things.

.... Unzip... expand... What kind of pervert came up with this?

On 30 Dec 2022, g00r00 said the following...
g0>
g0> I still want to get A48 out sooner than later, so I just need to get
g0> feedback from those in the community using it to see how its holding up
g0> compared to A47.
g0>

Hi g00r00, I have been running A48 now for a few months, other then having some
issues with semaphores not getting deleted after incoming network transfers
every once in a while, it has been running pretty well. The semaphore issue
also was happening quite a bit when I had my call out time scheduled for the
top of the hour at the same time most of my hubs were calling into me. At first
I took to just running an event schedule to delete the semaphores every hour,
then Paulie420 had mentioned that you said that wasn't a good way to go. So I
changed my time for calling my hubs to later on and it cleared up only
happening now once in awhile.. When it does happen, I just shut down run ./mis
poll killbusy and it will kill the semaphores in the separate outbound
directories that are stuck, then I run a ./mutil in and everything backed up
tosses...

Other then that, it runs very well for me, I ran it on Windows first then did a
conversion to Linux and it is still good to go...

Hope that helps a bit if you need any more info please don't hesitate to ask..

AL

|11 Bucko |14- |06Wrong Number Family Of BBS' |07- |03www.wrgnbr.com

.... Light year: 1/3 less calories than your regular year

On 30 Dec 2022 at 07:40p, g00r00 pondered and said...

g0> PH> No prob, and hello and welcome back.
g0>
g0> Thanks. I am not 100% back to my old pace yet but I am going to be
g0> making an effort to ramp up on development more.

Don't burn yourself out... I think I did that and with other family and work
pressures this last year have not been as active as I would have liked to be.
But when I do have a play in the BBS pond it's nice :)

g0> My original plan for all of 2022 was to release 1.12 on December 17th
g0> for the 25th anniversary of Mystic. Unfortunately as you know I had to
g0> step away from my usual pace for a good chunk of this year.

Yep. Totally understand.

g0> I am pretty disappointed that I missed that date, but I didn't feel
g0> comfortable releasing A48 (let alone 1.12) because I am not up to speed
g0> with how its been working (or not working) for the community.

Better to just let things roll until you are. To be honest I've not used A48
much and stuck to A47. There are some niggles (from memory) and folks will
chime in here no doubt and on othernets to let you know. I don't think too many
things are major problems (I think)..

g0> I did have some additional plans cooking for the 25th anniversary but
g0> all of it had to be put on the back burner.

There's always the 26th :)

g0> If you have been using A48 or have heard any rumblings I would love to
g0> hear your thoughts on things.

Let me dig back and if I can surface some stuff I'll post it here, but as
mentioned others will/can chime in also and will likely be more up to speed
than I am at present.

What I can let you know is that I've been spending a little bit of time on the
wiki around September and started to update content e.g. adding more recent
MUTIL functions etc. You're arrival has spurred me into action again today ;)

There's a bunch of stuff I could protectively work on re content changes in
naming conventions if you felt A48 may come out in the coming weeks e.g.
whitelist.txt changes to allowlist.txt etc. I just wasn't sure when to press
ahead with that stuff.

Lastly, if I want to contact you privately is the mystic Gmail still the best
way to go?

Thanks James..

Happy New Year from over here, it's 2.26pm on 31/12/22 so I'm almost at burbon
and coke stage now.. heh

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going'
avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

g0> If you have been using A48 or have heard any rumblings I would love to
g0> hear your thoughts on things.

Welcome back g00r00!

Small issues I've noticed.

- New Users are not getting their assigned startup menus
- User Chat Backspacing isn't working

.... "No comment" is a comment.

MF> - New Users are not getting their assigned startup menus
MF> - User Chat Backspacing isn't working

Thanks for the feedback.

I did see some stuff about chat and I did fix up some chat bugs (specifically
related to the user to user split screen chat). I just hadn't had a chance to
release the newer build.

I just put it up now if you want to test it.

For the assigned startup menu if you can test it with the latest A48 and let me
know I would appreciate it. I may have already fixed it and forgot. Or if you
can explain how I can reproduce it I'll see if I can get it to happen here and
get it sorted out right away.

Thanks!

.... Redundant book title: DOS For Dummies

PH> Don't burn yourself out... I think I did that and with other family and
PH> work pressures this last year have not been as active as I would have
PH> liked to be. But when I do have a play in the BBS pond it's nice :)

Agreed. Moderation is always good and it helps to keep things interesting in a
sometimes slow-changing hobby, I think.

PH> Better to just let things roll until you are. To be honest I've not used
PH> A48 much and stuck to A47. There are some niggles (from memory) and
PH> folks will chime in here no doubt and on othernets to let you know. I
PH> don't think too many things are major problems (I think)..

I'd like to think A48 brings new stuff and fixes more than it breaks, but time
will tell lol. I've just uploaded the latest A48 code now that the prealpha
folder is available again on mysticbbs.com. I'll have to see if I can get some
feedback.

PH> There's always the 26th :)

Yep or the 30th if I am still kicking around then. Its crazy to think that
I've been doing this for 25 years now.

PH> Let me dig back and if I can surface some stuff I'll post it here, but as
PH> mentioned others will/can chime in also and will likely be more up to
PH> speed than I am at present.

Sounds good, if you come across anything please pass along. But don't waste
too much time on it, I am sure eventually people will get to me.

PH> What I can let you know is that I've been spending a little bit of time
PH> on the wiki around September and started to update content e.g. adding
PH> more recent MUTIL functions etc. You're arrival has spurred me into
PH> action again today ;)

Thats awesome, thank you for the help!

PH> There's a bunch of stuff I could protectively work on re content changes
PH> in naming conventions if you felt A48 may come out in the coming weeks
PH> e.g. whitelist.txt changes to allowlist.txt etc. I just wasn't sure
PH> when to press ahead with that stuff.

I have to find a way to compile the macOS version but other than that I am
ready to release A48 now if the community seems to think its good to go.

PH> Lastly, if I want to contact you privately is the mystic Gmail still the
PH> best way to go?

Normally I would say yes, but at some point my e-mail stopped syncing and I
didn't notice it until today. I just assumed I wasn't getting e-mail because I
hadn't been active. There could be a lot of e-mail sitting in there that I
have not seen yet.

I would say for now Netmail works. I never stopped checking my netmail while I
was gone, although it was usually once every other week or so.

PH> Happy New Year from over here, it's 2.26pm on 31/12/22 so I'm almost at
PH> burbon and coke stage now.. heh

Happy new year, time traveler!

I have an extra day off work on Monday, and for once I don't have a million
things going on this weekend. Time to kick back and join you... I'll have
Whiskey Sour in your honor tomorrow when the time arrives!

Cheers!

.... Live every day as though it were your last. One day, you'll be right

AD> well. The semaphore issue also was happening quite a bit when I had my
AD> call out time scheduled for the top of the hour at the same time most of
AD> my hubs were calling into me. At first I took to just running an event

Thank you for the feedback, it is much appreciated.

I think what I need to do is to set up my BBS again so that its running with
networks crashing messages to me. I hope that way I'll see it happening and I
can get this resolved.

You are right that deleting the semaphores automatically can cause some
problems too in cases where they should be there. Its kind of a grey area
though considering they are also getting stuck for you.

.... Intelligence tests are biased toward the literate.

g0> PH> In the final A47 release if you opt to run global editor and look at
g0> PH> 'base type' you'll see the use of Echomail is still present when it
g0> PH> should read 'Networked'
g0>
g0> Fixed in the next build! Thank you!

w00t; great to see you posting in fido - cheers, r0ckstar.

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

g0> If you have been using A48 or have heard any rumblings I would love to
g0> hear your thoughts on things.

Its been pretty smooth, after your last round of bug fixes before the break -
theres been no HUGE issues that I've experienced.

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

pl> g0> If you have been using A48 or have heard any rumblings I would love t
pl> g0> hear your thoughts on things.
pl>
pl> Its been pretty smooth, after your last round of bug fixes before the
pl> break - theres been no HUGE issues that I've experienced.

Awesome thanks for the feedback, Paulie!

I'll have to see about getting the macOS side in order so we can get an A48 out
the door sooner than later!

.... Operator, give me the number for 911

Hello g00r00!

30 Dec 22 21:22, you wrote to Paul Hayton:

PH>> Lastly, if I want to contact you privately is the mystic Gmail
PH>> still the best way to go?

gr> Normally I would say yes, but at some point my e-mail stopped syncing
gr> and I didn't notice it until today. I just assumed I wasn't getting
gr> e-mail because I hadn't been active. There could be a lot of e-mail
gr> sitting in there that I have not seen yet.

gr> I would say for now Netmail works. I never stopped checking my
gr> netmail while I was gone, although it was usually once every other
gr> week or so.

I've tried to netmail you a couple times but always get a connection timed out
on mysticbbs.pwnz.org port 24554. Please poll me at 1:320/219.

Thanks,

Andrew

g0> I did see some stuff about chat and I did fix up some chat bugs
g0> (specifically related to the user to user split screen chat). I just
g0> hadn't had a chance to release the newer build.

Backspace appears to be working now. Thanks!

g0> For the assigned startup menu if you can test it with the latest A48 and
g0> let me know I would appreciate it. I may have already fixed it and
g0> forgot. Or if you can explain how I can reproduce it I'll see if I can
g0> get it to happen here and get it sorted out right away.

So this still is broken. Basically, sign in as a new user and once the user is
validated to the new security level with a different menu assigned, the menu
never gets assigned. So once the user tries to login again he will get a 'Error
loading .mnu'

When checking the user, the Start Menu is empty.

.... A Mystic asking for a hot-dog: "Make me one with everything"

AL> I've tried to netmail you a couple times but always get a connection
AL> timed out on mysticbbs.pwnz.org port 24554. Please poll me at
AL> 1:320/219.

Yeah sorry about that. My BBS has been down and I have been manually polling
for some time now. I need to get things back to normal I'll see about polling
you after work tonight if I don't forget.

.... Oxymoron: Race walking

MF> So this still is broken. Basically, sign in as a new user and once the
MF> user is validated to the new security level with a different menu
MF> assigned, the menu never gets assigned. So once the user tries to login
MF> again he will get a 'Error loading .mnu'
MF>
MF> When checking the user, the Start Menu is empty.

The start menu is no longer copied to the user's record like it used to be when
a user is upgraded so that part is normal. Instead, it now pulls the menu name
from their security level and has some different logic. There is a note about
this in the whatsnew for more details.

I'll try to reproduce it here tonight if I get the time.

If you want to diagnose more on your side, here are some things to try:

1) Check logs to see what it says when it can't load the menu.
2) Check system config > start menu and confirm the value is what you want
3) Check the user's start menu and make sure its actually blank and not a null
4) Check the user's security level to make sure there is a start menu defined
or that its truly blank and not set to a space or null character.

The logic is basically:

If user has a non-blank start menu, use that.
If user start menu is blank, then load menu from user's security profile.
If user security profile start menu is blank, then load Config > Start Menu

.... Enter any 12-digit prime number to continue.

g0> 1) Check logs to see what it says when it can't load the menu.

2023.01.04 06:37:07 Setting start menu:
2023.01.04 06:37:07 Error loading menu:
2023.01.04 06:37:07 Shutting down

g0> 2) Check system config > start menu and confirm the value is what you

The start menu under system config is correct and what I want.

g0> want 3) Check the user's start menu and make sure its actually blank and

User's start menu becomes blank instead of using the one defined in the
security level.

g0> not a null 4) Check the user's security level to make sure there is a

Security Level has the correct start menu defined.

.... Anything is possible if you don't know what you're talking about

MF> g0> 1) Check logs to see what it says when it can't load the menu.
MF>
MF> 2023.01.04 06:37:07 Setting start menu:
MF> 2023.01.04 06:37:07 Error loading menu:
MF> 2023.01.04 06:37:07 Shutting down

Can you upgrade to the latest build in prealpha when you have time and check
the logs again. I changed it to show where its taking the menu value from
which should help me get to the bottom of the issue.

.... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...

g0> Can you upgrade to the latest build in prealpha when you have time and
g0> check the logs again. I changed it to show where its taking the menu
g0> value from which should help me get to the bottom of the issue.

------------------- Node 1 (Mystic v1.12 A48 2023/01/04)
2023.01.04 13:33:01 Connect from 10.1.1.124 (Unknown)
2023.01.04 13:33:01 Country: Unknown
2023.01.04 13:33:01 Set time left 15
2023.01.04 13:33:16 todd logged in
2023.01.04 13:33:16 Set time left 60
2023.01.04 13:33:16 Setting time left to 60
2023.01.04 13:33:16 Setting menu to "" (Security start menu)
2023.01.04 13:33:16 Error loading menu:
2023.01.04 13:33:16 Shutting down

You can also just go into the user and do a CTRL+U select the security level
and it never changes the start menu for the user.

.... Shortcut: longest distance between two points

MF> 2023.01.04 13:33:16 Setting time left to 60
MF> 2023.01.04 13:33:16 Setting menu to "" (Security start menu)
MF> 2023.01.04 13:33:16 Error loading menu:

MF> You can also just go into the user and do a CTRL+U select the security
MF> level and it never changes the start menu for the user.

I was able to find the issue with that logging, thank you! I am uploading a
new build now which will include the fix.

As far as it not updating the user field when you upgrade the user security
level, thats expected behavior. Older versions would copy the start menu from
the security into the user record, but now it just pulls the menu name directly
from the security record.

The reason for the change is because if you wanted to change the start menu for
a security level in the past you'd have to then go into each user's record and
update their start menu field. Now you can blank out all of the user's start
menu fields and let it pull the menu from the system default or their security
profile. You'd only set the start menu directly on the user's record if you
really wanted them to have their own custom start menu.

Hope I was able to explain that in a way that made sense lol.

On login:

If user record has a start menu defined, Mystic will use it. If not, it will
check their security level profile and use the start menu defined there. If
that is also blank, it will then use the default start menu defined in System
Configuration > General settings.

.... My reality check just bounced

On 04 Jan 2023 at 03:03p, g00r00 pondered and said...
g0> As far as it not updating the user field when you upgrade the user
g0> security level, thats expected behavior. Older versions would copy the
g0> start menu from the security into the user record, but now it just pulls
g0> the menu name directly from the security record.
g0>
g0> The reason for the change is because if you wanted to change the start
g0> menu for a security level in the past you'd have to then go into each
g0> user's record and update their start menu field. Now you can blank out
g0> all of the user's start menu fields and let it pull the menu from the
g0> system default or their security profile. You'd only set the start menu
g0> directly on the user's record if you really wanted them to have their
g0> own custom start menu.
g0>
g0> Hope I was able to explain that in a way that made sense lol.

I think I'll put up something in the FAQ about this as it seems to be something
that folks may need some further education / awareness on.

Your explanation makes sense to me but for those of us using Mystic for a while
I can see how what was a previously filled field now blank may be concerning.

What I think this will do is make folks more aware of the setup / settings in
the defined security areas.

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going'
avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

On 05 Jan 2023 at 09:52a, Paul Hayton pondered and said...
PH> g0> Hope I was able to explain that in a way that made sense lol.
PH>
PH> I think I'll put up something in the FAQ about this as it seems to be
PH> something that folks may need some further education / awareness on.

Done, there's now a new entry on the Wiki covering this. Hope this helps. :)

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going'
avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

g0> I was able to find the issue with that logging, thank you! I am
g0> uploading a new build now which will include the fix.

Sweet! I'll grab it now.

g0> As far as it not updating the user field when you upgrade the user
g0> security level, thats expected behavior. Older versions would copy the
g0> start menu from the security into the user record, but now it just pulls
g0> the menu name directly from the security record.
g0>
g0> The reason for the change is because if you wanted to change the start
g0> menu for a security level in the past you'd have to then go into each
g0> user's record and update their start menu field. Now you can blank out
g0> all of the user's start menu fields and let it pull the menu from the
g0> system default or their security profile. You'd only set the start menu
g0> directly on the user's record if you really wanted them to have their
g0> own custom start menu.
g0>
g0> Hope I was able to explain that in a way that made sense lol.
g0>

Makes perfect sense. There was something else related to this kind of change
to. A mass way of updating users security levels? Any way of doing that. I'm
getting of topic, but curious.

.... A Meteor is an example of a rock star.

PH> I think I'll put up something in the FAQ about this as it seems to be
PH> something that folks may need some further education / awareness on.

It couldn't hurt. It should be somewhere in there thats for sure. FAQ might
make sense and then when it comes time to document the start menu fields in
System Config, Security editor, user editor, etc it can link back to that FAQ?

I did discuss it in the whatsnew also.

At least in this case I don't think Mike was confused, it was just that Mystic
wasn't working correctly. Should be fixed now and now the logging is better
too because of it, which will only help.

.... Anything is possible if you don't know what you're talking about

MF> Makes perfect sense. There was something else related to this kind of
MF> change to. A mass way of updating users security levels? Any way of
MF> doing that. I'm getting of topic, but curious.

There isn't a global user editor for some reason. I don't really remember why
I never made one considering things like Echomail nodes, msg/file bases all
have them.

I don't want to work on it before A48 at this point since I'd like to get this
thing released sooner than later, but I think it could be something that I
focus on early in A49

.... Real Programmers balance their checkbooks in hex