Mike Powell wrote to Dan Clough <=-
Re: Re: Using JSexec to run IRCd
By: Dan Clough to Rixter on Sun Nov 16 2025 21:29:17
Nobody's claiming "perfection" here. Perhaps "properly configured" on non-crappy hardware?
Speaking of, testing DDMsgReader here and it is not really working as expected. :)
Digital Man wrote to Gamgee <=-
Re: Re: Using JSexec to run IRCd
By: Gamgee to Nightfox on Mon Nov 17 2025 05:08 pm
It's interesting of other Synchronet sysops in Windows hadn't been seeing periodic crashes, but the fact that a SBBS check utility exists for Windows seems to suggest for me that other Synchronet sysops saw the same issue and someone decided to make a utility to re-run it if it's not running.
I wondered if the crashes were due to something I was doing in some of my JS mods for Synchronet, but it seemed to random to easily track down. And now that I'm running my BBS in Linux, I feel like it hasn't been a noticeable issue anymore for me.
Interesting.
I guess it's just a built-in Windows issue. :-)
More likely, the issue(s) is/are with the JS engine we use and they're more prevalent on 32-bit platforms (e.g. Win32) or just Windows in general. Hard to say as the engine is very old now and doesn't support 64-bit Windows builds, so a bit hard to compare and confirm. In any
case, we'll upgrade the JS engine someday and hopefully those
unexplained crashes (which we *do* see on 64-bit *nix builds under
heavy JS activity) will go away.
Nobody's claiming "perfection" here. Perhaps "properly configured" on
non-crappy hardware?
Speaking of, testing DDMsgReader here and it is not really working as expected. :)
Speaking of, testing DDMsgReader here and it is not really working as
expected. :)
Except this message seems to be written with the Synchronet msgeditor..?
reading the wiki on Using JSexec with systemd. What is systemd? Is this the
Re: Using JSexec to run IRCd
By: Rixter to All on Thu Nov 13 2025 06:21 pm
reading the wiki on Using JSexec with systemd. What is systemd? Is this t
That part should be about using Linux's 'systemd' to start the service and k it running. You mentioned DOS window, so I'm guessing you're running Windows and that part wouldn't apply to you.
Good evening,
I plan on using JSexec to run IRCd. It appears to be a better way. I was curious if there are commands I can execute in the loop to see how many leaves are attached and a list of connections in the DOS window it creates?
I was reading the wiki on Using JSexec with systemd. What is systemd?
reading the wiki on Using JSexec with systemd. What is systemd? Is this tThat part should be about using Linux's 'systemd' to start the service and
k it running. You mentioned DOS window, so I'm guessing you're running
Windows and that part wouldn't apply to you.
Thank you Phigan. I appreciate the clarity. I hope you have a great weekend! Take care,
Re: Using JSexec to run IRCd
By: Rixter to phigan on Fri Nov 14 2025 09:38:10
reading the wiki on Using JSexec with systemd. What is systemd? Is thisThat part should be about using Linux's 'systemd' to start the service a
k it running. You mentioned DOS window, so I'm guessing you're running
Windows and that part wouldn't apply to you.
Thank you Phigan. I appreciate the clarity. I hope you have a great weekend! Take care,
i yet have to somehow put sbbs into a systemd service =) or have i? currently i still just switch into the sbbs linux user on the proxmox lxc command line and start sbbs. That starts all other services as well. And the it just runs =)
i like to be able to watch what's going on in synchronet on the proxmox web terminal. You see everything logged to the screen there. BINKPOLL and all services outputs etc
In umonitor you see the actual bbs connections only, but in a nice interface with options to spy, chat and edit etc.
Advantage of using systemd service file would be that sbbs can autostart via systemd service. For now i am good with starting sbbs manually on the consol
what do you want to achieve using systemd to run a service Rixter?
Mindsurfer
Re: Using JSexec to run IRCdThank you Digital Man. I see that now. I am going to press on with that. The output console shows me a few things. I was spoiled to the windows GUI. I will get used to the console. Have a great weekend friend!
By: Rixter to All on Thu Nov 13 2025 06:21 pm
Good evening,
I plan on using JSexec to run IRCd. It appears to be a better way. I was curious if there are commands I can execute in the loop to see how many leaves are attached and a list of connections in the DOS window it create
No, that's just an output console. No commands can be entered (e.g. via the local keyboard) into ircd.js.
I was reading the wiki on Using JSexec with systemd. What is systemd?
It's a *nix thing.
Thank you Digital Man. I see that now. I am going to press on with that. The output console shows me a few things. I was spoiled to the windows GUI.
Thank you Digital Man. I see that now. I am going to press on with that. The output console shows me a few things. I was spoiled to the windows GUI. I will get used to the console. Have a great weekend friend!
Re: Using JSexec to run IRCd
By: Rixter to Digital Man on Sat Nov 15 2025 01:02 pm
Thank you Digital Man. I see that now. I am going to press on with that. The output console shows me a few things. I was spoiled to the windows GUI.
In Linux, you can run umonitor to show node status & such - it's sort of similar to what the Windows GUI shows, though it's not everything. There's also gtkmonitor for Linux too.
Rixter wrote to Mindsurfer <=-
I was just wanting to see how many leaves connected and some of the activity. I can watch the dos window and see connections and routings.
It looks different than the Windows 10 GUI. I guess it will do. It is something different so I will adjust. I do like running IRCd as a
service. My synchronet control panel stops working about once a week
and it automatically reboots and loses those leaves. It seems to be a better way to run IRC from my BBS. I won't be switching over to Linux,
so I am adjusting to the DOS view of IRCd. I have it set to start as a batch file if my entire computer reboots. When synchronet control panel freezes and crashes I use restartoncrash.exe to auto restart the
control panel. It does not affect the entire pc. Its a good working
system so far and I can leave it unattended for very long periods of
time. I log in every so often to see how many times the synchronet has crashed and check my messages and play games with others.
In Linux, you can run umonitor to show node status & such - it's sort of
similar to what the Windows GUI shows, though it's not everything. There's
also gtkmonitor for Linux too.
I not clear how umonitor or SBBSCTRL ("the Windows GUI") helps with monitoring the IRCd though. Since the ircd.js is a *static* service, it handles its own listening/answering of incoming connections and everything it logs (e.g. to syslog or the "Services" windows of SBBSCTRL) would also be sent to the console when run via JSexec.
Strange. My SBBS has *never* crashed, in over 7 years. Granted, it
runs on Linux, but there are plenty of folks running on Windows that
don't see crashes, either.
<SHRUG>
... Gone crazy, be back later, please leave message.
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.52
¨ Synchronet ¨ Palantir BBS * palantirbbs.ddns.net * Pensacola, FL
Rixter wrote to Gamgee <=-
Strange. My SBBS has *never* crashed, in over 7 years. Granted, it
runs on Linux, but there are plenty of folks running on Windows that
don't see crashes, either.
I am happy for your perfection.
I do not see the crashing anymore
myself. It reboots within 2 minutes of a sbbsctrl.exe stalling. Restartoncrash.exe clears the windows error pop up and relaunches sbbsctrl.exe and all is well.
I will be looking for an irc client
that shows me the irc connections next while running ircd through
jsexec like digital man suggested.
User-Agent: Synchronet msgeditor master/123f2d28a
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Speaking of, testing DDMsgReader here and it is not really working as expected. :)
Except this message seems to be written with the Synchronet msgeditor..?
Are you having issues with DDMsgReader separately and using a different editor
to tell us about it?
Ahhh, OK. Great info and thank you for that. I'm not having heavy JS activity here so that may explain things.
Re: Re: Using JSexec to run IRCd
By: Gamgee to Digital Man on Tue Nov 18 2025 08:17 am
Ahhh, OK. Great info and thank you for that. I'm not having heavy JS activity here so that may explain things.
Are you sure you're not? Many of Synchronet's standard modules now are written in JS. Even if you don't write your own JS mods, I think there's likely JS running at some point.
No. I was using DDMsgReader and when I tried the reply function, it brought up the Synchronet editor, which was not "as expected" since DD was installed per the synchronet wiki page.
I assumed that I misunderstood and that DDMsgReader is a "reader," as the name suggests, and doesn't provide an external msg editor.
Are you sure you're not? Many of Synchronet's standard modules now are
written in JS. Even if you don't write your own JS mods, I think there's
likely JS running at some point.
Yes, reasonably sure. I know much of SBBS runs on JS, but what I meant was that I don't run many of the "extra" services provided, such as the ircd (and SMTP mail, Web, FTP, etc). This whole conversation was based on Rixter having somewhat "frequent" crashes with his system (on Windows) and the theory is that it may be affected/caused by heavy JS use with the (very old) JS engine being used by SBBS.
No. I was using DDMsgReader and when I tried the reply function, it
brought up the Synchronet editor, which was not "as expected" since
DD was installed per the synchronet wiki page.
I assumed that I misunderstood and that DDMsgReader is a "reader,"
as the name suggests, and doesn't provide an external msg editor.
As for why I replied to a random message from Gamgee... I was
looking for a> message that I could test reply-and-quote with, and
since Gamgee's metioned "misconfiguration" I figured testing with it
was appropriate. ;)
and work well together. Besides the one you have already used, there is also some other editors specifically for Synchronet (well, BBSs that supports javascript, I suppose),
Nightfox wrote to Dan Clough <=-
Are you sure you're not? Many of Synchronet's standard modules now are
written in JS. Even if you don't write your own JS mods, I think there's
likely JS running at some point.
Yes, reasonably sure. I know much of SBBS runs on JS, but what I meant was that I don't run many of the "extra" services provided, such as the ircd (and SMTP mail, Web, FTP, etc). This whole conversation was based on Rixter having somewhat "frequent" crashes with his system (on Windows) and the theory is that it may be affected/caused by heavy JS use with the (very old) JS engine being used by SBBS.
In addition to the services, things like displaying the external
programs menu and letting the user change their user settings are done
in JS now, I believe (xtrn_sec.js and user_settings.js, respectively). There are command shells in JS too, and I'm sure there are other things that are done with JS.
I don't know of another BBS package that supports JavaScript. But
even for those that do, I'd expect SlyEdit would still only work
with Synchronet. Synchronet has a very specific implementation of
what it exposes via JavaScript, which means that JS mods that work
with Synchronet have to use what Synchronet provides via JS. If
another BBS package supports JavaScript, it's extremely likely that
the functions & other objects & things it provides via JS would have different names, so any JS mods for Synchronet wouldn't work with
it.
Yes, I know all that. I think displaying menus and such are not
very "heavy" tasks when compared to ircd, email, web, and more,
though. All I can say for sure is that my SBBS doesn't (ever)
"crash". <SHRUG>
In addition to the services, things like displaying the external programs menu and letting the user change their user settings are done in JS now, I believe (xtrn_sec.js and user_settings.js, respectively). There are command shells in JS too, and I'm sure there are other things that are done with JS.
Accession wrote to Gamgee <=-
Yes, I know all that. I think displaying menus and such are not
very "heavy" tasks when compared to ircd, email, web, and more,
though. All I can say for sure is that my SBBS doesn't (ever)
"crash". <SHRUG>
FYI, I /do/ run all of those services you mentioned in a previous post here, and they get hammered all day long (even with the filtering/throttling/temp banning in place). I don't remember it has
ever crashing due to those services being overwhelmed or anything. A random bug or a segfault maybe, but that has always been able to be
found, addressed and fixed.
I just don't think Windows (Home/Pro) itself was ever built to be a server. On the other hand, and not to seem like I'm shitting on Windows
or anything, I have seen, heard, and read about plenty of /actual/
Windows Server setups running just fine. I imagine they probably take a bunch of the desktop background tasks out of the equation, which could come in to play with hosting a server.
Re: Re: Using JSexec to run IRCd
By: Mike Powell to Dan Clough on Mon Nov 17 2025 03:35 pm
Nobody's claiming "perfection" here. Perhaps "properly configured" on
non-crappy hardware?
Speaking of, testing DDMsgReader here and it is not really working as expected. :)
In what way? You're welcome to contact me with any questions or reports of behavior that isn't expected.
That is correct. DDMsgReader reads the messages, then uses whatever you have configured for an external editor to write messages. I would suggest trying SlyEdit with DDMsgReader, since they are made by the same person, and work wel
together.
etc. I've also used nano and vim as external editors (with a "restricted" option in place to not allow users to access the hard drive at all, besides saving their message).
As for why I replied to a random message from Gamgee... I was
looking for a> message that I could test reply-and-quote with, and
since Gamgee's metioned "misconfiguration" I figured testing with it
was appropriate. ;)
Hah! I'd agree you picked a perfect message to reply to! ;)
misunderstanding on my part. The "Reader" part did seem to work, although I did get this error whenever I tried to answer "yes" to this question:
Search all groups for unread messages to you?
!JavaScript ../xtrn/DDMsgReader/DDMsgReader.js line 1776: TypeError: msg_area.sub[this.subBoardCode] is undefined
Also, as a module, it seemed to be ignoring any command line options I added, although I may have been adding them to the wrong module entry.
Here, "pico" actually calls nano. I tried it out earlier this week,
too, and it works ok with plain ascii messages but barfs hard on any
replies to messages that have any extended ascii in them. I would
not mind using that as my *personal* editor, but wouldn't want to
let users use it as they'd not know not to quote any high ascii
messages.
Considering that I figured I was misunderstanding something, I> thought it was, too! :D
misunderstanding on my part. The "Reader" part did seem to work, although
I did get this error whenever I tried to answer "yes" to this question:
Search all groups for unread messages to you?
!JavaScript ../xtrn/DDMsgReader/DDMsgReader.js line 1776: TypeError: msg_area.sub[this.subBoardCode] is undefined
Are you using the latest version from the Git repository? In the one currentl
in the Git repository, line 1776 doesn't have msg_area.sub[this.subBoardCode].
The one currently in the Git repository has this on line 1776:
addAuthorToTwitList: 9,
If you haven't updated, I would recommend updating with the latest that's currently in the Git repository.
Also, as a module, it seemed to be ignoring any command line options I added, although I may have been adding them to the wrong module entry.
Are you referring to using it in SCFG > System > Loadable Modules (for Read Mail, Scan Msgs, and List Msgs)?
When using it there, you don't need to add
any command-line options (and I believe I made it so that if used that way, it
probably wouldn't look at any additional command-line options you add). When used as a module there, Synchronet passes a few command-line arguments. DDMsgReader is designed to work with the command-line arguments that Synchrone
passes when used as a module there.
!JavaScript ../xtrn/DDMsgReader/DDMsgReader.js line 1776: TypeError:
msg_area.sub[this.subBoardCode] is undefined
Are you using the latest version from the Git repository? In the one
No, I tried the version that came the last time I pulled Synchronet for a compile... probably from the Spring or early Summer.
Reason I was trying to add args was because it always seemed to "act" the same way regardless of which command was being executed in Synchronet, i.e. the "check for new mail" and "check for *my* new mail" options both resulted in a "check for new mail" (to anyone) search. I tried a command line arg to try to get it to search for only "my new mail" but it ignored it, as you pointed out.
Something else it did with the new mail scan... it started in the last msg area I was in rather than checking all areas. So, if I happened to change to the very last group/area on the BBS, it would only search that one. I had to be sitting in Group 1, Area 1 before it would search them all.
Maybe that is all because it is ~9 month old code, though.
Re: IceEdit
By: Mike Powell to Nightfox on Mon Nov 24 2025 13:00:37
Yeah, ok in DCT mode it also does not work.
I have SlyEdit set up where it should be quoting text -- the main reason I am looking at external editors -- but SlyEdit does not show any quoted text if I have it set up for "all" or "prompt" in scfg. I have it set up as explained on the wiki.synchro.net page but, as there are options missing on that page, I suspect it may need updating (or that those options don't matter?).
I have it set in ICE mode, will try DCT and see what happens.
Quoting works the same in ICE and DCT mode.
What do you mean by "does not show any quoted text"? You're pressing Ctrl-Q (or using the /Q command) but the quote window is not coming up?
What do you mean by "does not show any quoted text"? You're pressing
Ctrl-Q (or using the /Q command) but the quote window is not coming up?
So quoting a message doesn't work like it does for the other in/external editors, i.e. the text shows up when the editor opens? I didn't try any commands because it would not have crossed my mind to do so.
OK, that does work, just not like I would have expected. Thanks.
So quoting a message doesn't work like it does for the other in/external editors, i.e. the text shows up when the editor opens? I didn't try any commands because it would not have crossed my mind to do so.
OK, that does work, just not like I would have expected. Thanks.
referring to Synchronet's msgeditor, and JSEditor.
By "JSEditor", do you mean fseditor, or is JSEditor another editor I
wasn't aware of?
quoted text I'm replying to, than have the entire thread quoted on startup a have to delete/remove a bunch of text that I'm not replying to. Especially w
YES! Because almost nobody does that! They just leave the whole damn
thing!
You may already know this about Level 29.. It also just puts the entire message as a quote when replying, but it doesn't let you save/post the message if the text-to-quote ratio isn't high enough :). A lot of people probably don't like that idea, though.
Correct, SlyEdit doesn't automatically show text for quoting on startup. Qu
Is there something in the documentation or help screens that you think could editor). If you have any suggestions for improving the documentation, pleas
By "JSEditor", do you mean fseditor, or is JSEditor another editor I wasn't aware of?
Most likely. I actually questioned that myself when I wrote it, but I figure
I was actuallly hoping maybe you didn't mean FSEditor. I tried it and it really doesn't work too good. When the screen came up, the cursor was in the top window but attempting to type anything seemed to manipulate what was in the bottom window (i.e. the quoted text)... but the "manipulation" did not include any of the keys that were being pressed.
Luckily, CTRL-Q was the one keypress combo I tried that *did* work. ;)
I am using NANO now for myself as it seems to do what I want. The users will be stuck with the internal editor.
I am using NANO now for myself as it seems to do what I want. The users will be stuck with the internal editor.
While I think vi(m) is a great editor for programming, I think nano is /much/ better suited for this hobby specifically, as far as writing and replying to text messages goes. Then again, I prefer nano over vi(m) any time, so that's probably a pretty biased opinion. ;)
I'm not sure what "Level 29" is. I tried DDG, but it came up as a restaurant
While I think vi(m) is a great editor for programming, I think nano is /much/ better suited for this hobby specifically, as far as writing and replying to text messages goes. Then again, I prefer nano over vi(m) any time, so that's probably a pretty biased opinion. ;)
quoted text I'm replying to, than have the entire thread quoted on startup have to delete/remove a bunch of text that I'm not replying to. Especially
YES! Because almost nobody does that! They just leave the whole damn thing!
I have monkeyed around with vi(m) a time or two and, as a result, I am
also very biased towards nano. ;)
I have monkeyed around with vi(m) a time or two and, as a result, I am also very biased towards nano. ;)
I have monkeyed around with vi(m) a time or two and, as a result, I am also
very biased towards nano. ;)
This made me cackle. I keep trying the neovim version of vim and vim itself, and would truly like to become proficient in it, but always find solace in nanolicking my wounds.
Accession wrote to Mike Powell <=-
I have monkeyed around with vi(m) a time or two and, as a result, I am
also very biased towards nano. ;)
It doesn't matter how many times I've used vi(m), I will /always/ think that I'm in edit mode right when I open it. Just a natural reaction, or something, but I start arrowing around and try to type something, just
to have it yell at me and realize that I have to get out of
read/command mode.
.. and I know you can launch vim in "easy" mode (-y), but I never
remember to do that and that's completely besides the point, because at that point you may as well just use nano. ;)
Hahaha, yep. I use nano for nearly every text-editing task
(including writing this message from within MultiMail). The one use
I still have for vim is that it can deal with "Ctrl-A" codes in a
SBBS file. In case it wasn't widely known, you can add a Ctrl-A code
in vim by first doing "Ctrl-V", then "Ctrl-A", then the actual color
code or whatever. I don't know another "plain" text editor that does
that. Very useful to me every now and then.
Accession wrote to Gamgee <=-
Hahaha, yep. I use nano for nearly every text-editing task
(including writing this message from within MultiMail). The one use
I still have for vim is that it can deal with "Ctrl-A" codes in a
SBBS file. In case it wasn't widely known, you can add a Ctrl-A code
in vim by first doing "Ctrl-V", then "Ctrl-A", then the actual color
code or whatever. I don't know another "plain" text editor that does
that. Very useful to me every now and then.
I just tested this and it works. You have to be in insert mode, so hit
"i" first.
Thanks for that tidbit. That can definitely come in handy! I think I've just used nano by cutting an entire line with the CTRL-A codes on them (using CTRL-K), pasting it again (and again, if needbe, using CTRL-U)
so I have a bunch I can change the color codes on. This would
definitely make things easier, though. ;)
I have monkeyed around with vi(m) a time or two and, as a result, I am also
It doesn't matter how many times I've used vi(m), I will /always/ think that I'm in edit mode right when I open it. Just a natural reaction, or something
phigan wrote to Mike Powell <=-
I'm a firm believer that if you use vi enough, you will eventually be unable to live without it.
I may have told this story before, but I'm very much used to not always being in edit mode. Often I will find myself trying to "arrow" around
with h, j, k, and l in things like Notepad. Well, one time I was typing
Why can't Outlook have a 'vi mode'? :/ I think everything should.
Why can't Outlook have a 'vi mode'? :/ I think everything should.
I can't bring myself to agree with you, there. It seems most other software on both Windows and Linux has moved on to using ALT- and CTRL- hotkeys (possibly even Outlook), which is much more what I'm used to.
Accession wrote to phigan <=-
I may have told this story before, but I'm very much used to not always being in edit mode. Often I will find myself trying to "arrow" around
with h, j, k, and l in things like Notepad. Well, one time I was typing
That's something that would take me forever to get used to, as well.
Those letters are all side by side. At the very least, they could have used the gaming keys (w, a, s, d), but alas. I like using the actual
arrow keys these days. :)
I can't bring myself to agree with you, there. It seems most other software both Windows and Linux has moved on to using ALT- and CTRL- hotkeys (possibl
I can't bring myself to agree with you, there. It seems most other
software both Windows and Linux has moved on to using ALT- and
CTRL- hotkeys (possibl
That's because keyboards have so many more keys and characters these days! ;)
Na, but what could it hurt to just have the option, ya know?
Good evening,
I plan on using JSexec to run IRCd. It appears to be a better way. I
was curious if there are commands I can execute in the loop to see
how many leaves are attached and a list of connections in the DOS
window it creates? I was reading the wiki on Using JSexec with
systemd. What is systemd? Is this the tool I need to use instead or
with jsexec -l ircd to answer my previous question?
I hope this message finds you all well and looking forward to a great weekend. Cheers,
Rixter
telnet://ricksbbs.synchro.net:23
http://ricksbbs.synchro.net:8080
---
_ Synchronet _ Rick's BBS telnet://ricksbbs.synchro.net:23
| Sysop: | fluid |
|---|---|
| Location: | wickliffe, ohio |
| Users: | 2 |
| Nodes: | 10 (0 / 10) |
| Uptime: | 236:37:22 |
| Calls: | 60 |
| Files: | 15,838 |
| Messages: | 58,850 |