Subj : CAPTCHA with Synchronet
To   : Nightfox
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Sun Feb 26 2023 03:30:00

 Ni> What data are you missing in exec?  Normally exec should be kept stock,
 Ni> as anything you've modified should go into sbbs\mods or other
 Ni> directories.  If you have backups of your other directories, you should
 Ni> be able to get the latest Synchronet binaries and other things for exec
 Ni> and be good to go.

  In short, all of it. I thought I had a backup, but the directory was
gone. I felt that if I tried to put the old data back in on top of the
new data that I'd corrupt things...so I zapped it. To make matters worse,
the 2 USB external drives "quit"...one failed completely, and the other
one wouldn't let me restore data.

  The other problem was when tried to run the xtrn-setup program, it
messed up several doors. So, I had to go in, and zap the node#.cfg
files, and change the dropfile to DORINFO1.DEF instead of DOOR.SYS, and
set the doors to "single user only" for the doors to work.

  I have discovered in the loss of the CAPTCHA deal that with the entry
in MODOPTS.INI, I lowered the timeout timer for "DUMB terminals" (which
are usually with the bots), to 15 seconds for inactivity. They usually
reconnect after getting dumped, and it has tied up all 4 nodes at times.
But, if they enter "an invalid entry" (supervisor, root, sysop, admin,
default, etc.), they get dropped, and a temporary ban (10 days) is put
on the IP. 

  In looking at the control panel, when I see these "temporary bans", 
I copy the IP to the ip.can file, and I do the same for the IP's that
repeatedly slam the port. It got so bad with the SSH and QOTD ports
that I had to change those to non-conventional values. Obviously, once
an IP is in ip.can, they are permanently blocked from the BBS.

  Twice, I've tried to update to 3.20, and have run into issues both
times...so I'm going to stay with 3.19, unless there's a compelling
reason to upgrade to 3.20, even when the full package comes out. It's
like with support for Windows 10...Microsoft is stopping support for
it in October, 2025...so I'll either quit getting the Windows updates
and leave things as they are...zap 95% of the doors (most legacy, and
what I had paid to register in years past), or just shut the whole
thing down after 35 years of Sysoping. Obviously, none of those options
are desired. 

  Yet, Microsoft is only interested in corporate greed, and I can't 
see discarding perfectly good working hardware and software, just
to buy new stuff to satisfy their bottom line...never mind that being
on a fixed income, I can't afford an upgrade to "the latest and greatest
items". 

  In short, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"...but that's the advice
I personally should've heeded in regards to upgrading the BBS. I still
use the old DOS 8.3 filename syntax, in case someone has a system that
won't handle the long filenames, even though that was started back with
Windows 95 many years ago.

Daryl

.... C:\BELFRY is where I keep my .BAT files.  ^^^oo^^^
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 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)

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