I pinned that bug down and fixed it. That particular issue appears to have been just been cosmetic - no negative impact other than maybe failure to stop or restart the server/service.
Oh? That's actually good news if it started failing with v3.19. That likely means it was something else that changed that caused that script/method to stop working for QWK packet transfers and *not* the upgrade to v3.21.
I know, no judgment. :-) Yours is one of the longest running Synchronet systems, so I'd expect there to be plenty of cruft (running the chksetup.js could help identify some of it). I'll see if I can repro the isue with that old QWK/FTP method, but there's really no reason for you to keep using it. We moved from that batch file/sript to the qnet-ftp.bin Baja module like 25 years ago and then to the JavaScript module like 6 years ago. :-)
Re: Synchronet 3.21e upgrade
By: MRO to hax0r on Wed Apr 22 2026 10:59 pm
I think you are the oldest dovenet bbs at this point. there's been
a lot of changes.
That can't be. dovenet has been around for ages.
Also, longevity
only counts if you are syncing messages, which at this point in time
I am not :(. I am going to try and get things sorted out this
weekend... at least on the dovenet front hoepfully.
Re: Synchronet 3.21e upgrade
By: Digital Man to hax0r on Wed Apr 22 2026 10:39 pm
I pinned that bug down and fixed it. That particular issue appears to have been just been cosmetic - no negative impact other than maybe failure to stop or restart the server/service.
Thats great to hear! I have been running it in interactive mode for the past couple of days and it seems to be pretty stable. Once you have the update out I'm happy to switch bact to the service and test things out.
Oh? That's actually good news if it started failing with v3.19. That likely means it was something else that changed that caused that script/method to stop working for QWK packet transfers and *not* the upgrade to v3.21.
Yeah, I was getting occasional QWK errors last year, but I never thought much of it. I had been a while since I newscaned dovenet (you know, life......) so I didn't find it until I put some effort in recently with the update. I'm happy to switch to the newer method and will give it a go this weekend.
I know, no judgment. :-) Yours is one of the longest running Synchronet systems, so I'd expect there to be plenty of cruft (running the chksetup.js could help identify some of it). I'll see if I can repro the isue with that old QWK/FTP method, but there's really no reason for you to keep using it. We moved from that batch file/sript to the qnet-ftp.bin Baja module like 25 years ago and then to the JavaScript module like 6 years ago. :-)
thanks for the tip on chksetup.js. I'll give that a go and see what it says. I do think that I am still having some event issues are my fido is not polling regularly.
I think you should take some of the credit for my board being there all of those years. its been rock solid stable over the and I would not still be here if it wasn't for synchronet. so glad and thankful that you have kept the synchronet machine going all of these years.
So is it still failing the vert.bat method even after you switched
from NT services? The related log output (the "Events" window or the data/events.log file entries) might be helpful in diagnosing
why.
i sent you a msg to vert. i'm not sure if you have the same email anymore. i can answer any questions you might have an i have some scripts that can help fix and convert your stuff so it works ok.
pasvInvalid command.
put c:\sbbs\data\vert.rep vert.rep504 Bad port number.
So is it still failing the vert.bat method even after you switched from NT services? The related log output (the "Events" window or the data/events.log file entries) might be helpful in diagnosing why.
i believe he needs to edit the event settings so it will run in the shell. something like that. i had to do that after upgrading a while back. my events stopped running.
Re: Synchronet 3.21e upgrade
By: Digital Man to hax0r on Fri Apr 24 2026 09:17 pm
So is it still failing the vert.bat method even after you switched
from NT services? The related log output (the "Events" window or the data/events.log file entries) might be helpful in diagnosing
why.
i believe he needs to edit the event settings so it will run in the shell. something like that. i had to do that after upgrading a while back.
my events stopped running.
Re: Synchronet 3.21e upgrade
By: MRO to hax0r on Fri Apr 24 2026 09:37 pm
i sent you a msg to vert. i'm not sure if you have the same email anymore. i can answer any questions you might have an i have some scripts that can help fix and convert your stuff so it works ok.
I got the invite and will join up. e-mail address is still valid. I did manage to track down what the problem is with the current QWK config. It seems like at some point in tim the Synchronet FTP server stopped support for PASV ftp connections.
dir229 Entering Extended Passive Mode (|||1025|)
One of the things that my vert.ftp file does is
issue a PASV command, to which it gets an "Invalid Command" response. The system is behind a 1:1 NAT so active FTP will not work.
Also, I think i have found out the culprit of my "blocked" connections. I noticed that the Synchronet Control Panel services log did not have anyactivity in it since 4/24 10:52:24p. All nodes reported "Waiting for Connection". Performing a Test-Netconnetion on port 22 and 23 returned true, however attempting to connect via Telent or SSH just hung. A socket connection was established, but there was not output. Turns out there were 4 CMD sessions on the host all stuck in the callout to vert for QWK in with:
pasvInvalid command.
ftpInvalid command.
pasv
put c:\sbbs\data\vert.rep vert.rep504 Bad port number.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
Once I killed one of these sessions the telent/ssh sessions started working again. Its pecurliar that there were 4 hung callouts and i have 4 nodes and non ofthem were able to respond.
I will look into the newer QWK config, but if it is dependent on FTP i may have an issue.
No, the Synchronet FTP server (and Vertrauen) still support passive FTP: It appears Windows' ftp.exe has never supported passive mode:
https://learn.mic rosoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1821850/ftp-exe-and-passive-mode
Maybe you were using a different ftp.exe (not from Microsoft) at some point?
and i have 4 nodes and non ofthem were able to respond.
I will look into the newer QWK config, but if it is dependent
on FTP i may have an issue.
Maybe you were using a different ftp.exe (not from
Microsoft) at some point?
Maybe you were using a different ftp.exe (not from Microsoft) at some
point?
it's possible i gave him a more robust ftp that i was handing out back then.
Speaking of cruft, I still have a bunch of modem configuration files in my CTRL folder (*.MDM). Does synchronet still support modems? Can I remove these files?
Speaking of cruft, I still have a bunch of modem configuration files in my
CTRL folder (*.MDM). Does synchronet still support modems? Can I remove
these files?
No, you can remove them.
Re: Synchronet 3.21e upgrade
By: Digital Man to Hax0r on Sun Apr 26 2026 01:06 pm
Speaking of cruft, I still have a bunch of modem configuration files in my
CTRL folder (*.MDM). Does synchronet still support modems? Can I remove
these files?
No, you can remove them.
What's the best practical advice for claning up old installation cruft? Is it doing a fresh install and comparing files/folders? Any other recommendations for things I can clean up?
Old files are harmless (unless they're really large, e.g. log files). There's the exec/cleanup.js script (you can run with jsexec) and it'll delete many old/unused files, but not all of them.
Re: Synchronet 3.21e upgrade
By: Digital Man to Hax0r on Sun Apr 26 2026 07:28 pm
Old files are harmless (unless they're really large, e.g. log files). There's the exec/cleanup.js script (you can run with jsexec) and it'll delete many old/unused files, but not all of them.
thanks for the tip. I am ot concerned about space, more my sanity when I am looking at the folders/files. some of those old files are just noise and can mask or lead me down a rabbit hole that does not exist.
Old files are harmless (unless they're really large, e.g. log files). There's the exec/cleanup.js script (you can run with jsexec) and
it'll delete many old/unused files, but not all of them.
yeah we know they're harmless but if you have been running a bbs since the early 2000's you have tons of old junk left over.
Re: Synchronet 3.21e upgrade
By: MRO to Digital Man on Sun Apr 26 2026 11:57 pm
yeah we know they're harmless but if you have been running a bbs
since the early 2000's you have tons of old junk left over.
That script actually cleaned up some stuff I probably would not have touched. I get it, its an old. Somestimes there is a pleaseant
surprise when you find an old file sitting around :)
I appreciate the help, the tips and recommendations and realize
my sychronet folder is a living thing. I'm cool with that.
| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 74 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 52:33:41 |
| Calls: | 1,101 |
| Calls today: | 1 |
| Files: | 1,339 |
| Messages: | 276,095 |