ATARI MUTINEER
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SysOps Guide

Operate callers, access levels, messages, files, doors, and maintenance.

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Atari Mutineer Sysops Guide

This guide covers installing, initializing, and operating an Atari Mutineer BBS from an already-downloaded ATR disk image.

For file formats and current emulator settings, also see Data And File Formats, Altirra 850 Modem, and Troubleshooting.

Install The ATR

Start with the Atari Mutineer ATR you downloaded:

atari-mutineer-v<VERSION>-16mb.atr

The 16MB release auto-boots and includes the BBS, documentation, working space, and all bundled doors in their configured D1: paths.

Keep a clean copy of the downloaded ATR before first boot. The BBS writes live user, message, file, and caller data to its disk, so your working copy becomes your live board image.

Altirra

  1. Open Altirra.
  2. Mount the Atari Mutineer ATR as drive D1:.
  3. Boot the Atari with the disk mounted.
  4. Let the auto-start sequence run.

Do not mount a Mutineer release ATR as D1: when you only want to inspect or repair it. Release ATRs auto-boot from D1:. For maintenance, boot another DOS or utility disk as D1: and mount the Mutineer ATR as a secondary disk.

Real Hardware

On real Atari hardware, use RespeQt, AspeQt, or another SIO disk utility to mount the ATR as D1: or copy the ATR contents onto a physical floppy, hard disk, or other Atari-compatible storage device.

For a direct SIO mount:

  1. Attach your SIO2PC/SIO2USB interface.
  2. Open RespeQt, AspeQt, or your preferred SIO utility.
  3. Assign the Atari Mutineer ATR to drive D1:.
  4. Boot the Atari from D1:.

For a physical floppy or hard-disk installation:

  1. Use an Atari disk-copy utility or host-side ATR utility that can copy files from the ATR to the target disk.
  2. Preserve the ATR's root files and directory structure.
  3. Make sure the target boots the same DOS environment as the ATR.
  4. Boot the Atari from the target as D1:.

Do not copy only the BASIC programs. The BBS also needs its DOS startup files, REMMS resident, configuration, menus, user database, message base, file base, and door catalog files.

Boot Flow

The auto-start ATR uses:

AUTOEXEC.BAT -> RHND850.COM -> REMMS.COM -> BASIC /I <<D1:AUTOGO
AUTOGO -> RUN "D1:>CORE>RUNBBS" -> APPMGR -> WFC

WFC waits for a carrier, prompts the caller to login or register, then loads CORE with the active caller handoff.

The local wait-for-call screen shows live time/date, call state, REMMS error bytes, and activity. Console keys on that screen are operator controls:

  • START: local sysop main menu through CORE, with access level 9.
  • SELECT: offline BBS maintenance through INIT.
  • OPTION: shut down the BBS program.
  • HELP: toggle local snooping for the current call.
  • Shift+HELP: toggle persistent sysop availability.
  • Ctrl+HELP: enter or leave sysop chat.

These controls do not have printable aliases, so caller and local input may use S, L, !, and every other printable character normally.

WFC detects ASCII versus ATASCII from the first return received after HIT <RETURN>, then resolves the matching assets through PATHREG.DAT. Callers can use the A command after login to toggle the text mode.

The BASIC prompt routines handle backspace/delete according to the selected terminal mode. REMMS handles carrier state, byte routing, and newline mirroring.

For maintenance without auto-starting the board, boot another DOS or utility disk as D1: and mount the Mutineer ATR as D2: or another secondary drive. Then use SDX copy and directory commands against the secondary drive.

First User

The first registered user is user number 1 and access level 9. Later self-registered users are access level 1.

Registration is handled by LOGIN. It asks for:

  • Full name.
  • Handle.
  • Email address.
  • Password.
  • Password confirmation.

Before the account is created, LOGIN displays a confirmation screen with the entered full name, handle, email, and masked password. The caller can create the account, edit the entered fields, or cancel registration.

The P command on the main menu opens profile editing. Callers can edit their own full name, email, and password. Level 9 sysops can also load another user and change handle, status, or access level. LOGIN rejects duplicate handles and rewrites the user record and index together.

Passwords are masked with * at the remote terminal.

Access Levels And Time

ACL.CFG controls session and daily limits:

# Level, sestime, daytime
0,0,0
1,30,90
2,45,120
3,60,180
4,90,300
5,120,300
6,300,600
7,300,600
8,300,600
9,999,999

Level 0 is banned. Level 9 is the sysop level. WFC uses the RTIME8-compatible clock to apply daily/session limits.

Do not run complete initialization against a live board unless you have a backup. It recreates live board data.

Offline Initialization

Run INIT offline from the Atari console. It can recreate:

  • CONFIG and CALLERS.DAT.
  • USERS.DAT, USERS.IDX, and NEXTUSER.DAT.
  • ACL.CFG.
  • Default message base.
  • Default file area.
  • Default DOORS.CFG.

Use complete initialization only when you intend to reset the board data.

Message Bases

Message bases use MESG?.MET, MESG?.DAT, and MESG?.IDX.

Caller commands are inside the message module:

  • Q: quick scan.
  • S: summary.
  • R: read messages.
  • E: enter message.
  • K: kill message.
  • A/L: select or list bases.
  • X: return to the main menu.

Run MSGMGR offline for sysop maintenance:

  • Create/update bases.
  • Post/read/list messages.
  • Delete/undelete messages.
  • Verify indexes and pointers.
  • Rebuild/compact active messages.

File Areas

File areas use FILE?.MET, FILE?.DAT, and FILE?.IDX.

Caller commands are inside the file module:

  • B, F, A, N: browse/list areas and files.
  • D: download by file number or name.
  • U: upload into quarantine for operator review.
  • I/H/?: file-area information.
  • X: return to the main menu.

Every caller upload is a held record under the area quarantine path. It is not listed or downloadable until approved. Run FILEMGR offline as a sysop or co-sysop (access level 8+) for maintenance:

  • Create/update areas.
  • Add file records.
  • Review held uploads and approve them into the public upload path.
  • Reject or restore records.
  • Verify physical file paths.
  • Rebuild/compact active records.

Doors

Door catalog source rows live in DOORS.CFG:

# #, Door Name, filename, path, level
1, Blackjack, BLKJACK, D1:>DOORS>BLKJACK>, 2
2, Dumjin, DUMJIN, D1:>DOORS>DUMJIN>, 2
3, Arena, ARENA, D1:>DOORS>ARENA>, 2

Door paths point into the bundled D1:>DOORS> tree. The BBS does not parse DOORS.CFG while callers are online; package/offline tooling compiles it into D1:>DATA>DOORCAT.DAT and matching door menus. If a caller selects a door whose disk/path is absent, the BBS reports DOOR UNAVAILABLE. and returns to the door menu.

For example, Dumjin is installed at:

D1:>DOORS>DUMJIN>

After changing door rows, rebuild the runtime catalog before taking calls. Door installation is an offline sysop activity.

The 16MB Mutineer ATR includes all bundled doors. Blackjack and Dumjin are REMMS doors, and Arena's caller module is REMMS-compatible as well. Arena's two overlays are local tournament setup tools.

Text Assets

Menus and static pages are included on the ATR. To customize them on a running board, edit the live copies on your working disk image or installed Atari disk, then back up that disk before making more changes.

Keep ASCII and ATASCII copies consistent when customizing a live board. ASCII and native ATASCII asset roots are configured in PATHREG.DAT; the packaged defaults are D1:>ASCII> and D1:>ATASCII>.

Caller Command Surface

Main menu commands in CORE:

  • ?: display main menu.
  • B: bulletin menu.
  • H: help text.
  • W: welcome text.
  • X: toggle expert prompt mode.
  • M: enter message area.
  • T: display text file 1.
  • E: leave feedback.
  • Y: sysop chat path. When D1:>DATA>SYSOP.CFG is 0, callers see SYSOP NOT AVAILABLE. and stay in CORE. When enabled, the local console rings three times at five-second intervals. Press the Atari START console key during that window to answer and enter line-mode SYSCHAT; the caller can cancel with Ctrl-X. Otherwise the caller is told the SysOp is unavailable but has been notified.
  • P: edit the current caller profile.
  • Q: quick logoff; immediately disconnects.
  • G: confirmed goodbye; optionally saves feedback, displays OBBS, then disconnects.
  • L: toggle line-feed mode.
  • A: toggle ASCII/ATASCII mode.
  • C: caller list.
  • D: door menu.
  • F: file area.
  • I: info text.

Message, file, and door subcommands are documented in Data And File Formats.

Testing A Board

For an emulator-hosted board, connect to the modem port exposed by Altirra. An interactive telnet client uses the named Altirra-850-interactive-telnet.ini profile with negotiation enabled. In PuTTY use Telnet and set local echo to Auto or Force off, never Force on. The default address is:

telnet 127.0.0.1 6507

Useful checks:

  • Confirm HIT <RETURN> appears.
  • Register or login.
  • Confirm Loading CORE ... appears during module changes.
  • Test ?, M, F, D, Y, Q, and G.
  • Hang up and reconnect without restarting Altirra.

Backups

Before resetting data or replacing an ATR, keep a copy of:

  • User files.
  • Caller history.
  • Message base files.
  • File area metadata.
  • Door catalog.
  • Customized text assets and config files.

A newly downloaded ATR contains baseline data files. Preserve live board data separately before replacing the deployed image or reinstalling onto new media.