MRC How to get Working

[fc757]

I've been trying to get MRC working on my BBS. It seems to connect and I can't see anything. I also don't see myself on another BBS running MRC.

This is what it looks like on my side, /? or any commands don't display anything:

This is how my MCI codes are:

This is what I see on your BBS:

this is my config:

---

chatServers: {
    // multi relay chat settings. No need to sign up, just enable it.
    // More info: https://bbswiki.bottomlessabyss.net/index.php?title=MRC_Chat_platform
    mrc: {
        enabled: true
        serverHostname: mrc.bottomlessabyss.net
        serverPort: 5000
        retryDelay: 10000
        multiplexerPort: 5000
    }
}

---

this is my menu config for it:

---

    mrc: {
        desc: MRC Chat
        module: mrc
        art: MRC
        config: {
            cls: true

            //  max lines kept in scrollback buffer
            maxScrollbackLines: 500
        }
        form: {
            0: {
                mci: {
                    MT1: {
                                                    mode: preview
                                                    autoScroll: true
                                            }
                    ET2: {
                        argName: inputArea
                        submit: true
                        focus: true
                    }
                }
                actionKeys: [
                    {
                        keys: [ "escape" ]
                        action: @systemMethod:prevMenu
                    }
                    {
                        keys: [ "down arrow", "up arrow", "page up", "page down" ]
                        action: @method:movementKeyPressed
                    }
                ]
                submit: {
                    *: [
                        {
                            value: { inputArea: null }
                            action: @method:sendChatMessage
                        }
                    ]
                }
            }
        }
    }

---

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[fc757]

I updated my theme.hjson from the latest github entry and I can now see people, but I can't seem to message anyone or see anything in the chat window message wise. Looks like it does the same thing on your bbs. I guess it's a work in progress. :)

[NuSkooler]

Interesting, they must have decided to change the protocol. It was working very recently - I use it! I'll try and take a look, but I won't have much time for a few weeks I imagine.

[NuSkooler]

@fc757 I did hop on my board yesterday and try MRC for a bit and all was well. Can you create some logs?

[marralser]

Hi both,

I seem to have a related problem, but with a slightly differnt symptom. Once the BBS is freshly started, I can nicely enter the MRC, chat, ect so all functions seem up and working. But often the connection is 'lost' after a few days of running the BBS (mostly- not always)- and then it looks similar here as fc757 described it on his system. I scrolled though the logs, but didn't find anything suspicious. When I restart the BBS, all is back to normal. Does this ring a bell? Is there something I could check?

[NuSkooler]

@marralser Are you using the latest version? A number of fixes were pushed to the mrc.js module to handle updates that had been made to the MRC servers/protocol recently.

Might double check git pull origin master && npm install. Otherwise, may need trace logs enabled, which may expose what is going on.

[marralser]

Dear Bryan, I use 0.0.14-beta, I'll try with the trace level logs, thanks!

[NuSkooler]

@marralser master is currently 0.0.14-beta, so you might still try a git pull and see if anything new comes down -- updates are pushed there often.

Feel free to drop the logs here or email me if you'd like me to look for anything suspicious.

[marralser]

Ok this is how the logs look like

During login:

[2024-12-08T08:24:25.448Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: Handshaking with MRC server (server=MRC)
handshake: |08RaLsEr LaB~ENiGMA½-BBS_0.0.14-beta/linux.x64/1.3.1
[2024-12-08T08:24:25.449Z] INFO: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: Connected to MRC server (server=MRC, host=mrc.bottomlessabyss.net, port=5000, retryDelay=10000)

thats how it looks when I start MRC after rebooting the BBS, when it all works

[2024-12-08T12:25:49.879Z] TRACE: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: Looking for MCI configuration key (mciKey=ETMTTLTLTLTL)
[2024-12-08T12:25:49.879Z] TRACE: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: Using generic configuration
[2024-12-08T12:25:49.911Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: Sending server command (module=mrc, command=IAMHERE)
[2024-12-08T12:25:49.915Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: User connected (server=MRC, user=opus7)
[2024-12-08T12:25:50.015Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: Sending server command (module=mrc, command=NEWROOM:lobby:lobby)
[2024-12-08T12:25:50.116Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: Sending server command (module=mrc, command=USERLIST)
[2024-12-08T12:25:50.117Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1951749 on markus-1038ddg: Sending server command (module=mrc, command=STATS)

And this is how it looked liked when it didn’t work, after the BBS was up for a day. Logs looks pretty similar though

[2024-12-08T08:22:10.360Z] TRACE: ENiGMA½ BBS/1948483 on markus-1038ddg: Looking for MCI configuration key (mciKey=ETMTTLTLTLTL)
[2024-12-08T08:22:10.360Z] TRACE: ENiGMA½ BBS/1948483 on markus-1038ddg: Using generic configuration
[2024-12-08T08:22:10.382Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1948483 on markus-1038ddg: Sending server command (module=mrc, command=IAMHERE)
[2024-12-08T08:22:10.384Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1948483 on markus-1038ddg: User connected (server=MRC, user=opus7)
[2024-12-08T08:22:10.484Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1948483 on markus-1038ddg: Sending server command (module=mrc, command=NEWROOM:lobby:lobby)
[2024-12-08T08:22:10.585Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1948483 on markus-1038ddg: Sending server command (module=mrc, command=USERLIST)
[2024-12-08T08:22:10.585Z] DEBUG: ENiGMA½ BBS/1948483 on markus-1038ddg: Sending server command (module=mrc, command=STATS)

I pulled the latest mrc.js (but it was already the version I had), and I tested with and without, ssl, result identical.

[marralser]

Thinking loud : could it be a workaround, to write a routine that starts the mrc.js with each login, rather than when the BBS starts? My BBS (like most others these days) is not so frequently visited, so most of the time no one is logged in ;-)