Tech Info - DTSS - Dartmouth Time Sharing System

Dartmouth Kiewit System
by
the lone ranger
Released:01-05-86

This might be some sort of on-going set of files but I doubt
it. The only way I can see that it would be is that someone else
would continue it for me as this kind of drained a bit of my
general interest in the system. I am not saying I am more
qualified than any other people to write this file but I did it
first, at least to my knowledge. Constructive criticism is
welcomed but annoying is not.
Dial up:603/643-6310 300/1200/2400/????
Another:603/643-6309 " "
Telenet:60320

You will be assigned ports according to baud rate. There are
many systems on this system and I will focus on one. D1. To
list a few more: d2,lib,u1,u2,v1,v2...
To go to one of these systems type "C ";system name (for you
BASIC programmers.) I.E. C D1. You can type HELP there also.
Oh, by the way: D1,d2 are College Timesharing, lib is a card
catalog, u1 is an Ultrix library system, u2 is a Unix, v1 and v2
are Vax's. On with this thing...

Kiewit
------

This is just to quickly give you an outline of what this
Kiewit system is. Dartmouth Kiewit has many systems hooked up to
external (modem) and internal (terminal) ports. On the Dartmouth
campus there are many terminals that transmit somewhere around
9600 baud that are open for use to the Dartmouth students. The
Kiewit system brings many well-known systems together. There are
Vax's, Unix's (Ultrix), card catalogs, and College Time Sharing
systems which is what I will focus on in this file. In
this file I will concentrate on Dartmouth College Timesharing
System 1 as it is the system I know most about. If I feel up to
it and gain more knowledge, I will write more files about the
other systems available. Of course, I mind not if other people
write continuations of this file. Feel free to use, allude to,
or merely mention this file in your others. Here we go...

DCTS1
-----

INTRODUCTION:
Somewhere around October of 1985 The Whacko Cracko Bros.
started calling the Kiewit system for various reasons. One of
which was the attraction of a BBS called DUNE. I will not get
into specifics. As phreaks/hacks began to suggest to others of
their kind that they call, the system filled. I'm not talking
flocks but maybe a group of at least 20-30 phreaks/hacks,
probably more. Orcus, aka Tom Sawyer, was the first person
that got me to call. They had a conference called XYZ. All you
had to do was type "JOIN XYZ" and there you were. What a great
place...up to 36 people on at once. I had troubles using it at
first but since I am easily bored I got better and better.
Finally I figured that anyone call into the system could set up
such a conference. It then took me a good 3 days to figure out
how. I considered myself superior to all else. In a sense I
was. I could set it up and others didn't know how. I
continually gained knowledge on different conference programs
while other phreaks/hacks began to learn. I settled into the
system and was happy, thinking I knew what I was doing. Then I
got curious which led me to doing some research. That was when
I got overloaded with things to learn about. I decided to learn
about the important and useful commands because there are WELL
OVER 1800 commands on this system. Batch files, programming in
many languages, writing your own chat program, learning about the
system from other people, multi-user games (some of which I
knew before hand). This is a system that can be an incredible
learning tool. I may be getting a little corny here but my point
is that it's for learning and not another toy for people to go
crashing.

Logging on:
Kiewit Network, Dartmouth College, port 44/24 (type HELP for
assistance)
@ c d1

Dartmouth College Time Sharing, D1
30 Dec 85, at 17:36, 089 users.

DCTS1 until 3:00 AM. List NEWS*** (12/20/85) and PCNEWS***
(12/26/85).

Special sale prices for slightly used 512k Macs & Mac XLs; list
PCNEWS***.

User number--

BBBBBBBBBB
WWWWWWWWWW
MMMMMMMMMM
########## <-- Password
(this is not as it actually
appears because this file is a
bit less than 80 cols.)
Ok, let's go through that step by step (in honor of the
prehistoric switching system). The first thing you see is just
a general logon for the entire Kiewit Network. I typed, C D1
which translated would be Connect DCTS1. (DCTS stands for
Dartmouth College Time Sharing 1). Now there are many more
locations you can connect to and I will get into them later. For
now be satisfied with D1. Then you get the time (EST) and date.
There is a number of users, date, and announcements. At certain
times maintenance is being done on the system and you will receive
a "System not available." Call back later. To continue, it
will ask you for a User Number. Each Dartmouth student has an ID
and password to the system because there are many terminals
located all over the campus. User Numbers consist of the
student's college id number. They will be in this form:
#=Number (duh)
$=Letter
User Number--#####$ or, If you want help type HELP.
User Number--$#####
There are privileged user id's and to enter them type PR, before
entering the id. Then as I have so badly represented in this
file B's, M's, W's, and #'s will go across the screen AS EMBEDDED
BACKSPACES, not as I have shown in the file. When it is ready to
receive the password it will look as thus:
########## <-- Password
Passwords consist of the students birthdate or the first three
letters of there last name...thus the password will not fill all
of the number signs shown.
To hack at this system takes time and patience. It is good
however because it is very easy to write a hacking program that
will sequentially scan dates. After five entries it will not let
you into the system, even if you do enter a valid password.
There's the hang up. There are two solutions. One is to enter
five tries, hang up, call back. That would be an endless loop of
boredom and some minorly difficult programming. Two is to enter
four tries, enter a valid password, type "HELLO", so on and so
on. The problem with this is that you have to have a valid
password to begin with. Get that from someone else or use method
one to hack for a password, get another with method two. You may
be wondering why it is necessary to have more than one password.
The answer is simply, the more the better. It's not as though
Dartmouth leaves you mail saying, "Your password will be
devalidated on next Monday." There are rates to use the system
but I'm not sure if they actually follow through with billing.

NOTE 1:You may enter letters in upper or lower case.
NOTE 2:To save time with the entering of User Numbers and
Password try:
"User Number-- NUMBER,PASSWORD"

"You have mail waiting type MAIL SUM for a summary"
or something to that effect. That is if you have mail.
If you have mail or not you will receive the following:

Ready

You're in! Oh shit, what now? Try HELP. Wow, that makes sense.
When in doubt, type HELP! Now, you'll be reading the output
and it will tell you a few different things to "EXPLAIN." I
suggest you do so. It is very self-explanatory. Now, after
you've done your hardy load of reading you have a lot of commands
to try out. I suggest you first type "JOI(N) XYZ". At many
times during the day you might be able to find some helpful
phreak or hack.

Before we go any further I would like to mention a few things.
Upper and lower case make no difference. To be able to see your
backspaces WHICH IS CHR$(127), NOT CHR$(8), type ".ter scr.bri".
Also when I put things in << >> it's just my dumbass method
of doing it. Don't type those things in (just making sure).
Also, to get a good list of some stuff other users have written
for you to use type OLD LOGLIB***:BULLDATA and LIST or type RUN
BULBOARD***. It'll tell you how to get help.

Multi-user Activities:

Ok you've joined xyz, most likely it will be the chat program
"Xcalibur", if not "Fantasie" and "Spectre". On any of these
chat programs type "HELP" to get the list of commands. Focus on
those commands that ARE NOT for masters, magicians, etc. You
aren't one of them yet. You will get a greeting at first
something to the effect of welcoming you to the conference,
entering your name, and telling you who set up the conference.
Enter your handle, or a CR, or anything. For these conferences
simply type "T" to write a message to everyone and type two CR's
when done. To write a private message to a user type that number
You will of course have to type a CR after "T" and the number.
Explain through what you'd like. First try EXPLAIN or HELP.
Second EXPLAIN COMMANDS...Then you will have a good idea of how
it works and you can learn the specifics later (i.e. STATES,
MASTER, etc). Here is how to set up the basic multi-user
conference programs:
XCALIBUR: LIN(K) <<KEYWORD>> * X$C
(A keyword is any group of digits that will be used for it's name
(i.e. XYZ.) so to link xyz with xcalibur it'd be, LIN XYZ * X$C.)
FANTASIE: LIN <<KEYWORD>> * X$V
SPECTRE: OLD *O60200:SPECTRE
LIN <<KEYWORD>> *

The asterisk is a pseudo user limit. It sets the limit at 36
with those chat programs. Once again, Upper and lower case make
n difference. Also you may use LIN or LINK...they're both the
same, just ones shorter (took a genius to figure that out).
The conferences crash every 45 minutes allowing a new user to
link them. There are also multi-user games. Here are some of
the more popular ones...

XGALAXY: OLD *O60200:XGAL
LIN <<KEYWORD>> * Max User limit:9

POLYZORK: OLD ZORK
LIN <<KEYWORD>> *

POKER: OLD *15769V:TTI:POKER
LIN <<KEYWORD>> *

There are more games you can play yourself and set up as
multi-user games. Type, OLD GAMES***, a CR, and then LIST.
That'll list them and then give a description after the complete
list. To play these games simply type, RUN <<GAME>>***. Those
games are a bit strange. Some call for all upper case, some
don't. Some want Y or N, some want YES or NO. It's not hard to
figure out though. Then of those games you can set most of them
up as multi-user games, but not in the true sense...each player is
kind of isolated from the others in SOME of those games. Most I
should probably say.
NOTE:XYZ is rarely ever down. It has been down maybe three times
when I've called and those were early in the morning.
NOTE2:ABC is up a lot of the time and usually with a game. The
game is usually either Xgalaxy or Polyzork.
NOTE3:Polyzork can be found at ZORK every once in a while..
NOTE4:There are more x$<<letter>> things...x$f is one and I don't
remember the others.

So as to straighten up things for those of you with slower
conceptual response, type JOI or JOIN to go to these multi-user
activities (i.e. JOI XYZ, JOI ABC, JOI ZORK, or ditto except in
lower case, joi xyz, etc.). Now all of you with even the most
acute learning disabilities should be able to comprehend the
multi-user activities and how to at least learn to use them.

Right now you are no doubt wondering why I don't go into all
the commands for all these things. If I did, this file would at
least be five or ten times longer then it is now.

Personal files:

Personal files are a major help to those who cannot type that
fast or would like to write them. I will focus on batch files
for now because they are the easiest to write and use. Wouldn't
it be nice to make your backspaces actually backspace, join a
conference, and attempt to take control of it (when it crashes)
all by typing one word? Well that's not possible but if you'll
settle for two words, read on. These files are all saved under
your (well) user number's CATALOG. To get a catalog, type just
that, CATALOG. Here is a step by step method of writing, saving,
and some other stuff with perfiles. (In that case PER can stand
for PERFORM or Personal depending on your preference.)
Ready

build
Speak!
$option noabort not too tricky
$option noecho " "
brief Sets it in brief command mode
ter scr.bri Discussed earlier
lin xyz * x$c Or you can change that to a
different chat program.
joi xyz
lin xyz * x$c
joi xyz * x$c
per <<FILENAME>> Set into loop
Then hit another CR and you have a perfile. To save it type
SAVE <<FILENAME>>
To save with a password type
SAVE <<FILENAME>>,<<PASSWORD>>
To save so anyone (with that user id) can use it but needs a
password to change it type
SAVE <<FILENAME>>,<<PASSWORD>>;rl,rwal
You can read on the other password and save functions by
EXPLAIN SAVE, EXPLAIN PASSWORD, EXPLAIN SAVE PASSWORD.

Then to execute the file type PER <<FILENAME>>. If it has a
password as in the second one above, type PER
<<FILENAME>>,<<PASSWORD>> or PER <<FILENAME>> and it will as for
a password.
To execute a file with a no-change password just type PER
<<FILENAME>>.
Editting these damn things is a pain. Instead of going into it
with you just type EXPLAIN EDIT.

Those are the VERY basics! I mean basic! I will now give
you a list of some of the other commands as listed by Dartmouth
(I downloaded it from them). I will include a few lists...
I will shorten a line or two for cosmetic purposes.

exp command list

SYSTEM COMMANDS (12 June 1984)
82-line explanation.

This file gives a brief description of each system command
recognizes by the Simple Monitor, or SIMON -- type EXPLAIN SIMON
for a description of the Simple Monitor. (Type EXPLAIN COMMANDS
for a description of commands most useful to a beginner user.)
For a more detailed description of many of these commands, type
EXPLAIN commandname COMMAND, where "commandname" is the name of
the command that you want described.

Command Description

account gives accounting (CRU usage) information
append adds alter file to end of current file, no sorting
background submits a job to the Background Monitor
bill gives billing information for specified months
bind produces a directly executable version of a program
brief suppresses or abbreviates information from Simon
build allows entering of information without line numbers
bye terminates your session with DCTS
calculate evaluates arithmetic expressions
catalog gives information about saved files and catalogs
change changes how files and catalogs are saved
compile produces machine-language version of a program
create creates files and catalogs
debug invokes a debugger for certain programming languages
difference compares files
direct accepts all characters exactly as sent (see BUILD)
dump diagnostic aid for systems programmers
edit invokes the EDIT editor
enter changes your current catalog
execute
runs a specified file; may change your current file
explain gives information on specified topics
fullduplex ** tells DCTS to echo characters typed
goodbye terminates your session with DCTS
halfduplex ** tells DCTS not to echo characters typed
hello allows you to change user numbers
help gives information on available help
home shortcut for ENTER *MYCAT; re-enters user-number catalog
ignore discards line-numbered alterations to your current file
join connects your terminal to a multiterminal conference
keyboard reverses the effect of a previous TAPE command
length gives the length of your current file
link establishes a multiterminal conference
list lists your current file or a specified file
mail invokes the mail program
maximum sets resource usage limits on subsequent run activities
migrate requests the migration of specified files
monitor changes to a different monitor
nbrief cancels the effect of a previous BRIEF command
new creates a new (empty) current file
nparity ** tells DCTS not to send fill characters
old makes your current file a copy of a saved file
perform takes commands from the specified file
preference changes the storage preference for your current file
punch punches specified file onto paper tape
qed invokes the QED editor
recover requests recovery of migrated files
redact invokes the REDACT screen editor
rename changes the name of the current file
replace replaces a saved file with your current file
run runs a program
save saves a copy of your current file
scratch discards the contents of your current file or a specified file
sort sorts the contents of your current and alters files
stringedit invokes the STRING editor
system changes your current system (programming language)
tape tells DCTS that input will come from paper tape
terminal tells DCTS what kind of terminal you are using
test varies by programming language (see EXPLAIN TEST)
text invokes the TEXT editor
unsave unsaves your current file or a specified file
users tells you how many people are using your current monitor
what gives you information about your session
xtest uses current catalog for Basic6 program tests
xtv uses experimental editor for Datamedia terminals

** Soon to be removed; use the TERMINAL command instead.

You may also use the experimental version of many modules and
programs by preceding the commands name with an x (for example
XREDACT).

Well that is enough of that shit. By cosmetic purposes I meant
that many of those descriptions fell on another line. One still
does. For a complete list of all commands type
CATALOG CLIMB OF :HELP
which gives you all commands and then trees off onto each
one for subcommands and subsubcommands etc. I suggest you get
this at your earliest convenience. It's about 25-30K.

Ok, let us remember a few things. Thou shalt not save
conspicuous file names in thine own's catalog as this action may
lead to faster devalidation. Thou shalt not be a prick. Thou
shalt not harass other users. Thou shalt not ask how to crash
yonder system as to do so would be not only stupid but you also
would have to be a fuckup. Thou shalt not show that thine is
using a hacked password (hmm sure takes a smart one to know
that). Thou shalt not send loads of mail as thou may get replies
and since the real owner may not know yon people thine trickery
could be shortened. I stress, don't be an ass! This is a truly
interesting system with a hell of a lot of potential that you
have to unlock yourself (that sucks). Learn from it. With
it's many languages and many functions you can find constructive
things. Ask people "How do I do this" they will help. I suggest
first asking a phreak/hack. Good luck.

Well now that I'm done with the corny part...here are the
credits.
Thanks to Orcus aka Tom Saywer for suggesting that I call.
Thanks to the Whackos for indirectly suggesting.
Thanks to Clashmaster for showing me BULBOARD***.
Thanks again to Clashmaster for SCREWING WITH 58107s's files!
And Thanks to Slave Driver for posting a little info that helped.
Thanks to Devon something or other (58107S) your password has
provided many phreaks/hacks with the opportunity to use this
system.

DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS....