# What was the actual procedure for getting BBS service in early 1988? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479 "2015-02-01T02:49:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/61 "2015-02-09T15:57:49Z")
> [@Cabin\_Fever](#): > > As a talking point, 1988 is pretty early for for all this. Not really. I was dialing in to BBS services in 1983. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/62 "2015-02-09T16:14:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Back in the pre-USB days you couldn’t just plug new hardware into your computer. You had to open up the case and find an empty “slot”. There were also little metal strips in the back of your computer and you’d remove one of these that was next to the empty slot you planned to use. Your new hardware (like a modem) would have this plastic card with a bunch of circuits on it. You’d slide the card into one of the empty slots and the end of the card would have a plug that would line up with the hole in the back of your computer. You’d then put your case back on your computer and connect your modem into the new plug you had just installed. However, some computers came with modems right out of the box (often times in one of those very slots), and so not all users needed to do any hardware installation to get onto a BBS. Also, there were external modems available that would plug into an old-fashioned serial (RS-232) port. For you little kids, this is not the same thing as USB. You also might need to configure IRQ lines or other settings for your modem. “Plug and play” was several years in the future. We are talking about getting your hands dirty and changing jumpers on circuit boards. Sometimes they might provide an easier switch that you could just toggle. But you had to _do_ something other than just plug it in. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/63 "2015-02-09T19:10:52Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > [QUOTE=Little Nemo] > Back in the pre-USB days you couldn’t just plug new hardware into your computer. You had to open up the case and find an empty “slot”. This is nonsense. Computers had serial ports for modems decades before USB was around. [/QUOTE] Not entirely. Most had a serial port, and you could plug in an external router to that, unless it was already in use by something else, like a mouse. \*\*Nemo \*\*is describing installing an internal modem. A lot of the newer, high end PCs then would come with an internal modem. In '88 I had a PS2 mod 25, which I had installed an internal modem into. That was a bear to do. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/64 "2015-02-09T19:29:47Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Not really. I was dialing in to BBS services in 1983. I wasn’t quite that early (that was before I got a computer), but certainly by the late 80s. I knew plenty of folks BBSing or using online services like Compuserve or Quantum Link by 1987 or so. (Compuserve started in 1979 and Q-Link in late 1985). I remember the mid-80s issues of Family Computing being full of Compuserve ads and weird Compuserve style email addresses, which were something like “72345,1234.” Heck, didn’t _War Games_ in 1983, have the main character dialing up to a BBS somewhere in there? I know he logged into the school computer and the government computer, but it seems like the existence of BBSes was at least implied in the movie, but it’s been a couple years since I’ve seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/65 "2015-02-09T20:00:03Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > FWIW, in those days a CompuServe Id was a number like 74230,1056. (Amazingly, reading this thread brought my Id out of dusty long term storage) 73457,452 Baybeeeee If your second sequence only had 3 digits, you were old skool. 😃 I joined Compuserve in 88. It came in a big grey box like a hardback book, $50 with a $50 credit. Functionally free but they weren’t just giving it away quite yet. Mostly I just played Scott [?someone?'s] Adventure and wasted time in chat rooms. Edit: our modem was external and blazing fast 4800 bps. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/66 "2015-02-09T20:42:23Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Mostly I just played Scott [?someone?'s] Adventure and wasted time in chat rooms. Scott Adams, I assume? I remember those from the Vic-20 years. Had a bunch of his games, including “Pirate’s Cove.” (I want to say there were five for the Vic-20. Adventure, Pirate’s Cove, The Count, Voodoo Castle, and some spy one. Secret Mission, I think.) “Pirate’s Cove” is where I first learned the word “flat” to mean “apartment” and “doubloon.” ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/67 "2015-02-09T21:32:12Z")
Haha, yeah – I wrote “Scott Adams” then I reminded myself “that’s the Dilbert guy” so I thought I misremembered. I recall if you tried the Adventure magic words (one was “xyzygy”) in Zork, funny things would happen. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/68 "2015-02-09T22:57:15Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > It was all sorts of special when you logged in and someone else was logged in at the same time and the two of you could chat. Almost as special as being called in to chat with the Sysop, but not quite as scary. How often were you fooled by Robo-Sysop? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/69 "2015-02-10T03:42:11Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I recall if you tried the Adventure magic words (one was “xyzygy”) in Zork, funny things would happen. XYZZX. Also ‘plugh’. ---
**Author:** ![sweepkick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/70 "2015-02-10T05:29:53Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > XYZZX. Also ‘plugh’. [XYZZY](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xyzzy_(computing)) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/71 "2015-02-10T09:18:06Z")
In the UK, the equivalent of Compuserve was called Microlink … it was definitely operational before 1988 … I remember being hooked up to it in 1986. It was also bloody expensive …,.IIRC a quarterly subscription was something like £125.GBP At that time of course, everything was expensive …I remember buying a Star dot matrix printer in 1986 for £345 GBP ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/72 "2015-02-11T01:53:15Z")
> [@sweepkick](#): > > [XYZZY](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xyzzy_(computing)) > > 🙂 A hollow voice says, “fool.” ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/73 "2015-02-11T03:08:46Z")
> [@sweepkick](#): > > [XYZZY](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xyzzy_(computing)) > > 🙂 I blame my phone keyboard. There is no way that is not the last earthly word to pass through my brain before I die. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/74 "2015-02-11T03:19:04Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Haha, yeah – I wrote “Scott Adams” then I reminded myself “that’s the Dilbert guy” so I thought I misremembered. > > I recall if you tried the Adventure magic words (one was “xyzygy”) in Zork, funny things would happen. Wait. Now I’m wondering if we’re talking about two different things. Scott Adams’ game was _Adventureland_ (or “Adventure Land” on the Vic-20 cartridge. I personally remember it simply as “Adventure,” and [this screenshot shows I’m not going crazy](http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/202535-adventureland-vic-20-screenshot-title-screen-asking-if-you.jpg), but the cartridge images I could find online all are “Adventure Land.”) You must be talking about _Colossal Cave Adventure_, which was William Crowther (expanded by Don Woods.) That would make a bit more sense, as that would more likely be the text adventure game you’d find on a BBS or mainframe, and that’s the one with the XYZZY magic word (unless Scott Adams also incorporated it as a nod to Crowther. I never got to the end of Adventure(land), so I don’t know for sure.) ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/75 "2015-02-11T21:41:10Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] +++ ATH0 [/QUOTE] I remember knocking people off of the CIS “CB” system by figuring out how many spaces needed to be added to the beginning of a line to make it wrap to the next on-screen line, then typing NO CARRIER Some comm apps of that era would cheerfully accept that as a message from the modem and drop the connection. :smack: Could be worse. My very first comm app was IBM’s COMM.BAS, a BASIC program that would crash at the first hint of hitting backspace. Whenver that happened, I could CTRL-ALT-DEL the PC, reboot, and start the app while the external modem was still holding the connection. If memory is accurate, my last CIS ID was 76403,5166 - think I had three over the years. One thing I don’t think anyone really mentioned is that you wouldn’t get BBS service via Compuserve. They were one of the first “walled gardens” and there wasn’t a whole lot of outside connectivity other than perhaps taking a stab at searching for something via GO ARCHIE. I’m just trying to remember the service I used to save on long-distance phone bills for reaching distant boards. Tymshare, perhaps? For something like ten or fifteen bucks a month, you could get evening and weekend access to dial in with a local number, then use the system to dial the number you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479/76 "2015-02-13T02:05:58Z")
Just because I’m astonished that this bit of info just surfaced from the depths, let me leave this here… 74765,1445 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-actual-procedure-for-getting-bbs-service-in-early-1988/711479.md?page=3)