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I have been messing around bbses lately and want to download some things off them but can't figure out how to on Ubuntu server 18.04. I have tried quite a few things. I know that it is modem downloads so I tried getting Irzsz with the command

sudo apt-get install - y Irzsz

and it won't work when I go to download things off of the bbs server. The message I get back is failed to download 123.zip. The install and download of Irzsz worked fine did I forget to configure something for Irzsz to work?

The downloads are xmodem and ymodem. What am I doing wrong?

user212463
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    Welcome to the site. In order for contributors to be able to point you in the right direction, please edit your post to include further relevant information, in particular the Linux flavor and version (it looks like a Debian derivative, but which one?), and the exact error message you get when you try to donwload including the command-line you used. – AdminBee May 19 '20 at 07:12
  • @AdminBee Is that better? – user212463 May 19 '20 at 07:38
  • Please copy/paste the full error message you get from apt-get (everything between the command and the next shell prompt). While doing so, can you also check whether you copy/pasted the command itself correctly? – nohillside May 19 '20 at 07:54
  • @user212463 unless you are using a PPA (or other third-party package repository) it would be highly unusual to have a package name with an uppercase letter (such as the I). A package search yields nothing. So I'm afraid you need to give more context. – 0xC0000022L May 19 '20 at 07:55
  • @nohillside it is not really an error message, it just fails to download files from a bbs. The install of the Irzsz goes fine. – user212463 May 19 '20 at 07:56
  • @0xC0000022L this is the package page, https://www.ohse.de/uwe/software/lrzsz.html – user212463 May 19 '20 at 07:57
  • @user212463 wait wait wait ... you're making no sense. The command you give apt-get install would attempt to locate the package whose name you gave as Irzsz in one of the package repositories registered under /etc/apt/sources.list{,.d} and fail if no such package exists. Unless you have other package sources than are available by default, this will fail. Obviously. But the whole "downloading" business you mention makes only sense insofar that the package would have to be downloaded. – 0xC0000022L May 19 '20 at 07:59
  • @0xC0000022L Yea I downloaded and installed Irzsz. So then I telnet into a bbs server and try to download some files off of it which is done only by xmodem or ymodem. The download then fails from the bbs to my computer. But the bbs is working fine so it is not an issue on that end. – user212463 May 19 '20 at 08:06
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    Your question indicates problems with apt-get, your comments indicate problems with something else. Please edit your question to describe the actual problem you are facing. Also, if xmodem/ymodem support debug options (check the manpage) make sure to run them with debugging enabled to get more details. – nohillside May 19 '20 at 08:39
  • sudo apt-get install - y Irzsz is totally irrelevant for your question. How are you calling xmodem/ymodem, what is the result, what do the log file and the debug output say? – nohillside May 19 '20 at 08:52
  • @nohillside Is it ok if I create a video of what I am doing and share it via s3 bucket? I don't quite know how I could explain it without showing it. – user212463 May 19 '20 at 08:55
  • Some screenshots might be enough in that case. Or you describe step by step what you are doing and where the result is unexpected. – nohillside May 19 '20 at 09:10
  • OK. First I put one text file in my profile que to download. Then I go to download it and I select the xmodem protocol to download. I run the download and it starts going well then it finishes and says failed to download. It should just download striaght to my home folder. – user212463 May 19 '20 at 09:22
  • If that doesn't help I will provide screenshots in 5-6 hours. I just realized what time it is and I have to wakeup for some school stuff in a few hours. I am really sorry. – user212463 May 19 '20 at 09:25

1 Answers1

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In order to use modem-style protocols, you need a communications program that can run an external rx/rb/sx/sb utility from the lrzsz package and temporarily pass the communication stream to it until the utility exits, or has the equivalent functionality built-in. The ordinary telnet command can't do that, and so it's unsuitable for downloading files from BBSes.

C-Kermit (package name ckermit in Ubuntu) is a communications program that supports both the Telnet network protocol and Xmodem file transfers.

For Xmodem and Ymodem file transfers, you typically have to first give the BBS a command to prepare for the file transfer, and then another command to your local communications program to actually transfer the file (before the BBS's file transfer function times out). The Zmodem protocol includes a feature that allows communications programs that support it to auto-detect the beginning of a Zmodem file transfer, and so it would be easier to use.

Also note that the package that contains the stand-alone Xmodem/Ymodem/Zmodem tools is not "Irzsz" but lrzsz (lower-case L instead of upper-case I).

This old list of Linux telnet clients for BBS access might be useful to you.

telcoM
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