Hi all,

I just wanted to post about a small issue we've been having on our board for the last few weeks.

When multiple users log in at the same time, they only ever show up on Node 1 instead of 2 and 3 etc. I sometimes leave my client open and logged into the BBS and I've stopped getting pop up notifications when a caller logs in and there isn't any node info showing in the Who's Online list?

I checked the error log and I'm seeing the following error:

Cannot write to mysticbbs\data\chat1.dat Code=2 PID=161300

It seems the node info data isn't being written for some reason. I've copied the data files to the server from previous back ups but they are deleted
when all callers have logged out.

Everything was working ok a few weeks back, so before I try anything like a roll back, I just wanted to fire it out to you guys to see if this sounds familiar to anyone.

Cheers!

... Amiigggaaaaaaaa.!!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/64)
* Origin: Retro32 BBS (21:1/215)

Hey fuzion!

On Sat, 27 Dec 2025 16:41:58 +0000, you wrote:

I checked the error log and I'm seeing the following error:

Cannot write to mysticbbs\data\chat1.dat Code=2 PID=161300

Seems you may have had a user logoff ungracefully (loss of connection, forced hangup, whatever), causing chat1.dat to get stuck. As you've already noticed and stated, that file is probably supposed to be deleted/overwritten when a user logs off.

Try manually deleting it, and let the next user that calls/logs in re-create it. If you have more of them in your other node directories, you may want to try deleting those too.

Hope that helps..

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

When multiple users log in at the same time, they only ever show up on Node 1 instead of 2 and 3 etc. I sometimes leave my client open and

You must use the "NodeSpy" util (on Mystic DIR) and Kill the process that is stuck on node 1.

... Smile! It makes people wonder what you've been up to.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Gods69 BBS (21:3/220)

Hey Accession,

Seems you may have had a user logoff ungracefully (loss of connection, forced hangup, whatever), causing chat1.dat to get stuck.

Try manually deleting it, and let the next user that calls/logs in re-create it.

Thanks for the comeback. I suspected the issue was more on the server side
than a problem with the writing of the data files and i managed to get to the bottom of it this afternoon.

I managed to locate a rogue "mis" task running in the background apps on the server. It was waaaaay down in the task manager, so I didn't notice it before. After forcing a shutdown, everything seems to be playing nicely again and the node logging is back to normal.

It's always those little problems that aren't disastrous but more annoying that are the worst! :)

Cheers & all the best.

... Professional tracker, progressive pattern hacker!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/64)
* Origin: Retro32 BBS (21:1/215)

Hi Gods69,

You must use the "NodeSpy" util (on Mystic DIR) and Kill the process
that is stuck on node 1.

NodeSpy is always the first thing I check when something like this happens,
so all was good there. Check my reply to Accession for the solution. ;)

Thanks for the response.

... [cLiCK].. carrier lost. Who picked up the phone??

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/64)
* Origin: Retro32 BBS (21:1/215)

Hey fuzion!

On Sun, 28 Dec 2025 17:20:28 +0000, you wrote:

I managed to locate a rogue "mis" task running in the background apps on
the server. It was waaaaay down in the task manager, so I didn't notice
it before. After forcing a shutdown, everything seems to be playing
nicely again and the node logging is back to normal.

Sounds like a ghost node. Someone logged off or hung up wierd, or while hanging up an event ran or something (like message tossing/scanning, or a poll), and the process stayed alive.

chat1.dat can be deleted manually if it's causing issues, and just as well, someone else mentioned using nodespy to kill the ghost node. Both tend to have a similar result. Your method of stopping and restarting mis will also do the same (clear all nodes, etc).

Glad you figured it out and got it back to normal!

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

Hi Nick,

Sounds like a ghost node. Someone logged off or hung up wierd, or while hanging up an event ran or something (like message tossing/scanning, or
a poll), and the process stayed alive.

Yeah, it was a bit of a random one this time. When this has happened in the past, we get a dead "mystic" process hanging around and it slows the server down which is usually a tell tale sign.

With this one being a "mis" process hovering in the background, it was easy
to miss (no pun intended). At least I know what to look out for next time, every day is a school day as they say. :)

Cheers!

Darren

... hO! hO! hO!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/64)
* Origin: Retro32 BBS (21:1/215)