Atari Message Information System

Atari Message Information System[1]
Original author(s)Tom Giese[2]
Developer(s)Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts[3][4]
Initial release1983[3]
Written inAtari BASIC
PlatformAtari XL/XE
Size48K
TypeBulletin Board System
Licensepublic domain

The Atari Message Information System (AMIS) was one of the first BBS (Bulletin Board System) software packages available for the Atari 8-bit computers.[1] It was known to crash pretty often and could not be left unattended for more than a few days.[citation needed] The autorun.sys file which contained the modem handler was at cause. Versions of the AMIS BBS were modified with the modem handler (written by Atari) supplied with the Atari XM301 modem and was deemed much more stable.

The original AMIS BBS software was written in Atari BASIC by Tom Giese member of the MACE (Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts). The program included instructions for building a "ring detector" circuit for the board maintainer's modem (Atari 1030 modem) to enable it to answer incoming calls – modems at the time were most often capable of making outgoing calls, but not receiving incoming ones. The one exception being the Atari XM301 modem which had a ring detector built-in.

A sector editor was required for the BBS maintainer to manually allocate message space on their disk, one hex byte at a time.

As of March 2021, there is still an active AMIS BBS, called Amis XE, that one can connect to using telnet (amis86.ddns.net:9000) or a web client provided by the Telnet BBS Guide.[5]

  1. ^ a b AMIS - ATARI: 400/800 The AMIS BBS was written in BASIC by people from the Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts. It included designs for a ring-detector. You needed a sector editor and had to allocate message space by hand, hex byte by hex byte.
  2. ^ Atari 8-Bit Computers: Frequently Asked QuestionsSection - 10.2) What programs can I use to host a BBS on the Atari?:, AMIS BBS -- The Atari Message Information Service, original version by Tom Giese of Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts. pd.
  3. ^ a b Atari Terminal - Getting started with data communications, ANTIC VOL. 2, NO. 2 / MAY 1983, AMIS, from the Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts, which has the XMODEM filetransfer protocol
  4. ^ AMIS BBS, Category: Communications, Publisher/Developer: BELLCOM , Michigan Atari Computer Enthusiasts, Computer type: Atari XL/XE, Computer language: Atari BASIC, Release date: 1983, Modification: Jim Steinbrecher , Larry Burdeno, Development: Tom Giese, Media format: Diskette, RAM requirements: 48K, Atari 8-bit Forever by Bostjan Gorisek
  5. ^ "Amis XE". Telnet BBS Guide. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.