Equipment & Comm

equipment.toml — modem, serial port, and connection settings

This page covers config/general/equipment.toml — the file that defines how Maximus handles the connection layer. If you’re running Maximus behind MaxTel (which handles all the TCP/telnet work), most of these settings are vestigial and safe to leave at their defaults. They exist because Maximus was originally designed to answer phone calls directly through a serial modem.

If you’re running in local console mode (output = "local") or behind MaxTel, the modem strings (busy, init, ring, answer, connect) are never sent. The only setting that matters for local operation is output.

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Quick Reference

Key	Type	Default	Description
output	string	"com"	I/O mode: "com" for serial port, "local" for console
com_port	int	1	COM port number when output = "com"
baud_maximum	int	38400	Highest baud rate the system supports
busy	string	(modem string)	Command sent to the modem when a user logs off
init	string	(modem string)	Command sent when the WFC subsystem starts
ring	string	"Ring"	Substring Maximus watches for to detect an incoming call
answer	string	"ATA\|"	Command sent to answer an incoming call
connect	string	"Connect"	Substring returned by the modem on successful connection
carrier_mask	int	128	Carrier-detect bitmask — leave at default unless you know otherwise
handshaking	array	["xon", "cts"]	Flow control: xon (software), cts (hardware), dsr
send_break	bool	false	Send BREAK to clear the modem buffer (rare; most modems don’t need this)
no_critical	bool	false	Disable Maximus’ internal critical error handler

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Deep Dives

Output Mode

The output key is the most important setting here:

• "com" — Maximus talks to a serial port. This was the standard mode for dial-up BBSes. On modern systems, this is only relevant if you’re connecting through a real or emulated serial device.
• "local" — Maximus runs on the local console with no serial I/O. This is what bin/runbbs.sh -c uses for local console login.

When running behind MaxTel, the telnet supervisor handles all TCP/IP communication and passes data to Maximus through a PTY. Maximus doesn’t interact with the modem strings at all in this mode.

Modem Strings

The busy, init, answer, and connect strings use a simple escape language inherited from the DOS era:

Escape	Meaning
v	Set DTR low
^	Set DTR high
~	Pause 1 second
`	Pause 1/20th of a second
\|	End of command sequence

These strings are only meaningful if output = "com" and you’re driving a real modem. For MaxTel or local operation, they’re ignored.

Handshaking

The handshaking array controls flow control. For high-speed modem operation, cts (hardware flow control) is essential. xon enables software flow control (Ctrl-S/Ctrl-Q), which lets callers pause screen output. The defaults (["xon", "cts"]) are appropriate for most setups.

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See Also

• Core Settings — system identity, paths, and logging (maximus.toml)
• Session & Login — user experience and policy settings (session.toml)
• MaxTel — the telnet supervisor that replaces direct modem handling
• Running MaxTel — starting MaxTel in various modes