Advanced Guide to ThinkDOS

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Understanding the fundamentals of ThinkDOS will better allow you to understand how to fix things when someone messes up the station horribly, figure out how to send and observe network traffic, use advanced programs, and perform l33t hacking tricks like making all the status display messages on the station say "poo."

Peripherals

When you construct your computer, you can fit up to 3 peripherals on the computer mainboard. One of these should always be an ID scanner module or you won't be able to even log into the computer. The ThinkDOS command periph view will tell you what peripherals you currently have installed, their slot number, and their status. Certain peripherals are capable of special commands. To issue a command, enter periph # command, where # is the slot number and command is what you want it to do.

ID Scanner Module

Necessary for logging into a computer.

Floppy Drive Module

Adds a second floppy drive to the computer (default name sd0).

ROM Cart Reader Module

Allows the computer to read PDA CARTs. Bear in mind that you cannot directly run PDA programs on ThinkDOS as they are a different file extension.

Sound Synthesizer Module

• beep Beeps.
• speak sig Speaks [data] with the name [name] in a signal file.

Printer Module

• print file Prints a file, one at a time.

Prize Vending Module

• vend Pops out a random goody that could otherwise be won at the arcade. Takes about 45 seconds to recharge.

Limited Wireless Module

A wireless network card that is stuck at one frequency.

Wired Network Card

If the computer is on a valid data terminal, it will give the computer a numerical address and allow you to see and communicate with other devices on the same network. This is not limited to computers, for instance, the communications array is a device on the main network.

• ping Pings the network.
• transmit sig Transmits the specified signal file.

Wireless Network Card

A wireless card that allows the computer to send and receive on a specified radio frequency. There are many systems operating on many different frequencies, and you may need some experimentation to figure out what is what. A good starting point is 114.9, the frequency for PDA text message.

• mode_free Switches to free mode. The wireless card will pick up all radio traffic on its current frequency, whether or not it is specifically directed at the computer's network address. The card can also send packets without its sender ID. The trade-off is that the computer can only broadcast on a limited radius (about 8 tiles) in this mode.
• mode_net Switches to net mode. The wireless card will only receive traffic specifically addressed to it, and must specific its sender ID in outgoing packets. Its range is effectively infinite in this mode.
• # will set the wireless card to that frequency.
• transmit sig Transmits the specific signal file.

Signals: What It's All About

Almost all network traffic is in the form of signals. With the right tools, it is possible to intercept, craft, and forge your own signals. A typical signal might look like this:

[command] [text_message]
[message] [What is your favorite pony]
[sender_name] [Weedgoku420]
[address_1] [02001921]
[sender] [02002276]

Each line of the signal consists of two items, the first item identifying the type of data, the second item identifying the actual data. This packet can be broken down as such:

[command] [text_message]
This tells the PDA that this command is a text message. This is just one of many commands available.

[message] [What is your favorite pony]
This is the text of the message. Note that a computer can handle a maximum of 26 characters.

[sender_name] [Weedgoku420]
This is what the sender's name will appear as in the message. No verification of this is done whatsoever, so the PDA will happily display whatever is written in the signal file. The limitation is again 26 characters.

[address_1] [02001841]
This is the network ID of the PDA the message will be going to.

[sender] [02002872]
This is the network ID of the PDA sending the message.

SigCatcher

The best way to find signals to decipher is with the program SigCatcher, available on the Network Tools disc.

Other Programs

Ping

blah blah more to come