PCBoard 15.4 BBS source code recovery and OpenWatcom 2.0 port.
pcbirc crew — August 2026
PCBoard was the dominant BBS software of the dial-up era, written by Clark Development Company. When Clark was closed by the bank in the late 1990s, the source code nearly disappeared. There is almost no information about PCBoard 15.4 on the web — no documentation, no downloads, no history. The software and its source were effectively lost to time.
Corey Blake purchased what may be the only source license ever sold. PWA (Pirates with Attitude) preserved that 15.3 source archive — without them, this project would not exist.
This repo takes that 15.3 source, applies every feature and change from Clark's unreleased 15.4b beta, and ports the entire codebase to OpenWatcom 2.0 for cross-compilation on modern Linux.
| Metric | Count |
|---|---|
| Source files compiling | 556/556 (100%) |
| Libraries built | 9 (268/275 files) |
| Binaries linked | 16 |
| Binary | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PCBOARD_W.EXE | 1.3MB | Main BBS engine (136 source files) |
| LOCAL_W.EXE | 1.3MB | Local login mode |
| PPLC_W.EXE | 1.3MB | PPL 3.40 compiler |
| PCBSETUP_W.EXE | 424KB | Setup utility (69 source + 32 EXTRAOBJ) |
| PCBSM_W.EXE | 221KB | System Manager (26 source + 23 EXTRAOBJ) |
| UUIN_W.EXE | 1.4MB | UUCP import |
| UUOUT_W.EXE | 1.4MB | UUCP export |
| UUUTIL_W.EXE | 1.4MB | UUCP utilities |
| UUXFER_W.EXE | 1.4MB | UUCP transfer |
| MAKEIDX_W.EXE | 37KB | Index file builder |
| USERNET_W.EXE | 28KB | User network utility |
| MKPCBTXT_W.EXE | 27KB | Text file generator |
| MAKEHELP_W.EXE | 25KB | Help file builder |
| Binary | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PCBCP_W.EXE | 77KB | OS/2 Presentation Manager control panel |
| PCBBINKP.EXE | 47KB | BinkP/1.1 FidoNet mailer (OS/2) |
| PCBBINKP_W.EXE | 62KB | BinkP/1.1 FidoNet mailer (Windows NT) |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| pcbbinkp | BinkP/1.1 mailer — poll, answer, status (FTS-1026, CRAM-MD5) |
| pcbpscan | Upload file scanner (replaces THD ProScan) |
| nlcomp | FidoNet nodelist compiler (raw nodelist to CodeBase .DBF/.NDX) |
| pcbis_ui | Installer TUI (Linux/DOS) |
All 11 original shipping binaries also build from source under BC++ 3.1 in DOSBox. See PCB154_BUILD_GUIDE.md.
pcbbinkp.exe is a standalone BinkP/1.1 mailer for FidoNet over TCP/IP. It handles transport only — connecting to remote nodes and transferring .PKT files and file attaches via Binkley-Style Outbound.
For a working FidoNet setup you also need an external tosser to process incoming mail into PCBoard message bases. The Husky suite (HPT + htick) is recommended. See section 23 of PCB1541_DRAFT.md for the full external tools guide.
Usage:
pcbbinkp poll 1:2320/100 Poll a specific node
pcbbinkp answer [port] Listen for incoming BinkP
pcbbinkp status Show outbound queue
Clean-room OS/2 serial driver with 31 bugs fixed across 3 audits.
Full 16550A/16650/16750 UART support with proper FIFO detection.
Source at addons/SIO/src/.
Cross-platform FOSSIL driver for DOS, Linux, OS/2, and Windows.
Provides serial port abstraction for BBS software running over
TCP/IP (telnet/SSH). Source at platform/fossil/.
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
| PCB1541_DRAFT.md | 2,543 lines — full specification (23 sections) |
| WHATSNEW.md | Changelog |
| FIDONET.md | FidoNet sysop guide |
| PCB154_BUILD_GUIDE.md | Build instructions |
| SETUP_GUIDE.md | Installation guide |
PCBSRC/ Clark's 15.4 source (proprietary, licensed)
MAIN/SOURCE/ C/C++ source, headers, makefiles
LIB/ Pre-built CodeBase library objects
OUT/ Compiled binaries
DOS/ DOS target (Borland C++ 3.1)
OS2/ OS/2 target (OpenWatcom 2.0)
LIBS/ CodeBase 6.5 library source (LGPL v3.0)
addons/
PCBCP/ OS/2 Control Panel source
SIO/ SIO serial driver source (GPLv3)
platform/
fossil/ FOSSIL socket layer (GPLv3)
tools/
pcbbinkp/ BinkP mailer source (GPLv3)
binkd/ binkd reference source (GPL, not our code)
nlcomp.c Nodelist compiler source
pcbfcfg.c FidoNet configurator source
pcbpscan/ File scanner source
installer/ pcbis_ui installer
docs/ Documentation
fido/ FidoNet specs (FTS/FSP/FSC)
reference/ PCBoard reference materials
patches/ Port patches (15.3→15.4, Borland→Watcom)
historical/ Preservation materials
PPL/ PPE collection (2,757 files)
devtools/ PCBoard developer kits and tools
| Handle | Role |
|---|---|
| hexadecimal | Project lead, source port |
| verta1878 | netmodem2irc, OpenOLMS |
| wrench | FOSSIL driver, netmodem2irc engine |
| sysop/0 | fpc264irc, CIADraw/PabloDraw FPC port |
| kiddo/evga | Mystic/RIPscrip reference |
| evga | SIO OS/2 driver, VMODEM |
Our additions: GPLv3 Clark Development source: proprietary (licensed) CodeBase library: LGPL v3.0 SIO OS/2 driver: GPLv3 (evga, clean-room)
- Husky FidoNet Project: https://github.com/huskyproject
- PPLEngine (PPE decompiler): https://github.com/mkrueger/PPLEngine
- SyncTerm: https://gitlab.synchro.net/main/sbbs