a314BSD — bsdsocket.library over A314

Replaces bsdsocket.library on the Amiga with a proxy that forwards all AmiTCP-compatible BSD socket calls to a Python service on the Raspberry Pi. The Pi's TCP/IP stack does the actual networking; the Amiga 68000 does nothing.

Tested working: AWeb / IBrowse (HTTP), smb2fs (SMB shares), ping, wget.

HTTPS? This base library is deliberately SSL-free. For HTTPS/TLS, add the companion a314SSLlib project (separate, not published yet) — it layers AmiSSL-compatible TLS on top of this base (TLS offloaded to the Pi), with no changes to a314bsd.

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Requirements

• A314 expansion board and a314d running on the Pi
• AmigaOS 3.x with the A314 device driver installed
• Python 3.7+ on the Pi (uses the A314 venv automatically)
• m68k-amigaos-gcc in WSL for rebuilding the Amiga library (optional)

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Installation

Pi (one time)

# From the a314bsd/pi/ directory on the Pi:
chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh

The script:

1. Copies bsdsocket.py and bsdctl.py to /opt/a314/
2. Adds bsdsocket and bsdctl to a314d.conf
3. Grants the a314d service user write access to the flag directory (so NetBridge's network on/off can create its pause flag)
4. Restarts a314d

If your a314d.conf is somewhere unusual, name it: sudo CONF_FILE=/path/to/a314d.conf ./install.sh (otherwise the script looks in /opt/a314, /etc/opt/a314, /etc and /etc/a314, then searches).

Using a314SSLlib (HTTPS) as well? Install the Pi side from the a314SSLlib package, not this one. Its bsdsocket.py is a superset of this one; running this package's install.sh afterwards replaces it with the SSL-free version and HTTPS stops working. The Pi service keeps running across Amiga reboots, so after replacing bsdsocket.py stop the old process (sudo kill -9 <pid>; it ignores SIGTERM) and the next connect starts the new one.

After this, the services launch automatically whenever the Amiga opens bsdsocket.library or the bsdctl service. No manual startup is needed after reboots.

Amiga (one time)

Double-click Install_a314bsd (or Installer Install_a314bsd in a Shell, in the package drawer). It puts bsdsocket.library in LIBS:, bsdnet in C: and NetBridge (with its icon) in a drawer you pick, and it looks at the bsdsocket.library already in LIBS: first:

• another TCP/IP stack's (Roadshow, AmiTCP, Miami): asks before replacing it, and keeps it as LIBS:bsdsocket.library.bak (the first backup is never overwritten);
• a314SSLlib's (this proxy with HTTPS): keeps it unless you choose Replace;
• an older a314bsd: updates it without asking.

Or copy the files by hand:

bsdsocket.library  ->  LIBS:
NetBridge + NetBridge.info ->  any drawer — network control panel
bsdnet             ->  C: (or anywhere on your path) — CLI equivalent

Only bsdsocket.library is required; NetBridge and bsdnet are optional tools for pausing/resuming the proxy and pinging. No Startup-Sequence changes are needed.

Use the .lha archive if you can. A .zip loses AmigaDOS protection bits, so after unpacking a .zip make the programs executable: protect NetBridge +e and protect C:bsdnet +e (the installer does this for you).

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Usage

Any software that calls OpenLibrary("bsdsocket.library", 4) will work:

• Web browsers: AWeb, IBrowse — open normally, browse as usual
• SMB shares: smb2fs mount smb://user:pass@server/share mountpoint:
• FTP clients: any AmiTCP-compatible FTP client
• Smoke test: test_bsd example.com 80 / - not in the release archive; build it from source with make test_bsd in amiga/

Network control (NetBridge)

Pause/resume the proxy without unloading anything (backed by the bsdctl service, pi/bsdctl.py). While paused, new connections are refused with ENETDOWN; connections already open keep working.

• CLI: bsdnet stop (offline) / bsdnet start (online) / bsdnet status
• GUI: NetBridge — a small GadTools control panel with a live status line, Disconnect / Connect / Refresh, a Host field, and Ping / Net Status (results shown in a requester). Talks the bsdctl service directly, so it works even when bsdsocket.library is paused.

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Build (Amiga library)

Only needed if you modify bsdsocket.c or lib_start.S:

# In WSL:
cd /mnt/c/projects/a314bsd/amiga
PATH=/opt/amiga/bin:/usr/bin:/bin make
# Output: bsdsocket.library

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Architecture

Amiga app
  |  OpenLibrary("bsdsocket.library")
  v
bsdsocket.library (LIBS:)
  |  A314_CONNECT "bsdsocket"
  |  A314_WRITE  [opcode|seq|arglen|args]   ← request
  |  A314_READ   [seq|result|datalen|data]  ← response
  v
A314 shared memory ring buffer (252 bytes/direction max)
  v
a314d (Pi) → forks bsdsocket.py on first connect
  v
bsdsocket.py
  |  Python socket() / connect() / send() / recv() / ...
  v
Pi TCP/IP stack → network

One bsdsocket.py process handles all Amiga tasks. Each OpenLibrary call creates a new A314 stream (one per Amiga task); CloseLibrary tears it down.

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Protocol

Defined in include/bsd_proto.h.

Direction	Layout
Request (Amiga → Pi)	opcode(1) seq(1) arglen(2) inlen(2) args[arglen], then inlen bytes in raw ≤252-byte chunks
Response (Pi → Amiga)	seq(1) result(4) errno(4) outlen(2), then outlen bytes in raw ≤252-byte chunks

result >= 0: success / return value
result < 0: failure, errno holds the BSD/AmiTCP errno value

Hard limit: the A314 ring buffer is 256 bytes per direction; each packet payload must be ≤ 252 bytes, so data is streamed as raw chunks after the header. inlen/outlen are 16-bit: send()/SSL_write move at most 32 KB per call (send returns the short count, SSL_write loops internally), sendto() at most 65535 bytes, and the Pi returns at most 32 KB per recv.

Wire protocol v6 (library 4.55, 2026-09-25)

Adds two opcodes so WaitSelect() honours its signal mask (e.g. Ctrl-C) even with no timeout:

• BSDOP_PROTOVER (25): the Pi answers with its protocol version (6). The library probes once per session, the first time WaitSelect() is called with a non-empty signal mask.
• BSDOP_CANCEL (26): a bare request header, never answered. While a WAITSELECT is blocked on the Pi, the caller Wait()s on the reply and its signal mask; on a signal the dispatcher sends CANCEL, the Pi wakes its select() through a per-session self-pipe and answers the WAITSELECT normally, and WaitSelect() returns with the received signals in *sigmask. A CANCEL that arrives after the select finished is silently dropped, so there is always exactly one response.

Backward compatible both ways: a v5 Pi service answers PROTOVER with -1/EINVAL, and the library then never sends CANCEL (signals are only checked after the select returns, as before); a v5 library never sends either opcode. Update both sides to get the interruptible WaitSelect().

The same release also byte-swaps integer socket options (SO_RCVBUF, SO_LINGER, TCP_NODELAY, ...) and the FIONREAD count on the little-endian Pi, which were previously returned in the wrong byte order.

Wire protocol v7 (library 4.56, 2026-09-30)

ReleaseSocket(), ReleaseCopyOfSocket() and ObtainSocket() work (they were stubs returning -1). A daemon that accepts a connection and hands it to another process, like a BBS listener passing a caller to its node, needs them. Every opener's sockets live in the one Pi service, so the Pi keeps a table of released sockets by id (UNIQUE_ID = -1 picks one); one that is never obtained is closed after 5 minutes. Two new opcodes, BSDOP_RELEASESOCKET (27) and BSDOP_OBTAINSOCKET (28). A v6 Pi answers them like unknown opcodes, so the calls fail exactly as the old stubs did. Verified on the A1200 with NilBBS, whose listener hands every call to a node this way.

Hardware-verified 2026-09-30 on the A1200 (68030, a314 clockport, OS 3.2.3) with the a314SSLlib 4.55+ssl build and its Pi service: amiga/bsdlive against test/liveserver.py on the Pi passed 100000-byte sends and receives (4 × send(), largest 32768), and a WaitSelect() with a 60 s timeout returned 0 with SIGBREAKF_CTRL_C 5.4 s after a Break, with the next request on the same library still in step. wget (HTTP), NetHarness, AmiTime and Amelinium over HTTPS all work. A v5 Pi answered the version probe with "unimplemented opcode 25" and the library fell back as designed.

Running it: copy test/liveserver.py to the Pi and start it (python3 liveserver.py; -dump logs raw bytes instead), then on the Amiga bsdlive BIG and bsdlive WAIT (Break the process while it waits). The Pi service is spawned once and outlives Amiga reboots: after updating bsdsocket.py, kill it (kill -9; it ignores SIGTERM) while the Amiga reboots, so the next connect starts the new code.

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Known limitations / stubs

Function	Status
ObtainSocket / ReleaseSocket / ReleaseCopyOfSocket	✅ Implemented in 4.56 (needs the protocol v7 Pi service)
sendmsg / recvmsg	Returns EOPNOTSUPP
getservbyname / getservbyport	✅ Implemented
SocketBaseTagList ERRNOPTR tag	Ignored (use Errno())
HTTPS / TLS	Not in base — add the companion a314SSLlib project (separate, not published yet) (Pi-side TLS offload; Amiga clock need not be correct — the Pi verifies certs)

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Files

amiga/
  lib_start.S      ROM tag, LVO jump table (50 entries)
  bsdsocket.c      C implementation of all socket calls
  netbridge.c      NetBridge — GadTools network control panel
  bsdnet.c         CLI control tool (bsdnet start|stop|status)
  test_bsd.c       Smoke-test HTTP client (make test_bsd; not shipped)
  Makefile

include/
  bsd_proto.h      Wire protocol opcodes and packet structs
  inline/bsdsocket.h   Amiga inline stubs
  netinclude/      AmiTCP-compatible socket headers

pi/
  bsdsocket.py     Pi asyncio service
  bsdctl.py        Network-control backend (pause/resume, ping, status)
  install.sh       One-shot installer for the Pi