I tried to replace UPX with aPack 0.99b by Joergen Ibsen (a.k.a. Jibz), and thus saved 1.3 KB of compressed kernel size! Here's the trick: As DOS4GW used by WMAKE is incompatible with the PMODE/W DOS extender bound in APACK.EXE, that DOS extender must first be unbound from APACK.EXE to get a Linear Executable (.LE) file, for example using the E_OS extender's UNBIND utility, and then make DOS4GW execute the LE file. For this it's sufficient, after getting the APACK.LE file, to replace the XUPX line in CONFIG.BAT ("XUPX=upx --best --crp-ms=999999 --nrv2b" for me) with this:
set XUPX=dos4gw c:\bin\apack.le -x1 kernel.exe
I've now prepared the precompiled kernel binary (OpenWatcom 1.2, FAT32, 8086) in ROMDSK this way. (It always contains the latest CVS kernel.) Last note: aPack-ed programs can be freely distributed for non-commercial purposes, but otherwise require a license (the fee is $29 for individual users and $95 for companies, see http://www.ibsensoftware.com/products_aPACK.html).
Enjoy your just freed 1.3 KB of precious boot disk (ROM) space! ;-)
Lucho
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