My recommendation is dig out your old PC and do a refurb. A quieter PSU can be obtained for $20 and a couple of low rpm fans for $20
I just built a "new" retro machine and I am having a blast! An intel SE440BX-2 motherboard, PIII 500MHz CPU 384 RAM 3.5" & 5.25 Drive, 4 hard drives (two of which are dedicated to FreeDOS; ISA ESS 1868 Audiodrive Card, PCI Yamaha YMF724 card I had about half the parts on hand, so my additional cost was about $150 (Motherboard, CPU, RAM , case, PSU and Fans). On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 5:52 AM, Xavier Dury <kal...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Thanks for all the feedback! :-) > > As I said before, DOSBox is not an option to me as I have already done it > before on my PC and my RPi (there is nothing hard/challenging in installing > DOSBox on windows or linux)... and don't get me wrong: I have absolutely > nothing against emulators. It's just that I work everyday with > linux/windows, hypervisors, containers, (java) VMs. > > I wanted to try something different in my free time and somehow go back to > my roots (DOS). > > I initially wanted to run rpix86 on a RPi2 for its tiny form factor but it > can only emulate a 486@20Mhz which is a bit slow for the last DOS games > like Quake, DN3D, Magic Carpet, Hi-Octane... So I thought, why not use a > recent x86 as DOS was intended to be run on instead of an ARM one. > > I knew beforehand that it was going to be a challenge as I had so many > questions (how does DOS behave with USB keyboard and mouse, UEFI, SATA, > sound chips?) but that's where the fun is. > > And I chose FreeDOS over MS-DOS because I had better hope it could handle > the last x86 evolutions (the last version is only 4 years old while the > last MS-DOS came with windows 98). > > So, that's why I wanted to know if someone already did it: > > - If yes then what are the difficulties? > - If no then why? > - Is it because nobody thought about doing that before? (I hardly doubt it) > - Is it because it's not possible anymore? > - Then, at what point in the x86 evolution have we lost the capability to > run DOS (which ruled that platform for years)? > > Now that I know that current sound chips aren't SB compatible at all, this > is a blocking issue. > > The 2 options I got left are indeed use DOSBox on linux (and launch DOSBox > on boot to have something that looks like an old DOS computer) or dig up my > old Pentium@166Mhz from the basement (but its size and noise are not so > convenient and won't please my wife :-) ). > > Once again, thank you for the great discussion and information. > > Regards, > > Xavier > > ---------------------------------------- > > From: dennis.mccun...@gmail.com > > Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2016 19:13:18 -0500 > > To: freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > > Subject: Re: [Freedos-user] FreeDOS on a compute stick > > > > On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 6:49 PM, Rugxulo <rugx...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 5:43 PM, dmccunney <dennis.mccun...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >>> On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 6:31 PM, Rugxulo <rugx...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>>> > >>>> Maybe I misunderstood you, but you seem intent to *only* run atop this > >>>> new Intel Compute stick thingy. Have you never tried a bootable USB > before? > >>> > >>> His stated intent is to run old DOS games on a cheap HD monitor with > >>> the Compute Stick plugged into it. A bootable USB drive requires a > >>> computer to plug it into so you can boot from it. The Compute Stick > >>> *is* a bootable computer. > >> > >> Great, but so is the machine he's sending email from (which, more than > >> likely, already has a BIOS). > > > > Yep. But what if that's not what he wants to use that computer for? > > He's looking at a cheap, dedicated games device. > > > >> Besides, he hasn't bought either the stick *or* the monitor yet! > >> Surely he must've known that a simple bootable USB jump drive is > >> easier to find and get working (and cheaper too). > > > > I'm certain he does. At the moment, he's exploring whether his notion > > is doable. > > > > The answer seems to be, if he gets one that boots Windows or Linux and > > installs DOSBox, he can do it. If he insists on using FreeDOS, he has > > a problem because he may not be able to get it to boot due to the > > Compute Stick design. > > ______ > > Dennis > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > > Freedos-user mailing list > > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user >
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