> > What version of TAR did you try? > In one of the replies, you mentioned two links to two different versions of TAR:
So, either use the latest Interim Test build of FreeDOS available at > https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/test/ > Or, download the current version of tar from the repository at > https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/repositories/1.4/html/en/archiver/tar/index.html > The one I was using is from the second link (1.12). Today I tried the one that comes with FreeDOS's test build. When I used that TAR to extract the files, it didn't say "80386 is required" anymore. However, it said "Bad directory structure" (I made sure creating a new TAR file also using the TAR from the test build). Then I tried the archive tools called PKZIP and PKUNZIP made by PKWARE. First I used PKZIP on VirtualBox VM to create a ZIP file and sent it to my mobile device. There, I then used PKUNZIP to extract all the files. This time... It worked! All the files were successfully extracted. (This way is also better because I don't need to touch the native system at all.) Now I rebooted PocketDOS to see if the whole plan works. It showed 4 boot options as expected. The first two are to load with JEMM386. Since PocketDOS only emulates 186, the first two options won't work. So I tried the third option "Load FreeDOS low with some drivers (Safe Mode)" and it booted! Here's a picture that shows it's actually running: https://ibb.co/vCPpGdRC To finish up, I had to add some lines to FDCONFIG.SYS and FDAUTO.BAT to integrate PocketDOS properly. Then that's it. This whole thing turned out to be trickier than I thought. Big thanks for all the detailed and patient replies, they really helped me out! :D Besides I can't use a few functionalities of FreeDOS that require at least 386 (which doesn't really matter I think), there is only one tiny issue left about UMB (Upper Memory Blocks): The system says something like "no UMBs available". Is this due to the fact that it's running as option 3 (low / safe mode) which is without JEMM386 (an Expanded Memory Manager)? Is it still possible to use UMBs in this specific case? On Tue, Jul 8, 2025 at 4:22 AM Jerome Shidel via Freedos-user < freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > Hi, > > (Sent from my phone. So it will be brief.) > > On Jul 7, 2025, at 9:46 PM, Lutalli via Freedos-user < > freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > > > Well let me explain what I have done so far. > > If I understood correctly, your idea is essentially to first copy KERNEL > and FREECOM from X86BOOT.IMG to the HDD using SYS, then find a way to copy > all the other files from the FreeDOS installed on the VirtualBox VM. > > So I successfully used SYS to transfer KERNEL and FREECOM to the HDD, then > confirmed it's bootable. > > > Making progress. :-) > > > Next, to transfer the rest of FreeDOS files, your idea is to create a TAR > out of all those files, send it to the mobile device via floppy, then > extract it on the mobile device. > > I don't really know how to send the TAR via floppy. A single floppy > diskette image is typically only 1.44 MB... Maybe I would have to "split" > the TAR file into several floppy images (I don't know how)? > > > What version of TSR did you try? > > There are two. A version 1.12 and a version 3.21. They are completely > different programs by different authors and unrelated. > > Also, there is a simpler untar program as well. Unfortunately, the > official FreeDOS server is overloaded again. So, I can’t get the link to > send you. It will be somewhere under one of the directories at > https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files > <https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/util/> > > There are other tools and archives there as well. Possibly using one of > tools like can help. > > > However, after digging a little deeper, I realized that PocketDOS provides > a "PocketDOS Utility Disk Image". It has some config files and programs > that help calibrate and communicate between the OS, PocketDOS and the > native OS of my mobile device (WindowsCE 3.0). I need to copy those files > to the HDD (and modify some details if necessary) when I want to install a > new OS with PocketDOS. > > The most important thing is, by doing that, I can add more drive letters > to the OS and redirect them to any location I want. This means it gives the > OS access to the "outside" - the native system. And that means I could > transfer the FreeDOS files from my laptop to my device, then simply copy > them into the HDD. > > I tried sending the files without compression, but turned out that's gonna > take almost one day. So I created a TAR within the VirtualBox FreeDOS, then > sent the TAR to my device. But then I realized apparently I can't use TAR > on PocketDOS - it says "80386 required". I guess TAR doesn't support 186? > > I came up with another method though. I think I can compress the files > into a ZIP on my laptop, send the ZIP, then use a native archive tool to > decompress. And yes, in the end I did successfully extract all the files on > my mobile device. > > I feel like I'm close to success but now I have trouble *copying* the > files to the HDD... I did some search, found out that the COPY command can > only copy single files. In order to copy a whole folder together with > subfolders I need to use XCOPY. So I tried XCOPY (either from X86BOOT.IMG > or the files that I extracted). It showed some weird behavior - It only > copies some of the files I want it to copy, but not all of them. I used the > flags "/H /E" for XCOPY. > > > When I use XCOPY, it is generally with the /H /E /N /R /Y options (easy to > remember Henry) to copy everything. However, it does not preserve long file > names at present. But, that is not an issue with what you are trying to > achieve. > > > At first I thought there could be some problem with the native archive > tool that I used (maybe some kind of inner structure of the folders is > corrupted after extracting, or something). So I tried another program to > extract the ZIP file then tried XCOPY again. Interestingly, more files are > now being copied than last time, but still not all of them... (This > probably means it is actually related to the archive tool.) I haven't > figured out yet what the issue is. > > In theory I could manually copy everything using COPY, but it's gonna be > painful since the FREEDOS folder has a lot of subfolders. > > I started to doubt if it's a good idea at all to install a modern > distribution of FreeDOS with PocketDOS, because there're just so many > problems... But I believe there should be a way to get this done. > > > Often it is the journey, not the destination that makes the adventure > worthwhile. > > :-) > > > On Sat, Jul 5, 2025, 18:41 Jerome Shidel via Freedos-user < > freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > >> >> >> On Jul 5, 2025, at 12:24 PM, Lutalli via Freedos-user < >> freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: >> >> PocketDOS only recognizes HDD and DSK as far as I tested. >> >> I also tried installing FreeDOS on VirtualBox into an HDD using LiveCD >> instead of Floppy Edition, then sending the HDD to my device. That didn't >> work either. >> >> As another attempt I created a blank HDD with PocketDOS, copied this HDD >> to my laptop and tried to create a virtual machine with VirtualBox using >> that blank HDD. VirtualBox showed the following error message: >> >> Failed to open the disk image file "...\FD14.HDD". >> >> Could not get the storage format of the medium '...\FD14.HDD' >>> (VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED). >> >> >> Based on your message, I would assume that PocketDOS is using its own >> format for Hard Disk Images which is down right silly. >> >> So, maybe do some searching on the internet to see if a conversion tool >> is available that will allow converting between formats. >> >> Otherwise, if since PocketDOS will support standard floppy disk images, >> you have another method. >> >> Create a PocketDOS VM. >> Use the modified FreeDOS Boot Floppy to boot straight to the command >> prompt. >> Partition and format the VM HDD. >> Use the SYS command to transfer the FreeDOS Kernel and FreeCOM. >> Boot the VM from the Virtual HDD, to make sure it boots to a command >> prompt and keyboard works. >> Now switch to Virtual Box and Create and Install FreeDOS. >> Copy tar to the floppy then onto PocketDOS. >> Now use tar to ‘archive’ all files on the VM to a Floppy. >> Use tar to ‘unarchive’ each floppy to PocketDOS. >> >> I cannot remember all of the features of the version of tar provided on >> FreeDOS 1.4. Namely if it supports disk spanning. >> >> So, either use the latest Interim Test build of FreeDOS available at >> https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/test/ >> Or, download the current version of tar from the repository at >> https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/repositories/1.4/html/en/archiver/tar/index.html >> >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user >
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