Re: [Freedos-user] UHDD update! FDAPM update! Feedback please :-)
Hi! To add a bit of clarification: https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/dos/ellis/uhdd/2021-10-30/uhdd_2021-10-30.zip The updated UHDD is only 5 kB, the current UDVD2 is less than 4 kB. So the size difference compared to using only UIDE is very small now, with UIDE being 7 kB in size. However, UHDD has new features such as Read Ahead or DMA Caching Overlap, giving you extra speed compared to UIDE. So to get all features, it is best to use the powerful pair of UHDD and UDVD2 for your disk speed, CD/DVD/... and disk and CD/DVD cache needs. For the latter, make sure that UHDD is loaded first, so UDVD2 can detect the already active disk cache: This gives you one unified cache for all drives, both fixed (harddisk/SSD) and optical (CD/DVD etc.) with between a few MB and several GB of cache size - see the docs :-) Regards, Eric PS: Also check out RDISK and XMGR for small-in-memory RAMDISK and HIMEM (XMS/HMA) style drivers by Jack. It is often possible to have part of the drivers in HMA, further reducing DOS memory use. See the docs for more. ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] fdbox version v0.0.1
Hi Diego,
I think Jim is just trying to encourage FDBOX to add features :-)
Tom is right that FDBOX as it is now is not yet really useful.
Why does it matter whether FreeCOM or FDBOX run on Windows,
Linux or Apple? You can run DOS on all of them, using either
a DOS emulator or a virtual PC which can boot FreeDOS :-)
Also, you can run powerful shells such as BASH on Windows,
Linux or Apple and each of the operating system already
ship with more powerful shells and file managers etc.
So if it is important for you that FDBOX runs on all major
operating systems, you suddenly get a lot more competition.
Powerful open source file managers and shells already have
been ported to the big operating systems, so it usually is
the DOS version which they are missing, not the Windows app.
This means there is less competition when it comes to cool
modern open source apps for DOS, while Windows users already
have everything they like.
As DJGPP already is one of the compilers you use, you may
want to write a DOS port of existing cool Linux apps. The
new MPXPLAY update would not exist without all the fancy
codec libraries from the Windows Linux open source world :-)
I appreciate that the code follows valgrind and clang :-)
As you already use cool busybox concepts, how about making
a DOS port of a recent version of busybox or minibox? :-)
If you love continous integration (automated compiles and
compatibility checks for each change upload) then you may
like contibuting to the DOSEMU2 project. The use that and
cross-compilation from Linux etc.
It has (will?) a better command line editor, history searching like
bash.
How well does it compete against 4DOS and, well, BASH?
You can pass arguments for commands after the file name ("del /f *.txt"
vs
"del *.txt /f"), you can add several files to all commands ("del 1.txt
2.txt *.tx1"). The "type" command can also print line numbers. The
"del"
command has the same functionality of "deltree". "copy" will display
progress on large commands. "ren" and "move" are effectively aliases on
this shell.
Sounds like reasonable additions to backport to FreeCOM under
the condition that it does not break MS DOS batch file syntax
compatibility. Some things may already be supported by FreeCOM
that you were not yet aware of? It tends to do more than MS DOS.
I don't understand, there is new software written for MSDOS/FreeDOS
and you are unhappy? ;-)
Developers for DOS are rare, so Tom may prefer improvements for
existing DOS software instead of first investing in the overhead
of creating completely new apps with similar target audiences?
Regards, Eric
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Re: [Freedos-user] fdbox version v0.0.1
Hi Tom,
On Sun, Nov 7, 2021 at 9:31 PM tom ehlert wrote:
> Could you please explain why you think this is relevant?
> Any fancy feature that FreeCOM is missing?
> Anything that FDBOX is doing better?
>
freecom does not compile/run on windows.
freecom does not compile/run on linux
freecom does not compile/run on osx.
(ok, I know all of this above is not exactly true...)
fdshell will (eventually) compile on SerenityOS.
fdshell is my hobby (more or less) for the last 20 years.
Writing a cross platform program will enable people to write from the
comfort of modern platforms - and DOS users get a new program. This is the
reason the main
build system is actually CMake (but I have a djgpp Makefile, and a TurboC
project file, and I toyed with PacificC).
Another technical issue is that the C code I use is very modern. It does
not look outdated. It passes valgrind tests on Linux. The code indentation
is verified using clang-format (or will be, I think I am not enforcing it
right now). The code is quite readable.
I added a few internal libraries which can help other people (the argument
parser, the argument split, the Posix APIs I ported to DOS). Adding C99
code (ish...)
to TurboC 2.01. For the internal command implementation I use the same idea
busybox uses (the applet part, which IMHO is very cool) is and also used by
https://github.com/ercanersoy/Minibox.
One of the coolest parts (IMHO) I did was adding CI/CD. On every commit I
actually build the whole project (for 4 platforms, the release ZIP is the
product of such runs) and run the internal tests the build is aborted if
the tests fail). Ah, yes, the code also contains an internal unit test
framework).
>From the DOS user point of view:
It has (will?) a better command line editor, history searching like bash.
You can pass arguments for commands after the file name ("del /f *.txt" vs
"del *.txt /f"), you can add several files to all commands ("del 1.txt
2.txt *.tx1"). The "type" command can also print line numbers. The "del"
command has the same functionality of "deltree". "copy" will display
progress on large commands. "ren" and "move" are effectively aliases on
this shell.
And again - I had fun writing it. I am giving the community a present: here
- have fun with me.
> We have an existing COMMAND.COM, with no (known) problems that your FDBOX
> would solve.
>
I don't understand, there is new software written for MSDOS/FreeDOS and
you are unhappy? ;-)
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Re: [Freedos-user] fdbox version v0.0.1
Hi Diego, > I releasing the first version of fdbox, a new shell for MSDOS/freeDOS, > aka command.com. This is a very initial release, most of the features > are semi broken, or work in progress. But the very basic code is there > (you can dir, cd and execute applications). Could you please explain why you think this is relevant? Any fancy feature that FreeCOM is missing? Anything that FDBOX is doing better? We have an existing COMMAND.COM, with no (known) problems that your FDBOX would solve. > The code is available https://github.com/elcuco/fdbox, direct release > to version 0.0.1: https://github.com/elcuco/fdbox/releases/tag/v0.0.1 so a 0.0.1 (most of the features are semi broken) 'release' shouldn't be released unless it shows progress in some way. unless you show something NEW. which you did not. > Have fun and continue hacking! sure. Tom ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] New MPXPLAY media player version
On Sun, Nov 7, 2021 at 12:32 PM E. Auer wrote: > > > Hi! Forwarding from the BTTR forum - note that some source code > still contains the following header, which could be problematic: > > "Please contact with the author (with me) if you want to use > or modify this source." > > Also note that in the announcement quoted below, I have removed > changes which only affect the Windows version. So depending on > whether you use the DOS, Windows or other versions, you can get > even more cool things by updating :-) I am not sure whether the > DOS version also uses the new FFmpeg library. Either way, check > out the update. Still plays audio even on AC97 and HDA in DOS :-) >[..] Thanks for sharing, Eric. I've posted a news item on the website and shared it on Twitter. Unfortunate that MPXPLAY still uses the non-standard license with the extra term that limits how people can use the source code. I'd love to see a release without that term. For those who are curious, the "license" (such as it is) is in the mpxplay.c file: //** //* This file is part of the * //* Mpxplay - audio player. * //* The source code of Mpxplay is * //*(C) copyright 1998-2015 by PDSoft (Attila Padar)* //*http://mpxplay.sourceforge.net * //* email: mpxp...@freemail.hu* //** //* This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, * //* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of* //* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. * //* Please contact with the author (with me) if you want to use * //* or modify this source.* //** Jim ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] fdbox version v0.0.1
On Wed, Nov 3, 2021 at 1:09 AM Diego Iastrubni wrote: > > Hi all, > > I releasing the first version of fdbox, a new shell for MSDOS/freeDOS, > aka command.com. This is a very initial release, most of the features > are semi broken, or work in progress. But the very basic code is there > (you can dir, cd and execute applications). > > The code is available https://github.com/elcuco/fdbox , direct release > to version 0.0.1: https://github.com/elcuco/fdbox/releases/tag/v0.0.1 > Thanks Diego! I've tweeted about it on the FreeDOS Twitter account, at https://twitter.com/freedosproject Continue to share updates and I'll keep tweeting updates. When you're ready for a stable release, I'll add a news item for it on the website. Jim ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
[Freedos-user] New MPXPLAY media player version
Hi! Forwarding from the BTTR forum - note that some source code still contains the following header, which could be problematic: "Please contact with the author (with me) if you want to use or modify this source." Also note that in the announcement quoted below, I have removed changes which only affect the Windows version. So depending on whether you use the DOS, Windows or other versions, you can get even more cool things by updating :-) I am not sure whether the DOS version also uses the new FFmpeg library. Either way, check out the update. Still plays audio even on AC97 and HDA in DOS :-) Regards, Eric http://mpxplay.sourceforge.net/ Mpxplay DOS console portable versions Mpxplay v1.66 DOS/32 October 24. 2021 with DOS32A extender (inc. TCPIP by SwsSock library) Mpxplay v1.66 DOS/4G October 24. 2021. with DOS4G v2.61 extender with DLL handling and TCPIP (ftp/http) Mpxplay is a commander-style console audio player for DOS and Win32 operating systems, developed in OpenWatcom C v1.9 AAC,AC3,AIF,APE,ASF/WMA,AVI,FLAC,FLV,MKV/WEBM,MP2,MP3,MP4/MOV,MPC,MPG/VOB, OGG,TS,WAV,W64,WV and CD player/ripper (with plugins: DTS,MOD,OPUS,SPX) for DOS operating system for SB Live/Audigy,CMI,ENS,ICH,IHDA,VIA,SB16,ESS,GUS,WSS and SB Pro compatible soundcards from PDSoft (Attila Padar, Hungary) diffs between v1.66 and v1.65 -modifications/new: -updated FFmpeg library from 4.3.1 to 4.4.0 -demultiplexing error and event handling (at stop, eof) (ffmpdemux.c, in_ffmpg.c) -crash if stream has not found in the file (ffmpstrm.c) -DVB: durations of programs if database is not up to date (no valid events) (using fix/fake 1 sec) (drv_dtv.c) -next file selection (ctrl-enter) is saved and restored by mpxtabs.ini (startup.c, mpxplay.c, playlist.c) -startup has a more precise play-status restoring (after exit from stop mode) (mpxplay.c) -http/dvb: streams are not (re)open at program (re)start or at skip in pause/stop mode (just selected as new/next file) (mpxplay.c, diskdriv.c, drv_dtv.c, drv_http.c) -DOS: added new PCI ids to Intel HDA soundcard driver (Intel CometLake/Alderlake chips) (sc_inthd.c) -bugfixes/modifications/general: -OGG: corrected metadata reading at large contents (eg: album art picture), editing of such OGG files is rejected (unsupported yet) (in_ogg.c, tagging.c) -OGG/Vorbis: close (dealloc) of incorrect streams (info.c, sharbook.c) -APE: decoder fixes to avoid crash at some files (unbitnew.c) -MKV: automatically ignore/skip unknown stream formats (select/play the supported one) at multiply audio streams (ff_mkv.c) -CDW (CD-A): added 10 sec timeout for read (to not drop read too early at CD spin up), better directory (CDW filelist) loading at FFmpeg, improved play stability (drv_cd.c) -more stable commander dialogs (eg: F3 + skip + ESC + playstart) (diskfile.c) -index editing (F4): additional range check (limit range to start of prev, end of next index entries) (fileinfo.c) -empty config strings loading (not reloading default values after clearing string-type config fields) (control.c) -buffer block size init at playing (starting with non enter key) (mpxinbuf.c) -ftp[es]: improved functionality and stability (drv_ftp.c, tcpcommon.c, dll_load.c) -termination (with ESC) of textfile load and (ssl) connection retry (diskdriv.c, tcpcommon.c) ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
[Freedos-user] FYI: Social media URLs updated
Hi everyone Just to let you know that I've updated our social media URLs so they are consistent with each other. We previously used "@Freedos_Project" (Twitter) and "freedos" (Facebook) and "freedos-project" (Blogger) which was getting confusing because they were all slightly different. I wanted to make it easy to find us on social media, so figured it was time to make a change. The updated URLs: * Twitter: @freedosproject * Facebook: facebook.com/groups/freedosproject * Blogger: freedosproject.blogspot.com If you were already following us on Twitter, or already a member of the Facebook group, you shouldn't have to change your settings to stay connected, but sharing just in case: And elsewhere: * website: www.freedos.org * YouTube: youtube.com/freedosproject * SourceForge: sourceforge.net/projects/freedos * online store: zazzle.com/store/freedos Next up is to update the "branding" so they all look sort of like the FreeDOS website. But I'll save that for later. *The blog is an archive copy. I haven't posted there since 2020. ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
[Freedos-user] UHDD update! FDAPM update! Feedback please :-)
Hi everybody, while we got a lot of feedback about the malfunction of the monthly reminder mail, there has been almost none about the FDAPM and UHDD updates recently. So please check out those new driver versions and share your experiences :-) "Jack Ellis has released an updated UHDD driver. The new version uses mostly caching logic for noncached work, saving 650+ bytes! UHDD.SYS is now less than 5K, for "boot" diskettes etc. All UHDD features, switches and cache speeds remain unchanged. The "/B" noncached UHDD, not often used, is about 300 bytes larger than before. We've mirrored the new release on the FreeDOS files archive at Ibiblio, in the uhdd/2021-10-30/ directory. Thanks Jack!" https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/dos/ellis/uhdd/2021-10-30/uhdd_2021-10-30.zip This means you now get a very powerful driver while spending very little disk space. To underline the improvement, Jack has stopped working on UIDE: You can no longer use the excuse that UHDD plus UDVD2 would be too large, because they are no longer large and they clearly have more power than UIDE :-) Please add UHDD to the distro "base" category and move UIDE to the extra/bonus category, to keep UIDE only for reference. I guess https://www.bttr-software.de/forum/board_entry.php?id=18304 which is about compiling MPLAYER in DOS being slow should have used UHDD to make the process a lot faster ;-) About FDAPM, ECM writes: https://www.bttr-software.de/forum/board_entry.php?id=18399 Announcement - FDAPM extended I extended Eric's FDAPM some, mostly based on my TSR example. To quote the blurb on my website: The power savings utility for FreeDOS, originally by Eric Auer. Extended to use IISP headers, an AMIS multiplexer, and to provide the UNLOAD command, with the advanced deinstallation method. Note that I tweaked the TSR installation a bit, but I did not perform a total conversion to my optimal installation method. I also did not implement my TSR's option switches such as /N install new even if already installed) and /X= (try a specific AMIS multiplex number first). As is, it assumes that there is only ever one instance of the resident FDAPM. And the check for a resident program still uses the old POWER services on the traditional multiplex interrupt 2Fh. Only the newly added UNLOAD command searches for the resident using the Alternate Multiplex Interrupt 2Dh. The repo and a release file for download are available at https://pushbx.org/ecm/web/#projects-fdapm. (End of Announcement) I guess it woudl be cool to also extend FDAPM to support ACPI tables larger than 64k, by looking at overlapping 64k snippets, so in case ECM is reading this: Thank you for considering the idea in your next FDAPM update :-) Note that FDAPM does various things for POWER compatibility, but improved TSR load/unload support certainly has advantages, so thanks for the IISP / AMIS / UNLOAD stuff :-) Regards, Eric ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
