Re: [Freedos-user] the freedos 1.3 floppy install edition.
Hi, On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 4:48 AM Jerome Shidel via Freedos-user wrote: > > Finally, the primary installer currently uses grep (requires 386+) to parse > some of the package lists. DJGPP grep? Why not Xgrep? It's not as overpowered, but it works well and is 8086-friendly. (N.B. It can be rebuilt with JWasm.) * https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/1.2/repos/pkg-html/xgrep.html ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
[Freedos-user] USB serial & DOSBox
My heart monitor is an old Polar Sport Tester 4000.
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1393035/Polar-Electro-Sport-Testert.html
Its interface box has an RS2323 socket.
I had been downloading data to an old PC with a serial port. That PC
runs FreeDOS. VER/R reports "DOS version 7.10".
My Ubuntu PC does not have a serial port.
But I have a Belkin F5U409 USB-serial adaptor. My Linux kernel is
5.19.0-50-generic.
{The device is supported by kernel versions 2.6.0 and newer according to
the LKDDb:
Ver Source Config By ID By Class
2.6.0 - 6.3 drivers/usb/serial/mct_u232.c CONFIG_USB CONFIG_USB_SERIAL
CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_MCT_U232 050d:0109 *}
https://linux-hardware.org/?id=usb:050d-0109
That adaptor's LNK LED is on (green).
The Ubuntu PC has DOSBox v0.74-3. It runs the POLAR software OK. That
can set serial port to COM1 or COM2.
DOSBox Wiki says this.
{Configuration:SerialPort
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
serialX = device [parameter:value]
device can be: dummy | modem | nullmodem | directserial
parameter is: irq
value is:
for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
for modem: listenport (optional).
for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
Defaults:
serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled
An example of how to configure an actual serial port for I/O use:
serial1=directserial realport:com1}
So in DOSBox, I enter that last line.
Then I launch the POLAR software.
And I check its default serial port:
"THE SELECTED SERIAL PORT FOR HR INPUT IS: COM1".
Then I instruct the heart monitor to transmit data. And the adapter's RX
LED illuminates red. But the POLAR software fails to detect data!
Please advise.
--
members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/
___
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Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Hi Dan: What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or something else? I have an ancient heart rate monitor. Its computer interface uses DOS software via a serial port! -- members.iinet.net.au/~kilgallin/ ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Basic freedos question before I try this?
yes, it has an ethernet port..USB ones as well. On Mon, 24 Jul 2023, Ralf Quint via Freedos-user wrote: On 7/24/2023 6:06 PM, Karen Lewellen via Freedos-user wrote: Hi folks, Too many layers in the process for me to try the install. That and the thinkpad, which is a thinkpad 600x is not in condition for the work it seems. I do wonder though if the freedos networking options would have functioned with the on-board Ethernet structure? Does your 600x include an Ethernet port "on-board", AFAIK, they didn't and you needed (as it was pre-USB days) an PCMCIA/CardBus adapter and that's where the soft brown matter hits the fast rotating appliance... Ralf ___ 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
Re: [Freedos-user] Basic freedos question before I try this?
On 7/24/2023 6:06 PM, Karen Lewellen via Freedos-user wrote: Hi folks, Too many layers in the process for me to try the install. That and the thinkpad, which is a thinkpad 600x is not in condition for the work it seems. I do wonder though if the freedos networking options would have functioned with the on-board Ethernet structure? Does your 600x include an Ethernet port "on-board", AFAIK, they didn't and you needed (as it was pre-USB days) an PCMCIA/CardBus adapter and that's where the soft brown matter hits the fast rotating appliance... Ralf ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Hi, Can speak for no one but myself, to be sure. Still, I run DOS exclusively, having no issues reaching the internet with it, or this list smiles. My situation is unique however. for the record, I am not running freedos, or not as of yet, as I have not found a reason to choose it over my current DOS setup. That is just me though, Karen On Mon, 24 Jul 2023, Daniel Essin via Freedos-user wrote: Hello, I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me curious. What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or something else? Dan ___ 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
Re: [Freedos-user] Basic freedos question before I try this?
Hi folks, Too many layers in the process for me to try the install. That and the thinkpad, which is a thinkpad 600x is not in condition for the work it seems. I do wonder though if the freedos networking options would have functioned with the on-board Ethernet structure? Thanks, Karen ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
A T43 running FreeDOS sounds like a good writing machine. On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 11:53:50PM +0100, John Vella via Freedos-user wrote: > I've installed freedos because I'm writing my second novel, but I'm easily > distracted, so I wanted a machine with a decent word processor, > (Wordperfect 5.1) and no internet access or games to distract me. I have > deleted the games folder, but accidentally installed MS Word 5, which will > do the job. > > It also means I get to give my IBM Thinkpad T43 a second life, which is > nice. > > On Mon, 24 Jul 2023, 22:47 Christopher Evans via Freedos-user, < > freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > > > Well, I installed dosemu on my Linux machine, so I could run older dos > > games like doom and descent as well as work on dos c sources. > > > > > > > > -Chris > > > > Intelligencia Computer Consulting > > > > An open-source and computer help company > > > > http://icctechconsult.com/ > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 2:14 PM Jim Hall via Freedos-user < > > freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > > > >> On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user > >> wrote: > >> > > >> > Hello, > >> > > >> > I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I > >> > was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built > >> > around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other > >> > computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs > >> > access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me > >> > curious. > >> > > >> > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro > >> > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or > >> > something else? > >> > > >> > >> > >> Hi Dan > >> > >> We ran a survey several years ago, and then last year, to answer > >> exactly that question: How are people using FreeDOS? > >> > >> Several years ago (around 2014?) we found people were running FreeDOS > >> for 3 or 4 main use cases: > >> > >> 1. To play classic DOS games > >> 2. To run legacy DOS applications > >> 3. To support/develop embedded systems > >> > >> and sometimes 4. To install firmware updates on certain motherboards > >> > >> I recall that the legacy DOS software was often in a business setting, > >> such as organizations that needed to retrieve information from an old > >> DOS application. You discover that some data is locked up in some data > >> files that are only accessible by the program that wrote the data. So > >> you find the software (or download it if you don't have it), then > >> install FreeDOS + the application, and "save as" the data to some > >> format that you can use. > >> > >> We did this when I served as CIO for a university. One of the faculty > >> found some old floppies with old research data. They wanted to get the > >> data back (I think to write a paper that referenced the historical > >> data). We installed FreeDOS on a spare PC that had a floppy drive, > >> found the original program on a DOS apps archive site, installed that, > >> and loaded the data. That program could also dump the data into a > >> plain text file (similar to CSV) which the faculty researcher could > >> load into a spreadsheet to do further analysis. > >> > >> More recently, we found that people were running FreeDOS for (mostly) > >> 3 main uses: > >> > >> 1. To play classic DOS games > >> 2. To run legacy DOS applications > >> 3. To develop new DOS programs > >> > >> For #3, I think that mostly represented FreeDOS developers responding > >> to the survey. > >> > >> The survey had a few outliers (we still see people who use FreeDOS to > >> install firmware updates, for example) but in 2022, those were pretty > >> low compared to the other 3 uses. > >> > >> > >> Jim > >> > >> > >> ___ > >> 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 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Hi, On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:47 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user wrote: > > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or > something else? Evil empire? "Which one??" ;-) What evil are we escaping or avoiding? My main curiosity with FreeDOS isn't what it can run but rather ... what can it build? "Ask not what your OS can do for you, but what you can do for your OS." DJGPP, OpenWatcom, FreePascal, FreeBASIC, NASM, FASM ... plenty of tools to get started. ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
I've installed freedos because I'm writing my second novel, but I'm easily distracted, so I wanted a machine with a decent word processor, (Wordperfect 5.1) and no internet access or games to distract me. I have deleted the games folder, but accidentally installed MS Word 5, which will do the job. It also means I get to give my IBM Thinkpad T43 a second life, which is nice. On Mon, 24 Jul 2023, 22:47 Christopher Evans via Freedos-user, < freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > Well, I installed dosemu on my Linux machine, so I could run older dos > games like doom and descent as well as work on dos c sources. > > > > -Chris > > Intelligencia Computer Consulting > > An open-source and computer help company > > http://icctechconsult.com/ > > > > > > On Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 2:14 PM Jim Hall via Freedos-user < > freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > >> On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user >> wrote: >> > >> > Hello, >> > >> > I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I >> > was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built >> > around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other >> > computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs >> > access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me >> > curious. >> > >> > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro >> > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or >> > something else? >> > >> >> >> Hi Dan >> >> We ran a survey several years ago, and then last year, to answer >> exactly that question: How are people using FreeDOS? >> >> Several years ago (around 2014?) we found people were running FreeDOS >> for 3 or 4 main use cases: >> >> 1. To play classic DOS games >> 2. To run legacy DOS applications >> 3. To support/develop embedded systems >> >> and sometimes 4. To install firmware updates on certain motherboards >> >> I recall that the legacy DOS software was often in a business setting, >> such as organizations that needed to retrieve information from an old >> DOS application. You discover that some data is locked up in some data >> files that are only accessible by the program that wrote the data. So >> you find the software (or download it if you don't have it), then >> install FreeDOS + the application, and "save as" the data to some >> format that you can use. >> >> We did this when I served as CIO for a university. One of the faculty >> found some old floppies with old research data. They wanted to get the >> data back (I think to write a paper that referenced the historical >> data). We installed FreeDOS on a spare PC that had a floppy drive, >> found the original program on a DOS apps archive site, installed that, >> and loaded the data. That program could also dump the data into a >> plain text file (similar to CSV) which the faculty researcher could >> load into a spreadsheet to do further analysis. >> >> More recently, we found that people were running FreeDOS for (mostly) >> 3 main uses: >> >> 1. To play classic DOS games >> 2. To run legacy DOS applications >> 3. To develop new DOS programs >> >> For #3, I think that mostly represented FreeDOS developers responding >> to the survey. >> >> The survey had a few outliers (we still see people who use FreeDOS to >> install firmware updates, for example) but in 2022, those were pretty >> low compared to the other 3 uses. >> >> >> Jim >> >> >> ___ >> 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
Re: [Freedos-user] Dos
I had FreeDOS running on a ThinkPad 701C, which used a 486 CPU. NJB On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 04:31:40PM -0500, Jim Hall via Freedos-user wrote: > On Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 5:14 PM Rahim Fakir via Freedos-user > wrote: > > > > Whats The main Diference between freedos and dos. > > Which os The best, dos freedos runs a 486? > > > As Bryan said, FreeDOS is a more modern version of DOS. > > Also, FreeDOS is open source software. Very early versions of MS-DOS > (v1.25 and v2.0, at https://github.com/microsoft/MS-DOS) are available > under an open source license, but these were very primitive versions > of "DOS" that don't have a lot of functionality. For example, MS-DOS > 2.0 was the first version to support directories. > > You also can't download (legally) a "freeware" copy of MS-DOS, that I > know of (certainly not one that is of much use, such as MS-DOS 5 or > MS-DOS 6.x). > > By "more modern," we mean that FreeDOS has more features and includes > more tools than MS-DOS ever did. For example, the FreeDOS distribution > includes apps and tools, including some network utilities. We also > include compilers and assemblers and editors, so you can write your > own DOS apps to run on FreeDOS. > > And yes, FreeDOS will run on a '486 CPU. > > > ___ > 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
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
Well, I installed dosemu on my Linux machine, so I could run older dos games like doom and descent as well as work on dos c sources. -Chris Intelligencia Computer Consulting An open-source and computer help company http://icctechconsult.com/ On Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 2:14 PM Jim Hall via Freedos-user < freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user > wrote: > > > > Hello, > > > > I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I > > was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built > > around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other > > computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs > > access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me > > curious. > > > > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro > > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or > > something else? > > > > > Hi Dan > > We ran a survey several years ago, and then last year, to answer > exactly that question: How are people using FreeDOS? > > Several years ago (around 2014?) we found people were running FreeDOS > for 3 or 4 main use cases: > > 1. To play classic DOS games > 2. To run legacy DOS applications > 3. To support/develop embedded systems > > and sometimes 4. To install firmware updates on certain motherboards > > I recall that the legacy DOS software was often in a business setting, > such as organizations that needed to retrieve information from an old > DOS application. You discover that some data is locked up in some data > files that are only accessible by the program that wrote the data. So > you find the software (or download it if you don't have it), then > install FreeDOS + the application, and "save as" the data to some > format that you can use. > > We did this when I served as CIO for a university. One of the faculty > found some old floppies with old research data. They wanted to get the > data back (I think to write a paper that referenced the historical > data). We installed FreeDOS on a spare PC that had a floppy drive, > found the original program on a DOS apps archive site, installed that, > and loaded the data. That program could also dump the data into a > plain text file (similar to CSV) which the faculty researcher could > load into a spreadsheet to do further analysis. > > More recently, we found that people were running FreeDOS for (mostly) > 3 main uses: > > 1. To play classic DOS games > 2. To run legacy DOS applications > 3. To develop new DOS programs > > For #3, I think that mostly represented FreeDOS developers responding > to the survey. > > The survey had a few outliers (we still see people who use FreeDOS to > install firmware updates, for example) but in 2022, those were pretty > low compared to the other 3 uses. > > > Jim > > > ___ > 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
Re: [Freedos-user] Dos
On Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 5:14 PM Rahim Fakir via Freedos-user wrote: > > Whats The main Diference between freedos and dos. > Which os The best, dos freedos runs a 486? As Bryan said, FreeDOS is a more modern version of DOS. Also, FreeDOS is open source software. Very early versions of MS-DOS (v1.25 and v2.0, at https://github.com/microsoft/MS-DOS) are available under an open source license, but these were very primitive versions of "DOS" that don't have a lot of functionality. For example, MS-DOS 2.0 was the first version to support directories. You also can't download (legally) a "freeware" copy of MS-DOS, that I know of (certainly not one that is of much use, such as MS-DOS 5 or MS-DOS 6.x). By "more modern," we mean that FreeDOS has more features and includes more tools than MS-DOS ever did. For example, the FreeDOS distribution includes apps and tools, including some network utilities. We also include compilers and assemblers and editors, so you can write your own DOS apps to run on FreeDOS. And yes, FreeDOS will run on a '486 CPU. ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] My curiosity
On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:46 PM Daniel Essin via Freedos-user wrote: > > Hello, > > I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I > was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built > around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other > computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs > access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me > curious. > > What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro > games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or > something else? > Hi Dan We ran a survey several years ago, and then last year, to answer exactly that question: How are people using FreeDOS? Several years ago (around 2014?) we found people were running FreeDOS for 3 or 4 main use cases: 1. To play classic DOS games 2. To run legacy DOS applications 3. To support/develop embedded systems and sometimes 4. To install firmware updates on certain motherboards I recall that the legacy DOS software was often in a business setting, such as organizations that needed to retrieve information from an old DOS application. You discover that some data is locked up in some data files that are only accessible by the program that wrote the data. So you find the software (or download it if you don't have it), then install FreeDOS + the application, and "save as" the data to some format that you can use. We did this when I served as CIO for a university. One of the faculty found some old floppies with old research data. They wanted to get the data back (I think to write a paper that referenced the historical data). We installed FreeDOS on a spare PC that had a floppy drive, found the original program on a DOS apps archive site, installed that, and loaded the data. That program could also dump the data into a plain text file (similar to CSV) which the faculty researcher could load into a spreadsheet to do further analysis. More recently, we found that people were running FreeDOS for (mostly) 3 main uses: 1. To play classic DOS games 2. To run legacy DOS applications 3. To develop new DOS programs For #3, I think that mostly represented FreeDOS developers responding to the survey. The survey had a few outliers (we still see people who use FreeDOS to install firmware updates, for example) but in 2022, those were pretty low compared to the other 3 uses. Jim ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
[Freedos-user] My curiosity
Hello, I'm following this list and find it very interesting. I found it when I was trying to prepare myself to help a friend whose business in built around a DOS app. It's clear that many/most/all? have access to other computers and OSes. This would be obvious if only because one needs access to the internet even if only to get this list. This has made me curious. What are others using freedos for: business, curiosity, running retro games and apps for fun, to avoid total dependence on the evil empire, or something else? Dan ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Accessing usb stick from freedos.
>> The alleged 4 GB file size doesn't work on some OSes (FreeDOS, Windows >> NT?), only on old Win9x. So you're only guaranteed 2 GB individual >> file sizes, universally. > Wrong. You can use files of up to 4GB size on any Windows version that > supports FAT32. So does any reasonable version of Linux. Yes, some OS might > limit you to 2GB, as they are using a signed 32bit integer, but that is far > from being "universally". the problem here is probably that early OS versions had checks that the file pointer was never moved below zero. i.e. move to 1.5 GB read stuff. move to 3.7 GB (which is 2.2 GB which is negative 1.8 GB) // what is the OS supposed to do? the 'solution' was (IIRC) to require applications in the OPEN call to indicate "yes, I understand 32 bits" FreeDOS does this by default. Tom ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Accessing usb stick from freedos.
> Newer version of Windows seem to have problems with accessing > drives/partitions over 32GB as well. I would be seriously surprised. Windows refuses to *format* drives above 32GB as FAT32, but simply works with it up to maximum capacity of (2^32 * sectorsize) which is usually 2TB. FreeDOS doesn't support sectorsizes other then 512, so anything up to 2TB should be supported. Tom ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Accessing usb stick from freedos.
On 7/23/2023 1:50 PM, Rugxulo via Freedos-user wrote: The alleged 4 GB file size doesn't work on some OSes (FreeDOS, Windows NT?), only on old Win9x. So you're only guaranteed 2 GB individual file sizes, universally. Wrong. You can use files of up to 4GB size on any Windows version that supports FAT32. So does any reasonable version of Linux. Yes, some OS might limit you to 2GB, as they are using a signed 32bit integer, but that is far from being "universally". You'd need DJGPP 2.04 or 2.05 just to (maybe) handle it. Even then, last I checked, they hardcoded a check for "version 7 DOS" before enabling FAT32 support (e.g. du or df). Don't care about any Unix tool and how they handle this, to be honest... Theoretically, FAT32 could handle up to 2TB in partition size, while newer Windows (and some other OS) limit it to 32GB. I believe the Windows limitation was in "creating" FAT32 partitions larger than 32 GB because MS found that it was otherwise too slow under real-mode MS-DOS 7. Vista (and newer Windows) won't even boot from FAT anymore (too slow, security issues). Newer version of Windows seem to have problems with accessing drives/partitions over 32GB as well. I tried to use a 64GB USB stick formatted in FAT32 to transfer stuff between my PCs and my Macbook (granted, stuck on High Sierra, but in that regard, I don't think that things have changed in newer version of macOS) and it was a no-go on both ends. Ended up reformatting that stick with exFAT, which both sides can access just fine to work around that particular issue... And another example is this fine 4GB USB stick, which I used to move a 2.8GB Linux Mint ISO around. Yes, you have to take my word for it that this drive is FAT32... Volume in drive F has no label. Volume Serial Number is 9490-B112 Directory of F:\ 06/27/2023 10:43 AM WiFi 07/05/2023 11:26 AM 484 GetFolderPath.vbs 02/16/2016 09:05 AM 378 o...@atimesheets.vnc 07/20/2023 09:53 AM 3,050,733,568 linuxmint-21.2-mate-64bit.iso 3 File(s) 3,050,734,430 bytes 1 Dir(s) 946,855,936 bytes free FYI, Windows 11 is 64-bit host only nowadays and supposedly takes up 25 GB of space. Totally irrelevant for anything discussed here... Ralf ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] the freedos 1.3 floppy install edition.
Hi Eric, First… The Standard Install Media (CD, USB, LiveCD, etc) require a 386 or better. There are several reasons I have mentioned before why those require a 386. But for those who may have missed or forgotten why those require a 386, these are the primary reasons. USB did not exist on sub-386 hardware. The CD drivers available to FreeDOS require a 386. Finally, the primary installer currently uses grep (requires 386+) to parse some of the package lists. (eventually, I’ll add some stuff to V8Power Tools to remove the grep dependency.) So, the primary installer always installs the packages that may requiring a 386. Everything else in this message only applies to the Floppy Edition and it’s installer. > On Jul 23, 2023, at 4:47 PM, Eric Auer via Freedos-user > wrote: > > > Hi! > >> The CPU detection utility used by the installer has compatibility issues >> with some processors. >> For example, there are some 486 systems that are detected as a 186. This has >> been a known issue >> for a while. Unfortunately, I just have not had the time to resolve that. >> As a stop gap, if the installer is told the system is less than a 386, it >> assumes it is incorrect and >> installs the 386 package set. So, there should be no need to override the >> detected CPU on 386+ systems. > > That will just break the complete install on pre-386 systems. If you > insist on not trusting your tools, at least ASK the user whether they > want to override the detection. During the CPU detection, it works its way up through the processors 8086, 186, 286, etc. If a test fails, then the maximum level of CPU supported is known. However, some post-386 machines fail the 286 tests which stops detection and returns a maximum support of 80186. Since the CPU detection used by the installer cannot reliably detect some 486 processors at this time, when the installer is told the system has a sub-386 processor by the detection program, it assumes that is incorrect and to install the packages that require a 386 anyway. Tools that require a 386 or better of zero use on a pre-386 system and are just wasting drive space. Space that is even more precious on older systems. For example, the XT we had years ago shipped with a 20Mb hard disk. A FreeDOS install that includes the useless 386 programs would fill the entire drive. It also wastes the users time installing things they cannot use. However, until I get around to fixing CPU detection, it is better just install everything unless. The user can override this and force installation of only packages that support lesser hardware (like 286, 186, 8086). > > Or better: If the tool detects a pre-386, make sure that you install > an 8086 compatible kernel. You can still let the config/autoexec keep > a boot menu item a la "if you are sure that your CPU can actually do > it, select this item to try to load EMM386 and HIMEM at your own risk." The Floppy Edition boots the 8086 compatible kernel. By default it will install that kernel. It ONLY installs the 386 version of the kernel when the system is known to have a 386 or better CPU. Overriding the package set has no effect and does not apply to which kernel is made active on the installed system. A user cannot force activation of the 386 kernel when the CPU detection sees a lesser CPU. This means that on post-386 hardware that is detected as sub-286, the 8086 kernel is activated. If the user wants to run the 386 kernel, they would need to activate it manually. Since it is included with the 386 package set, that is very easy to do. > >> For systems with less than a 386, you will want to override it to ensure the >> 8086 compatible kernel >> is installed. > > This should be the other way round. If you know what you are doing, > you MAY override the detection result that you have no 386. If you > do NOT know for sure, then the installer should NOT give you an > install which would require 386. Yes and that is what will happen when I someday find the time and motivation to resolve the compatibility issue in CPU detection. > Of course if the INSTALLER is sure that the CPU is 386 or newer, > the whole problem does not occur. So my proposal only annoys a > small number of people with exotic 386+ CPU, but rescues all the > users with actual 286 or older CPU or emulators from getting an > un-usable install due to overly optimistic automated overrides. This is a non-problem. The installer is very pessimistic. At present, everybody gets all files and only known 386+ get the 386 kernel activated. There are multiple 3rd party Youtube videos with users installing the FreeDOS floppy edition on sub-386 hardware. Like on real 8086s and emulators like PCem. Listening to the users of such hardware, they really only have one complaint about the Floppy Edition. It is very slow on pre-386 hardware. Those users realize the by 8086 software standards, FreeDOS is enormous and most of the install time is
