Re: [Freedos-user] Web forum
On Tue, 21 May 2024 at 17:30, Norby Droid via Freedos-user wrote: > > Would there be any interest in a web forum for FreeDos? Please no. :-( -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] the msdos 4.0 sources has some multitasking code
On Thu, 16 May 2024 at 15:27, Michał Dec via Freedos-user wrote: > > Absolutely. Think of all the yachts and summer homes they're losing by > not donating a scrap of 8086 assembly to the general public. Think of > all those poor shareholders and millionaires. Exactly. This is why I do not accept the claims of my younger and (IMHO) more gullible colleagues that MS is a different company today from how it used to be, and now it is a friend and ally of FOSS. I know for a fact that one of the major Linux vendors is entirely based on Microsoft Office 365 internally and uses it for all communications, scheduling etc. I challenged them on it and they said that they had a contract that said MS would not look at any confidential info! In writing! So it was 100% safe and secure. I told them of the companies whose IP and code MS had stolen: STAC, Central Point, and others. I told them of MS faking Win3.1 crashing on DR-DOS, for which it was found guilty in court: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARD_code https://www.geoffchappell.com/notes/windows/archive/aard/index.htm I told them that Bill Gates personally lied to Paul Brainerd of Aldus and got Aldus to cancel its new Windows word processor -- then went back to the office and ordered WinWord as a rush job, which is why WinWord 1.x was junk. I told them of MS stealing Quicktime code for Video for Windows and having to pay Apple damages, which the marketing lizards spun as an "investment" in Apple. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Canyon_Company https://www.zdnet.com/article/stop-the-lies-the-day-that-microsoft-saved-apple/ No no no. That was the _old_ MS. I do not see Microsoft ever releasing Windows NT source code: NT is still in use. Win11 is NT. Ditto MS Office. If ReactOS ever reaches good compatibility with even Windows 2000 or XP, I think MS will stomp it. But it could release all versions of DOS (excluding non-MS code) and all of Windows 2, 3.x and 9x without helping anyone with cloning NT. WINE has already cloned more of the Win32 API than Win9x managed to run. It's over. Then I'd believe it a little tiny bit that MS means it when it says it loves FOSS. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven : (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] the msdos 4.0 sources has some multitasking code
On Thu, 16 May 2024 at 10:07, tom ehlert via Freedos-user wrote: > > there is no need for Microsoft to search its own archives. > MSDOS 6.22 source leaked to the internet some 22 years ago, and a plenty of > people have it. Then MS would need to check this over, check it was correct and without Trojans etc. That at a minimum means finding its own copies and doing a file-by-file compare. That's effort and as we have discussed this is something it's unwilling to spend. > I don't understand how this would permit the "release under a permissive > licence". *If* the code was verified as unmodified MS code and _then_ *if* MS wrent to the extra work of removing all 3rd party code or obtaining clearance, it would then _and only then_ be able to relicence the resulting code. MS cannot relicense code it did not write. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven M: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] the msdos 4.0 sources has some multitasking code
On Wed, 15 May 2024 at 21:31, Roger via Freedos-user wrote: > > Excuse #1, there's no money being acquired for going over code for > releasing as open source. Agreed. It is willing to release stuff it happens to find or others happen to find in order to sweeten the FOSS fanatics a bit, but it is not willing to go to any actual work in order to find things to release. Now, true, there is a difference here between DOS 4, 5 and 6. 4 contains only MS and IBM code (AFAIK). 5 is more useful as it contains memory management code to give ~620kB free base memory. 6 contains multiple pieces of code from other companies: * MEMMAKER (Helix Software) https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/31894 * Antivirus/Backup/Defrag (Central Point Software) * DoubleSpace (Vertisoft/STAC Electronics) * DriveSpace (Vertisoft) They'd either need to remove these, or trace the copyright holders and get rights from them. Much too much work! -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven oM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] the msdos 4.0 sources has some multitasking code
On Tue, 14 May 2024 at 05:01, Jerome Shidel via Freedos-user wrote: > > Those aren’t even the good versions of MS-DOS. Agreed! > I think if they were serious, they would release 3.3, 5.0 and 6.22. It feels > like they are only placating to the open source community. Agreed on all counts. However, DOS 4 is a little more than a token effort. Together with 386Max or something, it could still be useful today, more so than DOS 3.3, perhaps. But only a very little more. I think, applying Hanlon's Razor here, that this was a chance discovery by someone else, and led to the release. Microsoft is not willing to go to even the minimal effort of searching its own archives for the other versions to release them, but if someone else finds the code, it will permit the release under a permissive licence. It's not much but it's better than nothing. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] documentation update
On Thu, 9 May 2024 at 22:20, Roger via Freedos-user wrote: > >They also have pre-compiled packages for Fedora and OpenSUSE. > >No manual compilation is needed for either of the 3 distros. > > Already know about these pre-package options for SystemD Linux > distributions. Whoa there. Fedora and the Red Hat family, yes: no choice but systemd. Ditto openSUSE. But dosemu2 also offers `.deb` packages and there are several non-systemd Debian-family distros, including Devuan, antiX and MX Linux. I also note: https://www.reddit.com/r/voidlinux/comments/hqm7z2/xdeb_a_simple_utility_to_convert_debian_packages/ -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] cannot boot installation media
On Sun, 28 Apr 2024 at 16:58, Frantisek Rysanek via Freedos-user wrote: > > Dear Mr. Ramos, > > > - Balena Etcher > > - Rufus > > - Untebootin > > - Win32DiskImager. > > interestingly to me, you don't mention the trusty old `dd` ... :-) Or Ventoy, which is quicker and easier than any of them. > Have you tried looking for a BIOS update? I thought the same thing. > I have, but the HP support website does not respond to the "Presario > 427" search query. Maybe it would respond to a "product code", if > that label on the underside of the machine is still readable. It might be a Presario CQ-60 427. I found this notice: « Narrow your selection:Compaq Presario CQ60-400 Notebook PC series Compaq Presario CQ60-400 Notebook PC series - Retired ProductsThe following products have been retired and are no longer supported by HP. All official HP support content for these products has been removed from this web site. » I agree, though, it's worth a try. Davi: • You *must* use legacy boot mode. DOS cannot start on UEFI machines. • You must use MBR partitioning. • Try Ventoy, it's easier. For the filesystem, it can use FAT16 or FAT32, which to boot must be in a primary partition on the 1st drive. Yes, Linux will detect it if `os-prober` is enabled in GRUB. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Way or utility in Freedos to have two applications running
On Fri, 12 Apr 2024 at 02:46, Jose Senna via Freedos-user wrote: > Would someone please provide a copy of this article in a platform > that is not at odds with Brazilian courts ? Just use archive.org or archive.ph or archive.is or any one of lots of others. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Way or utility in Freedos to have two applications running
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 at 22:35, tsiegel--- via Freedos-user wrote: > > The original version of open dos (when it was still caldera dos version > 7.01), had a multitasking program you could load on top of the base dos > system that allowed multitasking. Yes it did. It is called TASKMAX and it needs the DR 386 memory manager, and it does not work on other DOSes. It is directly supported by thje ViewMAX DOS GUI which can list tasks and let you switch, but it is not a windowing multitasker. All tasks are full screen. It's not standard and it doesn't work on FreeDOS. It's also not terribly stable in my testing. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Ré : Way or utility in Freedos to have two applications running
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 at 13:30, Ramon Riera Marès via Freedos-user wrote: > > I asked AI Gemini and he answered me this: Do not do this. LLM bots are not "AI", they are marketing BS. They do not and cannot think, reason, or know anything. They are very fancy predictive text tools and they emit total nonsense -- such as this. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Way or utility in Freedos to have two applications running
On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 at 11:36, Ramon Riera Marès via Freedos-user wrote: > > I want to know if there is any way or utility in Freedos to have two > applications running, for example an outliner and a text editor, and be able > to switch from one to the other without having to exit the current > application. This is called "multitasking" and the fact that DOS didn't do it is pretty much why DOS was replaced in the early 1990s by Windows, Linux, and other OSes. There are multitasking DOSes out there, but they are aimed at multiple people sharing one PC, such as MultiUser DOS. Some are even FOSS: https://github.com/roelandjansen/pcmos386v501 There are multitasking layers you can load on top of DOS, such as DESQview. But no, unaided DOS can't do that. In the 21st century DOS is more or less "the old PC OS that did not multitask." This is its defining characteristic. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Adapter PCMCIA to CF
On Fri, 29 Mar 2024 at 13:11, Eric Auer via Freedos-user wrote: > If it is not, then it > is just some plug and play device which may come and go and > for which you would probably have to find appropriate DOS > drivers to let DOS handle the coming and going properly. This sounds plausible. The latter scenario is what I know, which is why I earlier posted that PCMCIA from DOS is complicated, difficult, and best avoided. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Coding in BASIC for Freedos?
On Sun, 17 Mar 2024 at 22:20, tom ehlert via Freedos-user wrote: > I think Liam's post was not about "advocating" FreeDOS, but about "helping" > a nooby user. Thank you. Yes, that was exactly my intention. If one needs DOS for something, then FreeDOS is the best option today. If one needs BASIC, though, there are better options. If one needs a tiny OS to learn and explore, there are better options. If one needs any functionality past the 1980s, such as networking, internet, wireless, multimedia, multitasking, high-resolution or 3D graphics, modern accessibility tools, modern hardware support, support for modern very low-end hardware... there are other, better choices. > Nope. AFAICT it's a person wanting to learn programming; no mentioning of > FreeDOS. Agreed. > And learning FreeDOS and learning programming at the same time is taking Two > steps at once. > Usually not a smart idea. Strongly agreed. > it should be a serious reply. > in this case I'd vote "probaly not unless the original BASIC is a DOS based > BASIC". > even then use a 32 Bit version of Windows(if the intended use case is > learning to program). 100% agreed. > I simply guarantee that you won't be able to write a program that crashes any > version of modern Windows Dosbox. > I fail to see the advantage. Also true. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Coding in BASIC for Freedos?
On Fri, 15 Mar 2024 at 23:06, Thomas Cornelius Desi wrote: > > That is the main reason: smaller and… simpler. There are good reasons that DOS went away some 35 years ago. It has its uses but not being able to flip to another window or another screen to consult documentation, or try something out, or look it up online, is a *massive* handicap. If you wanted to develop _for_ DOS you would be better in a VM and using the host OS. > The adjective »older« might technically become a problem for a wider audience. So? > I don’t know of any OS that is as small as DOS. Isn’t it? Many of them, yes, and they are all more capable. Oberon's core OS is some 4000 lines of code: that is a complete multitasking OS with a tiled windowing user interface, an editor and a compiler. https://www.projectoberon.net/ One of its successors is A2, which is Internet-capable, with email, chat, a browser, etc. The core OS is 8000 lines of code. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Oberon/A2 For both of these, there is a native PC version and it also runs on DOS, Windows, MacOS, Linux and other systems. If you have a Raspberry Pi, the core of RISC OS is 6MB of code. That's the kernel, the GUI, the desktop, the text editor, image viewer, BASIC, and so on. It's a multitasking internet-capable GUI OS with one of the best and fastest BASICs ever. https://www.riscosdev.com/direct/ I like DOS. I use DOS. But I am also realistic about DOS. If you want to learn, today, almost anything else is better. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Coding in BASIC for Freedos?
On Fri, 15 Mar 2024 at 16:48, Thomas Cornelius Desi via Freedos-user wrote: > > could someone from the list give me an advice, what programming language to > learn, > if I would want to do some programming in FREEDOS? > > I am an absolute »Noobie« with programming, but stumbling about some source > files, > especially BASIC, which I would work with. I have to ask: If you're a newbie, why start with DOS? I mean, yes, it's smaller and older and simpler, but that also means that some things are more work. There are lots of BASIC compilers out there now for Windows, Linux, etc. which are much more usable. https://www.freebasic.net/ https://github.com/QB64-Phoenix-Edition/QB64pe https://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcsdl/index.html Or get an old Raspberry Pi, a Pi 1 or 2 will do and will cost like $5 or something, and put RISC OS on it. Then you have a multitasking 32-bit OS with a GUI and BBC BASIC, one of the best and fastest BASIC dialects ever written. > My aim is to do some alterations to existing source (sort-of-text editor). Then you have to use the same language version that it was written in, and your mission is to find that out, not to explore options for DOS. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] QEMU - Max size of Linux access folder
On Mon, 11 Mar 2024 at 23:00, Jim Hall via Freedos-user wrote: > I run Fedora and whenever the new version comes out, I backup my data, > nuke and reinstall. Good heavens. FWIW my oldest running Ubuntu installation is now on its 3rd laptop host and it's 11 years old. It started out as Ubuntu 13.10. Still 100% working, as are all apps. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] QEMU - Max size of Linux access folder
On Mon, 11 Mar 2024 at 17:52, hms--- via Freedos-user wrote: > > I have stayed with Lubuntu > 18.04 as the later versions use SNAP and no longer support old hardware. That is a fair point. 20.x and onwards no longer support x86-32 hardware. Debian still does, although support is being removed from the next release, Debian 13 "Trixie", expected in 2025. Fewer and fewer distros still support x86-32. > Newer versions are very slow. I have removed snap and tried all the tips > to improve speed and responsiveness without success. I do not find it _that_ much worse myself and I run 10-12YO hardware as daily drivers here. I am considering migrating to MX Linux, though, which is faster, lighter, and does not include Snap, systemd, and several other bits of modern bloat. It defaults to the Xfce desktop, which is nearly as light as LXDE but much more customisable. LXDE is also at end of life, incidentally, and Lubuntu now uses its replacement, LXQt, which I personally like less. The lightest-weight mainstream desktop distro I know is the Raspberry Pi Desktop, the X86 edition of the miniature-computer OS. It runs usefully in 1GB of RAM and quite well in 2GB and it still supports x86-32... for now. It's based on Debian, it uses a mere 200MB of RAM at idle, it's based on LXDE, and it's free, of course. https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/raspberry-pi-desktop/ It does not have Snap or Flatpak but it does use systemd. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] QEMU - Max size of Linux access folder
On Mon, 11 Mar 2024 at 15:31, Jim Hall via Freedos-user wrote: > For what it's worth: Lubuntu 18.04 LTS is quite old. True. > I understand the > release "number" is actually a date, so 18.04 was released in April > 2018. Cirrect. > Wikipedia says this was supported for 3 years Yes. This is an important and much missed point: only the official Ubuntu desktop gets the full 5 years of LTS support. Flavours and remixes get less. > The current Lubuntu is 23.10 (released October > 2023) Correct. > If there's a config issue on your Lubuntu, you might > consider updating to 23.10 or 24.04 LTS Whoah. Not correct. Not possible. LTS releases can be upgraded directly to the next LTS release (and nothing else.) Interim releases only to the next interim release. If that is then an LTS, then you can go LTS->LTS. So, the only choices for 18.04 are to 18.10 (now long dead) or to 20.04. Then, from 20.04 the OP could go to 22.04... and for now, that's it. 24.04 isn't out yet. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Adapter PCMCIA to CF
On Thu, 7 Mar 2024 at 11:08, Manuel Sobral via Freedos-user wrote: > > My question is, is it possible to use a PCMCIA to Compact Flash adapter? Speaking as someone who built and supported systems with PCMCIA on DOS in the 1980s and early 1990s: don't. Yes, it is possible. But it's really hard and complicated and needs layers of drivers that talk to other drivers that talk to other drivers. (Device drivers talk to card drivers that talk to socket drivers that talk to DOS. Possibly not in that order.) It's hard to get working, and harder to keep working. If you do, it takes up a _lot_ of memory and you will find that your apps won't run any more because they no longer fit. If you have to ask, you probably are not ready for the levels of pain. *Some* versions of IBM PC DOS included CSS (Card and Socket Services) built in. That might be easier. But there are good reasons this stuff did not catch on and go mainstream until the era of Windows 95 and 98, which built in the support and automated the configuration. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Post-install problem with GRUB2 bootloader
On Fri, 1 Mar 2024 at 18:44, tsiegel--- via Freedos-user wrote: > > There should be only one active primary partition at any given time. Picky-picky. OK, then, reorder the adjectives so that it is no longer grammatical English but is more technically accurate. The active, first primary partition. Or, in other words, in the first primary partition, which should be active. (I have had success when it's the first partition, which is also a primary partition, but a different partition is active: e.g. DOS or Win9x is in partition 1, but Linux is in partition 2, that's active, and Linux's GRUB passes control to the 1st partition.) -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Post-install problem with GRUB2 bootloader
On Thu, 29 Feb 2024 at 16:47, Charles Hudson via Freedos-user wrote: > > I could in other words reinstall the Linux system but as a learning exercise > I though I would see if GRUB could be rebuilt. Sure, it can. My suggestions are based around Ubuntu as I don't like Fedora much, but the same general methods should apply. On a different computer, get Ventoy and use it to format a USB key. It does not need to be installed: run once and then delete it. https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html Onto your Ventoy key, copy: * a current Fedora ISO file * a current FreeDOS ISO file * maybe a current Win10 ISO file for safety (it's a free download from microsoft.com) * I suggest some small additional tools such as a Gparted Live ISO and a SystemRescue ISO * Maybe a Universal Boot CD ISO When you boot the key, it generates a menu on the fly to let you pick what ISO to boot. DOS generally likes to be the 1st active primary partition on an MBR-formatted drive. You can boot into a Fedora live session and use Gparted to move stuff around to make that the case, if necessary. Then reboot. Fedora has very brief and not very helpful instructions here: https://jfearn.fedorapeople.org/fdocs/en-US/Documentation/0.1/html/Fedora_Multiboot_Guide/GRUB-reinstalling.html Fuller ones here but they assume your system works: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/grub2-bootloader/ Here are more general ones you can adapt: https://www.fosslinux.com/115031/troubleshoot-boot-problems-by-reinstalling-grub-on-linux.htm The Boot-repair tool may help you: https://sourceforge.net/p/boot-repair/home/Home/ -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] "Upgrade" from MS-DOS 6.2.2 (fwd)
On Mon, 26 Feb 2024 at 14:42, Karen Lewellen via Freedos-user wrote: > > I dare say you intended this for the list. You continue to be just amazingly rude and hostile. You mailed me privately offlist. I did you the courtesy of replying the same way. You put it back on the list. Previously I had killfiled you. I only saw your mail because I removed that filter. I will reinstate it as soon as I hit "send" on this message. I have tried to help you twice now. You have in both cases responded with vitriol and abuse. Never again. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] "Upgrade" from MS-DOS 6.2.2
On Fri, 23 Feb 2024 at 03:21, DAMON GRAY via Freedos-user wrote: > > I'm working on the assumption that FreeDos will handle the USB mouse and > keyboard. No, it won't. But in my limited testing, what I found that might is this: Install DOS onto a USB key, and boot from that, not from a HDD partition. On some firmware, this makes the BIOS do lots of USB handling and emulation and things work better. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] USB Stick and Bios
On Wed, 31 Jan 2024 at 09:10, Thomas Cornelius Desi via Freedos-user wrote: > > Does anyone around know if BIOSes in general differentiate between »floppy > drive« or »hard disk« because of an existing MBR (or partition table) or not? Interesting question. Some (older) BIOSes do distinguish between USB hard disk, USB floppy, and USB optical drive. In normal DOS usage, floppies have no partition table, as I understand it. The raw disk device has a filesystem. Hard disks must have a partition table first, and the classic DOS MBR means 4 primaries max, 1 of which can be an extended holding logical drives. I don't _think_ BIOSes decide on the basis of format; the device detection stuff happens first. Maybe on size? Superfloppies got up to about 120MB. I don't recall much bigger. SCSI lets devices report if they are removable or not. I don't know if USB does. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] One use case for FreeDos
On Mon, 29 Jan 2024 at 18:26, Santiago Almenara via Freedos-user wrote: > > It is a 2014 article, I believe he might have discovered Youtube, Email, > Facebook and all other distractions. > He haven't written any complete book since 2011, except for short stories. :( I last met GRRM in 2019 although I first did in 1995, when the first ASOIAF book came out. I suspect, but cannot prove, that at some point his publicists quietly took a decade off his public age or DoB. He's written before about being an unstructured, improvisational sort of writer, and I think having the framework of the AGOT TV series has stifled his creativity. Damned shame. He is a very fine writer & I'd been enjoying his SF since the 1970s. I mentioned in a comment to my day job the other day the idea of Corel buying up DR DOS Inc and doing a bootable live USB with DOS WordPerfect. There was some enthusiastic approval of this notion. I have been working on such a thing myself for 5Y now but 4Y ago I had a daughter and being a dad in my 50s has got in the way... -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Some USB-Stick problems
On Thu, 26 Oct 2023 at 22:27, Eric Auer via Freedos-user wrote: > > According to this site, you can connect IDE storage, so a compact > flash card with a suitable adapter indeed sounds like a great idea. > CF usually support IDE I/O, which means that a simple mechanical > adapter with a power regulator is sufficient, no extra controller > or card reader necessary Strongly concur with Eric here. If you can eliminate USB storage, I think that will work better with DOS. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Some USB-Stick problems
On Thu, 26 Oct 2023 at 21:13, Jürgen Wondzinski via Freedos-user wrote: > *** > Next problem: I tried to get printer support via USB (currently they use > classic LPT, but those printers get very rare). This could help there: https://www.retroprinter.com/ I interviewed the creator; I can put you in touch, if you wish. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Installing on an iMac 2011 (with good reason)
On Wed, 4 Oct 2023 at 19:59, ashembers via Freedos-user wrote: > > Hello, > > I have been trying to install 1.3 on an iMac 2011 I *think* Intel Macs only fake BIOS compatibility for booting from removable media. Once the OS is on the fixed disk, I'd expect it not to work. If the fans are on full that means you've not enabled power management. DOS runs the main CPU at full speed all the time unless told to do something else. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Sound is too loud when running a BOOM source port
On Fri, 11 Aug 2023 at 18:36, Ralf Quint via Freedos-user wrote: > Well, Liam, you owe me a full cup of coffee (I might be able to salvage > the keyboard)... :-D (I saw the to/too typo the second I hit "send"...) -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Sound is too loud when running a BOOM source port
On Thu, 10 Aug 2023 at 18:00, zerofive--- via Freedos-user wrote: > > Any idea on what should I do? This seems to obvious to mention, but hey... Turn the volume knob on your speakers down? -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] How do I change screen resolution?
On Wed, 9 Aug 2023 at 18:50, Alexandro Hipólito via Freedos-user wrote: > > HI, Hi. Please do not hijack other people's threads. Start your own new thread. Then we will try to answer. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] How do I change screen resolution?
On Sun, 6 Aug 2023 at 15:37, Ralf Quint via Freedos-user wrote: > > FreeDOS, like any DOS, works only in text mode, so you can't just select any > graphics mode on the console. I have a copy of a very handy program from the early 1990s called Laptop UltraView. It was designed for laptops in the era when they had VGA passive-matrix LCDs: 648*480 in maybe 16 colours -- sometimes 256 if you were lucky. VGA text mode is, I think, 640*400. LT/UV reset the DOS console into 640*480 and told DOS it was 80*25 mode, and could redefine the fonts in software. It then quit: it was not resident, so took no RAM. The result was bolder clearer text that was easier to read. It also defined a bunch of soft "text" screen modes, so you could tell DOS it had a 100x30 console, or anything that fit neatly into VGA graphics mode. Some very hi-res "text" modes with small characters were possible. My ZX Spectrum could just about display 64 columns of text in its 256*192 pixels, in a 4x8 character font. VGA can do about 160x50 text in that sort of resolution, but it is not good for your eyes. AIR LT/UV did not understand any VESA modes so it can't use 800*600 or 1024*768 at all. Pity. Sadly my copy is in another country right now. I can't upload it anywhere. But it was possible, and it was a very small simple program -- IIRC it shipped on one 720 kB floppy. It would probably be quite easy to clone and reimplement. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Can FreeDOS Be Installed By Means Of UNIX Commands?
On Sun, 16 Jul 2023 at 15:23, Jay F. Shachter via Freedos-user wrote: > Microsoft Windows is installed on three primary > partitions, because that is what Windows does, and every other > operating system on this computer must find a home for itself within > the logical partitions carved out of the fourth, extended partition. This is not true, and it is incorrect in 2 separate independent ways. [1] Yes, Windows does that by default. However, you don't need to leave it. You need the small reserved/hidden boot partition, and you need the big C: drive system partition. But the 3rd is a rescue/recovery partition. You don't need that at all. Use Ventoy to format a USB key, and download the Windows ISO from Microsoft.com. It's free of charge and if you get it direct from MS you can be fairly confident it's clean and free from malware. Windows 10 and 11 are unrestricted free downloads. For Win7, you need a registration key to download it. Copy the ISO onto your Ventoy key. Now you are good to go. You have a much better, richer, more capable rescue tool and you can delete the rescue partition. Nothing will change and Windows won't even notice. Now you have 2 primary partitions free. [2] The 4-primaries limit only applies to MBR hard disks. This is no help with FreeDOS, but GPT doesn't have that limit and you can have as many primary partitions as you want. There are no "extended" or "secondary" partitions any more. FUD FAQs: * Yes, you can boot a GPT disk in BIOS mode. * No, you do not need UEFI, but your BIOS does need to support it. Most have done for 15-20 years or more. * No, it does not only apply to disks over 2TB; you can partition a 256GB drive with GPT if you want, and I've done it. -- Liam Proven ~ Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk ~ gMail/gTalk/FB: lpro...@gmail.com Twitter/LinkedIn: lproven ~ Skype: liamproven IoM: (+44) 7624 277612: UK: (+44) 7939-087884 Czech [+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal]: (+420) 702-829-053 ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
