from Guillem:
Hello,
> I am currently considering the possibility of dualbooting my Windows computer
> with FreeDOS. I have the resources to do so (FreeDOS installation CD image
> which I can burn to a flashdrive, 512mb unallocated space on my
> main drive which I will make a FAT32 partition on, etc) but I�\200\231m
> only struggling with two problems. I haven�\200\231t found the answer to
> them online so I dedcided to post here.
> My first problem is that I need a serial port to use my computer in FreeDOS.
> The reason is that I am completely blind. As such, I use a program called a
> screen reader, which essentially does what it�\200\231s name
> suggests, read the screen. To read it, it uses a separate tool called a
> speech synthesizer. A speech synthesizer basically turns any text into speech
> (most of the time, anyway :D). On a modern system, such as Windows,
> there are dozens of software speech synthesizers out there (eSpeak,
> vocalizer, ETI-Eloquence) which I can use with my screenreader. DOS, though,
> had very few software synthesizers, and the ones which were available
> weren�\200\231t usable via an external screenreader. People used external
> speech synthesizers, attached to their computers via the serial port. I
> myself own a quite old notetaker for the blind, the �\200\234Braille �\200
\231n
> Speak 2000�\200\235, which has a built-in speech synthesizer. My problem
> is, though, that being a quite modern HP computer made and bought in 2014, it
> does not have a serial port. Under windows 8.1, I have used a Prolifi
c
> PL-2303 adapter. It works flawlessly and I can use all of the serial features
> of the Braille �\200\231n Speak with it. The thing is, I haven�\200\231t
> seen any mention to this working under FreeDOS. Could anyone here tel
> l meif it is possible to use one of these adapters?
> This brings me to my second question. The sound card. I am aware that windows
> pretty much blocks out the PC speaker, even though I think my computer has
> one. FreeDOS does allow it, I believe. What I don�\200\231t know is
> if I�\200\231ll be able to actually somehow emulate a sound card, possibly
> a Sound Blaster compatible one, with the integrated realtek one my PC has.
> This is also quite important for me since most of the games that
> I�\200\231ll run under FreeDOS need the sound card to emit sound.
> I hope someone here can point me in the right direction. I would really
> appreciate any help that you may be able to provide me with this.
> Thanks in advance.
There are USB-to-serial adapters that plug into a USB port on the computer and
have a 9-pin serial port on the other end, but I don't know how these work in
FreeDOS.
You could look on tigerdirect.com or startech.com .
You might want to consider Linux instead of, or in addition to, FreeDOS. Linux
offers better, more modern, hardware support that FreeDOS.
I typed this message a couple days ago, don't see it on the FreeDOS list, so
may have forgotten to send it.
Tom
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