I can send you a virtualbox VM that has FreeDOS installed and working. I'm
using it to test a system configuration editor I wrote years ago.
On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 10:31 AM, JAYDEN CHARBONNEAU <
[email protected]> wrote:
> I previously had FreeDOS on my laptop by doing this:
> I formatted my flashdrive/USB to boot into FreeDOS.I then copied (using
> xcopy /s) all the files from my desktop which had FreeDOS installed on it.I
> then booted my laptop into the Flashdrive/USB,and I ran the format /s
> command on the laptop's hard drive.I then copied all the files from the
> Flashdrive/USB to the laptop's hard drive.But,the problem is this time,my
> desktop has ubuntu on it.So I would have to reinstall FreeDOS....maybe I
> will.As for using emulators,as I said,I like using a real computer.If I am
> going to have my computer boot into the matrix,(funny pun),I want to do it
> for real.I have three main computers I use.I have my desktop,which usually
> has Windows or Ubuntu on it (Although currently I am having problems with
> Ubuntu).My new Acer laptop has Windows 8.1 on it.My 'lil HP laptop form
> 2000/2001 is my FreeDOS computer.So,I really don't need an emulator.(That
> and having a computer that freaks your friend out when he/she turns it on
> is funny,because they think you are hacking the CIA or something).I also
> tried running FreeDOS on virtualbox before,and It wouldn't work,what so
> ever.Perhaps I could install FreeDOS into virtual box(which doesn't like
> booting into FreeDOS on the virtual harddrive),and then boot the VM into a
> USB,and copy the files.
>
> On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 4:54 PM, Eric Auer <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>
>> Hi Jayden, Rugxulo,
>>
>> >> I went through the ISO file,but I couldn't find the files needed
>> >> for the format /s command,
>>
>> The kernel and command.com are probably on the
>> (compressed) boot floppy image on the ISO, so
>> you do not see them unless you boot from that
>> CD. Maybe we should also put the files on the
>> ISO directly, for those who want to use them
>> without having to boot from the CD or having
>> to take extra steps to reach the files...
>>
>> Rugxulo has some boot floppy images as well
>> as the files from them and the sources online:
>>
>> > https://sites.google.com/site/rugxulo/
>>
>> If you "just want to SYS your C: drive", it
>> can be easier to use those, in particular if
>> you know what you are doing and you know that
>> you can not boot from CD or DVD drive... :-)
>>
>> > "/s" just means "system", which is optional (so you can do it
>> > manually). So that's (IIRC) just copying kernel.sys and command.com
>> > , which is bare minimum. The actual boot sector itself has to be
>> > calculated by sys.com (which can save boot sector to file, if
>> > needed). fdisk.exe is what creates partitions and adjusts the MBR.
>> > format.exe is to make the FAT readable / usable.
>>
>> As far as I remember, FORMAT /S is identical
>> to formatting, then running SYS to copy those
>> files and make the boot sector. Copying them
>> without running SYS is not enough, as format
>> itself probably only puts a boot sector which
>> shows some "this does not boot" message...
>>
>> > In other words, it's not just raw files that can be copied (due to
>> > drive geometry differences), so there still needs to be some proper
>> > installation "work".
>>
>> Exactly. In particular, "mkdosfs" (of Linux
>> dosfstools) or some Windows FORMAT tool will
>> NOT put a boot sector which loads the kernel
>> of FreeDOS.
>>
>> > USB jump drive is probably your best bet. Although you can
>> > "probably" use Eric's sys-freedos-linux (Perl?) script, if
>> > direly desired.
>>
>> The tool is a Perl script which calls nasm to
>> compile a boot sector and sets a few specific
>> values in the boot sector depending on various
>> partition and filesystem properties. You would
>> need PERL and NASM to run it. Also, you would
>> have to specify some of the values manually if
>> the script does not find them in simple ways.
>>
>> In short, it is easier to use SYS after booting
>> DOS from anything that can boot DOS, such as an
>> USB stick or CD. Note that booting from USB or
>> CD can have an effect on drive letter "numbers"
>> so make sure that you use SYS on the drive that
>> you actually want to use...
>>
>> >> As for a VM, I don't like emulated things.
>>
>> In that case, I recommend that you use Windows
>> or Linux tools to make your existing partitions
>> (e.g. Windows NTFS or Linux) smaller: This is
>> often possible "on the fly" without formatting
>> but of course you want to make backups before!
>>
>> After making space as described, you can again
>> use Linux or Windows to create for example some
>> FAT32 partition of a few gigabytes for DOS. As
>> last step, boot from a DOS boot disk for SYS :-)
>>
>> Of course, if your computer is big and fast, you
>> can easily run DOS in a VM while keeping the rest
>> of your computer busy with other things. When you
>> boot DOS on the raw hardware, you can obviously
>> do only DOS things until you boot your Windows or
>> Linux again ;-)
>>
>> Regards, Eric
>>
>>
>>
>> PS: Rugxulo, your Grub2 comment mentions a MEMDISK
>> based workflow, so it does NOT answer whether or not
>> Grub2 has any problems with booting DOS directly...
>> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Flashing_BIOS_from_Linux#FreeDOS
>>
>> http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php/MEMDISK says
>> max CHS geometry is 1024x256x64 for 8 GB but that
>> it is limited by int 15 memory (maybe max 3-4 GB?).
>>
>>
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>
>
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