Hi, quick reply, On Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 10:05 AM, JPT <j.p...@gmx.net> wrote: > > Rugxulo, you are right, I should do this in a more structured way. > expected to throw the CD in, and thats it. > > EDIT: current status is: > - hardware ok, maybe the memory was faulty, i have to verify this. > - freedos 1.1 successfully installed. > - Debian installer is currently downloading addtional packages. > next steps, as soon as debian is working: > - install additional dos packages > - make network work > > Details of what I have done yet: > > hardware > > - CPU and board should be rocking stable, had XP running for years > without probs.
Sounds good. > - memory... > Was 3x128 + 1x256 = 640, but recognized only 384 MB. This might indicate > a problem. Removed all but 1x128 MB. Memtest runs fast now, > 20 mins for 2 passes. Everything ok. > I will reinsert and check some of the other memory modules later. > (I did memtest before without error, but who knows...) Hope no problems there, but lacking any reason to worry, I guess it's fine. ;-) > - disk, ontrack is running, 2h. > No error. Does this computer's BIOS need it?? Shouldn't it be new enough to not need it? (Well, I just blindly assume you know otherwise.) > I have my rescue floppies and CDRWs always at hand, but the labels > aren't matching the content any more, for most of them :) Yeah, I have too many (usually unlabeled) floppies, heheh. ;-) > - CPU clock rate too high for a lot of old dos software? > Do you think clocking down to below 500 Mhz might help? > Bart says so for his network boot floppy. Hard to imagine for "normal" stuff, but it depends. Some games are pickier than others. Other stuff (TP7 unpatched) might also complain. > - A20 stuff... > especially the XMS/EMS driver loading seems to fail often. It shouldn't. At least XMS should "just work". EMM386 is quirky, so I'm not too too surprised there. > I have in mind that A20 has to do something with EMS oder XMS. (or UMB?) > And, A20 is some hack using the keyboard controller. > Since I attached an USB keyboard to a USB switch, for easily switching > between computers... could this be a problem, eg in the BIOS USB > Keyboard code? It could indeed be a USB keyboard / BIOS conflict. Try unplugging it (if you can) and seeing if that helps. > Now to the software. > - This time I partitioned and formatted the drive before booting the > installer. > btw, the fdisk program contained on the floppy sucks. I assume you mean FD FDISK 1.31? A la "looks like classic MS" one? > created a bad partition layout. have to move partitions now... What exactly does that mean? You had a pre-existing one that it corrupted? (I hope we're using "latest" 1.31 here.) TestDisk can sometimes recover lost partitions. Otherwise, we might need to add a tool to backup the MBR / partition table before mucking with it. (IIRC, both WDE and BOOTMGR can do so if you tell them to manually.) > what about xfdisk instead? Already in the works (right, Bernd?). There's also SPFDISK, which is allegedly better for SATA, but that one's SF site seems to have disappeared. > - Install debian... for having less trouble with partitioning in the > future, and to verify the hardware. Sounds good, you don't need to hog the whole drive with FreeDOS anyways. ;-) > - install Freedos 1.1T3 > Ran through in almost no time, wow! Yeah, it's not including everything and the kitchen sink (for now), just the basics. > I got the same error message from Jemm, but pressing ESC continued > booting the installer. I do wonder what is being used there. Hopefully "X=TEST I=TEST" in particular. We've got to be careful on newer computers, might even want to do "X=E000-EFFF". (Ideally, there should be a "safe" and/or "no EMS" option in CONFIG.SYS.) > So where do you suggest to continue? Should I jump to the 1.0 installer? > or should I install manually? Manually is fine if you can workaround the partition issues you mentioned. > Could you point me to a tutorial for > manual install, or is it just "unpack anywhere", as we are used from old > dos? fdisk (create FAT on primary active partition) format sys a: c: install whatever else you want / need > - network > its a 3c905b. It should work using the NDIS driver included with Barts > Network Boot Disk. Does it work with freedos out of the box or do I have > to do this manually using this wiki page? > http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/freedos/index.php?title=Networking_FreeDOS_-_NDIS_driver_installation Most likely manually. Ugh, all that networking stuff is extremely confusing (to me), but hopefully someone else here can guide you better. But try this packet driver: http://www.crynwr.com/drivers/ http://www.crynwr.com/drivers/3c509116.zip > Which cards are known to be working? Got a few Realtek based somewhere... Pretty much whatever Crynwr has (see above). > Regarding your other questions. > >> "Production" meaning what? Dunno, not sure it's been verified for >> military use. ^_^ > > well, we are still using an old 486 with DOS 5 for some special hardware > and software (which partly was ported from apple II a long time ago) ;-) > since the 14" monitor broke down yesterday and the 200 MB harddrive > broke down half a year ago... ;-( Oh well, it had a good life. > we have to go to slighly newer hardware > that is able to run at least a linux, and has got some interfaces for > backup. Slightly newer? Linux (2.6+) prefers 128+ MB RAM nowadays! >> It would also help to know what big apps you've tried (or primarily >> want) to run, just to know what you expect to work. > > I need: > - pascal compiler TP55 (16-bit) is freeware (w/ free registration) GPC and FPC (32-bit) are GPL > - maybe basic compiler or interpreter FD 1.0 had a BWBASIC (16-bit) .EXE interpreter, GPL FBC (32-bit) is GPL SmallBASIC, Brandy, XST (all 32-bit) also exist > - maybe fortran compiler, if the old software has to be recompiled Latest DJGPP is GCC 4.6.1 (F2003/2008), but OpenWatcom 1.9 also supports F77. > - network would be nice Sounds like your card probably works (see above packet driver). > - some basic linux tools, eg vim, df, du, dd, wget... VIM provides a DPMI (32-bit DJGPP) .EXE these days, e.g. 7.3. Other *nix tools are at DJGPP archive (fil41b + txt20b + shl2011b = GNU Coreutils). FD 1.0 had WGET binary. >> EDIT: Oh yeah, you'd need working network, that's kinda arcane. But if >> it works (by some miracle) .... > > ehm, so network won't work? :( It might work, but keep in mind that most companies don't write packet drivers. > Well, so far for now. I continue with debian install... > > Thanks for all that help! Hope it actually does help. :-/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. Take our quick survey online. Come on, we don't ask for help often. Plus, you'll get a chance to win $100 to spend on ThinkGeek. http://p.sf.net/sfu/slashdot-survey _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
