Hi, On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 11:31 PM, Leroy Vargas <lvargas7...@gmail.com> wrote: > I currently use VirtualBox to run a FreeDOS virtual machine, which uses VHD > hard-disk image files and VFD floppy-disk images.
Atop which host OS? Windows or Linux or Mac or ... ? > Does anybody here know a freeware virtual disk image editor that handles > both VHD and VFD images, in lieu of VBox's lack of > drag-and-drop/shared-folder extensions support for DOS or anything "older" > than Windows 2000? One guy (Eduardo Casino-Almao) did write VMSMOUNT for mounting DOS under VMware (e.g. Player, which is AFAIK "freeware"): * http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/1.2/repos/pkg-html/vmsmount.html > And perhaps other formats like HDI and FDI(?), the ones apparently favored > by NEC-compatible PC emulators? No idea, too obscure for me. (... keep reading, I'm combining replies to your emails ...) On Sat, Jul 21, 2018 at 5:42 PM, Leroy Vargas <lvargas7...@gmail.com> wrote: > I am afraid my question was misinterpreted. I am not looking for a CD/DVD > image creator (I already have an expensive one that also does Blu-ray > images), but a hard-disk and floppy-disk image editor that would let me read > from (and write to) VHD and VFD images when not running my virtual machine. > In other words, an app that handles VHD/VFD files in a manner similar to the > way 7Zip handles 7Z/ZIP/TAR archives. 7-Zip (at least GUI and cmdline "7z") does unpack certain images, e.g. .IMG or .VHD (and others) nowadays. IIRC, try "7z i" to see what formats are supported. Of course, it will have to be a (relatively) new version. Latest version seems to be 18.05. My old p7zip 16.02 here seems to indicate support for .VHD, .VDI, .VMDK, .ISO, .DMG, .WIM, QCOW, SquashFS, HFS, FAT, EXT[234], NTFS, etc. If you use something like qemu-img to convert to raw, you could then use GNU Mtools (but probably not on Windows): * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mtools (links to official site, also has some good examples of usage) > The idea of making a CD ISO image would work if you only wanted to import > files from the host OS into the VM (like, for example, an externally > modified CONFIG.SYS and/or AUTOEXEC.BAT for a Japanese FreeDOS/V or > FreeDOS/98 setup...) > > But what if you wanted to export files from the VM (like, i.e., a music file > compiled from a MML source by an old music compiler like KAJA's MC.EXE) out > to the host OS (in my case, Win10 x64)? That's where I need a disk image > editor. Okay, so you're using Windows. I guess you didn't know that Windows (since 7? confirmed and tested by me) lets you mount / explore .VHD? (Computer Management -> Disk Management) On Mac, apparently you need a third-party tool (from Paragon). On Linux, you need libguestfs-tools (etc). * https://www.lazybrowndog.net/freedos/virtualbox/?page_id=495 * http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/VirtualBox_-_Chapter_6 Just to quote myself (from FASM's forum) ... although the above links are better and have pictures (thanks to Ulrich Hansen's diligence): <begin quoted text> *********************** Win 7 (Home, 64-bit): ===================== Win key - (search) "computer management" click "Storage -> Disk Management" click the Volume window right click Disk Management -> Create VHD (or via menu "Action") (here I'm making a 4096 MB dynamic disk) Action -> All Tasks -> Initialize (MBR) Action -> All Tasks -> New Simple Volume (mount as drive G:, FAT32, quick format) Explorer -> cut and paste any files from C: to G: (e.g. hello.txt) right click "Disk 1" -> "Detach VHD" VirtualBox 4.3.40 (64-bit): =========================== on existing "FreeDOS" install, click Storage -> Controller: IDE -> click button "Add Hard Disk" (existing) boot "FreeDOS" normally (and edit hello.txt) quit the VM (Host-Q, aka Right Ctrl-Q) Storage -> Remove Attachment ... back to running Computer Management -> Disk Management Attach VHD back to Explorer -> G: -> read your modified hello.txt when finished, Detach VHD *********************** <end quoted text> (So I assume that's some good ideas for you. I'm no expert, obviously, but it's not totally impossible.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
