#86box — Public Fediverse posts

IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 Blue on 86Box with Socket 7 (Single Voltage) [1995]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 was officially released on October 1994, and it comes in two flavors: Blue Spine which contains WIN-OS/2, and Red Spine that doesn’t contain this feature.

Our focus in this article is testing IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 Blue with WIN-OS/2 on an 86Box emulated machine with an Socket 7 (Single Voltage) [1995] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1995] Socket 7 (Single Voltage)
• Machine: [i430FX] ASUS P/I-P55TP4XE
• CPU: Intel Pentium OverDrive @ 150 MHz
• Memory: 32 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: [PCI] IDE Controller
• SCSI controller 1: [ISA16] Adaptec AHA-154xB
  • Address: 0x334
  • IRQ: 11
  • DMA: 6
  • Host ID: 7
  • BIOS address: C800H
• New hard disk: os2warp3blue.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2080/16/63
  • Size: 1024 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0
• CD-ROM drive 1: [SCSI-2] PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-32TS 1.03 (32x)

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called Disk0.img. Then, insert the OS/2 Warp CD-ROM (Installation.iso) to the CD-ROM drive.

Configure the BIOS by loading the ROM defaults and by changing the boot order so that floppy comes first, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the IBM logo where you are asked to insert the first diskette, which is Disk1.img.

Then, let the system start.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions by choosing Easy Installation. You can also try Advanced Installation, though we haven’t used it in this experiment.

Then, the installer will ask us to insert back the boot floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the formatting part begins, and the base system files get copied to the hard disk. Afterwards, it will ask you to reboot.

Remove any floppy disk from the floppy drive, then press ENTER so that you’ll be taken to the device configuration screen. Leave everything as it is, and press OK. Then, press OK when Do Not Install Default Printer is selected.

You’ll be asked if you want to install networking support. Since we don’t intend to have networking support, and the operating system is old anyway, we’ve decided against installing network support.

Afterwards, the installation begins until it asks you to reboot the computer as the installation completes. You may get asked for WIN-OS/2 configuration.

Press OK, and you should see this:

You’ll be taken to the OS/2 Tutorial window. Once you exit it, the desktop should finally appear. At this point, the installation is successful!

In the Blue Spine edition, you’ll notice additional folders that are related to WIN-OS/2. We ran Program Manager from the OS/2 system itself.

IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 Red on 86Box with Socket 7 (Single Voltage) [1995]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 was officially released on October 1994, and it comes in two flavors: Blue Spine which contains WIN-OS/2, and Red Spine that doesn’t contain this feature.

Our focus in this article is testing IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 Red without WIN-OS/2 on an 86Box emulated machine with an Socket 7 (Single Voltage) [1995] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1995] Socket 7 (Single Voltage)
• Machine: [i430FX] ASUS P/I-P55TP4XE
• CPU: Intel Pentium OverDrive @ 150 MHz
• Memory: 32 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: [PCI] IDE Controller
• SCSI controller 1: [ISA16] Adaptec AHA-154xB
  • Address: 0x334
  • IRQ: 11
  • DMA: 6
  • Host ID: 7
  • BIOS address: C800H
• New hard disk: os2warp3blue.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2080/16/63
  • Size: 1024 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0
• CD-ROM drive 1: [SCSI-2] PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-32TS 1.03 (32x)

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called Installation.img. Then, insert the OS/2 Warp CD-ROM (Installation CD.iso) to the CD-ROM drive.

Configure the BIOS by loading the ROM defaults and by changing the boot order so that floppy comes first, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the IBM logo where you are asked to insert the first diskette, which is Disk01.img.

Then, let the system start.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions by choosing Easy Installation. You can also try Advanced Installation, though we haven’t used it in this experiment.

Then, the installer will ask us to insert back the boot floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the formatting part begins, and the base system files get copied to the hard disk. Afterwards, it will ask you to reboot.

Remove any floppy disk from the floppy drive, then press ENTER so that you’ll be taken to the device configuration screen. Leave everything as it is, and press OK. Then, press OK when Do Not Install Default Printer is selected.

You’ll be asked if you want to install networking support. Since we don’t intend to have networking support, and the operating system is old anyway, we’ve decided against installing network support.

Afterwards, the installation begins until it asks you to reboot the computer as the installation completes.

Press OK, and you should see this:

You’ll be taken to the OS/2 Tutorial window. Once you exit it, the desktop should finally appear. At this point, the installation is successful!

Notice that there are no additional folders that are related to WIN-OS/2.

IBM OS/2 Warp 2.11 on 86Box with Socket 7 (Single Voltage) [1995]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

IBM OS/2 Warp 2.11 was officially released on February 1994 to introduce symmetrical multiprocessing.

Our focus in this article is testing IBM OS/2 Warp 2.11 on an 86Box emulated machine with an Socket 7 (Single Voltage) [1995] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1995] Socket 7 (Single Voltage)
• Machine: [i430FX] ASUS P/I-P55TP4XE
• CPU: Intel Pentium OverDrive @ 150 MHz
• Memory: 32 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: [PCI] IDE Controller
• SCSI controller 1: [ISA16] Adaptec AHA-154xB
  • Address: 0x334
  • IRQ: 11
  • DMA: 6
  • Host ID: 7
  • BIOS address: C800H
• New hard disk: os2warp211.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2080/16/63
  • Size: 1024 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0
• CD-ROM drive 1: [SCSI-2] PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-32TS 1.03 (32x)

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called Boot Floppy 1.img. Then, insert the OS/2 Warp CD-ROM (OS2_CD_ROM.CUE) to the CD-ROM drive.

Configure the BIOS by loading the ROM defaults and by changing the boot order so that floppy comes first, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the IBM logo where you are asked to insert the first diskette, which is Boot Floppy 2.img.

Then, let the system start.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions.

Then, the installer will ask us to insert back the boot floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the formatting part begins after you accept the drive and select the file system. Afterwards, the installer will copy the base system parts to the hard disk before asking you to remove the floppy disk from the drive and press ENTER to restart again.

Then, let it copy the base system files for installation.

Remove any floppy disk from the floppy drive, then press ENTER so that you’ll be taken to the system configuration phase. Choose Install all features.

You’ll be taken to the device configuration screen. Leave everything as it is, and press OK. Then, press OK when Do Not Install Default Printer is selected.

You’ll be asked to confirm the installation.

Afterwards, the installation begins.

After that, configure WIN-OS/2 and migrate all Windows applications that were installed.

The installer will then copy all remaining files, including the display adapter, and ask you to reboot the system.

You’ll be taken to the OS/2 Tutorial window. Once you exit it, the desktop should finally appear. At this point, the installation is successful!

Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.30 on 86Box with i486 (Socket 168 and 1) [1992]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.30 was officially released on December 1990, and was the last version to be sold through Microsoft.

Our focus in this article is testing Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.30 on an 86Box emulated machine with an i486 (Socket 168 and 1) [1992] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images from the Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.x folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1992] i486 (Socket 168 and 1)
• Machine: [CS4031] AMI 486 CS4031
• CPU: Intel i486SX @ 16 MHz
• Memory: 8 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: [ISA16] PC/AT IDE Controller
• New hard disk: msos2warp.vhd
  • C/H/S: 987/3/17
  • Size: 24 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called InstallA.img.

Configure the BIOS by changing the BIOS settings like below, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the installation program, then go through the introductory screens.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions.

Then, the installer will ask us to leave the installation floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the installer will ask you to insert the first diskette of the operating system, called Disk01.img.

Next, the setup program asks you if you want to use HPFS or FAT. We’ve used HPFS in this experiment. The formatting process then starts right away.

The installer then asks if you want to change the configuration of the base system. We have accepted the defaults.

Setup then asks if you want to accept whatever display adapter the installer has detected, or if you need to change it. We kept it as default.

Afterwards, the installer will ask you to select a mouse variant. Choose Microsoft Mouse, Serial Version (039-199 or 056-X99).

Finally, accept the default configuration.

Afterwards, the installation begins.

After the files get copied from all the requested diskettes, the first thing it will ask you is if you want to install a printer. Since we don’t have a printer, we’ve answered “Do Not Install Default Printer” here.

After the files get copied from all the requested diskettes, the first thing it will ask you is if you want to install “Driver Support” diskette files. Since we don’t have such diskette, we’ve answered No here.

The installer will then ask you to remove a diskette from the floppy drive before you restart the virtual machine.

You’ll be taken to the Program Manager GUI. At this point, the installation is successful!

Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.21 on 86Box with i486 (Socket 168 and 1) [1992]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.21 was officially released on June 1990 to introduce the High Performance File System.

Our focus in this article is testing Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.21 on an 86Box emulated machine with an i486 (Socket 168 and 1) [1992] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images from the Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.x folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1992] i486 (Socket 168 and 1)
• Machine: [CS4031] AMI 486 CS4031
• CPU: Intel i486SX @ 16 MHz
• Memory: 8 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: [ISA16] PC/AT IDE Controller
• New hard disk: msos2warp.vhd
  • C/H/S: 987/3/17
  • Size: 24 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called Install.img.

Configure the BIOS by changing the BIOS settings like below, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the installation program, then go through the introductory screens.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions.

Then, the installer will ask us to leave the installation floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the installer will ask you to insert the first diskette of the operating system, called Disk01.img.

It will ask you to select the keyboard layout for the installation. If you want to change it, highlight the second option. Otherwise, accept the first option.

Next, the setup program asks you if you want to use HPFS or FAT. We’ve used HPFS in this experiment. The formatting process then starts right away.

Next, the installer is going to ask you to select a country and a keyboard. If you want to change them, choose the second option. Otherwise, choose the first one. We have chosen the first option, which is to accept the changes.

Setup then asks if you want to accept whatever display adapter the installer has detected, or if you need to change it. We kept it as default.

Afterwards, the installer will ask you to select a mouse variant. Choose Microsoft Mouse, Serial Version (056-X99).

Next, add serial device support, retrieve command support, and OS/2 Command Reference.

Finally, accept the default configuration.

Afterwards, the installation begins.

After the files get copied from all the requested diskettes, the first thing it will ask you is if you want to install “Driver Support” diskette files. Since we don’t have such diskette, we’ve answered No here.

Now, the installer will finalize the installation and ask you to remove any disk from the floppy drive. Then, press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart the virtual machine.

You’ll be taken to the Program Manager GUI. At this point, the installation is successful!

Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.10 on 86Box with i486 (Socket 168 and 1) [1992]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.10 was officially released on October 31st, 1988, and the rollout of the Program Manager GUI started.

Our focus in this article is testing Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.10 on an 86Box emulated machine with an i486 (Socket 168 and 1) [1992] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images from the IBM OS/2 Warp 1.x folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1992] i486 (Socket 168 and 1)
• Machine: [CS4031] AMI 486 CS4031
• CPU: Intel i486SX @ 16 MHz
• Memory: 8 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: [ISA16] PC/AT IDE Controller
• New hard disk: msos2warp.vhd
  • C/H/S: 987/3/17
  • Size: 24 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called install.img.

Configure the BIOS by changing the BIOS settings like below, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the installation program, then go through the introductory screens.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions.

Then, the installer will ask us to leave the installation floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the formatting part begins. Afterwards, the installer will copy the base system parts to the hard disk before asking you to remove the floppy disk from the drive and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart again.

Then, let it boot to the installer. It will ask you to insert the first diskette, disk01.img, for the operating system.

Afterwards, the installation begins.

After the files get copied from all the requested diskettes, the first thing it will ask you is if you want to install “Driver Support” diskette files. Since we don’t have such diskette, we’ve answered No here.

Next, the installer is going to ask you to select a country and a keyboard. If you want to change them, choose the second option. Otherwise, choose the first one. We have chosen the first option, which is to accept the changes.

Afterwards, the installer will ask you to select a mouse variant. Choose Microsoft Mouse, Serial Version (039-199) (Grey/White Buttons).

Next, add serial device support.

Finally, accept the default configuration.

Now, the installer will finalize the installation and ask you to remove any disk from the floppy drive. Then, press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart the virtual machine.

You’ll be taken to the Program Manager GUI. At this point, the installation is successful!

Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.00 on 86Box with i386SX [1988]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.00 was officially released on December 15th, 1987.

Our focus in this article is testing Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.00 on an 86Box emulated machine with an i386SX [1988] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images from the Microsoft OS/2 Warp 1.x folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1988] i386SX
• Machine: [ACC 2036] Packard Bell PB300/PB320
• CPU: Intel i386SX @ 16 MHz
• Memory: 8 MB
• Video: Internal device
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: msos2warp.vhd
  • C/H/S: 987/3/17
  • Size: 24 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called MSOS210-INSTALL.img. There have been two copies of Microsoft OS/2 1.00 floppy disk images: one which works with virtual machines, and one that is only meant for physical machines. Unfortunately, the latter copy was spread faster than the former one.

Configure the BIOS by changing the configuration to look like below. Then, open the Menu, and press F4. You may have to do that twice.

Let the operating system start to the installation program, then go through the introductory screens.

The hardware overview then shows up. You should see that there is a single hard disk present.

Then, let the installer run fdisk.

Create the OS/2 primary partition using the default configuration. Then, when you’re taken back to the main screen, press 4 to verify that the partition table has been created properly. Then, exit fdisk, and press CTRL + ALT + DEL on the virtual machine to reboot.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the formatting part begins. Afterwards, the installer will ask you to press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart again.

Afterwards, the available disk space should be updated to reflect the available disk space.

Afterwards, the installation options show up. Since our scenario is about a fresh install, press 1.

Afterwards, the installer will ask you to select a mouse variant. Choose Microsoft serial mouse attached to COM1.

Next, select Other, none as the printer, and press ENTER.

The installer again asks if you want to format the C: drive. This time, answer No, since we already did it.

Now, the installation starts. Then, the installer will ask you to remove any disk from the floppy drive. Then, press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart the virtual machine.

After you restart the virtual machine, the installer will ask you to insert the program diskette, then the supplementary diskette.

Then, let it boot.

You’ll be taken to the command prompt. At this point, the installation is successful!

IBM OS/2 Warp 1.30 on 86Box with i486 (Socket 2) [1992]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

IBM OS/2 Warp 1.30 was officially released on December 1990, and was the last version to be sold through Microsoft.

Our focus in this article is testing IBM OS/2 Warp 1.20 on an 86Box emulated machine with an i486 (Socket 2) [1992] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images from the IBM OS/2 Warp 1.x folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1992] i486 (Socket 2)
• Machine: [OPTi 499] Alaris Cobalt LPX
• CPU: Intel i486SX @ 20 MHz
• Memory: 8 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: os2warp.vhd
  • C/H/S: 977/7/26
  • Size: 86 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called Install.img.

Configure the BIOS by loading the ROM defaults, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the installation program, then go through the introductory screens.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions.

Then, the installer will ask us to leave the installation floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Accept the pre-defined partitions, then restart the computer.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the installer will ask you to insert the first diskette of the operating system, called Disk01.img.

Next, the setup program asks you if you want to use HPFS or FAT. We’ve used HPFS in this experiment. The formatting process then starts right away.

The installer then asks if you want to change the configuration of the base system. We have accepted the defaults.

Setup then asks if you want to accept whatever display adapter the installer has detected, or if you need to change it. We kept it as default.

Afterwards, the installer will ask you to select a mouse variant. Choose Microsoft Mouse, Serial Version (056-X99).

Finally, accept the default configuration.

Afterwards, the installation begins.

After the files get copied from all the requested diskettes, the first thing it will ask you is if you want to install a printer. Since we don’t have a printer, we’ve answered “Do Not Install Default Printer” here.

After the files get copied from all the requested diskettes, the first thing it will ask you is if you want to install “Driver Support” diskette files. Since we don’t have such diskette, we’ve answered No here.

The installer will then ask you to insert Diskette #7 to the floppy drive. Let it copy everything.

The installer will then ask if you have the “Custom Install” diskette. Since we don’t have any, we’ve answered No.

Afterwards, the Basic Configuration Services screen comes up, asking if you want to create a configuration. We’ve decided not to create one.

Now, the installer will finalize the installation and ask you to remove any disk from the floppy drive. Then, press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart the virtual machine.

You’ll be taken to the Program Manager GUI. At this point, the installation is successful!

IBM OS/2 Warp 1.20 on 86Box with i486 (Socket 2) [1992]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

IBM OS/2 Warp 1.20 was officially released on October 1989 to introduce the High Performance File System.

Our focus in this article is testing IBM OS/2 Warp 1.20 on an 86Box emulated machine with an i486 (Socket 2) [1992] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images from the IBM OS/2 Warp 1.x folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1992] i486 (Socket 2)
• Machine: [OPTi 499] Alaris Cobalt LPX
• CPU: Intel i486SX @ 20 MHz
• Memory: 8 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: os2warp.vhd
  • C/H/S: 977/7/26
  • Size: 86 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called Install.img.

Configure the BIOS by loading the ROM defaults, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the installation program, then go through the introductory screens.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions.

Then, the installer will ask us to leave the installation floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the installer will ask you to insert the first diskette of the operating system, called Disk01.img.

It will ask you to select the keyboard layout for the installation. If you want to change it, highlight the second option. Otherwise, accept the first option.

Next, the setup program asks you if you want to use HPFS or FAT. We’ve used HPFS in this experiment. The formatting process then starts right away.

Next, the installer is going to ask you to select a country and a keyboard. If you want to change them, choose the second option. Otherwise, choose the first one. We have chosen the first option, which is to accept the changes.

Setup then asks if you want to accept whatever display adapter the installer has detected, or if you need to change it. We kept it as default.

Afterwards, the installer will ask you to select a mouse variant. Choose Microsoft Mouse, Serial Version (056-X99).

Next, add serial device support, retrieve command support, and OS/2 Command Reference.

Finally, accept the default configuration.

Afterwards, the installation begins.

After the files get copied from all the requested diskettes, the first thing it will ask you is if you want to install “Driver Support” diskette files. Since we don’t have such diskette, we’ve answered No here.

The installer will then ask you to insert Diskette #6 to the floppy drive. Let it copy everything.

The installer will then ask if you have the “Custom Install” diskette. Since we don’t have any, we’ve answered No.

Afterwards, the Basic Configuration Services screen comes up, asking if you want to create a configuration. We’ve decided not to create one.

Now, the installer will finalize the installation and ask you to remove any disk from the floppy drive. Then, press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart the virtual machine.

You’ll be taken to the Program Manager GUI. At this point, the installation is successful!

IBM OS/2 Warp 1.10 on 86Box with i486 (Socket 2) [1992]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

IBM OS/2 Warp 1.10 was officially released on October 31st, 1988, and the rollout of the Program Manager GUI started.

Our focus in this article is testing IBM OS/2 Warp 1.10 on an 86Box emulated machine with an i486 (Socket 2) [1992] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images from the IBM OS/2 Warp 1.x folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1992] i486 (Socket 2)
• Machine: [OPTi 499] Alaris Cobalt LPX
• CPU: Intel i486SX @ 20 MHz
• Memory: 8 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: os2warp.vhd
  • C/H/S: 977/7/26
  • Size: 86 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called Install.img.

Configure the BIOS by loading the ROM defaults, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the installation program, then go through the introductory screens.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions.

Then, the installer will ask us to leave the installation floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the formatting part begins. Afterwards, the installer will copy the base system parts to the hard disk before asking you to remove the floppy disk from the drive and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart again.

Then, let it boot to the installer. It will ask you to insert the first diskette, disk01.img, for the operating system.

Afterwards, the installation begins.

After the files get copied from all the requested diskettes, the first thing it will ask you is if you want to install “Driver Support” diskette files. Since we don’t have such diskette, we’ve answered No here.

Next, the installer is going to ask you to select a country and a keyboard. If you want to change them, choose the second option. Otherwise, choose the first one. We have chosen the first option, which is to accept the changes.

Afterwards, the installer will ask you to select a mouse variant. Choose Microsoft Mouse, Serial Version (039-099).

Next, add serial device support.

Finally, accept the default configuration.

Now, the installer will finalize the installation and ask you to remove any disk from the floppy drive. Then, press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart the virtual machine.

You’ll be taken to the Program Manager GUI. At this point, the installation is successful!

IBM OS/2 Warp 1.00 on 86Box with i486 (Socket 2) [1992]

OS/2 is a proprietary computer operating system that was initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. However, a feud between two companies happened, and Microsoft ended up handing the development of OS/2 to IBM. In 1987, IBM OS/2 Warp has become official, and the last major version of OS/2 Warp was version 4, which was released in 1996. The development slowly halted as it couldn’t compete with Microsoft Windows.

IBM OS/2 Warp 1.00 was officially released on October 21st, 1987.

Our focus in this article is testing IBM OS/2 Warp 1.00 on an 86Box emulated machine with an i486 (Socket 2) [1992] motherboard. You can download the known working floppy boot images from the IBM OS/2 Warp 1.x folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1992] i486 (Socket 2)
• Machine: [OPTi 499] Alaris Cobalt LPX
• CPU: Intel i486SX @ 20 MHz
• Memory: 8 MB
• Video: [ISA] IBM VGA
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: os2warp.vhd
  • C/H/S: 977/7/26
  • Size: 86 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the boot floppy image called install.img.

Configure the BIOS by loading the ROM defaults, then immediately saving the changes and quitting the BIOS setup.

Let the operating system start to the installation program, then go through the introductory screens.

Then, let it pre-define the partitions.

Then, the installer will ask us to leave the installation floppy disk and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart.

Once you press it in the virtual machine, the formatting part begins. Afterwards, the installer will copy the base system parts to the hard disk before asking you to remove the floppy disk from the drive and press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart again.

Then, let it boot to the installer. It will ask you to insert the first diskette, disk01.img, for the operating system.

Afterwards, the installation begins.

Next, the installer is going to ask you to select a country and a keyboard. If you want to change them, choose the second option. Otherwise, choose the first one. We have chosen the first option, which is to accept the changes.

Afterwards, the installer will ask you to select a mouse variant. Choose Microsoft Mouse, Serial Version.

Next, add serial device support.

Finally, accept the default configuration.

Now, the installer will finalize the installation and ask you to remove any disk from the floppy drive. Then, press CTRL + ALT + DEL to restart the virtual machine.

You’ll be taken to the program selector TUI. At this point, the installation is successful!

Falls jemand noch Spaß an klassischen DOS-Versionen hat, hab' ich hier soeben die vollständige, deutschsprachige Fassung von "PC DOS 7" hochgeladen. IBM nutzte hier Disketten im 1.840K großen XDF-Format, was ich eine interessante Besonderheit finde. Das 1998 erschienene, offizielle Y2K-Fix-Pack ist ebenfalls mit dabei. Funktioniert alles einwandfrei in 86Box!

https://archive.org/details/pcdos_7_de

Viel Spaß! 😜😎

#Retro #RetroComputing #90er #90s #IBM #DOS #XDF #KryoFlux #FloppyDisk #Diskette #IBMPC #86Box

I'm using the official IBM CD-ROM and "CDTODISK.BAT" to create working setup images of PC DOS 7.0 in the standard 1.44MB floppy disk format. While this is still running, I am simultaneously testing the written disks using another virtual machine. It works! 😎

#Retro #RetroComputing #90s #IBMPC #DOS #PCDOS #86Box #Emulation #Floppy #FloppyDisk #Diskette #IBM

I don't suppose anyone out there in the fediverse has gotten #86Box networking to work with a tap device on #Linux? I seem to be just banging my head against the wall here.

Thanks to a recent LGR Blerb on YouTube, I just learned about TinySol for DOS, a tiny Solitaire game written in assembly for the IBM-PC. This is really neat! I put everything on a 360K disk image and ran the game without issue through an 86Box virtual machine. This is fun! :computerfairies: 😎

Link: https://classicbits.net/coding-and-software/my-software/monosol/
LGR Blerb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5heVkauR3M

#RetroGaming #HomeBrew #Assembly #DOS #DOSGaming #PCGaming #Retro #Gaming #LGR #VCF #86Box #Emulation

https://86box.net/2026/07/03/help-needed.html

#emulator #multiplatform #86box #software

Apple Rhapsody DR2 on 86Box with Socket 370 [1998]

In 1996, Apple Computer acquired NeXTSTEP and OpenSTEP. After the purchase of NeXT, Apple Computer started working on Rhapsody, an operating system. It was an exploratory strategy for Apple to use NeXTSTEP and OpenStep as a foundation to build Mac OS X, which was later rebranded to macOS, for Macintosh computers. Now, the Darwin kernel powers the core part of macOS (Mac computers and laptops), iOS (iPhone), iPadOS (iPad), watchOS (Apple Watch), and tvOS (Apple TV).

Our focus in this article is testing Apple Rhapsody DR2 on an 86Box emulated machine with a Socket 370 [1998] motherboard. You can download it from here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1998] Socket 370
• Machine: [i440LX] Supermicro 370SLM
• CPU: Intel Celeron (Mendocino) @ 366 MHz
• Memory: 128 MB
• Video: [PCI] S3 Vision968 (Number 9 9FX 771)
  • Video Memory: 4 MB
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: PS/2 Mouse
• Sound card: None
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: NeXTSTEP.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2080/16/63
  • Size: 1024 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0
• CD-ROM drive 1: [ATAPI] MATSHITA CD-ROM CR-588 LS15 (32x)
  • Channel: 0:1

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. We’ll have to change the boot order to ensure that C comes first before A.

Now, insert the disc called rhapsody_dr2_x86.iso to the CD-ROM reader and the floppy disk called rhapsody_dr2_x86_InstallationFloppy.img to the floppy drive, then let the system start.

After that, let it boot to the installer, then press 1 in both screens to begin installation.

Now, insert the device drivers disk to the floppy drive. The disk name is rhapsody_dr2_x86_DriverDisk.img.

Now, choose the Intel PIIX PCI EIDE/ATAPI Device Controller (v5.01) driver.

Then, continue without loading additional drivers.

Let NeXTSTEP start.

Confirm that the correct disk and the correct size is shown. Then, press 1 to select it. Afterwards, press 1 to erase the whole disk, and press 1 once again to confirm the installation.

Let the first stage of installation copy the base system files to the hard disk.

Afterwards, the installer should say that the installation is successful. Remove any disk from the floppy drive, then press ENTER to restart the virtual machine to the second stage of the setup.

If everything goes well, you should see this screen.

Configure the #9 Motion 771 PCI graphics adapter by clicking on the monitor icon, then click on Add… > #9 Motion 771 PCI graphics adapter (4MB Modes) > Add. Then, go back to the main menu by clicking on the paper icon at the left of the window, and click Save.

After that, press Done, ensure that the correct graphics adapter shows up, and press Save.

A new window opens where you’ll be able to customize what components will be installed to your Rhapsody system. We have kept everything as the default, so we clicked Install.

Let the installation begin.

Click on Restart, and let it reboot to the Rhapsody Setup Assistanr.

Click the right arrow, and you’ll be taken to a screen where you are asked to select the keyboard input type.

After that, the setup assistant asks you if you want to set up a network connection. Since we haven’t configured the network adapter, and we intend to isolate it from our network, we’ve decided not to configure network connection.

After that, you’ll be asked for the timezone.

After that, you’ll be asked for a date and a time.

The next screen now asks if you’re going to create a new user account. We have gone ahead with creating a new user account and a password.

After this stage, the setup assistant will ask if you want to get a login screen or if you want to be signed in automatically. We have decided not to opt for an automatic login.

After that, you’ll be asked for a root password to set.

The setup is complete, you’ll just have to press the appropriate buttons so that Rhapsody becomes ready to use.

If everything went well, you should be able to see the login screen below.

At this point, Rhapsody has been successfully installed. Here are some demonstration pictures.

Using 86Box to check out some fresh Windows 95 floppy disks I found on the Internet Archive. I'm comparing them to other versions, I already had in my retro archive. This is Windows 95 4.00.950 OEM. It works! :computerfairies:

Link: https://archive.org/details/win95a_full_floppy_untainted_ddimage

#RetroComputing #86Box #Windows95 #Win95 #90s #90er #Retro #Microsoft #Floppy #Diskette

OpenStep 4.1 (x86) on 86Box with Socket 370 [1998]

In 1996, Apple Computer acquired NeXTSTEP and OpenSTEP and used them as a foundation to build Mac OS X, which was later rebranded to macOS, for Macintosh computers. The Darwin kernel uses NeXTSTEP’s technologies to power the core part of macOS (Mac computers and laptops), iOS (iPhone), iPadOS (iPad), watchOS (Apple Watch), and tvOS (Apple TV).

Our focus in this article is testing OpenStep 4.1 on an 86Box emulated machine with a Socket 370 [1998] motherboard. You can download it from here, and you can download the working boot images from the OpenStep 4.1 folder from this link.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1998] Socket 370
• Machine: [i440LX] Supermicro 370SLM
• CPU: Intel Celeron (Mendocino) @ 366 MHz
• Memory: 128 MB
• Video: [PCI] S3 Vision968 (Number 9 9FX 771)
  • Video Memory: 4 MB
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: PS/2 Mouse
• Sound card: None
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: NeXTSTEP.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2080/16/63
  • Size: 1024 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0
• CD-ROM drive 1: ATAPI – MATSHITA CD-ROM CR-583 1.07 (8x)
  • Channel: 0:1

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. Insert the disc called OpenStep 4.1 (User).iso to the CD-ROM reader and the floppy disk called 4.0_Install_Disk.img to the floppy drive, then let the system start.

After that, let it boot to the installer, then press 1 in both screens to begin installation.

Now, insert the device drivers disk to the floppy drive. The disk name is 4.0_Drivers_1.img.

Now, choose the following drivers:

• For the CD-ROM, since the drive was connected to an ATAPI channel, you’ll need to load the EIDE and ATAPI Device Controller (v3.34) driver.
• For the hard drive, use the IDE Disk Controller (v3.34) driver.

Then, continue without loading additional drivers.

Let NeXTSTEP start.

Confirm that the correct disk and the correct size is shown. Then, press 1 to select it. Afterwards, press 1 to erase the whole disk, and press 1 once again to confirm the installation.

Let the first stage of installation copy the base system files to the hard disk.

Afterwards, the installer should say that the installation is successful. Remove any disk from the floppy drive, then press ENTER to restart the virtual machine to the second stage of the setup.

OpenStep will show you a screen where you’ll be prompted to insert the floppy disk for the device drivers again since the ATAPI driver doesn’t exist in the CD-ROM. So, insert the same driver disk and press 1.

After that, let OpenStep load. When it asks you to insert the drivers disk for the device controller, press OK.

If everything goes well, you should see this screen.

Configure the Number Nine Motion 771 PCI graphics adapter by clicking on the monitor icon, then click on #9 Motion 771 PCI Display Adapter (4MB Modes) > Add. Then, go back to the main menu by clicking on the paper icon at the left of the window, and click Save.

A new window opens where you’ll be able to customize what components will be installed to your OpenStep system. We have kept everything as the default, so we clicked Install.

Let the installation begin.

Click on Restart, and let it reboot to the OpenStep language and keyboard layout customization screen.

Click OK, and the desktop will load with the file viewer open.

NeXTSTEP 3.1 (x86) on 86Box with Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996]

NeXTSTEP is an object-oriented operating system that was officially released for the first time for computers using the Motorola 68000 series as the processor. This operating system was first found in NeXT Computer workstations sold by NeXT Inc., which was a technology company founded by Steve Jobs.

In 1996, Apple Computer acquired NeXTSTEP and OpenSTEP and used them as a foundation to build Mac OS X, which was later rebranded to macOS, for Macintosh computers. The Darwin kernel uses NeXTSTEP’s technologies to power the core part of macOS (Mac computers and laptops), iOS (iPhone), iPadOS (iPad), watchOS (Apple Watch), and tvOS (Apple TV).

Our focus in this article is testing NeXTSTEP 3.1 on an 86Box emulated machine with a Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996] motherboard. You can download the ISO image from here, and the known working floppy boot images from the NeXTSTEP 3.2 folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1996] Socket 7 (Dual Voltage)
• Machine: [ALi ALADDiN IV+] Biostar M5ATA
• CPU: Intel Pentium @ 90 MHz
• Memory: 32 MB
• Video: [PCI] Tseng Labs ET4000/w32p Rev. C (Cardex)
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: PS/2 Mouse
• Sound card: None
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• SCSI controller 1: [ISA16] Adaptec AHA-154xB
  • Address: 0x330
  • IRQ: 11
  • DMA: 5
  • Host ID: 2
  • BIOS address: C800H
• New hard disk: next.vhd
  • C/H/S: 854/16/63
  • Size: 420 MB
  • Bus: SCSI
  • Channel: 0:00
• CD-ROM drive 1: [SCSI-2] PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-32TS 1.03 (32x)
  • Channel: 0:01

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. We’ll have to change the boot order to ensure that SCSI comes first before C then A. Please make sure that you’ve set the hard disk, the SCSI controller, and the CD-ROM parameters correctly, as NeXTSTEP requires SCSI for a successful installation, and is very picky about specific parameters during the installation.

Now, insert the disc called NeXT Step 3.1 Intel.iso to the CD-ROM reader and the floppy disk called 3.2_x86_Boot_Disk.img to the floppy drive, then let the system start.

Note: we have used NeXTSTEP 3.2’s boot floppy disk because the existing floppy disk for v3.1 would fail to start the initialization system while booting NeXTSTEP.

After that, let it boot to the installer, then press 1 in the language selection screen and press 2 in the device driver screen to begin installation.

Let the NeXTSTEP system load…

Select your language again.

Confirm that the correct disk and the correct size is shown. Then, press 1 to select it. Afterwards, press 1 to erase the whole disk, and press 1 once again to confirm the installation.

Let the first stage of installation copy the base system files to the hard disk.

Afterwards, the installer should say that the installation is successful. Remove any disk from the floppy drive, then press ENTER to restart the virtual machine to the second stage of the setup.

If everything goes well, you should see this screen.

Leave it as it is, and click OK. The below screen should then show up.

Go to Video, and remove the Default VGA Adapter device. Then, configure the Tseng Labs graphics adapter by clicking on Add… > Tseng Labs ET4000-Based SuperVGA Video Adapter > Add. Then, go back to the main menu by clicking on Summary at the left of the window, and click Save.

A new window opens where you’ll be able to customize what components will be installed to your NeXTSTEP system. We have kept everything except additional languages as the default, so we clicked Install.

Let the installation begin.

Click on Restart, and let it reboot to the NeXTSTEP language and keyboard layout customization screen. Press OK, and you will be taken to the file viewer.

Albeit we can only get the black-and-white graphics with this configuration, we’ve managed to start NeXTSTEP with higher resolution.

NeXTSTEP 3.2 (x86) on 86Box with Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996]

NeXTSTEP is an object-oriented operating system that was officially released for the first time for computers using the Motorola 68000 series as the processor. This operating system was first found in NeXT Computer workstations sold by NeXT Inc., which was a technology company founded by Steve Jobs.

In 1996, Apple Computer acquired NeXTSTEP and OpenSTEP and used them as a foundation to build Mac OS X, which was later rebranded to macOS, for Macintosh computers. The Darwin kernel uses NeXTSTEP’s technologies to power the core part of macOS (Mac computers and laptops), iOS (iPhone), iPadOS (iPad), watchOS (Apple Watch), and tvOS (Apple TV).

Our focus in this article is testing NeXTSTEP 3.2 on an 86Box emulated machine with a Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996] motherboard. You can download the ISO image from here, and the known working floppy boot images from the NeXTSTEP 3.2 folder here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1996] Socket 7 (Dual Voltage)
• Machine: [ALi ALADDiN IV+] Biostar M5ATA
• CPU: Intel Pentium @ 90 MHz
• Memory: 32 MB
• Video: [PCI] Tseng Labs ET4000/w32p Rev. C (Cardex)
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: PS/2 Mouse
• Sound card: None
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• SCSI controller 1: [ISA16] Adaptec AHA-154xB
  • Address: 0x330
  • IRQ: 11
  • DMA: 5
  • Host ID: 2
  • BIOS address: C800H
• New hard disk: next.vhd
  • C/H/S: 854/16/63
  • Size: 420 MB
  • Bus: SCSI
  • Channel: 0:00
• CD-ROM drive 1: [SCSI-2] PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-32TS 1.03 (32x)
  • Channel: 0:01

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. We’ll have to change the boot order to ensure that SCSI comes first before C then A. Please make sure that you’ve set the hard disk, the SCSI controller, and the CD-ROM parameters correctly, as NeXTSTEP requires SCSI for a successful installation, and is very picky about specific parameters during the installation.

Now, insert the disc called NeXTSTEP 3.2 for Intel.iso to the CD-ROM reader and the floppy disk called 3.2_x86_Boot_Disk.img to the floppy drive, then let the system start.

After that, let it boot to the installer, then press 1 in the language selection screen and press 2 in the device driver screen to begin installation.

Let the NeXTSTEP system load…

Confirm that the correct disk and the correct size is shown. Then, press 1 to select it. Afterwards, press 1 to erase the whole disk, and press 1 once again to confirm the installation.

Let the first stage of installation copy the base system files to the hard disk.

Afterwards, the installer should say that the installation is successful. Remove any disk from the floppy drive, then press ENTER to restart the virtual machine to the second stage of the setup.

If everything goes well, you should see this screen.

Go to Display, and configure the Tseng Labs graphics adapter by clicking on Tseng Labs ET4000-Based SuperVGA Video Adapter > Add. Then, go back to the main menu by clicking on Summary at the left of the window, and click Save.

A new window opens where you’ll be able to customize what components will be installed to your NeXTSTEP system. We have kept everything except additional languages as the default, so we clicked Install.

Let the installation begin.

Click on Restart, and let it reboot…

After that, you should see the NeXTSTEP language and keyboard layout customization screen. Press OK, and you will be taken to the file viewer.

Albeit we can only get the black-and-white graphics with this configuration, we’ve managed to start NeXTSTEP with higher resolution. Please note that the mouse movement is also very slow.

Installing NeXTSTEP 3.3 Patch 3 (CISC) in 86Box with Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996]

Earlier, we have installed NeXTSTEP 3.3 to an 86Box virtual machine with a Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996] motherboard and set up a colored display with a high screen resolution. Now, let’s try installing the Patch 3 intended to fix the incorrect date and time as it has fixes that are related to the ancient Y2K bug that had catastrophic effects.

You can download an ISO image for Patch 3 here.

After the installation is complete, shut down the NeXTSTEP 3.3 virtual machine. It’s recommended that you clone either the whole virtual machine or the virtual hard disk file of the machine. You can do it by navigating to the virtual machine folder and making a copy.

Once done, start the virtual machine again. As soon as NeXTSTEP boots up, insert the ISO image of Patch 3 to the CD-ROM drive.

Now, navigate to CD-ROM, and try to open ns33cisc.pkg, and you’ll see the below error:

To fix that, quit the installer, and drag the package to the “me” home directory. Let the copying process finish, and the file explorer should then look like this:

Open it as a directory and inspect its contents. You’ll notice that, because of 8.3 filenames in the ISO files during the generation process, the filenames are truncated.

So, let’s open the terminal, log in as root using su, and execute the following commands as root after traversing to the package directory (in our case /me/ms33cisc.pkg):

• mv ns33cisc.inf ns33cisc.info
• mv ns33cisc.siz ns33cisc.sizes
• mv ns33cisc.z ns33cisc.tar.Z
• mv software. software_version

Make sure that the contents now look like this:

Go back to where you placed the package directory, and click on it. Then, go to the workspace menu > Services > Open Sesame > Open As Root.

Note: in order for Open Sesame to appear, make sure that you’ve installed all NeXTSTEP components, especially the demonstrations.

This is important as it modifies the base system, and the “me” user doesn’t have permissions to edit the system files.

If it asks you to provide a root password, just press ENTER, unless you have set a root password. After that, the below window should look like this:

Now, click on Install, and accept the default settings shown in the below window. Make sure that Intel is selected.

Once done, the installation starts. If a dialog box asking you to overwrite the files, let it do so.

Click Continue. Let the installation process start.

Once it says that the installation is done, quit the installer, go back to the Workspace menu, and select Log Out. Then, click Power Off, allow NeXTSTEP to shut down, then restart the machine. After that, the patch should be installed and you should be able to set the date and the time to the present time.

Configuring NeXTSTEP 3.3 to use high resolution with colors in 86Box with Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996]

Earlier, we have installed NeXTSTEP 3.3 to an 86Box virtual machine with a Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996] motherboard, which provided us a setup with the most minimal resolution possible and with grayscale color. However, achieving higher resolution by choosing another card and configuring NeXTSTEP to use that card is an ideal solution to achieve high resolution.

Thank you so much for the solution, Kendall Whitehouse!

After the installation is complete, shut down the NeXTSTEP 3.3 virtual machine. It’s recommended that you clone either the whole virtual machine or the virtual hard disk file of the machine. You can do it by navigating to the virtual machine folder and making a copy.

Once done, configure the virtual machine so that it looks like this:

Change the following settings:

• Display: [PCI] S3 Vision964 (Diamond Stealth64 VRAM)
• Memory size: 4 MB

Once done, press OK, and start the virtual machine. Let NeXTSTEP boot up to the file viewer.

After that, press the computer icon in the middle of the viewer (if you’re in the thumbnails view), and navigate to NextAdmin > Configure.app

After that, press the monitor icon to go to the video card configuration screen.

Remove all configured video cards by selecting one from the list and clicking Remove. Now, click Add…

Four entries should automatically show up in the list of detected devices. Choose the Diamond Stealth 64 PCI-Bus (4MB Modes)(v3.30) display device and click Add. Then, click on Expert.

Look for Auto Detect IDs, which is usually the first entry in the video card settings. Double-click on it, and write “0x88d05333 0x88d15333 0x88f05333“. Make sure that the video card IDs are correctly written, separated by a single space. Once done, press ENTER. It should now look like this:

Now, press OK, and under the Display Mode section, click Select…, then scroll down to 1024 768 60Hz RGB:256/8.

Now, press OK, then click Done and Save. Make sure that the configuration now looks like this:

After that, shut down NeXTSTEP by going to the file manager, clicking Log Out, and clicking Power Off. Wait for NeXTSTEP to shut down, then restart the virtual machine.

Now, the NeXTSTEP display should automatically switch to a bigger resolution with 256 colors:

NeXTSTEP 3.3 (x86) on 86Box with Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996]

NeXTSTEP is an object-oriented operating system that was officially released for the first time for computers using the Motorola 68000 series as the processor. This operating system was first found in NeXT Computer workstations sold by NeXT Inc., which was a technology company founded by Steve Jobs.

In 1996, Apple Computer acquired NeXTSTEP and OpenSTEP and used them as a foundation to build Mac OS X, which was later rebranded to macOS, for Macintosh computers. The Darwin kernel uses NeXTSTEP’s technologies to power the core part of macOS (Mac computers and laptops), iOS (iPhone), iPadOS (iPad), watchOS (Apple Watch), and tvOS (Apple TV).

Our focus in this article is testing NeXTSTEP 3.3 on an 86Box emulated machine with a Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996] motherboard. You can download it from here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1996] Socket 7 (Dual Voltage)
• Machine: [ALi ALADDiN IV+] Biostar M5ATA
• CPU: Intel Pentium @ 90 MHz
• Memory: 32 MB
• Video: [ISA16] S3 86c924 (AMI)
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: PS/2 Mouse
• Sound card: None
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• SCSI controller 1: [ISA16] BusLogic BT-542B
  • Address: 0x330
  • IRQ: 11
  • DMA: 5
  • BIOS address: C800H
• New hard disk: NeXTSTEP.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2080/16/63
  • Size: 1024 MB
  • Bus: SCSI
  • Channel: 0:00
• CD-ROM drive 1: [SCSI-2] PHILIPS CDD2600 1.07 (6x)
  • Channel: 0:01

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. We’ll have to change the boot order to ensure that SCSI comes first before C then A. Please make sure that you’ve set the hard disk, the SCSI controller, and the CD-ROM parameters correctly, as NeXTSTEP requires SCSI for a successful installation, and is very picky about specific parameters during the installation.

Now, insert the disc called NeXTSTEP_3.3_User_(i386_m68k).iso to the CD-ROM reader and the floppy disk called 3.3_Boot_Disk.img to the floppy drive, then let the system start.

After that, let it boot to the installer, then press 1 in both screens to begin installation.

Now, insert the device drivers disk to the floppy drive. The disk name is 3.3_Driver_Disk.img.

Now, choose the BusLogic ISA device driver for both the CD-ROM used to install NeXTSTEP from and the hard drive to install it to. Make sure that you’ve selected a device driver called BusLogic ISA SCSI Adapter (v3.31).

Then, continue without loading additional drivers.

Let NeXTSTEP start.

Confirm that the correct disk and the correct size is shown. Then, press 1 to select it. Afterwards, press 1 to erase the whole disk, and press 1 once again to confirm the installation.

Let the first stage of installation copy the base system files to the hard disk.

Afterwards, the installer should say that the installation is successful. Remove any disk from the floppy drive, then press ENTER to restart the virtual machine to the second stage of the setup.

If everything goes well, you should see this screen.

Configure the S3 graphics adapter by clicking on the monitor icon, then click on Add… > S3 Graphics Adapter > Add. Then, go back to the main menu by clicking on the paper icon at the left of the window, and click Save.

A new window opens where you’ll be able to customize what components will be installed to your NeXTSTEP system. We have kept everything as the default, so we clicked Install.

Let the installation begin.

Click on Restart, and let it reboot to the NeXTSTEP language and keyboard layout customization screen.

Click OK, and the desktop will load with the file viewer open.

Here’s a demonstration of this operating system running on 86Box.

This is just the start. To take this setup further, you can explore the below articles:

• Configuring NeXTSTEP 3.3 to use high resolution with colors
• Installing NeXTSTEP 3.3 Patch 3 (CISC)

SuSE Linux 5.3 on 86Box with Slot 1 [1997]

SuSE Linux 5.3 was released on September 10th, 1998, and it was the first version of SuSE that contained the first public version of KDE, which was KDE v1.0. KDE was included as the default, but we have chosen a setup that included running the FVWM2 window manager as the default.

Our focus in this article is testing SuSE Linux 5.3 with an XFree86 server on an 86Box emulated machine with a Slot 1 [1997] motherboard. You can download it from here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1997] Slot 1
• Machine: [i440BX] MSI MS-6147
• CPU: Intel Pentium Pro @ 200 MHz
• Memory: 128 MB
• Video: [PCI] S3 Trio64 (Phoenix)
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse (COM1)
• Sound card: [ISA16] Gravis Ultrasound
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: SUSE5.3.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2080/16/63
  • Size: 1024 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0
• CD-ROM drive 1: MATSHITA CD-ROM CR-583 1.07 (8x)

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. We’ll have to change the boot order to ensure that C comes first before CD-ROM.

Now, insert the disc called suse-linux-5.3-cd1.iso to the CD-ROM reader, then let the system start.

After that, let it boot to the installer.

Choose the language, and choose whether you want colors in the installer or not. We have chosen to use colors since the interface looks nicer.

Select the keyboard layout.

You’ll be taken to the main menu of the installer.

Go to Start installation / system, and press ENTER when Start installation is highlighted.

Let the installer load.

Now, you’ll get asked whether to install Linux from scratch or perform an upgrade. Also, demo mode and expert mode are options, but we’ll choose the first option. Then, select Partitioning, as we need to create partitions needed for the installation.

Then, you can choose whether to partition the disk manually or to use the guided partitioning. We have chosen to use the whole hard disk, since it’s a new virtual machine we’re going to install SuSE Linux 5.3 on.

Then, confirm the decision.

After that, partitions will be created, and you’ll be taken to the YaST setup tool where you’ll be able to either select a preset of packages or select a custom set of packages as per your choice.

We will be installing only the essentials with the X server, so let’s choose Load configuration.

We will choose Default system as the preset. Then, let’s verify that all the necessary packages will be installed using the “What if…” option

At this point, we can start the installation process, since everything looks OK. Verify that the disk space required is smaller than the available disk space for a successful installation. During the installation process, you might be prompted to insert another disc. In this case, you’ll have to right-click on the CD-ROM icon at the bottom and choose the required disk number.

Now, the installation of packages is complete. Go back to the main menu, and insert the first disc.

You’ll get asked what variant of the kernel you want to install. Since we didn’t install special hardware that requires special drivers, we’ve chosen the first option, which is the Standard (E)IDE Kernel.

You’ll be asked to choose whether to create a floppy disk for boot up or not. Since this is a test machine, we’ve decided not to create the floppy disk.

Then, configure the bootloader.

Afterwards, manually add the LILO boot configuration that points to the Linux installation. First, press F4 to add a new LILO configuration. Then, name the configuration linux, and let it auto-select the correct Linux partition. In our case, it’s /dev/sda3. Then, confirm that the LILO installation is successful.

Afterwards, select the time zone configuration for your country, or select a UTC offset. Let GMT be the time zone of your virtual machine’s hardware clock.

Now, configure both the host name and the domain name of your choice, since real networking is not going to be set up as this version of SuSE is very old, and we need to isolate it from the rest of our network.

Just set up the loopback.

Finally, we have chosen not to install the sendmail configuration file, since we don’t intend to use it.

The final setup phase starts here.

Let it boot to the new SuSE Linux 5.3 installation on your hard disk. Now, choose the root account’s password.

You’ll be asked if you want to choose a console font.

When it comes to the stage where mouse configuration is the current stage, set it up. Choose the Microsoft Bus Mouse, then select COM1 (cua0). Since we need to start the X server, we’ve decided not to let GPM start at boot up.

Finally, the congratulatory message showing that the installation has finished appeared.

Now, let the scripts install themselves, and you’ll be asked to sign in. Since we don’t have a user account yet, we’ve chosen to sign in to the root account.

Now, let’s configure the X server. To do that, we’ll use the XF86Setup tool.

Now, let’s configure the mouse and the keyboard first.

Now, go to the Card section, and navigate to the correct video card that’s installed to the virtual machine. In this case, we’ve chosen the S3 Trio64 (generic) graphics card.

Let’s go to the Monitor section, and select the High Frequency SVGA, 1024×768 @ 70 Hz preset.

Finally, go to the Modeselection section, and select any resolution up to 1024×768, and select a color depth you want. For example, we’ve chosen 800×600 at 16bpp color depth.

Afterwards, press Done, and let it run the X server for testing. Press Okay, then let it test the X server with the configuration you’ve selected. You should see the congratulatory message in the second image. Press Save the configuration and exit.

Let it create a symbolic link to the accelerated XFree86 S3 server.

Great! Now, let’s start the X server using startx.

Awesome! The X11 server started up without a hitch and in a full resolution of 800×600 with 16-bit colors, in an awesome FVWM2 desktop! The configuration was successful at this point!

Here are some of the demonstration pictures of the system:

Running Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.1 through 86Box emulation. A virtual Pentium II 233MHz is pushing my poor, old AM4 system to its limits. But, hey! It works! 😃

#FlightSim #Microsoft #Retro #Gaming #RetroGaming #DOS #DOSGaming #PCGaming #90s #Emulation #86Box

Red Hat 1.1 Mother’s Day + 0.1 on 86Box with Socket 8 [1995]

Red Hat 1.1 Mother’s Day + 0.1 is a bug fix version of the original Red Hat 1.0 Mother’s Day release that was unveiled on May 1995. This improved version of Red Hat, which was released three months later, brings bug fixes to various packages. ACC Bookstores bought out Red Hat Software Inc. when the beta program was still ongoing.

Our focus in this article is testing Red Hat 1.1 on an 86Box emulated machine with a Socket 8 [1995] motherboard. You can download it from here. We have also extracted the required floppy disk files, which you can download here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1996] Socket 8
• Machine: [i440FX] Intel AP440FX (Apollo)
• CPU: Intel Pentium II OverDrive @ 100 MHz
• Memory: 32 MB
• Video: [PCI] Cirrus Logic GD5434
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: PS/2 Mouse
• Sound card: [ISA16] Sound Blaster 16 PnP
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: RHS01.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2078/16/63
  • Size: 1023 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0
• CD-ROM drive 1: HITACHI CDR-8130 0020 (16x)

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. First, insert both the boot floppy disk to the drive and the Red Hat 1.1 ISO file to the CD-ROM reader.

After that, let it boot to the Red Hat 1.1 installer, inserting the root floppy disk in the process. Passing hdb=cdrom is necessary so that the kernel detects the CD-ROM drive.

After that, we’re asked to insert the boot floppy again so that the kernel can be installed to the new installation.

After that, we’ll get out from Express Install, which will take us to a menu that lets us choose steps more clearly.

The first thing we’ll do is to mount the RHS 1.1 CD-ROM. We’ll select CD-ROM as the installation method. The installer should find /dev/hdb as the CD-ROM disk that contains the necessary files.

Now, we’ll go through the partitioning stage. Verify that /dev/hda appears before you start partitioning the disk.

Now, let’s create partitions for the Red Hat installation. We’ve selected /dev/hda as the disk drive, which is the first drive on primary IDE controller. Afterwards, we’ve created two partitions:

• /dev/hda1: Linux, 980.44 MB, bootable
• /dev/hda2: Linux Swap, 43.32 MB

Finally, we’ve written the partition tables so that the installer can recognize our newly created partitions, which we will format to be usable in the installation.

Reboot the virtual machine, and repeat the process until you get to the partitioning stage. When it tells you to select the partitioning program, just scroll down to Done, then highlight Continue and press ENTER.

Now, we will initialize and activate the swap partition, which will be used by Red Hat 1.1. After the swap partition has been activated, we’re told to select a partition to initialize the EXT2 file system. We’ve chosen the Linux partition, which is the only partition that we’ve set up on this disk.

At this point, none of the disks have been touched yet. We’ll select a few package series, including the XFree86 ones and the base ones. Because we’ve selected the XFree86 series to be installed, we were told to select an appropriate server for a graphics card. Since we’ve installed the Cirrus Logic GD5434 graphics card, we’ll go with the SVGA server.

Then, we’re told to provide a hostname.

At this point, the actual installation starts… We’ll format the disk, install the base system, install the selected series, and install the kernel. Ignore the error about an XFree86 server being installed already.

Now, let’s jump to the XFree86 configuration. First, we get asked to provide a mouse type. Since we’ve installed a PS/2 mouse, we’ve selected the ps2-bus mouse type.

Now, we are at the stage where we get asked if we need to run the prober. Let it run the probe.

You’ll get an error indicating that the server has failed to start. Press ENTER, then change the chipset of the graphics card to the one that Cirrus Logic GD5434 uses.

Next, we’ll provide the correct amount of video memory in kilobytes (4096 KB in this case) and accept the probed clocks.

Next, select the Generic Multisync monitor and choose all resolutions, then select the 640×480 @ 60 Hz as the primary resolution for the X server to start with.

Answer No to the below question about no_2mb_banksel, then accept the defaults.

The video card configuration is now done! Let the X server recognize that there are two buttons.

The X server configuration is now complete!

Next comes the networking and the modem setup. Disable both of them, since we don’t intend to have networking installed to this system. Then, choose your keyboard layout and your timezone.

The next step is to configure the bootloader so that it gets installed to the MBR of /dev/hda, with this Red Hat installation being the default partition. Make sure that hdb=cdrom is specified as a kernel configuration.

Afterwards, create a new user account and its home directory, and provide a root password.

After that, we restart the machine after ejecting the boot floppy from the floppy drive, since we don’t intend to create a “boot floppy”.

We logged in as root, and we have a fully functioning shell!

Type startx…

Awesome! The X server has started in 640×480 @ 60 Hz with a bigger virtual desktop resolution. We can verify that it’s running Linux 1.2.11!

Here are some demonstration pictures of Red Hat 1.1.

To install extra RPP (not RPM) packages, you’ll have to mount /dev/hdb to /mnt/cdrom with the iso9660 type. You have to specify the type, or else mounting won’t work. You can do that using mount -t iso9660 /dev/hdb /mnt/cdrom as root. Then, open the RHS Linux Installation Manager, select a series you want to install packages from, then look for binary or source packages to install. Then, select a package, click Install, then click Engage to initiate the installation process.

For a little extra fun, open the RHS Linux Installation Manager, click on LIM, then click on About. It shows you a red hat. With the cursor on the red hat, You can make it spin indefinitely by clicking on the left mouse button, make it stop spinning by clicking on the right mouse button, and make it spin like a pendulum by clicking on both the left and the right mouse buttons.

Clockwise spin: left click on the red hat

Pendulum spin: right and left click on the red hat

If you make the red hat spin, you can make it spin faster by clicking on the hat more than once.

Sounds fun, isn’t it?

Debian 1.1.4 on 86Box with Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996]

Debian 1.1.4 is the first stable version of this Linux distribution that was released on June 17th, 1996, under the codename “Buzz”. This version of Debian uses Linux version 2.0, and it provides you with a minimal X11 server (XFree86).

Our focus in this article is testing Debian 1.1.4 on an 86Box emulated machine with a Socket 7 (Dual Voltage) [1996] motherboard. You can download it from here. We have also extracted the required floppy disk files, which you can download here.

We’ve configured the virtual machine as follows:

We’ve configured a virtual machine to run with:

• Machine type: [1996] Socket 7 (Dual Voltage)
• Machine: [i430VX] Azza PT-5IV
• CPU: Intel Pentium @ 166 MHz
• Memory: 128 MB
• Video: [PCI] S3 Trio64 (Phoenix)
• Keyboard: AT Keyboard
• Mouse: Microsoft Serial Mouse (COM1)
• Sound card: [ISA16] Gravis Ultrasound
• Floppy disk controller: Internal device
• Hard disk controller 1: Internal device
• New hard disk: RH5.vhd
  • C/H/S: 2080/16/63
  • Size: 1024 MB
  • Bus: IDE
  • Channel: 0:0
• CD-ROM drive 1: MATSHITA CD-ROM CR-583 1.07 (8x)

Once everything is configured as above, we can now start the virtual machine. First, insert both the boot floppy disk to the drive and the Debian 1.1.4 ISO to the CD-ROM reader, then set the BIOS to recognize the floppy disk.

After that, let it boot to the Debian 1.1 installer, inserting the root floppy disk in the process.

After that, we’re asked to create partitions for the Debian installation. We’ve selected /dev/hda as the disk drive, which is the first drive on primary IDE controller. Afterwards, we’ve created two partitions:

• /dev/hda1: Linux, 980.44 MB, bootable
• /dev/hda2: Linux Swap, 43.32 MB

Finally, we’ve written the partition tables so that the installer can recognize our newly created partitions, which we will format to be usable in the installation.

Now, we will initialize and activate the swap partition, which will be used by Debian 1.1.4. After the swap partition has been activated, we’re told to select a partition to initialize the EXT2 file system. We’ve chosen the Linux partition, which is the only partition that we’ve set up on this disk.

After the file system was created, we’ve mounted the root filesystem so that the installer will be able to install the minimal base system from the three base floppy disks.

Now, we’ll install the base system from the three floppy disks (base14-1.bin through base14-3.bin) inserted to the first floppy drive, /dev/fd0.

After that, we’ll install the kernel to the new system. Insert the boot floppy disk, then proceed.

Now, you’ll be asked if you need some additional modules. Since we don’t have any extra hardware that requires the use of the available modules, just press ENTER when you see the below screen.

After that, you’ll be asked to provide both the keyboard layout (which we’ve answered Yes here) and the timezone.

The hostname and the network setup comes next. We’ve selected the appropriate hostname, and this system is intentionally set up not to connect to a network, so we’ve answered No to the network connection question.

Afterwards, the bootloader installation comes next. We’ve set up the LILO bootloader so that it installs to the master boot record of /dev/sda, which is the disk that has our newly-installed system, along with making /dev/sda1 the default boot entry.

After that, we restart the machine after ejecting the boot floppy from the floppy drive, since we don’t intend to create a “boot floppy”.

The new installation booted up to the prompt where we’re asked to provide both the root password and info for a new user that will be created. The password must be at least 6 characters long for it to be accepted.

Package installation comes next, but we’ll have to set up dselect so that it reads the Debian 1.1.4 CD-ROM and the packages contained within. The kernel boot messages that we’ve seen indicates that /dev/hdb is the CD-ROM reader, which we will use.

We will go to “Access”, then provide the above path to the block device that points to the CD-ROM reader. Afterwards, we let it detect the packages for both the stable and the contrib sections from /debian/stable/binary-i386 and /debian/contrib/binary-i386, respectively. However, since this CD-ROM doesn’t contain non-free and local sections, we leave them blank.

Now, go to “Update”, and see it recognize the package list.

Now, we’ll go to “Select”, which lets us select packages that we want to install or remove. We have marked all LaTeX-related packages as removed by pressing the minus sign on our keyboard when those packages are highlighted. To find them, press the slash key, then write latex or tex, and remove all related packages. This saves the installation time and disk space.

After that, we’ll install XFree86 3.1.2 and its S3 server, FVWM2, GWM, and various X11-related packages by pressing + on the keyboard.

After that, press ENTER, and remove the remaining LaTeX packages that are dependencies. Keep pressing ENTER and marking dependent packages until pressing ENTER takes you to the main menu, with “Install” highlighted. Now, we’ll install packages.

When setting up packages, you’ll be prompted to set up a variety of packages yourself, such as the mail server. Occasionally, you may see the “file modified” prompts, which you’ll have to answer N. As for the mail server, press 5 then ENTER. Keep answering with defaults until you get to the XFree86 configuration.

Now, we are in the XFree86 configuration, with the mouse setup being the first section. Since we have selected Microsoft Mouse (2 buttons, COM1) during the virtual machine configuration, we’ve selected 1, then disabled ChordMiddle (for old Logitech mice using Microsoft Mouse protocol) and enabled Emulate3Buttons (press LEFT and RIGHT mouse buttons to emit MIDDLE click event). After that, we’ve specified /dev/cua0 as the mouse block device, which corresponds to COM1 that the mouse was connected to.

After that, we will configure the monitor sync frequencies. Since we’re on a virtual machine, selecting the monitor sync frequencies didn’t matter, as long as they grant us access to higher resolutions, like 1024×768 that we’ll set up.

After that, the video card configuration comes. We have installed the S3 Trio64 graphics card to this machine, so we will have to browse the video card database until we found the S3-Trio64 (generic) entry. After that, we’ve specified 123 as the graphics card ID, and it says that the XFree86 S3 server will be used.

Select the accelerated XFree86 S3 server by pressing 5, then specify the video RAM that is installed to the graphics card. For instance, we’ve selected 4096 KB because the card was configured to use this amount of video RAM.

The configuration program then asks you if you want to extract the probed clock information. Since this isn’t required, we just answer n to the question, which means that clock information won’t be parsed. Change all modes (256 colors, 16-bit colors, and 24-bit colors) so that 1024×768 will only be used.

Let the configuration program write the configuration file, but don’t test the X server yet. Ignore the package configuration error that appears, and answer N or O to the question that says that the Xserver file has been modified, since answering Y or I can invalidate your X server configuration. Enable xdm, but don’t start it yet.

Afterwards, go to “Config” and “Remove”, and let them perform remaining configuration and clean-up operations, then exit the dselect program.

You should see the login screen like below.

Since the serial port doesn’t seem to configure properly during system boot, we’ll have to manually run the below command, which causes the serial port to be recognized. Ensure that the serial port works by using cat /dev/cua0, then moving the mouse. If everything works, press CTRL + C, then execute reset in case garbled characters appear when you’re writing commands.

The command you’ll have to execute to configure the serial port is setserial -b /dev/cua0 auto_irq autoconfig session_lockout. If xdm works after a reboot but you can’t move the mouse, press ALT + F3, use this command, verify that the mouse works, then go back to the X server using ALT + F1.

Once the mouse works, now we can start the X server using startx. The X server works!

We can verify that xlock’s modes work, such as xlock -mode flag. It shows a waving “LINUX” word in a nice color hue gradient.

To run GWM, exit the X server by pressing CTRL + ALT + Backspace, then edit the /etc/X11/window-managers file using vi to point to the GWM binary path (/usr/X11R6/bin/gwm).

Then, start the X server again. Below shows a demo of the GWM window manager.

SimCity 2000's soundtrack on the Roland SC-55 Sound Canvas is just delightful to listen to! I wish I had owned this MIDI sound module back in 1994! :computerfairies:

#DOS #SimCity #SC2000 #Retro #Gaming #RetroGaming #86Box #Emulation #MIDI #Roland #Soundtrack #Music #DigitalArt