#freedos — Public Fediverse posts

@dickenhobelix: Das erinnert mich an einen Fall, wo wir wegen Bitrott ein deutlich mehr als eine Dekade altes Backup auf 'ne Maschinensteuerung über irgendein proprietäres Protokoll über RS232 (oder war's RS485?) und mit proprietärem DOS-Treiber zurückspielen mussten. Die Software dazu war auch nur für DOS geschrieben und lief nicht unter Windows, weil sie Änderungen an der autoexec.bat und config.sys verlangte…

#FreeDOS in einer VM und 'ne durchgeschleifte serielle Konsole haben dann geholfen.

@dickenhobelix: Das erinnert mich an einen Fall, wo wir wegen Bitrott ein deutlich mehr als eine Dekade altes Backup auf 'ne Maschinensteuerung über irgendein proprietäres Protokoll über RS232 (oder war's RS485?) und mit proprietärem DOS-Treiber zurückspielen mussten. Die Software dazu war auch nur für DOS geschrieben und lief nicht unter Windows, weil sie Änderungen an der autoexec.bat und config.sys verlangte…

#FreeDOS in einer VM und 'ne durchgeschleifte serielle Konsole haben dann geholfen.

[Перевод] Самодельный BIOS для микшерного пульта и запуск DOS на нём

В 1994 году у меня появился первый компьютер: Intel i486 DX2-66 с 4 МБ ОЗУ и жёстким диском на 512 МБ. На нём были установлены IBM OS/2 и Microsoft Windows 3.11. Следующие четыре года я апгрейдил эту машину каждые несколько месяцев, добавляя больше ОЗУ (до 16 МБ), привод CD-ROM и карту SoundBlaster. Так я научился апгрейдить эту машину, устанавливать новое ПО, а потом и писать ПО на BASIC. Но я ни разу не касался процесса запуска и тонкостей MS-DOS. В 2026 году, 32 года спустя, я узнал из скриншотов DDX3216, что в Behringer использовался настоящий процессор 386. В моём мозгу сразу же активировались какие-то нейроны и я начал размышлять о том, можно ли запускать на этом устройстве ПО или даже полнофункциональную операционную систему. Для этого мне нужно было разобраться, как запускается система x86, когда управление перехватывает DOS и что необходимо для попадания в оболочку.

https://habr.com/ru/articles/1047776/

#behringer #микшерный_пульт #dos #freedos

I am putting all of my DOS projects, questions, and links here in case someone sees this and can help me with one or more of them.
@tspivey I am including you in the discussion because I think 3 will be of special interest to you. Please fee free to untag yourself from this if you don't wish to participate in the discussion. You may also message me privately if you would rather talk that way.

I am a DOS user with a great ambition and also a few questions. Disclaimer: I am not a programmer, so I would either need to find someone who is or to try that vibe coding everyone is talking about. I would rather not do the latter, but I really have no knowledge on the subject, other than as a user of such software.

1. I wish to update an existing screen reader for use with modern versions of DOS. Ideally, though, I would like a modern version to be made fully accessible including installer. I wrote about this here. I am also interested in whether or not a true software synthesizer can be used with DOS, not via Windows. The SoundBlaster sounds interesting, but it might require actual hardware or a specific sort of computer.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlindAndFine/comments/1ni8l6w/fully_accessible_dos/?solution=502bcfc197a3f4a6502bcfc197a3f4a6&js_challenge=1&token=7afd7253fec22262ff1c52b1703fe9ec49fb20d8ff85bbf021b7afda7224ce2a&jsc_orig_r=

2. In order to do this, I would rather update an existing screen reader than create a new one. It appears that Vispero now owns both JAWS for DOS and Vocal-Eyes, though whether they would make either of them open source I cannot say. I believe the original creator of ASAP, Larry Skutchan, is still alive. I recall writing to him some time ago, long before I had this idea, jhust to see if I could purchase the full version from him. If memory serves, he said he no longer has the software. But perhaps, he would permit me to reverse engineer it and update it. I would never do so without his permission. I know Provox is open source, but it's an extremely complicated system with no menus, etc. No matter what screen reader I use, it would all be open source. I have no interest in making money from this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlindAndFine/comments/1u8nw93/a_little_history_and_a_question_about_screen/

3. Right now, I am using Talking DosBox and would like to know if there is any way of updating it. It seems that it might be using a version of VreeDOS. When I use the ver command, it says 5.0, but when I start edit, it says something about FreeDOS. I know they're up to version 1.4 right now, which has several improvements, but I'm not sure if this can be upgraded directly in Talking DOSBox or if a new machine must be created. I would love to be able to just use a virtual machine in VMWare Workstation, but I can't install it without speech and don't know how to connnect it to the BNS driver, even if I could. I do have an MS-DOS virtual machine, but I can't get it to work for some reason, either under 32-bit or 64-bit. I installed Com0Com but nothing works. I have a wonderful mp3 with instructions somewhere, but I must find it in my files!

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlindAndFine/comments/1u5vtxv/talking_dosbox_questions/

4. I am interested in learning QuickBasic 4.5. However, I heard of something called QB64 that can work with Windows XP through 7 and maybe later. I downloaded it, but the ide (interface) is completely inaccessible. I decided to just learn 4.5. for now, because the way to make QB64 work with a native Windows interface is a bit complicated and right now, I just want to start learning and practising. But if anyone can help with creating a native Windows version of QuickBasic (preferably one that works with Windows 7), that would be great!

#accessibility #ASAP #blind #DOS #Dosbox #FreeDOS #JAWS #MS-DOS #programming #Provox #QB64 #QuickBasic #ScreenReaders #SpeechSynthesizers #TalkingDOSBox #technology #VirtualMachines #VMWare #Vocal-Eyes #Windows7

I am putting all of my DOS projects, questions, and links here in case someone sees this and can help me with one or more of them.
@tspivey I am including you in the discussion because I think 3 will be of special interest to you. Please fee free to untag yourself from this if you don't wish to participate in the discussion. You may also message me privately if you would rather talk that way.

I am a DOS user with a great ambition and also a few questions. Disclaimer: I am not a programmer, so I would either need to find someone who is or to try that vibe coding everyone is talking about. I would rather not do the latter, but I really have no knowledge on the subject, other than as a user of such software.

1. I wish to update an existing screen reader for use with modern versions of DOS. Ideally, though, I would like a modern version to be made fully accessible including installer. I wrote about this here. I am also interested in whether or not a true software synthesizer can be used with DOS, not via Windows. The SoundBlaster sounds interesting, but it might require actual hardware or a specific sort of computer.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlindAndFine/comments/1ni8l6w/fully_accessible_dos/?solution=502bcfc197a3f4a6502bcfc197a3f4a6&js_challenge=1&token=7afd7253fec22262ff1c52b1703fe9ec49fb20d8ff85bbf021b7afda7224ce2a&jsc_orig_r=

2. In order to do this, I would rather update an existing screen reader than create a new one. It appears that Vispero now owns both JAWS for DOS and Vocal-Eyes, though whether they would make either of them open source I cannot say. I believe the original creator of ASAP, Larry Skutchan, is still alive. I recall writing to him some time ago, long before I had this idea, jhust to see if I could purchase the full version from him. If memory serves, he said he no longer has the software. But perhaps, he would permit me to reverse engineer it and update it. I would never do so without his permission. I know Provox is open source, but it's an extremely complicated system with no menus, etc. No matter what screen reader I use, it would all be open source. I have no interest in making money from this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlindAndFine/comments/1u8nw93/a_little_history_and_a_question_about_screen/

3. Right now, I am using Talking DosBox and would like to know if there is any way of updating it. It seems that it might be using a version of VreeDOS. When I use the ver command, it says 5.0, but when I start edit, it says something about FreeDOS. I know they're up to version 1.4 right now, which has several improvements, but I'm not sure if this can be upgraded directly in Talking DOSBox or if a new machine must be created. I would love to be able to just use a virtual machine in VMWare Workstation, but I can't install it without speech and don't know how to connnect it to the BNS driver, even if I could. I do have an MS-DOS virtual machine, but I can't get it to work for some reason, either under 32-bit or 64-bit. I installed Com0Com but nothing works. I have a wonderful mp3 with instructions somewhere, but I must find it in my files!

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlindAndFine/comments/1u5vtxv/talking_dosbox_questions/

4. I am interested in learning QuickBasic 4.5. However, I heard of something called QB64 that can work with Windows XP through 7 and maybe later. I downloaded it, but the ide (interface) is completely inaccessible. I decided to just learn 4.5. for now, because the way to make QB64 work with a native Windows interface is a bit complicated and right now, I just want to start learning and practising. But if anyone can help with creating a native Windows version of QuickBasic (preferably one that works with Windows 7), that would be great!

#accessibility #ASAP #blind #DOS #Dosbox #FreeDOS #JAWS #MS-DOS #programming #Provox #QB64 #QuickBasic #ScreenReaders #SpeechSynthesizers #TalkingDOSBox #technology #VirtualMachines #VMWare #Vocal-Eyes #Windows7

For some strange reason, the versions reported in the Version of Talking DOSBox that I'm using says 5.0. I thought it would be at least 6.22 or even 7.1. But another odd thing happened as well. I needed to edit the autoexec.bat file, and it said something about FreeDOS instead of the usual MSEdit. If this is true, then it means that FreeDOS can, indeed, be used with Talking DOSBox. The questions are now these. Can it be upgraded to the latest version, and can other versions of dos be used? If so, I have no idea how it would work i.e. how this machine is set up so that it uses synthesizers like SoundBlaster. Can anyone help me with this? It doesn't really affect my learning QuickBasic, but if I can play with other DOS versions, particularly modern ones, I would enjoy that very much, since my main goal, aside from programming, is to explore the operating system, including any updates that have been added since the Microsoft version was discontinued.

As a side note, I know how to use Com0Com with regular DOS in a virtual machine, but being totally blind, I cannot install DOS on my own that way, since there would be no speech. Even if I could, I would then need to install a screen reader before it would start speaking. I do remember, however, someone booting a skeleton of DOS with just autoexec.bat, config.sys, and command.com, combined with ASAP. The port.exe program was then used to find my synthesizer, and we were able to troubleshoot the machine from there, almost like using a Windows PE disk. However, that was with a real hardware synthesizer. I'm not sure if this can be done with iso files and com0com. I'm not even sure how I got such a virtual machine to work years ago, even though I still have the machine in question! But it could have been DOS through Windows 95 or some such. It wasn't DOSBox, however. It was definitely used with VMWare.

#accessibility #blind #DOS #DOSBox #FreeDOS #MSDOS #ScreenReaders #TalkingDOSBox #technology #VirtualMachines #VMWare

For some strange reason, the versions reported in the Version of Talking DOSBox that I'm using says 5.0. I thought it would be at least 6.22 or even 7.1. But another odd thing happened as well. I needed to edit the autoexec.bat file, and it said something about FreeDOS instead of the usual MSEdit. If this is true, then it means that FreeDOS can, indeed, be used with Talking DOSBox. The questions are now these. Can it be upgraded to the latest version, and can other versions of dos be used? If so, I have no idea how it would work i.e. how this machine is set up so that it uses synthesizers like SoundBlaster. Can anyone help me with this? It doesn't really affect my learning QuickBasic, but if I can play with other DOS versions, particularly modern ones, I would enjoy that very much, since my main goal, aside from programming, is to explore the operating system, including any updates that have been added since the Microsoft version was discontinued.

As a side note, I know how to use Com0Com with regular DOS in a virtual machine, but being totally blind, I cannot install DOS on my own that way, since there would be no speech. Even if I could, I would then need to install a screen reader before it would start speaking. I do remember, however, someone booting a skeleton of DOS with just autoexec.bat, config.sys, and command.com, combined with ASAP. The port.exe program was then used to find my synthesizer, and we were able to troubleshoot the machine from there, almost like using a Windows PE disk. However, that was with a real hardware synthesizer. I'm not sure if this can be done with iso files and com0com. I'm not even sure how I got such a virtual machine to work years ago, even though I still have the machine in question! But it could have been DOS through Windows 95 or some such. It wasn't DOSBox, however. It was definitely used with VMWare.

#accessibility #blind #DOS #DOSBox #FreeDOS #MSDOS #ScreenReaders #TalkingDOSBox #technology #VirtualMachines #VMWare

I tried #FREEDOS one time.. and all go bad installing it.

MSDOS is better for me..

But I will try one more time..

#MSDOS #DOSGaming #CPM
#retrogaming #retrocomputing #oldcomputers #vintage #retro #os #system

@dff I'm considering hosting a virtual panel on building portable #FOSS #C, C++ programs from #source code for #SFD2026. We can also discuss customizing a #Linux distro spin, #FreeDOS or another #FLOSS #OS. If anyone is interested in participating, let me know.

@dff I'm considering hosting a virtual panel on building portable #FOSS #C, C++ programs from #source code for #SFD2026. We can also discuss customizing a #Linux distro spin, #FreeDOS or another #FLOSS #OS. If anyone is interested in participating, let me know.

I just released v0.0.4 of #httpDOS, a #TLS enabled #webserver for #MSDOS (source and binaries)

https://github.com/SuperIlu/httpDOS

I updated mbedTLS from v2.28.8 to v3.6.6

#RetroComputing #FreeDOS #DJGPP #HTTPS #mbedTLS

I just released v0.0.4 of #httpDOS, a #TLS enabled #webserver for #MSDOS (source and binaries)

https://github.com/SuperIlu/httpDOS

I updated mbedTLS from v2.28.8 to v3.6.6

#RetroComputing #FreeDOS #DJGPP #HTTPS #mbedTLS

Mise à jour du BIOS/UEFI avec une clé USB FreeDOS

https://peertube.blablalinux.be/w/oxx8wxw9rrUTb41jvLEue2

Mise à jour du BIOS/UEFI avec une clé USB FreeDOS

https://peertube.blablalinux.be/w/oxx8wxw9rrUTb41jvLEue2

@millihertz FW: @freedosproject Want to explain this before I unfollow/mute you and never speak of #FreeDOS again?

@millihertz FW: @freedosproject Want to explain this before I unfollow/mute you and never speak of #FreeDOS again?

👾 100 Games Tested: Is FreeDOS 1.4 Better Than MS-DOS?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hYb6VfSZLUs

#freedos #msdos #dosgaming #retrogaming

👾 100 Games Tested: Is FreeDOS 1.4 Better Than MS-DOS?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hYb6VfSZLUs

#freedos #msdos #dosgaming #retrogaming

NetHack 5.0.0 released a couple days ago, and I'm happy to report that it *still* supports MS-DOS(and #FreeDOS) quite nicely. https://www.nethack.org/v500/ports/download-msdos.html

I'm curious what the Fediverse would recommend as a resource for learning MS-DOS in 2026.

I have limited exposure to it having grown up mostly on Windows 9x, but I use a Linux CLI and these days, I always opt for Powershell in the rare cases where I use Windows because it supports Unix-like commands. As such, I'm very limited on what I know about using DOS.

I see some tutorials on Youtube, I'm just curious what y'all think.

#Retro #retrocomputing #msdos #dos #dosgaming #dosbox #freedos

I'm curious what the Fediverse would recommend as a resource for learning MS-DOS in 2026.

I have limited exposure to it having grown up mostly on Windows 9x, but I use a Linux CLI and these days, I always opt for Powershell in the rare cases where I use Windows because it supports Unix-like commands. As such, I'm very limited on what I know about using DOS.

I see some tutorials on Youtube, I'm just curious what y'all think.

#Retro #retrocomputing #msdos #dos #dosgaming #dosbox #freedos

On the other end of this spectrum, I'd like to add: There's nothing stopping anybody extending MS-DOS to 64-bits to create a new boot-to-DOS OS that new software can be written for. Like, we don't have to stick to MS-DOS compatibility ad-inifinium. There can be new DOSes, there can be new software for command-line text-mode interfaces that aren't 40 million lines of C, just a BIOS or UEFI abstraction that will run on literally any hardware in the last 35 years and continue to run [hopefully] for the next 35 years.

#MSDOS #FreeDOS #retrocomputing

On the other end of this spectrum, I'd like to add: There's nothing stopping anybody extending MS-DOS to 64-bits to create a new boot-to-DOS OS that new software can be written for. Like, we don't have to stick to MS-DOS compatibility ad-inifinium. There can be new DOSes, there can be new software for command-line text-mode interfaces that aren't 40 million lines of C, just a BIOS or UEFI abstraction that will run on literally any hardware in the last 35 years and continue to run [hopefully] for the next 35 years.

#MSDOS #FreeDOS #retrocomputing

@Meckerkopp

#klugscheißermodus

gcdrom ist ein DOS-Treiber für SATA-Chipsätze mit dem ich mein DVD-Laufwerk unter #FreeDOS zum laufen bekommen habe. Funktioniert sicherlich auch mit #Blueray. ☝️🤓

https://gitlab.com/FreeDOS/drivers/gcdrom

@Meckerkopp

#klugscheißermodus

gcdrom ist ein DOS-Treiber für SATA-Chipsätze mit dem ich mein DVD-Laufwerk unter #FreeDOS zum laufen bekommen habe. Funktioniert sicherlich auch mit #Blueray. ☝️🤓

https://gitlab.com/FreeDOS/drivers/gcdrom

#FreeDOS folk, what do you use as editor/IDE when working with OpenWatcom and NASM?

#FreeDOS folk, what do you use as editor/IDE when working with OpenWatcom and NASM?

Moin und Frage an die Netzgemeinde:
ich möchte gerne ein neues Laptop anschaffen und das sollte aus Gründen entweder ohne OS, mit FreeDOS oder (idealerweise) einer Linux -Distri zu haben sein. Sonstige Eckdaten: ab 15", AMD 5 oder 7 (ab 4 richtigen Kerne / 8 Threads), keine zusätzliche GraKa, ab 16G RAM und ab 512G SSD plus das übliche (LAN, WLAN, BT, USB 2/3). Kann jemand was empfehlen? Danke.
Gerne Boost.

#fedihelp #laptop #laptopGesucht #linux #freedos #amd

Finally, #FreeDOS is installing. #VintageComputing #RetroComputing

Finally, #FreeDOS is installing. #VintageComputing #RetroComputing

Watch me unbox a brand new computer with an AMD 500MHz CPU. Yes, MEGAHERTZ. This will run FreeDOS on bare metal beautifully - including SoundBlaster! #msdos #freedos #sbc #retro #retrogaming #retrocomputing

Watch me unbox a brand new computer with an AMD 500MHz CPU. Yes, MEGAHERTZ. This will run FreeDOS on bare metal beautifully - including SoundBlaster! #msdos #freedos #sbc #retro #retrogaming #retrocomputing

Народ советует #FreeDOS → #SvarDOS, в ней нет проблем с защищённым режимом

ФриБздос встал
Наконец-то
Теперь надо сделать dual boot

#freeDos #retrocomputing

I've spent a bit of time today browsing through #pouet and #demozoo looking for #adlib demos that exercise the YM chip it carried. Not really played with #demos on #freedos before ;-)

I've spent a bit of time today browsing through #pouet and #demozoo looking for #adlib demos that exercise the YM chip it carried. Not really played with #demos on #freedos before ;-)

#FreeDos или #FreeDoze?
That’s the question!

Hooray, #Freedos запустился на Т60

DR-DOS Is Back, But Not Quite As We Knew It | Hackaday. https://hackaday.com/2026/03/15/dr-dos-is-back-but-not-quite-as-we-knew-it/

"Some of you may remember a controversy where a previous rights holder, DR DOS INC, was found purloining FreeDOS code in violation of the GPL. Perhaps because of that, [CheeseWeezel] isn’t using any old code, and isn’t open-sourcing what he’s done. Right now, the beta of DR-DOS 9 is free for non-commercial use"

Me quedo con #FreeDOS.

Any recommendations for a decent QEMU frontend for Android? I want to run FreeDOS on my phone. Preferably something on F-Droid!

#Android #FDroid #QEMU #FreeDOS

Any recommendations for a decent QEMU frontend for Android? I want to run FreeDOS on my phone. Preferably something on F-Droid!

#Android #FDroid #QEMU #FreeDOS

Still refactoring and have to make it work on real iron, but my 3D engine already works on #dosbox . For now it supports Linux, #Dreamcast and DOS / #FreeDOS

I've been silent for a bit so I think it could be fun to share what I'm working on: BRIDGES.ROM, a proof-of-concept polyglot binary that is at once a valid:

- BIOS bootable disk image
- DOS .exe binary
- Win32 .exe binary
- Game Boy ROM
- Game Boy Advance ROM
- Raspberry Pi kernel
- Super Nintendo ROM
- PlayStation disc image

So far, the first three are working.

It'll be a very, very simple demake of Death Stranding.

The journey is the goal, but I'm making steady progress. The hardest bit so far was engineering the very first bytes to be a valid MZ header, x86 code and ARM code.

I've come to the conclusion that I'll need to write a custom linker, so that's my project for the weekend!

#Programming #RetroComputing #RetroGaming #FreeDOS