10 ms·

The new FreeDOS 1.3 is now available for download

153 points by CTOSian 5y ago

qwerty456127 5y ago
> improved install process, especially with the MBR Do they mean it's a DOS for which MBR is not the only option, i.e. it supports GPT&UEFI?
- alophawen 5y ago
  They mean the installation process was improved, particularly with regards to the MBR. GPT and UEFI is not supported. GPT: http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/(Free)DOS_development_wishlist http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/(Free)DOS_development... UEFI: http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/UEFI http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/UEFI
  - ale42 5y ago
    This is expected, given how hard it would be to DOS in a UEFI-based environment. Is anyone aware of a BIOS emulation layer (or an actual BIOS...) that can be loaded into UEFI to start BIOS-aware OS/programs?
    - WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
      Do you mean CSM?
      - ale42 5y ago
        Something like that, but rather on the form of a .EFI executable (for example), to load it on UEFI firmwares that don't provide a CSM: there are many of them...
        jaclaz 5y ago
        Yes, what would be needed would be a "reversed Clover", but, though there is some work in this space, I don't think that there is anything actually working (besides the much simpler int10h provider for EFI, needed for Windows 7 and 2008 on motherboards without CSM), here a few projects are listed: http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=22488 http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=22488 but, even if something will come out, it will likely need to be adapted/targeted to specific hardware, unless somehow it is possible to translate transparently UEFI functions to and from BIOS interrupts. I believe that bare-metal DOS is going to become extinct and be relegated inside emulators or virtual machines. In itself it would not be that bad if we had actually working/useful native EFI programs/shells, or grub (or grub4dos, now also in a grub4efi version) related ones but AFAIK - and for whatever reasons - these are very rare.
    - fredoralive 5y ago
      As far as I know it would be hard to do it outside of the boot firmware's own compatibility options (which most systems currently have AFAIK, but is probably on the way out). Whilst the old BIOS starts external code in Real Mode, with UEFI it sets the CPU into the operating mode. This means with most systems you'll be in 64 bit / Long Mode, and you can't leave that once entered. You could have fun with hypervisors etc., but I guess we're thinking bare metal here?
      - leeter 5y ago
        You can absolutely leave long mode once entered; it's just annoying and silly. In fact one of the plausible options for running a DOS on UEFI would be downgrading the mode to 'unreal' mode. But you'd still have to put BIOS replacement code in memory to manage that part. However the better option IMO is to allow the DOS kernel to just virtualize the applications using the virtualization extensions on almost all modern CPUs. Then you could do something like adding an emu.ini file next to the exe/com that sets things like memory and emulated hardware settings. Furthermore virtual machine BIOS code already exists for things like qemu etc. so there is a place to start on that too.
        zozbot234 5y ago
        > Then you could do something like adding an emu.ini file next to the exe/com that sets things like memory and emulated hardware settings. The standard DOS-extender feature for setting these modes is a Program Information File (.PIF extension).
        leeter 5y ago
        Honestly I was thinking similar but not exactly the same. More something with a VT-d memory map/port map so that the DOS application could potentially directly interface with legacy hardware without interfering or making the PIF incompatible. This has applications particularly in factories where they still use ISA interface cards with tooling etc. At the same time it would allow setting things like EGA/CGA compatibility requirements. Could you do it in the PIF? Probably, but I'd rather not risk breaking compatibility if possible. It's an idea only and would require research anyway assuming I actually had the time and energy to implement.
- BirAdam 5y ago
  You cannot have an MSDOS/PCDOS compatible DOS with GPT/UEFI. DOS relies on the PC BIOS explicitly, and beyond the BIOS calls required not being compatible with UEFI, the MBR is called by BIOS directly as well. On some machines, CSM is enough to emulate the BIOS and get DOS running, but this is not universal at all. More importantly, if you want sound and proper video support you will require an ISA machine or a full PC emulator. If you get into games that are clock speed sensitive, even that won't always be enough.
  - LeFantome 5y ago
    Too bad the ArcaOS guys are not going to share. I read recently that they are adding UEFI support by booting first into a BIOS emulation layer and then starting the still BIOS dependent OS/2 kernel from there. That would work for DOS as well I imagine.
robin_reala 5y ago
Sidenote, but have we collectively forgiven Sourceforge for bundling crapware installers into binaries?
- tssva 5y ago
  Sourceforge was sold over 6 years ago and the current ownership never bundled crapware installers into binaries.
  - rob74 5y ago
    Good to know, but I'm afraid the negative publicity generated by the crapware debacle reached a much larger audience compared to the change of ownership, so the public sentiment toward Sourceforge is still largely negative...
    - petee 5y ago
      Visiting the site today you are greeted by large popups and imitation download buttons (same size, color, style) so it's easy to assume they are still following dark patterns, even if it's not the case. After garnering such a reputation I'm surprised they didn't do more to make it clear it's not the same company, though I see its Slashdot Media, which doesn't have a great reputation anymore either, if I recall
      - colordrops 5y ago
        They are following dark patterns, just not the bundling one.
        rob74 5y ago
        TBF, when you integrate ads, you also integrate all the dark patterns that the advertisers choose to use (unless the ad provider blocks them, but I wouldn't rely on that)
      - mrspuratic 5y ago
svacko 5y ago
I love FreeDOS still exists! I used it ocassionally in past to load a new BIOS.exe to update a Dell Latitude laptop not having any Windows OS installed.
- TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
  I have done the same for a bunch of Dell Optiplex desktops. I always get side tracked and play a game of Scorched Earth since it’s on the same thumb drive.
doener 5y ago
I‘m amazed every time anew that there are still projects using Sourceforge instead of GitHub/GitLab.
- tsak 5y ago
  I second that! Always makes me a little nervous too. Wasn't Sourceforge riddled with malware and other "enhancements" for a while? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SourceForge#Project_hijackings_and_bundled_malware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SourceForge#Project_hijackings...
  - dicknuckle 5y ago
    it was but someone bought it and turned everything around.
    - fao_ 5y ago
      Citation needed. The website is still as horrific to use as in times past. It might not have outright malware anymore, but that doesn't make it less painful.
      - the_af 5y ago
        I don't know the current status of SourceForce, but the problem wasn't one of usability of the website. The problem is that it had a change of owners, and the new owners started bundling non-free spyware and malware into the installers of otherwise free software. Which is way more serious than simply having a website that is hard to navigate. SourceForge got a well deserved backlash from the community following their underhanded tactics. Not sure what the situation is now.
        tssva 5y ago
        SourceForge stopped including spyware and malware installers near the beginning of 2016 when new owners took over.
        5y ago
pkorzeniewski 5y ago
I've FreeDOS installed on my retro laptops (Toshiba Libretto and Toshiba Satellite, both from 1998) and it works great for my nostalgic needs, although some games like to crash but they would probably crash on a "classic" DOS anyway and it's a matter of fiddling with memory management. One cool thing is that I've configured USB support and because FreeDOS supports FAT32 I can easily transfer files from my regular laptop using an USB flash drive.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago
  I wanted a Libretto so bad when they first hit the market, but it was out of my price range.
- BirAdam 5y ago
  I use IDE to CF adapters, and I have USB hub with a CF slot on it attached to my Mac mini. Super easy. I can just drop the executables onto the DOS disk and plug it in. I am super stoked to try the 8086 version. I have a DX4-100, an AMDK6-2, and an old XT. Love all three, but the XT gets the least use due to having to run MSDOS3 and therefore being somewhat annoying (like going from GNU to BusyBox and having restrictions on what flags are usable, same annoyance level). The XT did just get an 8bit NIC tho, so time to have some fun with FreeDOS 1.3 8086!
  - anthk 5y ago
    http://svardos.org/ http://svardos.org/ It installs an 8086 slim FreeDOS distro.
marcodiego 5y ago
One thing I always think about when I read about DOS-era small laptops is how complicated would it be to stuff a raspberry-pi-like board inside it, connect both boards using the serial port and use the bigger machine as a terminal for the smaller one. I wonder if anybody has done it.
- bombcar 5y ago
  I remember an old thinkpad I think it was that had swappable bays for battery, cdrom, floppy. I bet with some work you could make one bay take a smaller pi.
  - londons_explore 5y ago
    It isn't trivial to do networking or serial Comms over an IDE or Sata connector... You'd need pretty custom hacked up software on both ends of the link.
    - bombcar 5y ago
      I can’t recall if a modem attachment was an option but I’m pretty sure pcmcia was - maybe that has serial somewhere inside it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkPad_UltraBay https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkPad_UltraBay - I bet one of those could work somehow.
- netsharc 5y ago
  But then the laptop would need to boot minimal OS that can load a telnet client that automatically connects through the serial port to the Pi, and GUIs might be hard, but I guess an X server (display, running on the laptop) could be configured to be listening for connections on the laptop - but the laptop need to be a bit more powerful.
  - marcodiego 5y ago
    > But then the laptop would need to boot minimal OS Yes. Like FreeDOS.
Koshkin 5y ago
> requires about half as many diskettes Can a USB floppy disk drive be used with FreeDOS?
- mrlemke 5y ago
  For install? Probably. I used a USB floppy to transfer files, but it did have to be connected at boot. Obviously, not a problem for installation.
- lproven 5y ago
  This is not a canonical answer, because this question isn't amenable to a simple yes/no answer. If you booted from the hard disk: no, but there are USB drivers for DOS you could load. Some BIOSes support USB floppy drives and can fake them being DOS ones. So, on some machines, yes. If you booted from a USB device: some (many?) BIOSes enable USB emulation via BIOS calls for all USB devices connected when the PC was booted from a DOS device. So in that case, yes. Best answer I can give: maybe -- try it.
- snvzz 5y ago
  For install purposes, I'd recommend using memdisk to boot and then relying on etherdfs to access the install hdd image.
mrlemke 5y ago
Every now and then I goof around with FreeDOS. Now that 1.3 out it looks I will be doing it again. Some features are missing on newer hardware due to the lack of driver support (notably, audio). If you want to run it on bare metal, you can install it on a USB drive (using the USB as C) and not mess around with dual booting.
snvzz 5y ago
I have multiple machines with FreeDOS 1.2, and I am wondering what the upgrade process is.
- ok123456 5y ago
  sys c:
  - snvzz 5y ago
    As far as I am aware, doing that only updates the kernel.
- lproven 5y ago
  [1] Copy your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files somewhere safe. [2] Reinstall over the top. [3] Make backups of the new CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT [4] Put your old ones back. [5] Adjust them to fit.
  - snvzz 5y ago
    Renaming old FDOS to FOLD or something of the sort, backing up everything else and installing over... is a method that'd work. But I sure hope is not the official upgrade method.
usr1106 5y ago
A couple of years ago FreeDOS was needed to do BIOS upgrades if you had Linux machines with no Windows (e.g. on Dell). Now I haven't seen any BIOS upgrade for a while that cannot be installed without Windows. Either they are UEFI executables or a format that the BIOS can handle or even supported by fwupdate on Linux. Is there still any reason to run a FreeDOS except for fun and nostalgic reasons?
- yc-kraln 5y ago
  Legacy. There are tons of industrial machines whose control software runs on DOS. The machines are still good, and it's not like you can just pick up a new 20 ton press or 5 meter long lathe...
- badsectoracula 5y ago
  Fun and nostalgia are reasons, entire multibillion businesses are made out of those :-P. For a more serious reason there is still DOS-based software in use that can't be replaced (or the replacement would be more costly) and FreeDOS is more compatible with modern hardware than MS-DOS in case replacements/fixes are needed.
- retzkek 5y ago
  Just this weekend I needed to run both a FreeDOS and Linux ISO in order to reflash the Dell PERC in an R520 to support IT mode to use it with ZFS. I wondered the same thing - why can't it all be done from Linux - and found this recent issue where the maintainer says it just doesn't seem to be possible: https://github.com/Fohdeesha/lab-docu/issues/18 https://github.com/Fohdeesha/lab-docu/issues/18
HeadlessChild 5y ago
Nice! I've used FreeDOS in the past to edit SMBIOS entries for workstations such as asset tags.
ralphc 5y ago
Can this be a base for Windows 3.1, 95 or 98?
- lproven 5y ago
  AIUI: 3.x yes, 9x no.
  - rnd0 5y ago
    I'm a bit confused on 3.x personally. What happened with the patches from last summer[1] -were they integrated into this release or are they some weird off-to-the-side thing that requires a special kernel to run? [1]https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2021/09/13/as-reported-a-few-days-ago-the-windows-patches-for-freedos-were-committed/ https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2021/09/13/as-reported-a-...
    - lproven 5y ago
      That's a fair question, but to be honest, I've not looked at that angle at all. I will see if I can in my copious free time </ironic> but at present I'm trying to work out how to run it under DOSemu...

153 points by CTOSian 5y ago

> improved install process, especially with the MBR Do they mean it's a DOS for which MBR is not the only option, i.e. it supports GPT&UEFI?

alophawen 5y ago
They mean the installation process was improved, particularly with regards to the MBR. GPT and UEFI is not supported. GPT: http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/(Free)DOS_development_wishlist http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/(Free)DOS_development... UEFI: http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/UEFI http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/UEFI
- ale42 5y ago
  This is expected, given how hard it would be to DOS in a UEFI-based environment. Is anyone aware of a BIOS emulation layer (or an actual BIOS...) that can be loaded into UEFI to start BIOS-aware OS/programs?
  - WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
    Do you mean CSM?
    - ale42 5y ago
      Something like that, but rather on the form of a .EFI executable (for example), to load it on UEFI firmwares that don't provide a CSM: there are many of them...
      - jaclaz 5y ago
        Yes, what would be needed would be a "reversed Clover", but, though there is some work in this space, I don't think that there is anything actually working (besides the much simpler int10h provider for EFI, needed for Windows 7 and 2008 on motherboards without CSM), here a few projects are listed: http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=22488 http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=22488 but, even if something will come out, it will likely need to be adapted/targeted to specific hardware, unless somehow it is possible to translate transparently UEFI functions to and from BIOS interrupts. I believe that bare-metal DOS is going to become extinct and be relegated inside emulators or virtual machines. In itself it would not be that bad if we had actually working/useful native EFI programs/shells, or grub (or grub4dos, now also in a grub4efi version) related ones but AFAIK - and for whatever reasons - these are very rare.
  - fredoralive 5y ago
    As far as I know it would be hard to do it outside of the boot firmware's own compatibility options (which most systems currently have AFAIK, but is probably on the way out). Whilst the old BIOS starts external code in Real Mode, with UEFI it sets the CPU into the operating mode. This means with most systems you'll be in 64 bit / Long Mode, and you can't leave that once entered. You could have fun with hypervisors etc., but I guess we're thinking bare metal here?
    - leeter 5y ago
      You can absolutely leave long mode once entered; it's just annoying and silly. In fact one of the plausible options for running a DOS on UEFI would be downgrading the mode to 'unreal' mode. But you'd still have to put BIOS replacement code in memory to manage that part. However the better option IMO is to allow the DOS kernel to just virtualize the applications using the virtualization extensions on almost all modern CPUs. Then you could do something like adding an emu.ini file next to the exe/com that sets things like memory and emulated hardware settings. Furthermore virtual machine BIOS code already exists for things like qemu etc. so there is a place to start on that too.
      - zozbot234 5y ago
        > Then you could do something like adding an emu.ini file next to the exe/com that sets things like memory and emulated hardware settings. The standard DOS-extender feature for setting these modes is a Program Information File (.PIF extension).
        leeter 5y ago
        Honestly I was thinking similar but not exactly the same. More something with a VT-d memory map/port map so that the DOS application could potentially directly interface with legacy hardware without interfering or making the PIF incompatible. This has applications particularly in factories where they still use ISA interface cards with tooling etc. At the same time it would allow setting things like EGA/CGA compatibility requirements. Could you do it in the PIF? Probably, but I'd rather not risk breaking compatibility if possible. It's an idea only and would require research anyway assuming I actually had the time and energy to implement.
BirAdam 5y ago
You cannot have an MSDOS/PCDOS compatible DOS with GPT/UEFI. DOS relies on the PC BIOS explicitly, and beyond the BIOS calls required not being compatible with UEFI, the MBR is called by BIOS directly as well. On some machines, CSM is enough to emulate the BIOS and get DOS running, but this is not universal at all. More importantly, if you want sound and proper video support you will require an ISA machine or a full PC emulator. If you get into games that are clock speed sensitive, even that won't always be enough.
- LeFantome 5y ago
  Too bad the ArcaOS guys are not going to share. I read recently that they are adding UEFI support by booting first into a BIOS emulation layer and then starting the still BIOS dependent OS/2 kernel from there. That would work for DOS as well I imagine.

robin_reala 5y ago

Sidenote, but have we collectively forgiven Sourceforge for bundling crapware installers into binaries?

tssva 5y ago
Sourceforge was sold over 6 years ago and the current ownership never bundled crapware installers into binaries.
- rob74 5y ago
  Good to know, but I'm afraid the negative publicity generated by the crapware debacle reached a much larger audience compared to the change of ownership, so the public sentiment toward Sourceforge is still largely negative...
  - petee 5y ago
    Visiting the site today you are greeted by large popups and imitation download buttons (same size, color, style) so it's easy to assume they are still following dark patterns, even if it's not the case. After garnering such a reputation I'm surprised they didn't do more to make it clear it's not the same company, though I see its Slashdot Media, which doesn't have a great reputation anymore either, if I recall
    - colordrops 5y ago
      They are following dark patterns, just not the bundling one.
      - rob74 5y ago
        TBF, when you integrate ads, you also integrate all the dark patterns that the advertisers choose to use (unless the ad provider blocks them, but I wouldn't rely on that)
    - mrspuratic 5y ago

svacko 5y ago

I love FreeDOS still exists! I used it ocassionally in past to load a new BIOS.exe to update a Dell Latitude laptop not having any Windows OS installed.

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
I have done the same for a bunch of Dell Optiplex desktops. I always get side tracked and play a game of Scorched Earth since it’s on the same thumb drive.

doener 5y ago

I‘m amazed every time anew that there are still projects using Sourceforge instead of GitHub/GitLab.

tsak 5y ago
I second that! Always makes me a little nervous too. Wasn't Sourceforge riddled with malware and other "enhancements" for a while? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SourceForge#Project_hijackings_and_bundled_malware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SourceForge#Project_hijackings...
- dicknuckle 5y ago
  it was but someone bought it and turned everything around.
  - fao_ 5y ago
    Citation needed. The website is still as horrific to use as in times past. It might not have outright malware anymore, but that doesn't make it less painful.
    - the_af 5y ago
      I don't know the current status of SourceForce, but the problem wasn't one of usability of the website. The problem is that it had a change of owners, and the new owners started bundling non-free spyware and malware into the installers of otherwise free software. Which is way more serious than simply having a website that is hard to navigate. SourceForge got a well deserved backlash from the community following their underhanded tactics. Not sure what the situation is now.
      - tssva 5y ago
        SourceForge stopped including spyware and malware installers near the beginning of 2016 when new owners took over.
      - 5y ago

pkorzeniewski 5y ago

I've FreeDOS installed on my retro laptops (Toshiba Libretto and Toshiba Satellite, both from 1998) and it works great for my nostalgic needs, although some games like to crash but they would probably crash on a "classic" DOS anyway and it's a matter of fiddling with memory management. One cool thing is that I've configured USB support and because FreeDOS supports FAT32 I can easily transfer files from my regular laptop using an USB flash drive.

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago
I wanted a Libretto so bad when they first hit the market, but it was out of my price range.
BirAdam 5y ago
I use IDE to CF adapters, and I have USB hub with a CF slot on it attached to my Mac mini. Super easy. I can just drop the executables onto the DOS disk and plug it in. I am super stoked to try the 8086 version. I have a DX4-100, an AMDK6-2, and an old XT. Love all three, but the XT gets the least use due to having to run MSDOS3 and therefore being somewhat annoying (like going from GNU to BusyBox and having restrictions on what flags are usable, same annoyance level). The XT did just get an 8bit NIC tho, so time to have some fun with FreeDOS 1.3 8086!
- anthk 5y ago
  http://svardos.org/ http://svardos.org/ It installs an 8086 slim FreeDOS distro.

marcodiego 5y ago

One thing I always think about when I read about DOS-era small laptops is how complicated would it be to stuff a raspberry-pi-like board inside it, connect both boards using the serial port and use the bigger machine as a terminal for the smaller one. I wonder if anybody has done it.

bombcar 5y ago
I remember an old thinkpad I think it was that had swappable bays for battery, cdrom, floppy. I bet with some work you could make one bay take a smaller pi.
- londons_explore 5y ago
  It isn't trivial to do networking or serial Comms over an IDE or Sata connector... You'd need pretty custom hacked up software on both ends of the link.
  - bombcar 5y ago
    I can’t recall if a modem attachment was an option but I’m pretty sure pcmcia was - maybe that has serial somewhere inside it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkPad_UltraBay https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkPad_UltraBay - I bet one of those could work somehow.
netsharc 5y ago
But then the laptop would need to boot minimal OS that can load a telnet client that automatically connects through the serial port to the Pi, and GUIs might be hard, but I guess an X server (display, running on the laptop) could be configured to be listening for connections on the laptop - but the laptop need to be a bit more powerful.
- marcodiego 5y ago
  > But then the laptop would need to boot minimal OS Yes. Like FreeDOS.

Koshkin 5y ago

> requires about half as many diskettes Can a USB floppy disk drive be used with FreeDOS?

mrlemke 5y ago
For install? Probably. I used a USB floppy to transfer files, but it did have to be connected at boot. Obviously, not a problem for installation.
lproven 5y ago
This is not a canonical answer, because this question isn't amenable to a simple yes/no answer. If you booted from the hard disk: no, but there are USB drivers for DOS you could load. Some BIOSes support USB floppy drives and can fake them being DOS ones. So, on some machines, yes. If you booted from a USB device: some (many?) BIOSes enable USB emulation via BIOS calls for all USB devices connected when the PC was booted from a DOS device. So in that case, yes. Best answer I can give: maybe -- try it.
snvzz 5y ago
For install purposes, I'd recommend using memdisk to boot and then relying on etherdfs to access the install hdd image.

mrlemke 5y ago

Every now and then I goof around with FreeDOS. Now that 1.3 out it looks I will be doing it again. Some features are missing on newer hardware due to the lack of driver support (notably, audio). If you want to run it on bare metal, you can install it on a USB drive (using the USB as C) and not mess around with dual booting.

snvzz 5y ago

I have multiple machines with FreeDOS 1.2, and I am wondering what the upgrade process is.

ok123456 5y ago
sys c:
- snvzz 5y ago
  As far as I am aware, doing that only updates the kernel.
lproven 5y ago
[1] Copy your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files somewhere safe. [2] Reinstall over the top. [3] Make backups of the new CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT [4] Put your old ones back. [5] Adjust them to fit.
- snvzz 5y ago
  Renaming old FDOS to FOLD or something of the sort, backing up everything else and installing over... is a method that'd work. But I sure hope is not the official upgrade method.

usr1106 5y ago

A couple of years ago FreeDOS was needed to do BIOS upgrades if you had Linux machines with no Windows (e.g. on Dell). Now I haven't seen any BIOS upgrade for a while that cannot be installed without Windows. Either they are UEFI executables or a format that the BIOS can handle or even supported by fwupdate on Linux. Is there still any reason to run a FreeDOS except for fun and nostalgic reasons?

yc-kraln 5y ago
Legacy. There are tons of industrial machines whose control software runs on DOS. The machines are still good, and it's not like you can just pick up a new 20 ton press or 5 meter long lathe...
badsectoracula 5y ago
Fun and nostalgia are reasons, entire multibillion businesses are made out of those :-P. For a more serious reason there is still DOS-based software in use that can't be replaced (or the replacement would be more costly) and FreeDOS is more compatible with modern hardware than MS-DOS in case replacements/fixes are needed.
retzkek 5y ago
Just this weekend I needed to run both a FreeDOS and Linux ISO in order to reflash the Dell PERC in an R520 to support IT mode to use it with ZFS. I wondered the same thing - why can't it all be done from Linux - and found this recent issue where the maintainer says it just doesn't seem to be possible: https://github.com/Fohdeesha/lab-docu/issues/18 https://github.com/Fohdeesha/lab-docu/issues/18

HeadlessChild 5y ago

Nice! I've used FreeDOS in the past to edit SMBIOS entries for workstations such as asset tags.

ralphc 5y ago

Can this be a base for Windows 3.1, 95 or 98?

lproven 5y ago
AIUI: 3.x yes, 9x no.
- rnd0 5y ago
  I'm a bit confused on 3.x personally. What happened with the patches from last summer[1] -were they integrated into this release or are they some weird off-to-the-side thing that requires a special kernel to run? [1]https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2021/09/13/as-reported-a-few-days-ago-the-windows-patches-for-freedos-were-committed/ https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2021/09/13/as-reported-a-...
  - lproven 5y ago
    That's a fair question, but to be honest, I've not looked at that angle at all. I will see if I can in my copious free time </ironic> but at present I'm trying to work out how to run it under DOSemu...