First DOS versions (1.0 - 3.31)

[rauli]

Has anybody try to run the first DOS versions under Virtualbox?

I managed to boot from DOS 2.x and DOS 3.x diskette images, but not from DOS 1.x

This is because of the diskette formats different from the "standard" 1.44 Mb format (2 sides, 18 sectors, 80 tracks). Earlier DOS versions used other diskette formats: 720 Kb, 1.2 Mb, 360 Kb, 320 Kb, 180 Kb and 160 Kb.

The problem with DOS 1.x is that it only accepts 160 and 180 Kb diskettes, but with Virtualbox I couldn't use disk images for those formats. Does anybody I know how to do it? I have a DOS 1.1 180 Kb diskette and the corresponding image (in raw format with IMG extension), I can't boot using the disk image. And it's a pity I don't have (now) the hardware to try to boot from the 180 Kb physical diskette. Until I have it, I'm interested in booting from the image, if it's possible.

I have had no problems with 360 Kb, 320 Kb and 720 Kb formats. I don't know about 1.2 Mb format because I don't have any diskette or image with this format, but I suppose it works well.

PS: If somebody wonders why I want to use such old DOS versions, I'm doing a(nother) hardware & OS recognition program, and I want to make sure it works on EVERY DOS version. But I know nobody uses DOS 1, so don't remind me that

[rauli]

It seems that there's not so many problems using physical floppies instead of disk images:

I've just booted from a Compaq DOS 1.12 diskette! - Format: 320 Kb (40 tracks, 2 sides, 8 sectors)

[mphuff]

I have installed dos 5 from 1.2m images, just FYI. I also have a dos 2 install that I have nothing that I'm able to do with.

[ghr]

DOS 5 and later work fine; moreover, DOSIDLE works for these versions (and not for lower ones, according to DOSIDLE info).

[rauli]

I've just run Concurrent DOS 386 3.01 on VirtualBox. The funny thing is that it doesn't work on the physical machine (the same that is running it inside VirtualBox).

I've tried in Athlon 64, K6-2 and i486DX2 machines and it doesn't work... But it runs on a Pentium II.

About DOSIDLE, has anybody tried TAME, from Ralph Brown? (the author of Interrupt List) He wrote it for multitasking DOS systems (like DesqView) but the purpose is the same.

[ghr]

I once tried TAME inside a WInXP VM, application was WordPerfect 5.1. TAME seems to work (in the sense that it reduces CPU load) but in the end I decided to stick to a DOS VM + DOSIDLE + WP 5.1 (if I wanted to use WP anyway.. part of the reason is that excellent screendrivers are available, also for DOS/WP in VirtualBox).

[rauli]

Thanks, ghr. And I've just noticed today that TAME was not by Ralph Brown. I don't know why, but I believed it for years...

[fdelgreco]

Hello.
I have tried CDOS 386 V3.01 and it freezes after "Printer Numbers :" without giving the number of printers. I use an USB floppy.
Is there a special thing to do to run CDOS?

Thanks

[michaln]

Responding to the original problem... the support for single-sided floppy images in VBox was broken. It was fixed a while ago and works with the current VBox version. PC DOS 1.x and 2.x is known to boot from floppy images (not that there's a lot one can do with it).

In fact every PC DOS or MS-DOS version should boot from a floppy image. The only known bug is that DOS 4.x (either from IBM or Microsoft) hangs when booting from disk (not floppy) with the standard VBox BIOS. Some old DOS versions (2.0-3.2) may hang when booting from disk depending on partition size and location; that is a DOS bug and usually can be working around by changing partition sizes. See http://www.os2museum.com/wp/?p=685 for details.

[rauli]

Thanks, michaln. I didn't test it for a long time, but I've just tested PC DOS 1.10 (using floppy image) in VB 4.1.8 and it boots and works perfectly. These days I will test other old versions I have.

Yes, there's no much to do with this DOS version, but I would like to see the behaviour of some programs I did. Now I need a program to inject files in the 160 Kb floppy image (WinImage does not recognize bootable 160 Kb floppy images). I have a method to do it, but it is very tedious, and I'm sure there must be a program to do it.

By the way, very good article about how those DOS versions boot.

[rauli]

fdelgreco: I also tested my CDOS 3.01 in VB 4.1.8 and it still works. I booted from the 1,44 floppy image. I think there are some distributions around, mine is 2 1,44 Mb disks. I just used the 1st one. Reached the installation screen and pressing Esc the command line prompt appears.

[rauli]

For people having problems with Concurrent DOS 386 3.01 (it freezes at the "Printer numbers" line at boot screen): Reduce the virtual machine RAM size to 16 Mb. It seems that it works witth 16 Mb, but it freezes with 32 Mb.

On physical machines it seems to work with 32 Mb or bigger.

[taptelecom]

For people having problems with Concurrent DOS 386 3.01 (it freezes at the "Printer numbers" line at boot screen): Reduce the virtual machine RAM size to 16 Mb. It seems that it works witth 16 Mb, but it freezes with 32 Mb.

On physical machines it seems to work with 32 Mb or bigger.

I still have trouble do run Concurrent DOS 386 3.01 (freezes at the "Printer numbers" line at boot screen). Even reducing the virtual machine RAM size to 16 or other lower than this. It always freezes. Can someone help me? I tried a lot of configurations and this is extremely important to run an old application is still in use for maintenance of legacy equipment .

[michaln]

If you can provide a test VM, we can have a look.

[taptelecom]

If you can provide a test VM, we can have a look.

How should I do this? The VM does not start. It freezes at boot from the floppy 1,44 Mb image. I have tried using both physical floppies and disk images.