Page 1 of 2

Discuss: Set up (Free)DOS with networking and shared folders

Posted: 14. Jul 2007, 12:59
by ghr
[modedit]This howto can now be found at http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=33357. This topic is for discussion.[/modedit]

Posted: 11. Jan 2008, 10:24
by Technologov
ghr: Very nice !

For me, I see mostly 2 reasons to have networking under DOS: Either for multiplayer DOS games, or for Symantec Ghost system utility.

Posted: 11. Jan 2008, 10:38
by frank
Do you allow us to put this tutorial to http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/User_HOWTOS?

Posted: 11. Jan 2008, 22:29
by ghr
you're welcome to do so !!

NDIS drivers under DOS: terrific slow

Posted: 3. Mar 2008, 12:07
by gpc1
That WFW3.1 solution with NDIS DOS drivers is not only hard to install, but in case of the virtualbox VM annoyingly SLOW. You end up at floppy speed. It's about 5 to 10 times slower than in not VMed DOS.

Re: Set up a (Free)DOS VM with networking (and shared folders)

Posted: 29. Dec 2009, 11:46
by jeff99
Almost got it to work...

I've implemented ghr's procedure above (and at http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Sharing_files_with_DOS)--except the last step. I was able to successfully execute the "C:\>net share dosc c:\" command from the VM, but not the last command "C:\>net use e: \\[host computer name]\[host sharename]". When I try this last command, I get message "Error 53: The computer name specified in the network path cannot be located"

I'd appreciate hearing any suggestions ghr (or anyone else) might have.

Host machine details:
host OS = MS Vista Ultimate SP2
member of MS Network, Workgroup name = [same as VM]
Network Connection "VirtualBox Host-Only Network" using device "VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter"
host sharename = "VBshare" (path=C:\VBshare), which has been shared with User Group "Everyone" having read/write permission

VM details:
VirtualBox 3.1.2 PUEL
Guest OS = MS-DOS 6.22
Workgroup name = [same as Host]
Settings, Storage: VBoxGuestAddisions.iso is mounted to IDE Controller (though I think this doesn't do anything for DOS guest)
Settings, Shared Folders: sharename "VBshare" at path C:\VBshare" has been added to Shared Folders list
Settings, Network: Adapter 1 has "Enable Network Adapter" checked, attached to "NAT" (also tried "Host-only Adapter"="VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter", but made no difference)

Re: Set up a (Free)DOS VM with networking (and shared folders)

Posted: 29. Dec 2009, 14:50
by vbox4me2
Use the IP address instead of the host computer name.

Re: Set up a (Free)DOS VM with networking (and shared folders)

Posted: 29. Dec 2009, 18:28
by ghr
Hi Jeff,

In case the IP hint is not going to work... I checked my setup which is still fully functional: you might check protocols in protocol.ini (guest; needs to have NWLINK) and in addition, on the host side, I also have NWLink (actually two flavors: NWLink NetBIOS and NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS compatible transport protocol).

Re: Set up a (Free)DOS VM with networking (and shared folders)

Posted: 29. Dec 2009, 20:35
by jeff99
Thanks vbox4me2 and ghr!
I'm going to give the IP address and host protocol suggestions a try tonight.

Forget about Microsoft KB 128800

Posted: 24. May 2010, 12:49
by rauli
There's no need to use Microsoft KB 128800 to setup MS network client using the AMD PCnet FastIII drivers. It is possible to use the second entry in the hardware list (NIC not listed here, or similar) and when you are asked for a directory, type the directory where the drivers are.
Of course, you need the uncompressed files, not the wfw31.exe, a possible way to do it is execute wfw31.exe in your host machine, or any Windows computer, instruct it to put the files in a diskette, and in the guest machine copy the files from the diskette to a hard disk directory.

Re: Set up a (Free)DOS VM with networking (and shared folders)

Posted: 24. May 2010, 12:57
by rauli
Like the others, I didn't manage to access from the host machine to the guest shared files. My host machine doesn't even see the guest one in the workgroup. I think some way of port forwarding is needed, but I don't know how to do it.

On the host machine (Windows XP SP3) I looked in the Windows firewall, and when files and printer sharing is enabled, it has an exception for the 139 and 445 TCP ports, and 137 and 138 UDP ports. I suppose something similar should be configured in the guest machine. Does anybody know how to do it?

Re: Disucss: Set up (Free)DOS with networking and shared folders

Posted: 15. Nov 2010, 04:52
by doomcup
I'm trying to get FreeDOS in networking shape, and though i was able to find most of the other files necessary, wfw31.exe seems to have fallen off the face of the internet as I can't find it anywhere. Without this it seems I'll be unable to do any networking whatsoever. Can anyone point me to it if it still exists anywhere? And if not, is there another way to get FreeDOS working with the stuff on the full install disc?

Re: Disucss: Set up (Free)DOS with networking and shared folders

Posted: 26. Aug 2011, 11:01
by mprawira
Hi All,

Since I have a crutial applications under dos that I need to maintain under windows 7, I need to make Virtualbox with freedos image. However I could not get it to work and share files between it and windows 7. I could not even get the files required as per the previous thread into the freedos enviroment. I really appriciate your help in getting this up and running. I have also tried the image that is available from lazydog website with no luck.

Re: Disucss: Set up (Free)DOS with networking and shared folders

Posted: 31. Aug 2011, 17:54
by michaln
I don't understand the suggestion to use NWLink in the guest. Almost no one has that set up on their (Windows) host, and it's not even an option for talking to non-Windows hosts. Even though it's much more memory hungry, the TCP/IP transport in the MS Client works and enables connectivity on modern networks. It can also be used to access SMB shares on, say, a Mac box.

Re: Disucss: Set up (Free)DOS with networking and shared fol

Posted: 5. Oct 2011, 11:37
by dokhebi
Has anyone been able to get a FreeDOS guest on a Linux host to network? I have FreeDOS v1 (I think) as a guest on Fedora 14 using VBox 4.1.4.