DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
-
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 19. Feb 2011, 08:48
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: OSE other
- Guest OSses: XP; pc-dos 7.1; freedos
DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
All,
I want to try DR-DOS 7.03, because I've heard that it can have more free space below 640K than other DOSes. (I already have/tried PC-DOS 7.1 and FreeDOS. They don't free up enough RAM.) I went to the web site and downloaded 5 disk image(?) files. They have extensions "144". I tried mounting these files in VBox prior to running the OS for installation. I get the following error:
"Failed to open the floppy image <path_name>. Could not get the storage format medium <path_name>.'
(VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED)
Here are the details:
Result Code: VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR (0x80BB0005)
Component: Medium
Interface: IMedium {9edda847-1279-4b0a-9af7-9d66251ccc18}
Callee: IVirtualBox {d2de270c-1d4b-4c9e-843f-bbb9b47269ff}
I have tried reading this file with WinImage and creating both *.IMA and *.vfd files, but I get the same errors. (WinImage has no problems reading the "144" files.)
As you might have guessed, I don't have a floppy drive on my laptop.
Are they other ways to create image files? Any other suggestions for getting this to install? What's the best DOS for maximizing RAM below 640K?
TIA,
Mike
I want to try DR-DOS 7.03, because I've heard that it can have more free space below 640K than other DOSes. (I already have/tried PC-DOS 7.1 and FreeDOS. They don't free up enough RAM.) I went to the web site and downloaded 5 disk image(?) files. They have extensions "144". I tried mounting these files in VBox prior to running the OS for installation. I get the following error:
"Failed to open the floppy image <path_name>. Could not get the storage format medium <path_name>.'
(VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED)
Here are the details:
Result Code: VBOX_E_IPRT_ERROR (0x80BB0005)
Component: Medium
Interface: IMedium {9edda847-1279-4b0a-9af7-9d66251ccc18}
Callee: IVirtualBox {d2de270c-1d4b-4c9e-843f-bbb9b47269ff}
I have tried reading this file with WinImage and creating both *.IMA and *.vfd files, but I get the same errors. (WinImage has no problems reading the "144" files.)
As you might have guessed, I don't have a floppy drive on my laptop.
Are they other ways to create image files? Any other suggestions for getting this to install? What's the best DOS for maximizing RAM below 640K?
TIA,
Mike
-
- Posts: 237
- Joined: 18. Apr 2009, 08:20
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Windows, QNX & Linux
- Location: Radstock, UK
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
Create the set of disks using an existing DOS guest.
Using WinImage to create 5 blank disks, copy all the 144 files and makedisk files to the DOS C: drive.
Run makedisk and insert disks 1 to 5 when instructed, you will then have a set of DR-DOS installation floppies.
Using WinImage to create 5 blank disks, copy all the 144 files and makedisk files to the DOS C: drive.
Run makedisk and insert disks 1 to 5 when instructed, you will then have a set of DR-DOS installation floppies.
-
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 19. Feb 2011, 08:48
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: OSE other
- Guest OSses: XP; pc-dos 7.1; freedos
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Unfortunately, the whole point of my post is that a) VirtualBox can't read the Winimage-created files and b) I can't use floppy disks because I don't have a floppy on my laptop.
Mike
Mike
-
- Posts: 237
- Joined: 18. Apr 2009, 08:20
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Windows, QNX & Linux
- Location: Radstock, UK
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
You don't need a floppy drive.
WinImage will create disk images without you having an actual floppy drive.
Create a new image and save it out to a directory (uncompressed), rename the extension from .ima to .img, VBox will now recognise this image.
Repeat for as many blank disks as you require.
WinImage will create disk images without you having an actual floppy drive.
Create a new image and save it out to a directory (uncompressed), rename the extension from .ima to .img, VBox will now recognise this image.
Repeat for as many blank disks as you require.
-
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 19. Feb 2011, 08:48
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: OSE other
- Guest OSses: XP; pc-dos 7.1; freedos
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
Thanks for your response. My problem is that WinImage works perfectly, but VBox can not read the image file. If you read my original post, you'll see that the error messages are from VBox, not WinImage, and the error implies that the version of the image files is not supported by VBox. If this is the case, then I need to use some other tool to create the image file(s). Do you have any suggestions?
TIA,
Mike
TIA,
Mike
-
- Posts: 237
- Joined: 18. Apr 2009, 08:20
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Windows, QNX & Linux
- Location: Radstock, UK
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
Hi Mike,
The .144 files are encripted/compressed (dont ask me), I get the same message in VBox to if I try and mount them. Using WinImage as I suspect you did to read the .144 disks and create new .ima/.img files still will not work, you get the same message.
You need to download the mkdskzip.exe file from your source, this file when copied to a DOS guest along with the 5 .144 files will create the 5 floppies needed but you will need 5 blank floppy images to proceed, these you leave on your host pc and are easy to create using WinImage.
You will need to run mkdskzip.exe to extract makedisk.exe, run makedisk.exe and follow the simple instructions.
It took me around an hour the other day to create a DR-DOS guest, this included sourcing the files, creating a DOS-6.2 guest used to create the floppies needed.
Hope this has helped.
The .144 files are encripted/compressed (dont ask me), I get the same message in VBox to if I try and mount them. Using WinImage as I suspect you did to read the .144 disks and create new .ima/.img files still will not work, you get the same message.
You need to download the mkdskzip.exe file from your source, this file when copied to a DOS guest along with the 5 .144 files will create the 5 floppies needed but you will need 5 blank floppy images to proceed, these you leave on your host pc and are easy to create using WinImage.
You will need to run mkdskzip.exe to extract makedisk.exe, run makedisk.exe and follow the simple instructions.
It took me around an hour the other day to create a DR-DOS guest, this included sourcing the files, creating a DOS-6.2 guest used to create the floppies needed.
Hope this has helped.
-
- Posts: 1
- Joined: 13. Mar 2011, 20:44
- Primary OS: MS Windows XP
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: DOS
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
It could help to extract the first 1,474,560 bytes from every .144 file to get working images. (i.e., cut the "DiskImage 2.01 (C) 1990,1991 Digital Research Inc." signature.)
With http://www.bttr-software.de/x/ (for DOS or Win32) you say:...
Or in a loop:
With http://www.bttr-software.de/x/ (for DOS or Win32) you say:
Code: Select all
x disk01.144 disk01.img 0 1474560
Or in a loop:
Code: Select all
for %i in (1 2 3 4 5) do x disk0%i.144 disk0%i.img 0 1474560
-
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 39134
- Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Mostly XP
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
Simple curiosity here, since you already seem to have been given good advice...themikeaustin wrote:I want to try DR-DOS 7.03, because I've heard that it can have more free space below 640K than other DOSes. (I already have/tried PC-DOS 7.1 and FreeDOS. They don't free up enough RAM.).
I'm curious as to what application this is? It is strange to me that a DOS era developer would create an app that requires so much memory that it only runs on one obscure DOS clone (i.e. doesn't even run on the genuine MS article).
-
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 19. Feb 2011, 08:48
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: OSE other
- Guest OSses: XP; pc-dos 7.1; freedos
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
The game is called Harpoon. It's similar to Fleet Command, which is a Windows game. It is a war-gaming application, that consists of scenarios that you have to work through. Most of the scenarios fit into RAM, but a couple of the better ones do not.
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
bttr is correct, the issue is that VirtualBox only accepts floppy images 1474560 bytes long. The dr-dos disks have a footer, causing them to exceed that size. A simple dd will extract the first 1474560 bytes of the disk and save it to another file.
Worked like a charm for me!
Code: Select all
$ dd if=disk01.144 of=disk01.img bs=512 count=2880
-
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 39134
- Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Mostly XP
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
Good advice, though the quoted bit is not quite correct. VirtualBox is not just working like an archiver, it's emulating a specific floppy drive, and it's the floppy drive that expects media in a particular size and format. Several 3.5" sizes are accepted (i.e. single and double sided), also you can also configure the VM for a 5.25" floppy drive, and then several other sizes are accepted by that drive. This is just additional information, your main point is valid and very useful.jleg094 wrote:bttr is correct, the issue is that VirtualBox only accepts floppy images 1474560 bytes long.
-
- Volunteer
- Posts: 376
- Joined: 25. May 2007, 22:46
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: DOS, Win3x, Win95, WinXP, Ubuntu, OS/2
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
mpack and others, some more useful info: using 4.3.36 with Ubuntu host I discover that VB can handle read-only images, great !!!!!!!! Just that I have good memories about those write-protect tabs...
-
- Posts: 22
- Joined: 1. Jul 2015, 20:26
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: MS-DOS 6.22, Kali Linux, Plan 9, Metasploitable
- Location: COMMAND.COM
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
I'm having the exact same problem. Like you, I attempted to install DR-DOS on a Virtual Machine by downloading the .144 files from an abandonware site (though I'm using a Mac OS X host). I Googled the .144 extension, and all I can find is information on a file format used by a German mathematics program to generate Julia set fractals. I can't seem to find any information on .144 floppy images. This seems to be a very obscure file format. Suggestions, anyone?
-
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 27329
- Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
- Primary OS: Mac OS X other
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
- Location: Greece
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
Try renaming it to one of the following extensions that are accepted by VirtualBox for floppy images:
- img
- ima
- dsk
- flp
- vfd
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
-
- Posts: 22
- Joined: 1. Jul 2015, 20:26
- Primary OS: MS Windows 7
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: MS-DOS 6.22, Kali Linux, Plan 9, Metasploitable
- Location: COMMAND.COM
Re: DR-DOS 7.03 "144" files problem...
I think .144 refers to the 1.44 MB capacity of a floppy disk, so I think it is a valid format. The trouble comes when you have a file that VirtualBox thinks is in one format (say .IMA) because that's what it's extension indicates, but it's actually in the .144 format, which could lead to erratic behavior.