Win98 Real DOS mode - incorrect console colors

[itayc]

I am running an old word processor, that runs in plain text mode under DOS in a Win98 installation. It seems to work well but the colors are all wrong, causing most of the text on screen to be invisible.

Here is a screenshot of VirtualBox 4.2:

VirtualBox screenshot

vbox.PNG (87.42 KiB) Viewed 2391 times

This is Virtual PC showing correct output:

Virtual PC screenshot

vpc.jpg (109.01 KiB) Viewed 2391 times

Any chance this could be fixed? I will be happy to help.

Thank you,

-itay

[mpack]

Why a Windows 98 VM? Why not DOS? (and why are you running such an ancient word processor! Surely you can convert the files to something more modern?). I would have thought that, e.g. MS Word's support for Hebrew would be far better and less cumbersome to use?

[itayc]

Why a Windows 98 VM? Why not DOS?

Why should this matter? Win98 Real-mode DOS behaves pretty much the same as standalone DOS. I doubt that installing MS-DOS will solve this problem.

Why are you asking me for my reasons to use a certain program? I want to have this word processor accessible for historical and nostalgic reasons. I am reporting a bug, showing that another VM application does not display the bug, and politely requesting that it be fixed. If the bug affects this word processor it will probably also strike elsewhere. Whether my use of this program is justified is irrelevant here.

Thanks,

-itay

[stefan.becker]

Better try WinXP Console for this.

WinDOS is not supported from VBOX.

Or use DOS emulators like DosBox => Google.

[itayc]

Ok... worked around problem by setting up the word processor to use a black background instead of that horrible light blue.

Cheers,

-itay

[mpack]

Why are you asking me for my reasons to use a certain program?

Obviously: partly curiosity, partly that I may be able to offer better suggestions if I knew what the goal was. Software is usually a means, not an end, so the goal is rarely to use a particular piece of software. The goal would e.g. be to access data in particular format. However, if you are happy with what you have then who am I to argue.

[itayc]

I have an old computer from my late grandfather, containing hundreds of documents which were written in this old word processor named EinsteinWriter. There is no official converter to a more modern format; in fact about a decade ago I wrote one for him, but still, if I want to be able to view these documents as they were written I need to be able to run the original software. Hope that clarifies the issue.

[michaln]

Hard to fix without being able to reproduce the problem... but knowing whether the same problem occurs in NTVDM and pure DOS would be helpful.

[itayc]

Here are the steps to reproduce the problem in DOS 6.22:

1. Download the image at h t t p masa0000 googlepages com/eini.zip
2. Create a new blank VM, select Windows 3.1, 4 MB memory, do not add a hard drive.
3. Start the VM, cancel when prompted to mount a CD. VM will halt.
4. Devices > Floppy > mount the .img file from the zip. Reboot.
5. You will see a splash screen with the text old-games org at the bottom. Press the any key.
6. EinsteinWriter will run in glorious black/white mode. Quit to DOS.
7. Type 'setup'. Select option 5. The screen will turn light blue and text that is supposed to be black will be invisible.

[michaln]

Thanks. I assume the fact that your VirtualPC screenshot shows HebrewWriter version 7.6, while the floppy image contains version 8.0, isn't relevant as both behave the same.

This is a bug in the VirtualBox VGA BIOS in an obsolete function designed for CGA graphics cards (INT 10h/0Bh). A fix should be included in the next maintenance release.

[itayc]

Correct, the version installed in my old PC image is different from the version floating online but the problem is the same.

Thanks for the finding the cause, and I'm looking forward to the fix!