Windows 1.0 not booting

[vlad557776]

Just want to try something new (and hard to make). Yea, my favourite thing to do in free time is install some OS. Thanks for information about Windows 2.0, will install it now on different VM

[mpack]

The extended memory driver (emm386.sys) is provided with DOS, it and "himem.sys" need to be loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. You should find examples in the tutorials / Other Guests area.

Btw, Windows didn't become a hit until Windows 3.0, but the API of Windows 2.0 was the one I first learned (from the Petzold book).

Yea, my favourite thing to do in free time is install some OS.

As mentioned, Windows 1.0 was not an OS. Think of it as a graphics SDK for DOS apps, one of several available at the time (e.g. I remember playing with GEM around that time because I'd been exposed to it on my Atari ST). Win1 relied on the underlying DOS OS for all I/O including mouse input.

[vlad557776]

I can't found this file in any directory. Maybe it's not included in DOS 6?

[mpack]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMM386

It was introduced well before DOS 6.x, however that doesn't mean that it's installed for you. Standardized installers are another thing that didn't exist at the time: hard disk space was more precious than convenience. The DOS installer allow you to partition and format the C drive, then you copied the remaining DOS tools from floppy to wherever you liked, or not at all, or maybe only some of them.

[vlad557776]

Okay, I found .EXE EMM386 file. Can you please tell me again what to do with it?

[andyp73]

Edit the CONFIG.SYS file and add the following three lines to the very top:

Code: Select all

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
DOS=HIGH,UMB

If you want to give yourself the maximum memory then change any DEVICE= lines in the remainder of CONFIG.SYS to DEVICEHIGH=. In AUTOEXEC.BAT you can also prefix the KEYB, DOSKEY type entries with LH to put them in upper memory out of the way.

-Andy.

[andyp73]

Windows didn't become a hit until Windows 3.0

As I recall Windows 3.0 was very unreliable and would BSOD even if you looked at it in the wrong way! Most of those bugs got ironed out with Windows 3.1 and a gazillion more added with the network stack and WIN32S in WfW 3.11! Odd how some things never really change!

the API of Windows 2.0 was the one I first learned

Way too high level for my liking! Back then I was cranking out x86 assembler doing BIOS porting and writing DOS TSRs.

-Andy.

[mpack]

Back then I was cranking out x86 assembler doing BIOS porting and writing DOS TSRs.

Me too, as a hobbyist. But, writing my own graphics drivers for every graphics card in existence was too much like hard work. A standardized GUI was needed.

A pity, as Windows soon killed off Odyssey, a somewhat successful terminal package for DOS that I had developed around that time. I did a Windows version, but it never had the same success: too constrained by Windows to really get the best out of the hardware.

[vlad557776]

It go better, but still not working: loading screen, bunch of trash characters, and screen on screenshot.

[mpack]

You've actually made good progress, however it looks like it's missing a bunch of font files. Did you select Cyrillic alphabet? I'll bet the install is missing those fonts.

I'd be interested to know what graphics mode it uses. The screenshot looks monochrome, however the screen size is 640x400 which doesn't seem to match any standard exactly, except it's mentioned on Wikipedia as a variant on EGA that some third party (i.e. not IBM) cards implemented. Was monochrome your choice or was it decided for you? Monochrome graphics at the time would have been higher definition and faster (less pixel memory to move around).

[vlad557776]

Well, I didn't get any prompts at all. Maybe it's something wrong with my copy? I will try to install Win1.0 on different machine with other copy. I will edit the message when I do it.

UPD: Okay, I installed Windows 1.0 (with same copy) on different VM. MS-DOS copy is same too. Windows is now booting, but mouse doesn't work and screen is still monochrome. Windows didn't let me choose it. Things I do different is: I enabled extended power management before install; more follow tutorial on how to install MS-DOS 6(i modified DOS files to accept Russian symbols).

UPD2: I made an error: I just selected "no pointing device", so I don't have a mouse. Can someone please send me a driver to PS/2 mouse which is working on MS-DOS 6?