Inheal wrote on 2023-09-10, 23:30:

It states that first few versions of Bitcoin client support windows NT (check this link) https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bit […]
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It states that first few versions of Bitcoin client support windows NT (check this link)
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bitcoin_client

also this link, scroll down to see NT being mentioned
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoind#cite_note-76

I am curious as to which of the Windows NT (3.1 / 3.5 / 3.51 / 4.0 ) would work. Its more of a curiosity question . I dont have windows NT unfortunately and if someone could test if it even launches on theirs.

It would be interesting to know if the original developer actually tested Windows NT when he developed it since it was early 2009 when it came out and most had either Win XP/vista and some had older pc with Win 2000. NT users have switched by that point.
The hardware running NT would be too slow to mine anything efficiently even in the early days too, so its interesting to see why NT mentioned.

Hopefully someone contributes to this niche curiosity quest.

Just did a test of the 0.1.3 client I could find online. Well, NT 3.51 is no-go.

The client depends on WinSock2 (WS2_32.DLL) which NT 3.51 lacks, and also a missing symbol TryEnterCriticalSection from KERNEL32.DLL.

Both missing components are available in NT4, preferably with latest service pack (SP6a).

A general hint: Bring up a VM of the environment you want to try and use Dependency Walker to get a initial assessment. Dependency Walker (depends) can be run on at least NT 3.51.

If Dependency Walker reports no errors then it means the program in question can be run*, but there's no guarantee if it'll work as intended on such old systems.

* There's an exception: If the program requires SSE then you'll get a "Can't run program" error if trying to run on NT 3.51 or vanilla NT4 (before the service pack which added "intlfxsr.sys"). Dependency Walker cannot detect whether a program uses new instructions.

LSS10999 wrote on 2023-09-11, 06:15:

Just did a test of the 0.1.3 client I could find online. Well, NT 3.51 is no-go. […]
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Inheal wrote on 2023-09-10, 23:30:

It states that first few versions of Bitcoin client support windows NT (check this link) https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bit […]
Show full quote

It states that first few versions of Bitcoin client support windows NT (check this link)
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Original_Bitcoin_client

also this link, scroll down to see NT being mentioned
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoind#cite_note-76

I am curious as to which of the Windows NT (3.1 / 3.5 / 3.51 / 4.0 ) would work. Its more of a curiosity question . I dont have windows NT unfortunately and if someone could test if it even launches on theirs.

It would be interesting to know if the original developer actually tested Windows NT when he developed it since it was early 2009 when it came out and most had either Win XP/vista and some had older pc with Win 2000. NT users have switched by that point.
The hardware running NT would be too slow to mine anything efficiently even in the early days too, so its interesting to see why NT mentioned.

Hopefully someone contributes to this niche curiosity quest.

Just did a test of the 0.1.3 client I could find online. Well, NT 3.51 is no-go.

The client depends on WinSock2 (WS2_32.DLL) which NT 3.51 lacks, and also a missing symbol TryEnterCriticalSection from KERNEL32.DLL.

Both missing components are available in NT4, preferably with latest service pack (SP6a).

A general hint: Bring up a VM of the environment you want to try and use Dependency Walker to get a initial assessment. Dependency Walker (depends) can be run on at least NT 3.51.

If Dependency Walker reports no errors then it means the program in question can be run*, but there's no guarantee if it'll work as intended on such old systems.

* There's an exception: If the program requires SSE then you'll get a "Can't run program" error if trying to run on NT 3.51 or vanilla NT4 (before the service pack which added "intlfxsr.sys"). Dependency Walker cannot detect whether a program uses new instructions.

Thanks for technical explanation on things!
I suspected that win nt 3.51 would be too old. Also as you mentioned, Dependency Walker may not be ideal experimentally speaking because the client could want SSE. Not sure how to check that.
I wonder which service pack for NT 4 is needed to run the early clients.
Will eagerly wait for more contributions.

Inheal wrote on 2023-09-11, 12:43:

Thanks for technical explanation on things! I suspected that win nt 3.51 would be too old. Also as you mentioned, Dependency Wa […]
Show full quote

Thanks for technical explanation on things!
I suspected that win nt 3.51 would be too old. Also as you mentioned, Dependency Walker may not be ideal experimentally speaking because the client could want SSE. Not sure how to check that.
I wonder which service pack for NT 4 is needed to run the early clients.
Will eagerly wait for more contributions.

A safe bet would be SP4. But you'd want to use SP6a to ensure most software and drivers could be used on NT4.

intlfxsr.sys is included in these new service packs allowing SSE instructions to be executed and managed. Though you probably need roytam1's patched version of that driver if you use a non-Intel CPU such as AMD ones.

Bump