There's an embedded version of PC Dos 7.1 that supported Fat32 but I suspect it is for 386class up setups. I've got a copy of Real/32 with Fat32 support and that's for 386 up as well.

Just to clarify , Yes you can run Fat32 on 80286 /286 under PC-DOS 7.01+ with fat32 support. ( I had the option to use /format drive in fat 32 under EZ Drive 8+ or Ontrack Disk Manager 9.57) - so its worth trying. I decided on 3x1,5 gb fat16 but you can go as much as program lets you.

Since we're bumping this, I'd like to point out there are also some Unixy alternatives for 286:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherent_ ... ng_system)

Although idk how useful that would be, porting any new software would probably be quite a challenge...

The Tandy 1000 TX can’t address extended memory without an extreme hack or an aboveboard

So No Windows 3.1
No Normal Unix/Linux

Good for approximate dos games and that’s about it.

rmay635703 wrote on 2021-01-25, 00:32:

The Tandy 1000 TX can’t address extended memory without an extreme hack or an aboveboard […]
Show full quote

The Tandy 1000 TX can’t address extended memory without an extreme hack or an aboveboard

So No Windows 3.1
No Normal Unix/Linux

Good for approximate dos games and that’s about it.

You should be able to run PC Geos/GeoWorks on it easy enough. Runs just fine on my Redstone Computers 10mhz XT Turbo system with 640kb of ram.

Caluser2000 wrote on 2021-01-25, 01:14:

rmay635703 wrote on 2021-01-25, 00:32:

The Tandy 1000 TX can’t address extended memory without an extreme hack or an aboveboard […]
Show full quote

The Tandy 1000 TX can’t address extended memory without an extreme hack or an aboveboard

So No Windows 3.1
No Normal Unix/Linux

Good for approximate dos games and that’s about it.

You should be able to run PC Geos/GeoWorks on it easy enough. Runs just fine on my Redstone Computers 10mhz XT Turbo system with 640kb of ram.

Expanded Memory boards like that Lo-Tech 2MB EMS card should work fine, though.
There's also at least one other company that makes these PCBs.
https://texelec.com/product/lo-tech-ems-2-mb/

Edit: Yes, it's an 8-Bit card only.
But if rumors are are true, then some of the most popular ISA EMS boards (AST Rampage AT, 286) ran in 8-Bit mode, too. 😉

PS: Winsows 3. *technically* could run with less than 1MB, but requires Himem.sys, anyway.
Windows 3.1 on a 386 with 640K RAM - Possible?

I am somewhat confident that the Rampage AT does not work in 8-bit mode, because I own one and I am pretty certain I tried it many years ago. Besides, that card should be full height and might not even fit in a Tandy. You may be right about some of the later boards though. In any case, don't waste your money on these cards unless you know for a fact they work in an 8-bit slot.

Just installed PC-DOS 7.1 (technically it's PC-DOS 2000 with command.com and the few system files from PC-DOS 7.1).

It wasn't particularly happy creating a FAT32 partition, but doing the same on another machine and then putting the disk back in the 286 it sees it all fine. I've got a 256MB Dos/boot/tools/applications FAT16 partition and a 15GB FAT32 data partition with games.

Just make sure you set your dircmd options to use 'dir' without the summary/free space option at the bottom... otherwise it will run the freespace check forever....

Anonymous Coward wrote on 2021-01-25, 13:42:

I am somewhat confident that the Rampage AT does not work in 8-bit mode, because I own one and I am pretty certain I tried it many years ago. Besides, that card should be full height and might not even fit in a Tandy. You may be right about some of the later boards though. In any case, don't waste your money on these cards unless you know for a fact they work in an 8-bit slot.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the feedback! 😎
I'm only owning a RAMPage 286 so far that I experimented with in a 386 mainboard (486DLC CPU) and a 586 mainboard.
From what I can say, EMS boards are awesome.
They may not have a high troughput (due to ISA), but are very quick and provide a smooth experience in games.

Personally, I think they share some analogies to flash media in old PCs.
Not very high transfer speeds, but very quick response times! 👌

This makes me wish that EMS boards were still being made for PCI, EISA, VLB and so on.
A reall bankswitching mechanism is far more elegant than relying on a processor's Memory Management Unit (MMU) or that V86 thing.

megatron-uk wrote on 2021-01-26, 16:11:

Just installed PC-DOS 7.1 (technically it's PC-DOS 2000 with command.com and the few system files from PC-DOS 7.1).

It wasn't particularly happy creating a FAT32 partition, but doing the same on another machine and then putting the disk back in the 286 it sees it all fine. I've got a 256MB Dos/boot/tools/applications FAT16 partition and a 15GB FAT32 data partition with games.

Just make sure you set your dircmd options to use 'dir' without the summary/free space option at the bottom... otherwise it will run the freespace check forever....

Glad to hear! 😁
I've always been fond of PC-DOS. For example, it used Central Point tools instead of that Symantec scrap that MS-DOS used.
And it still improved after Microsoft decided to let the DOS platform die.

I know I'm not in the best part of the forum , but I have a head-ache trying to install win 3 or 3.1 on my T3100e.... no matter what memory manager I try i just don't seem to get the hang of it. It has 4x1 simms installed , however at disk 3 of win3/3.1/311 it b4 GUI starts it says out of memory... and I check memory and it shows its used... and I have no idea how to edit win setup so it clears rest of ext/exp upper mem b4 GUI install starts so I finish installing it. Everything else seem to work fine 🙁

I even wanted to install OS/2 1.3, but I am just puzzled that i cant find a micro-tutorial to start the setup/installation process...

P.S. I have some disk imgaes with Win 3/3.1 CGA that runs , however that's about it . I will share with the class , i don't think it needs more than 1 mb of mem so you can try out on Tandy 1000 (may need different graphics file driver for it).

ANY suggestions are so welcomed *you have no idea. (i am stuck) I started on 486 so I am not'a expert on 80286.

Sorry to hear! 🙁

Unfortunately, I don't have got a T3200 for testing at hand..

So I can't really make any recommendations.

However, I found a site of a user that says Windows 1.0 was officially supported. :

http://oldcomputer.info/portables/t3200/index.htm

Maybe you can take advantage of this somehow.
Windows 1.x and 2.x were quite compatible to each other.
Maybe the graphics driver will work in Windows 2.03 or Windows 3.0 Real-Mode.

Window 3.1 Setup als has switches to disable certain things, like hardware detection.

Personally, I recommend not to instsll Windows from floppies.
Instead, copy all disks to a folder, say C:\WINSETUP or C:\WINDOWS\SETUP and start Setup.exe from there.
Always works for me.

If the HDD is too small, just run DoubleSpace/DriveSpace. 😉

If memory serves, Windows 3.10 had a bug in the setup program.
Sometimes, it asked "please insert disk # xy", even though the files required were on another floppy.
This was fixed in Windows 3.11 (not WfW 3.11), if memory serves.

Good luck and best wishes! 😀

matze79 wrote on 2015-10-28, 13:01:

DOS 7.1 runs on 8088.

Did you actually get it to run or did you think that theoretically it should be able to run?

I've had no luck running MSDOS 7.1 on a 286 or 8088 this week. Fails after boot with a flashing cursor in the top left, no error message.

douglar wrote on 2022-02-23, 19:40:

I've had no luck running DOS 7.1 on a 286 or 8088 this week. Fails after boot with a flashing cursor in the top left, no error message.

But which?
There are at least two DOSes that identify themselves as 7.10:
- MS-DOS 7.10, shipped with Windows 95OSR2..98SE - well-known to use 386+ instructions
- PC DOS 7.10, shipped with some IBM server utilities - ???

Sorry, I should have been more clear-- MSDOS 7.1 from Win98se

PC DOS 7 will run on anything

OS/2 1.3

maxtherabbit wrote on 2022-02-24, 16:42:

PC DOS 7 will run on anything

True for 7.0 revision 0
True for 7.0 revision 1 a.k.a. PC DOS 2000
But what about 7.10 ? Anybody tried it with a pre-386 machine?

when I had a 286 i'd launch stuff from xtree gold. I had no windows but a few shareware games. Mainly apogee games. DOS version was 5 I beleive. Latest isn't always greatest but i bet i'd load DOS 6.22 if i could've afforded it back in them days.

I always thought the 386SX is the best 286 but I am more and more leaning towards replacing my 386SX-16 with a 286-12 myself - so this could be a good place to ask as any: How much memory for a 286? 1MB? 2MB? 4MB? And what are the memory management options? Can you have EMS on a 286 and if so, how? If not, how do you handle memory management and loading devices high etc?

appiah4 wrote on 2022-02-24, 17:53:

I always thought the 386SX is the best 286 but I am more and more leaning towards replacing my 386SX-16 with a 286-12 myself - so this could be a good place to ask as any: How much memory for a 286? 1MB? 2MB? 4MB? And what are the memory management options? Can you have EMS on a 286 and if so, how? If not, how do you handle memory management and loading devices high etc?

A newer 286 with VGA, IDE and extended memory is best. I won’t say how much extended since just having some makes everything better.
Only 640k on a 286 really limits your feature set and I always loved vintage windows 3.x games
Depending on the type of 286 you go for a few ISA boards natively could make either expanded or extended memory, though a faster 286 really should have the extended memory on the motherboard with 0ws opening up your choice of expanded memory board options.

Personally I always used my 286 with just extended memory and in my mind expanded is optional but if your going for ultimate 286, some software gains features and speed using expanded memory

ASTs memory cards are a good choice if you can find one but like I said expanded memory to me was always nice to have and optional