Interlnk/Intersvr is included with MS-DOS 6.0, and also can be used with parallel cables.

FreeDOS includes TCP/IP stacks, so you could set up a FTP server and transfer your files using ethernet.

DOS to DOS, using Interlnk/Intersvr would work. I'm trying to move files from Win7 to DOS, with a usb-parallel adapter + cable. I didn't specify clearly in my first post.

Can Interlnk/Intersvr work on Win 7? If not, is there something similar I can run on the win7 side?

Any other approaches?

I'm running MS-DOS 6.22 because it's a gaming system. So in my case, I wouldn't be interested in Free-DOS for it's IP stack. In fact, gaining a free expansion slot from not needing a network card would be great.

Win 7 won't work with Interlnk/Intersvr. USB to Parallel are not true parallel ports, I.E., no ZIP drive/CD drive capability and definitely not for transferring files over parallel cable. These adapters are parallel printer adapters only.

You didn't mention how much MB/GB of data you need to transfer but it looks like your best choice for now would be an ethernet card in the DOS system just so you can transfer files. If both your computers have CD/DVD writers use re-writable discs to transfer it that way - much faster than serial and parallel anyway.

Just trying to "network" the old computer in a way that lets me move games, apps, drivers, etc to it whenever. I do have an old 3com 905 card.

I was trying to learn an alternative method incase I ever want an extremely old DOS comouter, that I cant add network cards to. But still had serial as an assumption.

If I install the drivers for this 3com 905 pci card, I end up with Netware support loaded in memory at the DOS prompt. I have zero experience with trying to get Windows XP/7 or anything on a LAN to transfer files via Netware. Is there an "IP" that I assign or get from the DHCP server on my LAN? Does an FTP client work on Netware? My LAN is TCP/IP.

Yes on an old PC the defacto method for transferring files was laplink or intersrv over parallel or serial. Since those ports are non-existant on new computers the next best (and fastest) method would be over ethernet.

If you did have an older computer incapable of accepting a network card you could use a Xircom Pocket Ethernet Adapter (PE3-10BT).

I still have mine and have used it in DOS/Windows 3.11 many many years ago and it worked well.

You didn't mention which version of Netware so don't know if TCP/IP is possible. If you have Windows for Workgroups 3.11 install that in DOS and it will add MS LAN Manager which will allow you to add TCP/IP. You can then use WFW's built-in FTP client and setup Filezilla Server on the newer PC.

I would forget serial - even at it's top speed on most computers (115 kilobits/sec) you're talking a transfer speed of .80 megabytes per minute or 50 megabytes per hour. This is another reason I mentioned using optical media in case networking is not available.

You are right. That is really slow. Sneaker net with optical burns is faster as you suggest. Just more work. I think alot of this project is just curiosity and seeing how bad it really is. Or the challenge of going with what was barebone available on old systems.

I have serial to serial working now with Teraterm in Windows 7 and Procomm in DOS 6.22 via xmodem. I then went and grew a beard while waiting. I remeber having to do this when maintaining old Cisco switches and routers. Takes a long time even at 115200.

I'd love to learn more about trying Netware. I'll get you the version. However I might start a new thread for that to remain on topic. I do reall using the Windows 3.11 TCP/IP package. I could use that too and it might be much easier than messing with Netware.

Cool pic btw! I have not seen one of those before.

Well, FreeDOS have a couple of TCP/IP stacks, but that doesn't mean that you need to use FreeDOS. You may install mtcp in DOS, and use FTP to get those files from Win7.

The Xircom adapters are like a secret weapon. They work on almost every machine that I have tried them on; that includes the PCjr, PC and PC XT, Compaq Portable, IBM PS/2 L40SX, IBM Model 25, and every generic 386+ clone that I own. There is one strange Olivetti out there that has a slightly non-standard parallel port that it does not work on.

Here is almost everything you need to know about them:

http://www.brutman.com/Dos_Networking/xircom_pe3.html

As for TCP/IP, classic applications like FTP, Telnet, an FTP server, Ping, etc. are all available for DOS. I write the mTCP programs and most of them will work on a machine with a version of DOS as old as 2.1.

http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/

The mTCP programs work in emulated environments too, including the HAL9000 builds of DOSBox that include NE2000 support. (I use those builds of DOSBox for most of my testing.)

Mike

Mike. Very cool to have gained your attention with this thread. What you have done with mTCP is awesome. I will spend more time with it. I love that someone has created things like that for MS-DOS. I played with a 3rd party TCP/IP stack years ago, but I only had minimal success with it. That was around 2002 and I don't remember what it was called. I'm assuming it wasn't yours since it was so long ago 😀

As for serial / parallel methods, I have been doing most of the attempts from a Windows 7 system with a pci-e card that provides a parallel port and two serial ports.

I have been approaching this with the assumption of no optical or floppy drive being available om the old DOS system. Just trying to see what I can do when forced into a serial only corner (for science of course).

Fastlynx:
I have had success so far with serial only. Fastlynx 3.3 appears to have given me the most success thus far, because it makes such an assumption. It guides you to use the MODE command and CTTY commnd to setup and listen on serial ports for anything coming in. I had no idea after all these years that DOS could do that natively. With this method, you can send Fastlynx's provided SL.EXE over to DOS from Windows 7 and setup a client on DOS to work with. Once the client was running, it discovers the serial and parallel ports on my DOS computer that it's willing to work with. Two way file tramsfers work fine from the GUI in Windows 7 at this point.

However, I have not been able to test parallel. Windows 7 does not appear to be loading the LPT port driver that Fastlynx provides for using parallel. I do have a proper cable, but so far I can't get past the driver hurdle. I think it's support works for Windows up through 7, but only on 32 bit systems. Does any of what I described sound correct?

Interlnk/Intersrv:
Interesting, but from what I read it is of no use to me with Windows 7.

Laplink:
ll3.exe I think is a program called laplink. However I am not sure what this program is or if I have all of it. So far the exe does not work in Windows 7 64bit.

File Maven:
Same problem. Does not seem to work on 64 bit systems.

Teraterm on Windows:
Procomm on DOS:
These two work fine together for Xmodem. I'd still like to try Zmodem for it's multiple file support. (Can directories and subdirectories be moved over serial?) But I have not found a DOS program with Zmodem built in yet to try with. This approach is serial only. Works though.

Maybe I should of used a better topic.
Windows 64bit to MS-DOS serial file transfers.

If anyone can help me further, please let me know.

Thanks!

Hi

If you really must transfer using RS-232 then you can use KERMIT.
I used it for similar reasons transferring files off an EPSON 286
before dispatching it to the dump. I kept it's CGA card I/O
cards for some reason, they probably need dumping as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_%28protocol%29
http://www.kermitproject.org/

Bye.

bytesaber wrote:

But I have not found a DOS program with Zmodem built in yet to try with.

Huh? Didn't every terminal program back in the day have Zmodem support?

How about, oh, Terminate?
http://www.terminate.com/download.htm

One of the nice things about mTCP is that it can be run over SLIP or PPP, just like any other TCP. I include instructions on how to setup DOS and a Linux machine to work as a gateway.

I know that you can set Windows up to serve as a SLIP or PPP gateway, but I have not tried it myself.

Speeds are not going to be great - TCP is a bit heavy for serial links. But you can use the standard FTP tools, which is nice. And with the routing setup correctly you can get to any FTP site on the Internet, run the IRC client, etc.

mTCP over parallel a possibility?

Has anyone been able to get Windows 7 64bit working with parallel to communicate with DOS?

Terminate is a good choice in DOS because not only does it have Zmodem but also includes a host mode (mini-BBS) for uploading/downloading over serial. I don't know if it supports sending directories, you probably have to select all files in a directory instead. I have done this in the past between 2 computers over null modem cable and to send files to friends by having them dial into my PC while in host mode. This is probably your best choice for serial between legacy and modern computers (for science).

Forget DOS apps such as Laplink or Intersrv, they won't work because they are made to access the hardware directly in a way that conflicts with modern Windows systems.

For parallel your choices are limited. Windows used to come with parallel/serial transfer capability but this was eliminated in Vista and later versions. Currently only Fastlynx and LinkMaven can do parallel port transfers in Vista/7 (I've never used either).

For the price of Fastlynx or LinkMaven, the only two products to support parallel transfer between modern and legacy computers you could just buy a Xircom Pocket Ethernet Adapter.

Mtcp has drivers for the PE3 and the adapter also comes with various drivers NDIS/ODI etc.. I think this is a better choice than relying on some proprietary applications that may one day cease to be supported due to lack of demand. Setting up Filezilla FTP server (freeware) is easy and both mtcp and MS LANMAN come with FTP clients.

I think that's a better solution since TCP is OS agnostic (what if one day you want to transfer between DOS and MAC/Linux?). It's also easier to get support for FTP than proprietary apps few people probably have experience with.

My parallel laplink cable is full of dust. The last time I had to transfer files between a 386 DOS PC and a Windows 98 it was FTP, not parallel cable.

I understand what you're trying to do but it's probably easier to get a Soundblaster ISA card working in a PCI only computer.

Norton Commander wrote:

I understand what you're trying to do but it's probably easier to get a Soundblaster ISA card working in a PCI only computer.

Now that would be interesting. (for science)

Good advise! I know i can just add a floppy or DVD drive. I just wanted to experiment with this, learn, and see what kind of dead ends exist. Especially if I get a system that I can't add floppy or DVD to. Your advise about trying to find answers for uncommon apps and how current OS's are leaving that realm, does make a lot of sense. And I don't want to depend on those down the road. I like the Xircom idea.

The fun thing I'll take from this is learning that DOS has MODE / CTTY and can receive data natively via hardware BIOS configurations, if the sending side covers the responsibility of how to deliver. FastLynx doing this to send SL.EXE was really cool to see.

Agreed, Fastlynx or LinkMaven seem to be the only odd ducks reaching into modern OS era, and they'll soon die off if they haven't already. I'll look into the Xircom and play with mTCP more. The Xircom really does look like the winner.

Thanks everyone for the comments.