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kuparikettu wrote:

Hello everyone, […]
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Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of building a SBC based Pentium MMX 233 into an Amiga 2000 and I'm wondering which DOS to install. My intention is to use this computer to play large variety of DOS games, from the time before CD-ROM and after. However, I'm having problems deciding which DOS to select. MS-DOS 6.22 would probably be the one with the best compatibility, but the biggest problem I have with it is the limit of 2 Gb partitions. That's a world I wouldn't like to go back to, especially since many games I have are bought from Good Old Games and thus might have large files since there is no CD-ROM. So, FAT32 would be nice.

I do not own Windows 98, so I'd rather not install MS-DOS 7.1. Not to mention that somehow I never liked that DOS version -- it didn't feel as DOSy as standalone DOSes.

I have been thinking about Freedos since it is both still worked on and at the same time it is free software. However, on some forums I have read about some people having problems with it -- some games having glitches etc. As the information has been rather scarce though I'd like to have some more specific information what didn't work in order to decide.

And if not Freedos, is some other non-ms FAT32 supporting DOS (DR-DOS?) a better choice?

Thanks!

Hello, I can tell you I personally use only FreeDOS, and I'm very satisfied... it's true, I miss the classic good original DOS, but at the same time FreeDOS has many improvements over the classic version, which I do not regret it. I played and finished more than one title for DOS on this platform, and I have not ever had problems with my setup... try it;)

Thanks!

I'll take the FreeDOS route then.

...now I only have to solder and convert some 8bit ISA slots to 16bit and then I can continue installing DOS to my Pentium/Amiga retromachine 😉

^ aha! A2000 user spotted! 😁

keropi wrote:

^ aha! A2000 user spotted! 😁

Yup. 😉 It's a major project as I have to first resolder joystick port, then replace the battery and finally "upgrade" the ISA buses. I have been collecting all necessary pieces for this project one by one. Funny though that I guess I wouldn't have started on this journey had I not decided to google what this MPU-IPC-T box I owned is while I was cleaning out useless stuff... 😅

It's almost the same as this who had been throwing out old junk when the wife found some old motorcycle leather gloves and asked her husband if she could throw them away, after all, he didn't have a motorcycle anymore. Husband's reaction? "My motorcycle gloves! 😲 " And the next day he rode home with a brand new motorcycle...

kuparikettu wrote:

Not to mention that somehow I never liked that DOS version -- it didn't feel as DOSy as standalone DOSes.

It is a fine choice and you would probably be well-served by abandoning your strange idiosyncrasies.

And if not Freedos, is some other non-ms FAT32 supporting DOS (DR-DOS?) a better choice?

I understand drfat32.sys works fine with MS-DOS 6.22, though you would still need to boot MS-DOS 6.22 from a FAT16 partition.

Jorpho wrote:

kuparikettu wrote:

Not to mention that somehow I never liked that DOS version -- it didn't feel as DOSy as standalone DOSes.

It is a fine choice and you would probably be well-served by abandoning your strange idiosyncrasies.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone. As should have been evident from my first post my judgement of MS-DOS 7.1 is certainly biased -- I remember that as a child Windows 95 represented to me many things I didn't like while MS-DOS 6.22 + Windows 3.11 + Norton Commander were things I loved. Win95 was something completely different. MS-DOS that was shipped with it felt the same -- even if it was a full fledged MS-DOS.

Not to mention that since I was 16 my primary choice of OS has been Linux, first Fedora, then Gentoo for many years and nowadays Ubuntu. My bias against MS since Win95 is rooted rather deep as you can see. But it's a bias so anyone other reading this thread please do not let it make you overlook MS-DOS 7.1. It's just not my choice.

Thanks for the info about drfat32 -- I hadn't heard about it before. However, I think I'll stick to FreeDOS.

kuparikettu wrote:

My bias against MS since Win95 is rooted rather deep as you can see. But it's a bias so anyone other reading this thread please do not let it make you overlook MS-DOS 7.1. It's just not my choice.

You shouldn't feel too bad about it. I hated Win 3.1/95 with a passion and only used the beta-version of 95 until 98SE was released.

Well, in the end Roland (or lack of it) made the decision for me. For some stupid reason I mistakenly thought my Roland bob was MPU-401 (just with some newer components that fit inside a smaller box, ha ha) and I bought one of those new dutch passive ISA cards to connect it to. "Surprisingly" I was unable to get my MT-32 to work with that combination... 😵

So, SoftMPU it is which rules out FreeDOS... 😀