VOGONS


First post, by Kaotik_Geek

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Hello, i need some help, i have found a box full of old pc components and i would like to make a pc that is powered by dos or dosbox (not windows or linux). Also, the reason i am interested in making a custom DOS pc, is that i use it every day for my job (and also i enjoy playing old DOS games).
Please Help (and also, thanks in advance)
Fin 😜

Reply 1 of 19, by leileilol

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DOSBox requires a host OS like Windows, MacOS X or Linux, you can't "dosbox-power" a PC.

also dosbox is only for games, not jobs. and what job in 2015 would need dos anyway

apsosig.png
long live PCem

Reply 2 of 19, by Kaotik_Geek

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This is what equiptment i got:
- COMPUTER CASE: an old one from a pc i had 10 years ago (would that work, or do i have to get a special one for custom pcs?)
- POWER SUPLY: yet to get one
- MOTHERBOARD: yet to get one
- PROCESSOR: Pentium III Xeon
- HARD DRIVE: an old one (all i know is that it has got 16GB on it)
- _______ DRIVE: I have an old bog-standard cd drive and 2 floppy disk drive
- FAN: an old one i took from an old computer if mine
- USB PORTS: 1

and thats about it, as for wifi/cabled wifi i dont want it

sorry about my bad english :B
Fin 😜

Reply 3 of 19, by Kaotik_Geek

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Ok, so could i just put normal DOS on it? sorry, i shall rephrase that, its not much of a 'job' more of i make a homebrew game and put it on a website and people buy it

Reply 4 of 19, by Kaotik_Geek

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leileilol wrote:

DOSBox requires a host OS like Windows, MacOS X or Linux, you can't "dosbox-power" a PC.

also dosbox is only for games, not jobs. and what job in 2015 would need dos anyway

Like you say it requires host, is there a way that i could put windows on this custom pc and when i turn on this pc that it autostarts up in to dosbox?

Reply 7 of 19, by Jorpho

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Kaotik_Geek wrote:

Ok, so could i just put normal DOS on it?

Why wouldn't you? What do you hope to gain by using DOSBox instead?

Kaotik_Geek wrote:

Ok, so could i just put normal DOS on it? sorry, i shall rephrase that, its not much of a 'job' more of i make a homebrew game and put it on a website and people buy it

If you do not have much programming experience, DOS is most assuredly not the way to start. Also, the number of people who would want to buy a DOS homebrew game is extremely small. Games are hard enough to sell as it is.

Reply 10 of 19, by Snayperskaya

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I think Win98SE is best suited for that box that plain DOS.

Reply 11 of 19, by Kaotik_Geek

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Snayperskaya wrote:

I think Win98SE is best suited for that box that plain DOS.

What does SE stand for?

Reply 12 of 19, by alexanrs

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Second Edition. It is the updated version of Windows 98 released before Windows ME. It has better driver support and general bugfixing all around.

Also, for an old PC that was assembled without proper care for picking parts with good DOS compatibility, Windows 98 is usually great for some DOS gaming. Random sound card with WDM drivers? SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 emulation support in DOS (and older cards with VxD drivers usually had sound suport for DOS applications as well), with software GM to top it off. Some networking support is also there... CD-ROM support without loading MSCDEX too. Non-DOS compatible gamepads/joysticks (even USB ones)? That will work too.

Reply 13 of 19, by Stiletto

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My guess was he wanted to power it with DOSBox because he didn't want to spend any money on an operating system. To install Windows 98 Second Edition legally, you'd need to find some place to buy it online.

I'm still a bit lost with the second part of the plan: you're going to create DOS games as a profit-making enterprise? "i make a homebrew game and put it on a website and people buy it"... I mean, I _guess_ you can do that for fun, but don't expect to become a millionaire... or "thousandaire"... or "hundredaire"... 😁

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto

Reply 14 of 19, by Skyscraper

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You can not buy Windows 98 new legally because of cross licensing issues. Microsoft dosnt have the right sell it any more if I understand the situation right.

A used copy from Ebay is always an option or you could...

New PC: i9 12900K @5GHz all cores @1.2v. MSI PRO Z690-A. 32GB DDR4 3600 CL14. 3070Ti.
Old PC: Dual Xeon X5690@4.6GHz, EVGA SR-2, 48GB DDR3R@2000MHz, Intel X25-M. GTX 980ti.
Older PC: K6-3+ 400@600MHz, PC-Chips M577, 256MB SDRAM, AWE64, Voodoo Banshee.

Reply 15 of 19, by alexanrs

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I still have the original key from the Windows 98 SE setup from my Cyrix M2 xD That, the Win98 manual, the AT keyboard and memories are all that's left though.

And yeah... good luck making a DOS game and profit from that nowadays. You'd be better off making a regular Windows 7/8 game that looks retro.

Reply 16 of 19, by Jorpho

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There's always FreeDOS.

Reply 17 of 19, by smeezekitty

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I suggest the OP spits up what the DOS is needed for so he can get an accurate answer of what will work and what won't.

Reply 18 of 19, by Roman78

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Just run a plain Dos version. Not Windows and Dosbox or something other virtual.

There is MS-Dos from Microsoft, problem you get is some disk support like max 8 gig and some other stuff because you are on a Xeon III, and finding a mainboard will be more expensive than like buying and complete old Pentium II or III.

Than there is (like mentioned) FreeDos, http://www.freedos.org/ Just burn the ISO and install it, It even supports Fat32 and LBA. And will run perfectly on even some newer hardware.

And there is even more. You could install OS2, why I don't now, there is also a dos client in it) hmmmm There is also PC-Dos, Dr-Dos and a lot more. But to make it easy, just try FreeDos.

Reply 19 of 19, by alexanrs

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His processor is a Xeon P3. Pure DOS there would be a waste, and Windows 98 is easier to set up while mantaining great DOS compatibility and simplifying hardware support. Since he said he wanted to use if for development, some degree of multitasking might be beneficial as well, and developing a DOS program that does not run well in V86 mode seems somewhat pointless.