Release info for 0.0.4

At the time of writing, the latest release is 0.0.4 (alpha testing, unstable), date 2005-03-19.

The updated release notes of the latest release are available here.

Content of the floppy image

FreeDOS-32 release 0.0.4 lets you boot FreeDOS-32, use some internal commands with a command.com replacement, start the SmartEdit text editor, and start the Bash command line shell.

At present all FreeDOS-32 releases are alpha releases for testing purposes, and may contain serious bugs that may corrupt your data. Test at your own risk.

name	description / link
fd32/	contains the FreeDOS-32 kernel and modules
grub/	contains the GNU GRUB bootloader, web site
attrib2.com	a FD32 native "attrib" utility written by Nils Labugt
autoexec.bat	used if you start FreeDOS
bash.exe	the GNU Bourne-Again SHell, binary (444 KiB), source (2 MiB)
command.com	the FreeDOS shell (FreeCOM) not for use in FreeDOS-32, web site
command.exe	a command.com replacement by Centroid Corp., original source, our slightly modified version is available in the tests CVS module
gofd32.bat	a sample batch file to start FreeDOS-32 using x.exe
kernel.sys	the FreeDOS kernel, web site
smedit.exe	SmartEdit, a simple text editor, binary (81 KiB), source (43 KiB),
wintest.exe	"hello world" program to check the Win32 functionality
x.exe	the OSLib eXtender to start FreeDOS-32 from the real mode DOS, web site

How to test

Either use the floppy image directly with an emulator, such as Bochs, or copy the floppy image on a real disk and boot your system with it.

Warning: Due to possible critical bugs in FreeDOS-32, if you have important data on your hard disk(s) you may want to disable the IDE controller(s) in the BIOS.

The GNU GRUB bootloader takes care of the boot process. It will show an menu where you can chose one of the following options. All options but the first one boot the FreeDOS-32 kernel, with a particular combination of modules and test programs.

1. FreeDOS

Boots the real mode FreeDOS kernel and shell (FreeCOM). You can start FreeDOS-32 from FreeDOS using the x.exe eXtender, as with the gofd32.bat batch file.

2. FD32 + command

Loads the kernel, the native floppy driver, the clock driver, the FAT driver, the keyboard driver, the console driver, the DPMI driver and the command.com replacement by Centroid Corp. Only floppy access is enabled. You can try some internal commands at the command prompt.

3. FD32 + biosdisk + command

Like 2, but the BIOSDisk disk driver is loaded instead of the native floppy driver. This will enable hard disk access (use at your own risk!).

4. FD32 + SmartEdit

Like 2, but the SmartEdit text editor is loaded instead of the command.com replacement. You can try writing some text files.

5. FD32 + Win32 test

Like 2, but the wintest.exe Windows console test program is loaded. You can't do much with that option... if you can read "hello world", it works.

6. FD32 + command (through wrapper)

Like 2, but the command.com replacement is loaded through the wrapper, a module to load executables in a segmented memory space. At present, it may take much longer to load due to a file system issue.

7. FD32 + bash (through wrapper)

Like 6, but Bash is loaded as command line shell. You cannot do very much at the Bash prompt, since commands like ls are external programs.

How to start programs

You cannot start programs from the command line directly. This is because FreeDOS-32 uses a flat memory model, with no segments, while DJGPP executables (like smedit.exe) expect a segmented memory model (see FAQ 2.5).

An exception is the attrib2.com program, that can be started directly as it is a native FreeDOS-32 application (don't be confused by the "com" extension, it's just a trick to let the shell execute it).

The wrapper is a FreeDOS-32 native application that loads an executable in a segmented memory space. Hence, to run a program from the command line, you have to run it through the wrapper. Let's say you started the boot option 2, and you want to start smedit.exe from the command prompt. Then use (please note that an absolute path is used):

A:\>fd32\wrapper.com a:\smedit.exe

Known issues

You may get the ABORT 64 error, especially inside an emulator (see FAQ 2.4), although the boot options already have a workaround.

The "Save" function of SmartEdit does not work for new files due to a SmartEdit bug, "Save as" works.

Character devices, such as con, are not supported yet. Thus, commands like copy con foobar.txt will not work.

Disk access can be very slow on a slow computer (including emulators). This is due to an inefficient file access loop that will be fixed in a future version.

When running the command.com replacement the cursor shape is wrong.

Reporting bugs

After trying the release and playing with it, please go to our SourceForge project page, and start to fill bug reports, one per issue please (if you have not a SourceForge.net account, please write your e-mail address too). You can also use the developers' mailing list (but you must be subscribed to it in order to post and receive messages).

Please check the known issues first.

If you really want to help the project, feel free to have a look at some reported bug, to investigate it, and to try to fix it... Please ask in the mailing list before starting to hack, because we can have some useful informations.