DOS ain't dead

Hello,

hxrtd.zip is new.

There were some substantial changes in DKRNL32.DLL. Now it does support access to physical disks (disks only, partition access is not implemented yet!). This allows Qemu running in DOS to access the host's disks. WARNING: it should be used for memory sticks only, direct access to the host's HDs is not recommended, although it might be less dangerous in DOS than in Windows.

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MS-DOS forever!

> Hello hxrtd.zip is new

Thanks

> Now it does support access to physical disks
> low-level disk access with \\.\PhysicalDriveN implemented.

Is it the "good" NT-like way ?

> WARNING: it should be used for memory sticks only

Supposing you have an USB driver working and not conflicting with HX

> win98 OLE32.DLL and OLEAUT32.DLL can now be used instead of the ones supplied with HXRT

Any benefit from this ?

(HXGUI.TXT)
> 12/__/2007, V2.13: no changes.



> _ CryptDestroyKey, CryptImportKey, CryptExportKey, CryptDeriveKey,
> CryptGenKey, CryptDecrypt, CryptEncrypt, CryptSetKeyParam,
> CryptGetKeyParam, CryptSetProvParam, CryptGetProvParam, CryptGetUserKey,
> CryptSetHashParam, CryptVerifySignatureA, CryptSignHashA,
> CryptEnumProvidersA added (dummies)

Now it's probably no longer safe to export HX from USA

> _ CreateEnhMetaFileA, CloseEnhMetaFile, DeleteEnhMetaFile,
> PlayEnhMetaFile, PlayEnhMetaFileRecord, CopyEnhMetaFileA,
> GetEnhMetaFileBits, SetEnhMetaFileBits, GetEnhMetaFileHeader,
> EnumEnhMetaFile, GetEnhMetaFilePaletteEntries added (dummies)
> _ GetWinMetaFileBits, SetWinMetaFileBits added (dummies)
> _ CreateMetaFileA, CloseMetaFile, DeleteMetaFile,
> PlayMetaFile, PlayMetaFileRecord, CopyMetaFileA,
> GetMetaFileBitsEx, SetMetaFileBitsEx, EnumMetaFile added (dummies)

Please add also GetCharABCWidthsFloatA, StrokePath, FillPath, EndPath, BeginPath and GetEnhMetaFileA

> _ bugfix: MessageBoxA ignored CR.
> _ MessageBoxA now uses TabbedTextOut for string output.

But there seems to be a new (minor) bug (see shot).

MPLAYER1.0RC2 still doesn't work (not critical)

OPTIPNG still presents the bug (see other thread)



HX future / issues

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

> Is it the "good" NT-like way ?

Yes. My old HDEDIT will soon work both in DOS and NT/XP.

> Supposing you have an USB driver working and not conflicting with HX

USBASPI + DI1000DD works for me. And they work ways better than my BIOS' USB support, measured speed (1 GB memory stick) with USBASPI ~ 9.5 MB/sec, with BIOS 1.2 MB/sec.

> > win98 OLE32.DLL and OLEAUT32.DLL can now be used instead of the ones
> supplied with HXRT
>
> Any benefit from this ?

Yes, I won't care anymore about the HX ones. They've reached the final stage.

---
MS-DOS forever!

> won't care anymore about the HX ones. They've reached the final stage.

HX: 11 KiB
Win98: 1.4 MiB !!!

possibly one gets some more functionality this way considering the bloat ... but what about those from ReactOS ? Win98's DLL's are not really free/redistributable/recommandable Please include the "final" HX OLE's in 2.13 ... seems at least OLE32 got updated since 2.12 release.

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

> There were some substantial changes in DKRNL32.DLL. Now it does support
> access to physical disks (disks only, partition access is not implemented
> yet!).

Now "drive" access is also implemented. Releated to Qemu that does mean that one can access the host's CD-ROM from the guest OS. Example for Qemu running without image files in DOS:

dpmild32 -g qemu -m 32 -hda \\.\PhysicalDrive0 -cdrom \\.\h:

(H: is CD-ROM of host)

> WARNING: it should be used for memory sticks only, direct access to
> the host's HDs is not recommended, although it might be less dangerous in
> DOS than in Windows.

It works reliable after all. That's the good thing of a single-tasking OS like DOS: when Qemu is launched, there are no open files belonging to other tasks, and no danger that those are closed by the OS while Qemu is running. Of course, there remains a small risk, since DOS holds information in its "buffers" and most likely assumes that these reflect the content of the physical disk.

---
MS-DOS forever!

> HX: 11 KiB
> Win98: 1.4 MiB !!!
>
> possibly one gets some more functionality this way considering the bloat

Yes. Imagine all those "SafeArray" function which you could use now in DOS!

> ... but what about those from ReactOS ?

I scanned the ReactOS dlls "recently" and found none which could easily be used by HX. Not very "modular".

> Win98's DLL's are not really free/redistributable/recommandable

Yes, but I have a valid license.

> Please include the "final" HX OLE's in 2.13 ...

Of course.

> seems at least OLE32 got updated since 2.12 release.

2 dummies added.

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MS-DOS forever!

> scanned the ReactOS dlls "recently"



> found none which could easily be used by HX. Not very "modular".



> > Win98's DLL's are not really free/redistributable/recommandable
> Yes, but I have a valid license.

Probably true, but still a problematic deal

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***

Hello,

the current Qemu snapshots didn't work anymore with HX. This has been fixed.

---
MS-DOS forever!

> current Qemu snapshots didn't work anymore with HX. This has been fixed.

Thanks. No test with QEMU yet (hope I can use my HD images at least), but the bug with OPTIPNG is still present

---
This is a LOGITECH mouse driver, but some software expect here
the following string:*** This is Copyright 1983 Microsoft ***