Portable x86 Device (size of PSP) to play MS-DOS games nativ

[andwan0]

Just bought myself Toshiba Libretto 100 off eBay. Going to test it out for MS-DOS and maybe FreeDOS also.... and also Windows 98SE.

I am planning to get myself a netbook also... and in future an Open-Pandora (once they get better at it ironing all the nacks and crookies - since they're still early stages).

[Kyo]

Do not preorder a pandora ever ever ever.

[andwan0]

Do not preorder a pandora ever ever ever.

why not? They're only in Newcastle.. and I could always give them a visit...

[Kyo]

You will be waiting eternally. Wait till it comes out, then buy it.

[tom61]

Just bought myself Toshiba Libretto 100 off eBay. Going to test it out for MS-DOS and maybe FreeDOS also.... and also Windows 98SE.

I am planning to get myself a netbook also... and in future an Open-Pandora (once they get better at it ironing all the nacks and crookies - since they're still early stages).

The 100CT is a nice little machine. Should have a fair bit of potential in retro PC gaming with DOS or Win 98 (Win 95 doesn't like Apogee games). I was tempted to make the one I have into handheld setup for basic gaming, kinda like what you were aiming for in the original post. If you decide to make it handheld try to get a hold of gamepad that emulates a PS/2 keyboard (like the PowerRamp Mite or 3D Program Pad) that way you can have more than 4 buttons gamepad support in all games. Unfortunately, the PowerRamp Mites and 3D Program Pads I have (two of each) are dead or have issues, so it may be hard to track down a functional one. Win 98 might have the ability to take a USB gamepad and have it come up as a gamepad for DOS, or there were remapping programs IIRC to make USB gamepad button presses in Windows.

[samjc3]

so, you inspired me. i installed DOS on a bootable usb drive, and i have been running it on my EEE 701. its amazing. sound is nonexistant, and video was a pain, but it works. (luckily, since its a celeron, not an atom, its easier to make it work)

i havent stopped playing hammerfell yet.

[andwan0]

so, you inspired me. i installed DOS on a bootable usb drive, and i have been running it on my EEE 701. its amazing. sound is nonexistant, and video was a pain, but it works. (luckily, since its a celeron, not an atom, its easier to make it work)

i havent stopped playing hammerfell yet.

Yeah, a couple of years ago before netbooks came out, I wrote some guide on getting native MS-DOS & SB16 drivers booted off a CD. Whilst netbooks don't have CD drives, I think my guide can also apply to booting off USB (google bootable USB). The guide notes the autoexec.bat & config.sys files created ... with the various EMS or NO EMS settings which certain games used. Ritual process....

http://andwan0.blogsome.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://andwan00.xanga.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(either one of the above URL for my MS-DOS & SB16 drivers booting off CD guide.

[andwan0]

Just updating all my followers of finding a "Portable x86 Device to play MS-DOS games natively". Am quite happy with my Libretto 100CT (overclocked to 266MHz, 96MB EDO RAM, 8GB HD) that I bought off eBay. I wiped the harddisk and used MS-DOS 6.22 boot disk to create FAT16 partitions (each is max. 2GB). Why FAT16? Incase I am in MS-DOS 6.22 native mode and want to access ALL my partitions (MS-DOS 6.22 can't read FAT32).

However I installed Windows 98SE instead into C:\. Installation was quick and easy, and I didn't even need additional drivers. The generic Windows 98SE CD detected all Libretto's devices (sound/display/etc) and had drivers for them - (though I still update ALL drivers from updated drivers from Toshiba's website).

I carry about JUST the Libretto... minus the floppy disk peripheral... on 2 hour commute trains. How does one boot into native DOS (with sound/cdrom/mouse and memory ems/xms configurations... but have all those features OFF when booting into WINDOWS 98)?? Easy, Windows 95/98 comes with 2 NATIVE MS-DOS shortcuts (different from the prompt window).... found in:

C:\WINDOWS\MS-DOS for games.pif
C:\WINDOWS\MS-DOS for games with EMS/XMS.pif

The pif (shortcuts) contain configurations for memory/display, autoexec.bat & config.sys setup. One just needs to add the Sound Blaster Pro & mouse loadup lines into autoexec.bat and that's it! When you double-click on the MS-DOS shortcuts... it TEMPORARILY replaces io.sys, msdos.sys (the bootstrap loaders)... aswell as autoexec.bat & config.sys... then reboots.

When I want to go back into Windows 98 I just type restart (or reboot)... and it'll replace the original io.sys, msdos.sys, autoexec.bat & config.sys (the ones without loading DOS sound, DOS cdrom, DOS memory manager... hence saving memory in windows).




Small keyboard and crappy Libretto mouse? No problem. Just get a optical PS2 mouse and PS2 keyboard, plus 1 PS2 to COM1 (serial 9-pin convertor).


Games happily playing while commuting on 2 hour train:

Constructor
Die By The Sword
Dungeon Keeper 1
Lands of Lore 2
Magic Carpet 1 & 2
Starcraft
Syndicate Wars
Theme Hospital
Total Annihilation
Warcraft II



PS: Next device I'll buy is the asus eee pc 1005ha

[andwan0]

Just showing how small a Toshiba Libretto is compared to another Toshiba...

and another