From: muta...@gmail.com   
      
   On Thursday, August 11, 2022 at 10:58:30 AM UTC+8, muta...@gmail.com wrote:   
   > I arrived here in the Philippines in the middle of May.   
   >   
   > When I was eventually in a position to post here,   
   > I wasn't able to find the trick - since I am using an   
   > Android phone I need to open Google groups as a desktop site,   
   > otherwise "new message" is not available.   
   >   
   > I traveled light to the Philippines. I figured I would just buy anything I   
   needed when I got here.   
   >   
   > I took a 1.5 tb hard disk with my life on it.   
   > I bought my first smartphone a few months before I left. An Android for   
   US$55 or something. Running Bochs with pdos and freedos and a bit of data. And   
   3 USB sticks containing pdos, freedos and uc8086.   
   >   
   > Very soon after I got here I was reunited with an old laptop.   
   > It had windows and a virus on it 5 years ago,   
   > but had been used for remote pdos testing since then.   
   >   
   > When I got it, it had degraded further- only windows recovery mode command   
   prompt worked.   
   >   
   > However, all my USB sticks worked, but not together.   
   >   
   > I hadn't got very far when I fell down stairs and fractured my ankle.   
   >   
   > The pc doesn't have a working battery but does   
   > have a com port.   
   >   
   > I couldn't use it because I couldn't easily   
   > get to an electrical outlet, and I preferred to stay   
   > with the air conditioner too.   
   >   
   > When I got closer to my destination I briefly had access to another windows   
   laptop.   
   >   
   > Otherwise I only had windows recovery mode allowing me to run diskpart and   
   hexdump   
   > and copy files.   
   >   
   > Then sometime later even windows recovery mode failed to boot, but I hadn't   
   been using it anyway.   
   >   
   > So for the first time ever I was able to install pdos onto a real hard disk.   
   > About 70 GB. The pc is from circa 2011 I think.   
   >   
   > It is my nature to freeze and reevaluate   
   > dependencies on software.   
   >   
   > I have lost access to git, but not my websits, using my Android.   
   >   
   > I have started pdnet but only have messages from people who come to our   
   house.   
   >   
   > I have ordered lots of cheap android phones on the   
   > internet. One 4 GB phone costing US$15 delivered is the cheapest.   
   > Every phone was able to run pdos, but   
   > some required an older Bochs.   
   >   
   > Originally I used a USB stick to transfer data from the laptop to the   
   android and back. I had a   
   > practical use for pdos-generic after an   
   > enhancement as it allowed me to manipulate   
   > a vhd, not requiring copyrighted mtools.   
   >   
   > But I eventually obtained a dodgy android phone that allowed USB mass   
   storage, exposing an SD card, if available, as a normal hard disk,   
   > or internal user memory as a hard disk   
   > without an mbr. Pdos was enhanced   
   > to allow that. Freedos can't.   
   >   
   > I can boot my laptop from this android phone   
   > that cost maybe US$20.   
   >   
   > 1300 pesos it was.   
   >   
   > More importantly, I can write data to the android, from pdos or maybe   
   freedos, and then not have to   
   > disconnect anything physically, and send the data via Bluetooth, using the   
   android.   
   >   
   > So far I have resisted buying a new laptop, accessing my hard disk, or   
   attempting to get   
   > either windows or Linux working.   
   >   
   > That's the background.   
   >   
   > I have previously said that I am interested in a "monitor" so that I could   
   debug at an   
   > assembler level. Which is still true.   
   >   
   > But that would be in a production environment.   
   >   
   > I haven't reached that yet.   
   >   
   > I'm still in development where I can add printf.   
   >   
   > I was debugging a problem using printf, and reached the limit of what I   
   could do with a single screen, and   
   > solved the problem by adding a fgets from stdin to pause.   
   >   
   > But it was time to bite the bullet and have com port debugging.   
   >   
   > But I'm going to be screwed if I have a pc without a com port.   
   >   
   > I was thinking of using the 1 MB to 2 mb region as a console output buffer   
   that could be scrolled.   
   >   
   > But finally I thought of a solution.   
   >   
   > My pc only supports the hard disk, 1 USB key and 1 USB HDD.   
   >   
   > It took a long time to figure that out.   
   >   
   > Luckily pdos86 was on an old 512 mb USB stick that presents as a key.   
   >   
   > I can't easily buy new keys, but I found a dodgy place that might work.   
   >   
   > Anyway, if I develop on the real hard disk, burn a debug pdos to the USB   
   key, the USB HDD   
   > could then be used as raw storage for console   
   > output. A NUL would indicate EOF.   
   >   
   > Pdos could be enhanced to recognize dbg82 as a special device and I could   
   read it using microemacs.   
   >   
   > I'll have another special device, maybe dsk8x,   
   > for accessing a raw hard disk as a file for burning images.   
   >   
   > I would skip lba 0 for the debug file.   
   >   
   > It is odd that Bochs and qemu don't seem to have an option to capture bios   
   screen writes to a file.   
   >   
   > Hercules can.   
   >   
   > Bochs instead requires intrusive code to write to e9.   
   >   
   > Not useful to me at the moment anyway.   
   >   
   > Paul.   
      
      
   I am doing a running commentary with screenshots here:   
      
   https://discord.gg/Bc6HuWmgHf   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)