Path: csiph.com!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Rod Pemberton Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer Subject: Re: 16 bit code Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2016 21:20:01 -0500 Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server Lines: 28 Message-ID: <20161127212001.74258b3e@_> References: <583a9ad7$0$21545$e4fe514c@news.xs4all.nl> NNTP-Posting-Host: n4wpt9zq8xR26Ttf9mo2BA.user.gioia.aioe.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org X-Newsreader: Claws Mail 3.13.1 (GTK+ 2.24.13; x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu) X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 Xref: csiph.com comp.os.msdos.programmer:2338 On Sun, 27 Nov 2016 14:37:35 -0500 "Bill Cunningham" wrote: > oakcdrom.sys. Tht came with win98. So that would be 32 bit. No. Windows 98/SE starts with 16-bit MS-DOS which has been modified to work with Windows 98/SE. This DOS uses some undocumented M$ APIs to transfer control to 32-bit Windows. Windows has it's own device drivers that can't be used with DOS. So, any standalone device driver is going to be 16-bit DOS code. AFAIK, there is no 32-bit device driver format for DOS. Although, in theory, it's possible to have 32-bit drivers for DOS, which would work with 32-bit DPMI apps. These drivers, of course, likely wouldn't be coded to work with regular 16-bit DOS apps. The DPMI host and XMS drivers would need to support some additional protocols, like GEMMIS. This might also be possible with a VCPI host. The DPMI protocols were originally developed by M$ for a 32-bit DOS, but they killed that DOS before it was ever released, and went with developing Windows. Albeit, at this point in time, it appears no one is going to develop a 32-bit DOS. FreeDOS-32 was a decent attempt while it lasted. Rod Pemberton