DOS ain't dead

DOS specifications ("standards") (Developers)

posted by awik, 19.11.2020, 14:02

...
> > 1. large physical memory support (ie. above 4 GB)
> > 2. standardised 64-bit program support
> > 3. MBR amendments to support blocks (sectors) above 4G
> > 4. large file support (llseek, etc.)
> > 5. Memory mapped file API for INT21.
> > 6. SMP (multiprocessing) support
...
>
> They're all good and would be useful. #2 and #6 have been demonstrated by
> NDN and other attempts.

I briefly looked into NDN (Necromancer's DOS Navigator), and I saw mentions of "DPMI64", but I was unable to find any such document.

> Most important seem to be 2 and 3, along with perhaps native ExFAT (FAT64)
> support. Large media support and large file sizes. #1 is being worked on as
> we speak -- HIMEMSX has shown large memory support is possible. At very
> minimum get rid of signed filesizes, extend lseek to be at least an
> unsigned 32-bit integer.

Support for exFAT would be useful. However, there are two other alternatives, which, as matter of fact, can be complementary to exFAT:
(1) de novo DOS-friendly file system formats
(2) a convention like the Linux UMSDOS for supporting extended features atop a legacy FAT (and/or VFAT or FAT32) file system.

By DOS-friendly, I mean readily capable of being implemented in real mode.

Another example of implementing features on top of legacy FAT, is the DJGPP convention for symbolic links.

-Albert.

Complete thread:

• DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 18.11.2020, 16:57 (Developers)
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 18.11.2020, 18:48
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 18.11.2020, 20:07
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 13:32
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - glennmcc, 18.11.2020, 20:22
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 13:44
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - Zyzzle, 19.11.2020, 02:23
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 14:02
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 19.11.2020, 19:11
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - Laaca, 19.11.2020, 11:27
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 15:03
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 20.11.2020, 02:04
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - tkchia, 19.11.2020, 14:12
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 19.11.2020, 15:11
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 19.11.2020, 19:06
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - ecm, 20.11.2020, 16:08
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 21.11.2020, 16:43
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - tkchia, 21.11.2020, 17:37
        • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 21.11.2020, 18:58
          • DOS specifications ("standards") - tom, 22.11.2020, 14:58
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - marcov, 22.11.2020, 22:35
        • DOS specifications ("standards") - RayeR, 23.11.2020, 05:49
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - 33-bit LBA support - ecm, 23.11.2020, 10:01
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - ecm, 25.12.2020, 21:27
  • Hosting/Sharing - rr, 23.11.2020, 21:19
  • DOS specifications ("standards") - Ro2003, 13.01.2024, 09:06
    • DOS specifications ("standards") - awik, 16.01.2024, 11:28
      • DOS specifications ("standards") - jadoxa, 17.01.2024, 02:15
        • DOS specifications ("standards") - Rugxulo, 17.01.2024, 03:40