IBM Thinkcentre M50 8189 2xP4 3.2Ghz, serial port (not tested) similar to https://www.newegg.com/ibm-thinkcentre-m50-business-desktops-workstations/p/... -OEM XP install dates this to maybe 2003, so 20 years old. It came with Win XP but is currently locked with a password that I do not know. It can boot and run Puppy Linux 32 bit from CD. I do recall it running but have not started it from before the pandemic. It is clean and still looks quite stylish in all black. Origin unknown, probably curbside, but possibly from an Indian family with 2 kids from Scarborough. I think there was a Bollywood CD in the optical drive (Is this a feature?) If you are interested I will start it up and look at its innards in greater detail. Don If interested I will boot it up and maybe do an additional vacuuming. On Sat, 14 Oct 2023 at 15:41, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
| From: Karen Lewellen via talk <talk@gtalug.org>
| In fact, the P3 or greater aspect is far more important than the ISO slot, if | that makes sense.
Why do you need the power of a P III? Generally speaking, DOS software was built for much weaker processors (eg. 486 or older).
| Although not installing freedos, it can manage more current hardware, so can | the DOS I run to some extent. | www.freedos.org
FreeDOS looks like a good choice: it is still maintained. What DOS do you use?
Here are some technical requirements that may make a recent machine unsuitable:
DOS requires a BIOS as opposed to UEFI firmware. For about a decade, all machines came with UEFI firmware. But some UEFI firmware can emulate BIOS.
FreeDOS requires that the disk be formated using MBR, not GPT. <http://wiki.freedos.org/wiki/index.php/UEFI>
DOS requires disks to have 512-byte sector. That's less common these days -- most current drives 4096-byte sectors. Sometimes they can emulate 512-byte sectors.
MBR disks are limited to 2TB or less: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record>
FAT32 partitions are limited to 2TB as well: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table#FAT32> FreeDOS has supported FAT32 since 2002 (recent, in DOS terms). Does your DOS support FAT32? --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk