Old computer Operating System

[BlackMan890]

Hi guys

i just found a brand new computer in the garage (or maybe not :-/) it's a 25 mHz computer.

I am really interesting in putting it back together, however i would like to know which distribution will work on the computer.

Some tecnical details:
The Processor: AMD Am386SX/SXL-25
RAM: still looking it up

 

[lansalot]

Perhaps try gentoo or slackware, they seem more keen towards the lower-end hardware. Certainly with gentoo you build the system from the ground up.

With a 386sx however, you can probably count on around a week for the install. And that might not be as much of an exaggeration as you might think if you have to compile the kernel....

 

[BlackMan890]

Ok.

But tell me, wont Dos work?
i have heard that there is different Types of Dos available, and i thought that maybe some older version of Dos might do the trick

 

[Harvey]

Yes, DOS will work. So will Windows 3.11 and Windows 95. Win 98 may be a problem if you can't add enough RAM.

MS-DOS ver. 6.22 is the best version MS ever produced. They finally got everything they stole from DR-DOS right.

Your original post didn't say whether you were looking exclusively for DOS. I think lansalot wanted you to know your machine will also run Linux, and you can probably do more with it, but it really depends on what you want to do with the machine.

 

[lansalot]

You'll get more out of it with linux than you will with DOS. Finding DOS software that will be of any use will be nigh on impossible. As you know, there's plenty to choose from with linux.

Haven't read this page, but it sounds interesting if you insist: http://www.freedos.org/

edit: you asked for a distribution which kind-of implied you wanted linux. I've never heard DOS referrred to as a 'distribution', but hey-ho.

 

[jackschmittusa]

lol I still have a boat load of DOS apps on 5¼" floppys, and several more on 3½".

 

[BlackMan890]

Thanks guys
i will check it out.

Harvey
I am really sorry that i didn't mention Dos in my post :-/


jackschmittusa
Maybe you can give some of those to me
i had 2 games on a 5¼ (Mothergoose and some other game) but they are lost :S


lansalot
Thanks man, i will check it out


humm... The Ram is still a mystery to me :S oh well

Thanks people

 

[Sunner]

Unless you wanna play golden oldies under DOS I'd just chuck it.
You won't be able to do anything useful with a 386 these days.

If you do wanna play golden oldies, just go with DOS 6.2.

 

[htne]

Originally posted by: Sunner
Unless you wanna play golden oldies under DOS I'd just chuck it.
You won't be able to do anything useful with a 386 these days.

If you do wanna play golden oldies, just go with DOS 6.2.

Agree 100%. A 386 is just too far behind the curve.

 

[Nohr]

Like they said. It's only good for reliving old games. I've got a 386DX 25MHz with 8MB and MS-DOS 6.22 for this purpose.

 

[tiap]

Sell it to someone with a cnc machine. Like a machine shop, cabinet shop etc. They still use and look for these boxes.

 

[Childs]

CP/M would own on that machine.

 

[imported_Kensai]

I upgraded one of the local autoshop's tire aligning machine to a 486DX2 w/ 8MB ram
When one of the guys tried it out, he was like "Holy Shizah this is fast!" They moved up from a 386 with 4MB of ram...

 

[xgsound]

The ram in the 386/486 days was SIMMS at about $100 a MB.( one stick ) That is before EDO and Fast Page RAM and may be from before machines had more than 640K of memory.

Also the ID of the chip says SX, that means no math co-processor.

That machine might do best with DOS 5.1 or earlier. Came on one 1.44 MB diskette.

There is a site called oldversion? or similar which may be a good start if you want to revive this computer.

Jim

 

[timswim78]

If you have a need for a firewall, you could load this with a copy of smoothwall.

 

[BlackMan890]

Thanks guys

I will try out Dos 6.22 first and if it is too slow, i will then try 5.0
I beleave the site you are telling me about is: www.bootdisk.com

Humm.... a short question.
Will i be able to set up a CD-Rom for the computer?
i would really like to know


P.S.
You have mentioned using Dos 6.1 and 5.1 but.. Why not freedos.. do you recomennd it?
please answer these question to me and i will start setting the computer together

I also own another computer which is 50 mHz (or is it 100...) which i set up Dos and have been filling it with games

Ahhh.... the old times

P.P.S.
The Cd-Rom part is because... i own Dott and Sam&Max on a CD and i deeply want to play them