[comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d] loading

mlord@bwdls58.bnr.ca (Mark Lord) (03/01/91)

I found this in comp.os.minix.. it describes a way to copy the minix demo
file onto a floppy disk.  Perhaps this will enable our gracious moderator
to finally produce a useable posting of the minix demo.. ?

In article <62835@bbn.BBN.COM> grossman@bbn.com (Martin Grossman) writes:
<
<Here's a quick and dirty way to load andy's demo disk onto a 360K floppy.
<
<1) get the demo file onto your hard disk from ftp.cs.vu.nl [192.31.231.42]
<   pub/minix/demo  (This site is in Europe so ftp after 11 AM EST)
<2) make sure their is a freshly DOS formatted 360K floppy in drive A
<3) type "debug demo-dsk.ibm"
<4) type following
<
<rip<cr>
<80<cr>
<
<rsp<cr>
<fe<cr>
<
<a80<cr>
<
<mov bx,100<cr>
<mov cx,28<cr>
<mov dx,0<cr>
<push dx<cr>
<push cx<cr>
<push bx<cr>
<mov ax,0<cr>
<mov cx,12<cr>
<int 26<cr>
<pop bx<cr>
<pop bx<cr>
<pop cx<cr>
<mov dx,ds<cr>
<add dx,240<cr>
<mov ds,dx<cr>
<pop dx<cr>
<add dx,12<cr>
<loop 89<cr>
<nop<cr>
<nop<cr>
<nop<cr>
<<cr>
<
<g,a6<cr>
<
<4) comments:
<	a) must move stack out of data area
<	b) must have plenty of free memory (360K min)
<	c) this uses the dos argument passing area for program and stack
<	d) the extra "pop bx" is needed to remove the flags push on by
<	   the int 26.
<	e) the loop instruction goes back to the "push dx" line
<	f) this program writes memory out to the floppy a track at a time.
<	g) the program stops on one of the "nop" instructions.


-- 
 ___Mark S. Lord__________________________________________
| ..uunet!bnrgate!mlord%bmerh724 | Climb Free Or Die (NH) |
| MLORD@BNR.CA   Ottawa, Ontario | Personal views only.   |
|________________________________|________________________|

blake@nevada.edu (RAWLIN BLAKE) (03/01/91)

In article <5769@bwdls58.bnr.ca> mlord@bwdls58.bnr.ca (Mark Lord) writes:
>I found this in comp.os.minix.. it describes a way to copy the minix demo
>file onto a floppy disk.  Perhaps this will enable our gracious moderator
>to finally produce a useable posting of the minix demo.. ?

If he has the time :-) :-) :-)

>In article <62835@bbn.BBN.COM> grossman@bbn.com (Martin Grossman) writes:
><Here's a quick and dirty way to load andy's demo disk onto a 360K floppy.

Dirty maybe, but certainly not quick  :-)

><1) get the demo file onto your hard disk from ftp.cs.vu.nl [192.31.231.42]
><   pub/minix/demo  (This site is in Europe so ftp after 11 AM EST)

Good info so far, but there is a better way to put the file on a
floppy.  Get rawrite.exe and rawrite.doc at the same time you get the
demo file itself.  They are all in the same directory.  RTDF (Read The
Document File).  Much quicker than the method suggested in the deleted
material.


--------
        Rawlin Blake
Internet:       blake@nevada.edu
BITnet:         blake@unsvax

peace ... is not just the _absence_ of war.  It is the _opposite_ of
war.
       Dallin H. Oaks

stevew@en.ecn.purdue.edu (Steven L Wootton) (03/01/91)

In article <5769@bwdls58.bnr.ca> mlord@bwdls58.bnr.ca (Mark Lord) writes:
>I found this in comp.os.minix.. it describes a way to copy the minix demo
>file onto a floppy disk.  Perhaps this will enable our gracious moderator
>to finally produce a useable posting of the minix demo.. ?
>
>In article <62835@bbn.BBN.COM> grossman@bbn.com (Martin Grossman) writes:
><
><Here's a quick and dirty way to load andy's demo disk onto a 360K floppy.

Not necessary.  There is a program for doing this in the same directory as
the demo.  I snagged the demo file and the disk-loader, and had the minix
demo running in about ten minutes.

I'm not sure what anyone is expecting from this demo, but it isn't terribly
interesting.  Unless, of course, you like playing with bourne shell scripts,
checking your disk space, and mounting and unmounting floppy volumes.

There is no way to get other programs onto the system (no support for DOS
files, no support for COM ports), there is no compiler, and you can't make
your shell scripts executables (there is no chmod [among many other things]).
There are no games, no application programs (other than a simple editor),
no system source code, and only about 20 standard unix utilities.

Essentially, you see everything there is to see in about 10 minutes, if it
takes you that long.  The only use I can think of for the demo is to see if
minix will actually run on your hardware before you lay out $170 for the
real package.

Steve Wootton
stevew@ecn.purdue.edu
stevew@pur-ee.uucp
stevew%ecn.purdue.edu@purccvm.bitnet