Date: Wed, 5 Feb 1997 09:57:17 +1000 (AEST) From: Jason White To: opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net Subject: [opendos] Download and installation questions Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-opendos AT mail DOT tacoma DOT net Precedence: bulk I am planning to download and install OpenDOS during the next few days and would appreciate some advice. First, I should mention that Caldera's OpenDOS web page is definitely difficult to access using "text only" browsers (Lynx 2-4-2 in my case), as it uses an image map for which no textual alternative is provided. By reading the HTML code, I have been able to find the relevant pages containing the licence agreement and OpenDOS information. My questions are as follows: 1. Is OpenDOS subject to U.S. export controls, other than those affecting the countries designated in the licence agreement? I live in Australia and would like to be sure that importing OpenDOS is permitted. 2. There are two versions of the full OpenDOS distribution available: one creates disk images and the other contains file archives. Are both versions capable of installing OpenDOS to a hard disk which has a pre-existing copy of MS-DOS on it, but without destroying any actual data other than the the MS-DOS startup files themselves? I am planning to try OpenDOS first on my portable computer (a Toshiba T5200) which uses a speech synthesizer and screen access software. If it works reliably, I may then test it on my pc, which uses both a speech synthesizer and a refreshable braille display. Each of these devices requires several TSR programmes to be executed, so any compatibility problems are likely to become apparent on this system. 2. On this list, several people have discussed OpenDOS installation problems which, in some cases, have reportedly resulted in loss of data on the hard disk and even CMOS failures. How can such problems best be avoided, and are they the result of bugs in the installation process? 3. Is OpenDOS compatible with the Qemm memory manager, and if so, which versions? I am using version 6.02 on one computer, and version 7.53 on the other. I would be willing to report any problems that I encounter via this mailing list, if appropriate. Thank you for your consideration. Regards, Jason White.