Start MS-DOS from a vinyl record

It seems that quarantine is generously allowing time for experimentation. As in this mechanic which ran MS-DOS from a vinyl record.

If you are old enough to σίγουρα θα θυμάστε με νοσταλγία τις ημέρες που φορτώνατε προγράμματα στο Spectrum μέσα από μία κασέτα μαγνητοφώνου. Ο ήχος από τις απαρχές των υπολογιστών ήταν ένα μέσο μετάδοσης δεδομένων.

The Slovak Jozef Bogin in the middle of quarantine probably ended it. So what he did was boot into MS-DOS, but instead of using a traditional tape, he decided to try a vinyl record.

In the video below you will see all the steps in detail, but we must warn you that it is recommended to turn down the volume of your speakers, as the that are heard are piercing. 80s machine users certainly know.

As you can see, MS-DOS does not boot on a modern computer, but on a prototype IBM 5150. The audio loading process is really surprisingly fast as MS-DOS 6.22 is rather small in volume.

According to Bogin's website the computer has a small ROM boot loader that handles the computer's built-in "cassette interface" and is invoked by the BIOS if all other options fails, e.g. floppy disk and .

The turntable spins and reads an analog record of a small RAM unit, which is 64K in size. It contains a FreeDOS kernel, modified by Bogin to reduce bulk, a micro variant of COMMAND.COM, and an updated version of INTERLNK, which allows file transfer via a printer cable, modified to run in FreeDOS. The bootloader reads the disk image from the audio recording via the tape modem, loads it into memory, and boots the in this.

While this may all sound like rocket science to some, it's actually an experiment that could keep you busy in the midst of quarantine. Of course, there is no benefit, perhaps from the fun of playing with the software and the satisfaction of getting it done.

If you want to try also at you, Bogin gives through his website all the instructions. Good luck!!

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Written by Dimitris

Dimitris hates on Mondays .....

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