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Hey guys! GREAT forum!! I've been here for DAYS relearning all the stuff I'd forgotten from the 80s....lol.
I fixed this problem once a LONG time ago when I got my very first 486 machine, but for the life of me I can't remember what I did or how to repeat it now.
I have WfW on an ancient 386sx machine, sitting on top of Dos 6.22. Runs GREAT! BUT...every single time I run a DOS program from the Program Manager or File Manager or anywhere...the program runs perfectly fine, but Windows never comes back after the program terminates normally. I just get a frozen blue screen and I have to reboot.
I think it has something to do with the way you tell Windows to run the DOS programs...a Protected mode, or something like that...I just can't remember and I'm losing hair over this (literally).
Anyone got any bright ideas? I'm stumped.
The path to Hell begins with Microsoft.
"all the stuff I'd forgotten from the 80s....lol." LOL
I know I've had this prob. First thing that comes to mind is the transient part of command.com is failing to reload. Try going to a DOS prompt and do SET and see what COMSPEC is set to. Then find all copies of COMMAND.COM and ensure that they are identical. [Do a CRC or MD5.]
It MIGHT be that COMMAND.COM is fragmented. Or it may be that COMMAND.COM is weakly written and is failing to read. If so, a 'sys c:' may help.
good luck
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If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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I'm not so sure that would be it, but no harm in checking - 'comspec' isn't normally required unless command.com is in a non standard location. If you do have more than one version of it floating around, that could be problematic, as mentioned
Any problems launching these programs directly from DOS (without Windows)?
8Mb isn't a whole lot for WfW (although not bad) but if that's being gobbled up by a large smartdrv cache (or something), you may have less available than you realize
I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.
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Everything that is DOS based runs fine in DOS. For instance, I loaded Arachne for a browswer (really sweet for a 386...runs great off a 3 Comm Etherlink III and not too slow on a USR 56k modem) and I was online for a couple of hours tonight, discovering Trade Wars is STILL being played on BBS sites (which is kinda sad, really). DOS games...good...found the machine is actually too FAST to play Arctic Fox *grin*. But if I pop into WfW and load up the DOS config window for the Etherlink III from the File Manager, I do my thing, press Escape and WHAM! I have to reboot. So DOS has to stay down in DOS and Windows stuff has to stay up in Windows....and I know from past experience it doesn't have to be this way.
It's frustrating because I cannot, for the LIFE of me, find a browser that can fit into an 8 meg WfW setup that doesn't actually run down in DOS. I should add this particular machine has a max of 8 meg RAM (DEICO 386sx-Midget mobo) and is dependent on an ANCIENT gas plasma LCD (monochrome EGA and all efforts to upgrade to VGA have failed) and therefore any browser that's VGA dependent goes out the window (which is the majority).
The client I refurb'd this for (local Cub Scout pack) still runs some handmade DOS code (specific for this device and VERY voltage sensitive) to run Pinewood Derby, Space Derby etc races via an A/D IO board and some light sensors and they wanted to keep the old stuff while leaping forward into the later part of the 20th century. ;) So what I'm trying to hand off to them is their old system doing what it used to do, with cheap and easy upgrades that allow for a mouse, sound, cable modem at home, dial up internet while away, etc.
But unless I can find a way to get the DOS stuff to run up in Windows where the newer, more fun technology is...I believe I've failed and now I won't get my Computer badge. *grin*
The path to Hell begins with Microsoft.
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Under WfW3.xx have you installed the TCP32B TCP/IP Stack
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/998...
prior to installing the NDIS3 3COM Driver ?
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Is this a clean install of dos and windows? if not then i would
totally format the thing and start fresh. It is also possible
that your copy of the dos and or windows diskettes are a bit
corrupt somehow and i would check them to be sure they
don't have any bad places on them....Other then that the only
other thing i can think of is perhaps the fact you have ega
rather then vga and that might be messing things up. This
are just guesses. Hope it helps.John
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I would tend to agree - - no computer badge for you, since instead of providing answers to some simple questions, instead we were treated to some sort of autobiography
My suspicions remain with inadequate or poorly configured memory
Also (#5):
Why do
people insist on putting extra
line
breaks
in their responses? It's
quite maddening to
have
to read (a little like 'blank verse)I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.
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I didn't think of putting in the EGA config.sys driver...as the monitor was working quite fine, but I added it in anyway...just to eliminate that as a troubleshooting step.
I got a little further with this! I changed ALL of the DOS programs from running in Full Screen to running Windowed and they seem to run FINE as Windowed applications! That's good, so I have a workaround.
Now...if I could only figure out WHY they can't end normally when running Full Screen, I'd sleep better at night. But, for the time being, I'll have to live with them being purely windowed applications.
Thanks fer all the help guys!
The path to Hell begins with Microsoft.
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I realized I didn't answer some of the other questions up top, so for clarity and completion:
There were two copies of command.com on the machine. One in c:\ and one in c:\dos. They're identical, but SET shows the one in C:\ being used, so I renamed the one in the DOS directory to prevent any kind of contention.
The TCP32B TCP/IP Stack is installed and works GREAT! I'm online now even as we speak.
As mentioned before, the display.sys driver is now installed as con=(LCD,437,2).
WFW was installed with just the display and Analogue/Digital IO card present. I added a sound card, modem, Ethernet, Serial/Parallel card in afterwards. So as to whether it's a "clean" install or not, I'd say it's pretty clean. I had a LOT of IRQ manipulating to do so that everything worked without stepping on each other, but that wasn't a huge chore. I may take your advice and start all over again with everything present...we'll see how things go with the DOS programs windowed for awhile.
The path to Hell begins with Microsoft.
0
Thanks for the news.
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If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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