Help with DOS

Steve749 · 01-30-2009, 07:29 PM

Hello,

I'm trying to learn X86 assembly lanuage. I bought a used laptop with a Pentium 3. Windows XP had been removed. After the unit boots up, it displays a line of ASCII characters and repeats it when the enter key is pressed. I was expecting a DOS prompt. Do I need to load DOS? Thanks.

Steve 749

**wmorri** · 01-30-2009, 09:40 PM

Hi,

Welcome to TSF!!

I would recommend that you try to install one of the Linux or *BSD's. There are a lot out there. I would look for one that doesn't require many resources. Distrowatch.com, is a good place to start. It has a lot of good information. If you need any other help feel free to ask.

Cheers!

shuuhen · 01-31-2009, 08:43 AM

Since Windows was removed, you should have a laptop without an operating system. Windows isn't tied to DOS anymore, so you don't have it as a remaining shell.

You will need to load an operating system. Like wmorri, I recommend Linux or one of the *BSDs. I find DOS to be fairly limited in comparison. With Linux or another Unix-like OS, you can have a graphical environment, but will always have full access to the command line environment. Tab-completion, command history and many other features are available and work great with your choice of terminal and shell.

On Unix-likes, you can have nasm, gas and/or yasm assemblers (possibly other options too - but these are in Gentoo's Portage system). gas is the GNU assembler and is sometimes not a command called gas (On Linux and quite possibly other Unix-likes, it could be as which would be a link to something with a longer name). Between all those assemblers, you should be able to use either Intel or AT&T syntax.

For a distribution, you might look at either Arch Linux or Puppy Linux. There are plenty of other distributions, but Arch or Puppy should allow you to have a lighter setup easier than some other distributions would.

Steve749 · 02-02-2009, 09:51 AM

Thanks wmorri and shuuhen. Man, how things have changed. I had a course in assembly about 25 years ago using an AT/XT machine. My job took me away from computers for the most part and now I'm trying to get back into them. I really enjoyed the assembly language and computer classes I took back then. Thanks again.

Steve749

**wmorri** · 02-02-2009, 11:41 AM

Your welcome!! I have to admit that I have no idea what an AT/XT machine is but I am sure that I can find out. I am sure it is similar to my mother Zenith that had DOS, and I learned how to do stuff on.

If you need any help with installation or anything, please don't hesitate to ask. I know that many things have changed in the last 25 years so there might be a big transition for you.

Cheers!

01-30-2009, 07:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
Steve749 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 2 OS: xp	Help with DOS Hello, I'm trying to learn X86 assembly lanuage. I bought a used laptop with a Pentium 3. Windows XP had been removed. After the unit boots up, it displays a line of ASCII characters and repeats it when the enter key is pressed. I was expecting a DOS prompt. Do I need to load DOS? Thanks. Steve 749

01-30-2009, 09:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
wmorri Moderator/Fedora Amb. Join Date: May 2008 Location: /pm/etc Posts: 2,805 OS: Window 7/Fedora 10 My System	Re: Help with DOS Hi, Welcome to TSF!! I would recommend that you try to install one of the Linux or BSD's. There are a lot out there. I would look for one that doesn't require many resources. Distrowatch.com, is a good place to start. It has a lot of good information. If you need any other help feel free to ask. Cheers! __________________ Linux Forever!*

01-31-2009, 08:43 AM	#3 (permalink)
shuuhen Manager Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 980 OS: Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS X 10.5.8, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 6.0, Gentoo Linux My System	Re: Help with DOS Since Windows was removed, you should have a laptop without an operating system. Windows isn't tied to DOS anymore, so you don't have it as a remaining shell. You will need to load an operating system. Like wmorri, I recommend Linux or one of the BSDs. I find DOS to be fairly limited in comparison. With Linux or another Unix-like OS, you can have a graphical environment, but will always have full access to the command line environment. Tab-completion, command history and many other features are available and work great with your choice of terminal and shell. On Unix-likes, you can have nasm, gas* and/or yasm assemblers (possibly other options too - but these are in Gentoo's Portage system). gas is the GNU assembler and is sometimes not a command called gas (On Linux and quite possibly other Unix-likes, it could be as which would be a link to something with a longer name). Between all those assemblers, you should be able to use either Intel or AT&T syntax. For a distribution, you might look at either Arch Linux or Puppy Linux. There are plenty of other distributions, but Arch or Puppy should allow you to have a lighter setup easier than some other distributions would. __________________ Has it been a few days since I replied to your thread? Don't panic! I'm a busy college student and may forget a post if I'm extra busy (or it might just take me a while to be able to do a decent reply). If you still need help and are awaiting my reply after a few days, PM me about it. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier. Last edited by shuuhen; 01-31-2009 at 08:48 AM.

02-02-2009, 09:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
Steve749 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 2 OS: xp	Re: Help with DOS Thanks wmorri and shuuhen. Man, how things have changed. I had a course in assembly about 25 years ago using an AT/XT machine. My job took me away from computers for the most part and now I'm trying to get back into them. I really enjoyed the assembly language and computer classes I took back then. Thanks again. Steve749

02-02-2009, 11:41 AM	#5 (permalink)
wmorri Moderator/Fedora Amb. Join Date: May 2008 Location: /pm/etc Posts: 2,805 OS: Window 7/Fedora 10 My System	Re: Help with DOS Your welcome!! I have to admit that I have no idea what an AT/XT machine is but I am sure that I can find out. I am sure it is similar to my mother Zenith that had DOS, and I learned how to do stuff on. If you need any help with installation or anything, please don't hesitate to ask. I know that many things have changed in the last 25 years so there might be a big transition for you. Cheers! __________________ Linux Forever!