Pc98 Torrent Download

r/pc98 Community Project: FreeDOS(98) Disk Image

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Files for pc98-maker-betsu-tsumeawase. Name Last modified Size; Go to parent directory iaspool/ 02-Nov-2014 08:41. YU-NO – The Girl that Chants Love at the Edge of the World Takuya Arima is a young student whose father, a historian who has conducted various researches, disappeared recently. During a summer vacation Takuya receives a peculiar package from his missing father, along with a letter containing information about the existence of various parallel.

Introduction

Hello reddit, this is 98digger.

As interest in the PC-9800 series grows, more and more people are likely to consider purchasing the real hardware. The actual hardware can cost, including shipping, the same price as a New 3DS XL. This is actually very affordable compared to many other retro computers (heck, just look at the prices on Amigas nowadays). Many Japanese businesses looking to get rid of old office equipment sell PC-98 on Yahoo! Auctions for good prices - but with no hard drive included.

Why not just download an MS-DOS image?

Because it is illegal. I do have to say, if Microsoft was not holding onto the rights of MS-DOS as tightly as they are, then it is likely NEC themselves would have open-sourced MS-DOS for PC-98 years ago. Sharp, the creators of the X68000, were not bound by Microsoft copyrights, open-sourced their Human 68k operating system. But anyways, until Microsoft changes its mind about MS-DOS, we must look to alternatives instead to get our PC-98s running.

What do we do, then?

Take IBM clones into consideration. What free ms-dos clone do we use on those? Yep, FreeDOS. There exists a PC-98 version of FreeDOS called 'FreeDOS(98)', which was in development until 2005. It was not totally completed, but it is functional enough to run a good amount of software, including MSDP, the Touhou Project games, the original Corpse Party, and many others.

The Dilema

As I have posted about here and here, FreeDOS(98) is difficult to get working on real hardware.

Within T98-Next (PC-98 emulator), I have been able to run the Touhou games using the 'XMZ' driver for XMS, and EMM386 (DO NOT put it in Config.sys) for the EMS. Lotus Land Story, Mystic Square, and Corpse Party were all tested and confirmed to work by me.

The FreeDOS(98) hard disk image I used is the 'Zai' one. This 40MB image includes a game (likely a VN of some sort), but the guide (posted below) said to erase it. I added several XMS and EMS drivers to the image and burnt it to a 2GB Transcend CF card (erased the .NHD header first), which I then used as a hard drive in the PC-98 via an adapter. I own an IDE-based unexpanded PC-9821 Ce2.

While the image boots, various reading/writing errors accompanied it. Corpse Party, the first game I tested, locked up at an 'ERROR DRIVE C' screen after the intro sequence ended. By erasing all drivers from CONFIG.SYS, I was able to get the game to work without issues.

With the Touhou games, I had to add the XMZ driver to CONFIG.SYS. Opening the .exe files that unpack and install the Touhou games (demo versions) worked until it tried writing 'MAIN.EXE' and another file, where it stated 'Error reading from drive c. Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?' I pressed ignore on Lotus Land Story's .exe a couple of times and it did extract, but when I launched GAME.BAT, the game displays the same error twice on the 'ZUN Soft' intro. Hitting ignore a couple of times allows the game to actually run properly.

The other Touhou games, specifically Mystic Square, become horribly corrupted and fail to run past the 'Options' screen that first appears when you run the PC-98 Touhou games.

What could be the problem?

I'm not exactly sure. I think it is two things: 1.), the disk image does not fill the entire card and generates errors due to this, or 2.) The XMS and EMS drivers were meant for emulators and do not work well on real hardware. It might actually be both, but I have a feeling that it is the size of the disk image that is the main cause of the problem.

How do we fix this?

First, the disk image needs to be repaired into a 2GB image. Most 2GB CF cards are the best option for substituting a hard drive with a PC-98, and 2GB is the limit of the maximum HDD capacity in many PC-98 models.

Tests on real hardware need to be done. We need to scope out exactly where the disconnect between emulator and PC-98 is, so it can be repaired.

Why should I help?

Because if you do, then we can create a free, GPL and legal FreeDOS(98) disk image that any PC-98 owner can use. This could greatly assist in increasing the amount of PC-98 fans outside of Japan if we could accomplish it.

LIST OF WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

1.) The disk image needs to be reformatted to 2GB
2.) The disk image needs its file system converted into a PC-AT/PC-98 hybrid filesystem using CONV98AT (free DOS program)
3.) A list of all known free PC-98 EMS and XMS drivers needs to be created
4.) The image needs to be tested on several different PC-98
5.) The image needs to be purged of anything that is not freely redistributable (hence why step 3. exists)

Helpful links to assist in this project

Non-working on real hardware FreeDOS(98) images: http://mwlab.net/2014/08/pc-98-emu-hdd-image-fix.html

'Zai' Image: http://black.sakura.ne.jp/~sakai/metajo/mtj_zai_download.htm

Japanese Guide to fixing the FreeDOS image: http://ch.nicovideo.jp/winya/blomaga/ar568568

XMZ: http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-SanJose/8291/

FreeDOS(98): http://www.retropc.net/tori/freedos/

Patch Program: http://bauxite.sakura.ne.jp/wiki/mypad.cgi?p=DOS%2FFreeDOS%2FFreeDOS%2898%29%2Ftemp

FreeDOS(98) components: http://silphire.finito-web.com/freedos/