FreeDOS Ripcord "Hot" Distributions
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Information:
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Ripcord distributions are Unofficial FreeDOS distributions
based on latest official distribution. However, they contain the
latest available versions of the included programs. Note:
this means these distributions are the least tested and may have
issues with some hardware.
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Ripcord distributions number scheme is simply the official FreeDOS
distribution # it is based on followed by h and the ripcord #.
Higher numbers after the h signify later releases of ripcord.
E.g. FreeDOS Ripcord Beta6h1 means the Ripcord distribution
is based on the official FreeDOS Beta6 distribution, with this being
the 1st of such releases. (For those that care, h0 is not released
as it would correspond to official distribution unchanged.)
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Please, when reporting bugs about programs in ripcord
distributions, either use the version # of the particular program (the
best method) or specify full Ripcord distribution #, eg Ripcord Beta6h99
(so the particular program's version # can be looked up). For problems
with the Ripcord distribution please email me (jeremyd@computer.org), but
for problems with particular programs included, please use
bugtrack. Thank you.
Rawrite:
In order to install FreeDOS you will need to create a disk from one
of the included disk images. If you do not already have rawrite, dd,
or some other disk image utility, look in rawrite/
and download the one appropriate for your Operating System (DOS or Win32).
Unix Systems (such as Solaris or Linux) should use dd (available in
most distributions, run 'man dd' for more details).
Unzip:
Additionally, you will need to use unzip.exe
for DOS (or an equivalent) utility to unzip the install disksets (to
create the rest of the disks you will need). The disksets are zipped
to ease downloading (one file instead of several smaller ones). Format
some floppies with a FAT filesystem, either using FreeDOS, MS-DOS/Win32
FORMAT command (or other OS equivalent). Then uncompress the zipped
disksets onto the disks. You may wish to label them for your
convenience.
Validating the disk images:
Included along with the disk images is a file with CRCs for the file.
I have used Paul Edwards public domain crcfile program to create the
CRC files. These files have the same name as the image file, but have
a .CRC extension - they are text files. After downloading an image,
to verify the file is not corrupt, simply run crcfile on the
image. E.g. crcfile MINI0610.BIN and it will output:
crc32 is 0x0130c2fb
crcxm is 0xe9af
crc16 is 0x2dbb
crcit is 0xf052
Then compare the result to the provided CRCs, and if they match the
file should be fine.
Included in crcfile/ are the DOS (also works
under Windows) CRCFILE.EXE program,
a gzipped tar file - crcfile.tgz -
with the neccessary sources to compile crcfile for most platforms
(includes precompiled Linux and DOS executable), and of course the
original zip file - pdcrc200.zip.
Distributions:
Note: the documentation refers to MINI.BIN & FULL.BIN,
however in Ripcord releases the actual filenames are MINIXXYY.BIN
and FULLXXYY.BIN,
where XX is the official FreeDOS beta version #, eg for FreeDOS beta6 this is 06,
and YY is the Ripcord release #, eg for Ripcord beta6 H09 this is 09.
(eg MINI.BIN for Ripcord beta8 H99 would be MINI0899.BIN).
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Due to space limits, earlier version of Ripcord
distributions will be removed. If you want any of them, then email
me (jeremyd@computer.org)
and I can provide them.
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Due the problems several people have had in trying to download from
this site, you may wish to try
ibiblio.
- FreeDOS dosemu Mini distribution - As these are
not always updated with each Ripcord release, I have now separated them so
the latest available can be easily found.
- Zette - a FreeDOS distribution (of sorts) for Windows
[currently most programs are DOS executables, my plans are to eventually convert
many of them into dual Win32/DOS executables to work well in DOS or
Windows (and ReactOS)]
- Boot Disks - also available are basic FreeDOS boot disks
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Ripcord Beta6 H10 - [23 August 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H09 - [19 August 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H08 - [17 August 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H07 - [09 August 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H06 - [30 July 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H05 - [28 July 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H04 - [26 July 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H03 - [25 July 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H02 - [18 July 2001] <removed>
updates
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Ripcord Beta6 H01 - [04 July 2001] <removed>
updates (changes)
Which Ripcord Version Am I Using?:
So you found a bug and want to report it, but you don't recall what
Ripcord version you downloaded? Well there are several ways to tell:
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If your version of Ripcord is Beta6 H10 or later, then run ripcord.
This is a little program placed in the BIN\ subdirectory that is
tailored for each release. It can display both the Ripcord release
and the versions of programs included in that particular release.
Run ripcord /? for usage.
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If you have a newer version (downloaded after August 19, 2001) then
you can look at the MINI.BIN or FULL.BIN file you downloaded, its actually
in the form MINIXXYY.BIN or FULLXXYY.BIN. You have FreeDOS Ripcord
beta XX "Hot" YY distribution. See top of Distributions: section for more detail.
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If your version is Ripcord Beta6 H05 or later, then you can look at
the label on the boot disk, either by doing a directory listing
(eg DIR A:) or using the vol command (eg VOL A:).
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For Ripcord Beta6 H5 through H9 the label will be in the form FREEDOSB6HY,
where Y corresponds to the release number (eg 5,6,7,8, or 9).
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For Ripcord Beta6 H10 and higher the label will be in the form FDOSBXXHYY,
where XX is the offical beta release based on (eg 06)
and YY is the ripcord release number (eg 10).
If you are using the 360KB disk image without a label then its Ripcord
beta6 H9, all future 360KB disk images will also include the label identifier.
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Ok, so your version is older than that, then look at the file BETA6.TXT.
I update it with each release. You can either boot from the floppy (in which
case AUTOEXEC.BAT will display the contents of it for you), or look directly
at the file (eg TYPE A:\NLS\EN\BETA6.TXT).
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About the 1st line will display the version string:
"THE FREEDOS Ripcord BETA6H9 ("MIDNITE") DISTRIBUTION"
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and about the last will repeat it:
"To install the FreeDOS Ripcord Beta6 H9 on your computer, type:"
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If you no longer have the boot disk nor the image file, its a little harder.
You can narrow it down by determining which kernel version and FreeCom version
you are using. Boot and record the exact kernel version (eg 2024f),
and from the command prompt run VER to see FreeCom's version
(eg 0.83 beta 26). Using these two versions numbers, look at
the changes.txt file for the various releases, this will tell you which
possible Ripcord is used (for my samples, this would mean it could be any
Ripcord beta6 H5 through H7). To get an exact version will usually require
determining which other programs changed, and running them to compare their
reported version with changes.txt.
Contacts:
For problems with Ripcord releases, please email me:
jeremyd@computer.org.
For problems with particular programs, please use
bugtrack.
For general FreeDOS related issues, try the FreeDOS mailing lists:
http://www.freedos.org/freedos/join/.
If you want to be notified when new Ripcord Distributions are released,
please send me (jeremyd@computer.org)
email, and include in subject or mail something like:
Notify me when new Ripcord Dists are released.
Unless I am familiar with who you are, I will only send notices to the
same email address used to email me.
