Re: DOS 3.3 programs on a IIgs?

[CUTjefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney)]

On 14 Apr 1998 06:10:21 GMT, supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) wrote:

>Some binary programs also run from ProDOS 8.  I just write a simple
>BASIC program like "10 ? CHR$(4);"-DIGDUG" and save it as
>DIGDUG.START....then I can just double-click on the DIGDUG.START
>BASIC program to run DIGDUG (a DOS 3.3 binary program converted
>to ProDOS BIN).
>
>Many but not all DOS 3.3 binary games can be converted this way.
>QBURT and MOON.PATROL are two examples that work.  I think
>many of the Atarisoft titles will work too....
>
>DEFENDER is one title that refuses to work.
>
>For those that do work, you can easily make them Finder launchable,
>if not quittable to Finder...

I wrote a program called Selector (v1.0 is out there on the net
somewhere) that allows you to run DOS 3.3 programs that you've
converted to ProDOS disks.  The benefit it gives is that certain
programs try to load themselves into or right through the text screen
memory which ProDOS has marked as being in use.  This results in a "NO
BUFFERS AVAILABLE" message.

Selector allows you to tell ProDOS that the text screen memory is
available before launching a program so that those programs will also
work under ProDOS.  A reboot after doing this is HIGHLY recommended
due to the fact that the screen holes will be scrambled after loading
a program like this.

However, it doesn't let you quit from most DOS 3.3 programs, because
they never had quit options programmed into them, so this isn't much
of a problem.  I have Selector set up as the STARTUP program on a 3.5"
floppy so that I can just reboot and return to Selector.

The part of Selector that does its stuff is just a single line of
BASIC which I can't remember off the top of my head.  Just download
the program and take a look, it will be a poke to 48xxx or 49xxx.

I also wrote about this technique in an article in II Alive magazine.
I can't remember what issue at present but I sure Jeff Hurlburt would
know or could find out.

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