#401 You obviously do not get it. There is no 16 bit Real Mode unzip Tool as ready to use executable on the FreeDOS CDs.

[Oliver]

Thus i consider bug report #358 as re-opened
https://sourceforge.net/p/freedos/bugs/358/

For your information:

1. The Adaptec SCSI Tools for DOS all run in Real Mode, which means they are 16-bit CD-ROM SCSI drivers that run on a 286, allowing you to boot CD-ROMs from a 16-bit 286. Some SCSI BIOS supports this out of the box.
2. There are CD-ROM drives, like some Mitsumi drives with their own controller, for which 16-bit Real Mode drivers exist that also work on a 16-bit 286 in Real Mode.
3. Likewise, there are ATAPI drivers for 16-bit machines. These work too in Real Mode on a 286.
4. SHCDEX is only 32-bit and requires DPMI, but the original MSCDEX, which is included with the driver disks of all CD-ROM drives everywhere, supports 16-bit. MSCDEX therefore runs in Real Mode.
5. Now think about how a 32-bit UNZIP.EXE, which requires DPMI (which itself is 32-bit and thus requires at least a 386 processor), is supposed to unzip ZIP files from the FreeDOS CDs if the CPU is a 16-bit 286? Well, notice something? You didn’t even understand my first bug report #358.

TODO

1. Put a 16-bit Real Mode executable of unzip in an unpacked, usable form on all CDs so that users can unpack ZIP files from the CDs. It’s simple, isn’t it?!
2. The minimum that should be possible is a self-extracting executable with 16-bit Real Mode executables of UNZIP. Lack of disk space is therefore not a valid excuse.
3. After step 1 or 2, check whether there is indeed a file, for example unzip16.exe, in unpacked usable form in the Bin directories on the FreeDOS CDs, and whether it runs without a 32-bit DOS extender or DPMI, as a 16-bit Real Mode-only executable should on a 286.
4. After steps 1 and 3, check whether you can unpack ZIP files on the FreeDOS CDs using only the tools included on the FreeDOS CDs on a 16 bit only 286 machine. If you manage to do this, you have done everything correctly.

And one more thing:
It’s obvious that 16-bit unzip tools can be downloaded from the Internet anywhere, but try transferring such a file downloaded on a modern PC to your 286 when your modern PC no longer has a floppy drive. That’s also why something like this belongs on the FreeDOS CDs. And yes, there are 286 with CD-ROM drives. Such machines do exist.

[Shidel]

This is not an unknown issue and has not yet been resolved. See, the https://sourceforge.net/p/freedos/mailman/message/59222415/ thread. It discusses the problems with the current UNZIP which requires 386+CWSDPMI and possible alternatives. Those have not been fully investigated as of yet. A satisfactory solution will require a opensource UNZIP that does can run on a 8086 and will not automatically use a SWAP file on 386+ hardware.

[Shidel]

Why did you open bug report 402 instead of replying to 401? Please do not open a new bug report each time you want to comment or send a message.

I already know about the ZIP that is included in ARACHNE. However, I have not looked at it to verify it is 8086 compatible and contains sources. If you read my reply, this is one of the "possible alternatives" to which I was referring.

Out of projects I am responsible (Online Repositories, FreeDOS translations, Release Media Builder, and others) and numerous programs (like FDI, FDI-x86, SLICER, PGME, V8POWER, EDICT and many more), this issue has not been a priority. While extremely inconvenient for some users, the majority of the community benefits by focusing on larger issues. There are only so many hours in a day and only so many I can dedicate to FreeDOS related items.

To "solve" this issue, I will need to look at that UNZIP, verify it works on different CPUs, does not require DPMI or create a swapfile. Is open-source and contains its source files. Create a new package for that unzip. Add that to both the GitLab FreeDOS Archive and software download and update repositories. Update the installer package lists to include that package on the various media. Update the live program lists so it is on the install media extracted and ready to use. Perform a test build of the OS release media. Verify all is as it should be.

It is not a "simply add it to the media". It can be several hours worth of work.