Re: [Freedos-kernel] 32RTM Bug Found, no good fix

[Luchezar G. <lu...@co...>]

Hallo Bart,

> whatever, now we have 2035, 2.0.35, 1.1.35, and 0.0.35 all as version 
> numbers ;)

...and 2035, 2035a (why not rename them to STABLE?) and 2035a-UNSTABLE 
releases ;)

> Just have to send Ralf Brown another email as my previous mod to 
> interrupt.f will be obsolete.

...in the hope that the probability of releasing the next version of the 
RBIL is greater than the probability of releasing the next version of the 
GPL (and neither of them is zero ;-)

> Anyway most references other than RBIL tell that the serial number isn't 
> used as such.

True. Moreover, the IBM PC-DOS 7 technical reference update 
(http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/gg244459.pdf) says:

===== start quote =====

30H — Get DOS Version Number

Purpose

Returns the DOS version number.

Examples

	PUSH	CX			; CX destroyed in call
	PUSH	BX
	MOV	AH,30H		; Function Call – Get PC DOS 7
					; Version
	INT	21H			; Issue request to DOS
	MOV	MajorVersion,AL	; Save Version
	MOV	MinorVersion,AH
	MOV	DOS_Running_From,BH	;
	POP	BX
	POP	CX
-----
MajorVersion	DB ?		; X of X.YY
MinorVersion	DB ?		; YY of X.YY
DOS_Running_From	DB ?		; 0 = DOS not running in ROM
DOS_Running_From	DB ?		; 8 = DOS running in ROM

Comments

On entry, AH contains 30H. On return, CX is set to 0. AL contains the 
major version number. AH contains the minor version number. BH contains 8 
or 0 for DOS running or not running in ROM.

If AL returns a major version number of 0, you can assume that the DOS 
version is pre-DOS 2.00.

Use function call 33H AL=6 (Get or Set System Value) to get the true 
version number.

===== end quote =====

Not that it says "On return, CX is set to 0".

So, the RBIL is just one of the references - not to be absolutised.

> www.htl-steyr.ac.at/~morg/ pcinfo/hardware/interrupts/inte2zlc.htm

That URL doesn't work. The correct URL (without the extra space) is:

> www.htl-steyr.ac.at/~morg/pcinfo/hardware/interrupts/inte2zlc.htm

> tells us that " - the OEM serial number is a rarity, though some older 
> OEM DOS versions implemented this feature". Most likely 32RTM wouldn't 
> run on those older OEM DOS versions either then.

Yes.

> This patch won't apply without manual tweaks Lucho, please fix your 
> email client.

I can't fix Opera - it's closed source ;-)

> Lines were wrapped and indentation also messed up (hard tabs?).

Sorry. From now on, I'll enclose my eventual patches as plain text 
attachments. They'll work then.

> There's also a pointless "optimization", that the compiler can do for us 
> as well.

Will Watcom (the only compiler you recognise) do this? Borland won't, I'm 
sure. So my optimisation is NOT pointless.

By the way, Bart, as an OpenWatcom contributor, would you please post news 
here and on fd-devel when version 1.3 is officially released? Thanks.

Regards,
Lucho