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  • Thin Client Pc To Run Dos

    From MIKE POWELL@VERT/CAPCITY2/UUMOES to DENN on Sunday, January 11, 2026 09:34:00
    Forgot to update everyone on the thin client DOS project. It's an HP t5740e thin client PC with 2GB of RAM and a 4GB drive. I formatted almost 2GB for th system boot drive and 2GB for the extended DOS partition.Originally, I installed DOS 6.22 on it, but I decided to put FreeDOS on instead. FreeDOS already has most of the drivers needed, so I can install stuff using the USB port. I still have programs on floppies that I bought way back in the early '90s; I was able to just install them from a cheap USB floppy drive.I literal paid like $14 for it, the floppy disks cost more than the drivethese days, $2 for 10 Disks locally! The DOS machine is up and running like a charm. I actually played the original DOOM from way back. Now I am getting back to writing a few batch files. I haven't done that in over 30 years."

    That is good news. Glad it is working out. I had not heard of floppy
    drives with USB connectors so that is good to know. Is it a 5.25 or 3.5
    drive?

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  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to MIKE POWELL on Sunday, January 11, 2026 17:02:06
    Re: Thin Client Pc To Run Dos
    By: MIKE POWELL to DENN on Sun Jan 11 2026 09:34 am

    That is good news. Glad it is working out. I had not heard of floppy drives with USB connectors so that is good to know. Is it a 5.25 or 3.5 drive?

    I've only seen 3.5" USB floppy drives; I don't think they make 5.25" USB floppy drives, but I suppose I could be wrong.

    Nightfox

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  • From Mortar@VERT/EOTLBBS to Nightfox on Sunday, January 11, 2026 23:08:45
    Re: Thin Client Pc To Run Dos
    By: Nightfox to MIKE POWELL on Sun Jan 11 2026 17:02:06

    I've only seen 3.5" USB floppy drives; I don't think they make 5.25" USB floppy drives, but I suppose I could be wrong.

    I've been looking for one as well, but so far, no luck. I got some commercial disks from the '80s I'd like to get converted.

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  • From Gamgee@VERT/PALANTIR to Mortar on Monday, January 12, 2026 08:27:44
    Mortar wrote to Nightfox <=-

    Re: Thin Client Pc To Run Dos
    By: Nightfox to MIKE POWELL on Sun Jan 11 2026 17:02:06

    I've only seen 3.5" USB floppy drives; I don't think they make 5.25" USB floppy drives, but I suppose I could be wrong.

    I've been looking for one as well, but so far, no luck. I got some commercial disks from the '80s I'd like to get converted.

    I don't think the 5.25" drive is available in USB/external version. I
    see none on Amazon or Ebay.



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  • From Mortar@VERT/EOTLBBS to Gamgee on Monday, January 12, 2026 10:20:27
    Re: Re: Thin Client Pc To Run Dos
    By: Gamgee to Mortar on Mon Jan 12 2026 08:27:44

    I don't think the 5.25" drive is available in USB/external version. I
    see none on Amazon or Ebay.

    Those were my first stops as well; zip, zero, nadda. However, I did see several external 5 1/4" drives using the Shugart interface. Digging further, I came accross the Device Side Data FC5025 USB 5.25" Floppy Controller. It'll allow you to connect std. PC 5 1/4" floppy drives (as well as many 8-bit computer floppy drives) to your PC. It's not a perfect solution. It's a read-only setup and You still have to provide power to the drive from somewhere.

    Here's a link so you can read all the gory details: https://shop.deviceside.com/prod/fc5025

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