Installing FreeDOS for 8086 on an IBM 5150

This video was quite the challenge to make despite the simple premise. How do you install FreeDOS on a 5150? After testing, I don't think there is an "Official" way to, so I decided to make one myself.

Grab the files I made for FreeDOS 1.3 here:

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[JonTheGeek]

Can we talk about how sexy this IBM corner is? Wooden computer cart, wooden lamp with a warm bulb. Perfect.

[freedosproject]

This is awesome to see! Thanks for sharing! 👍

[ZombieRyushu]

Thank you for this from the Tandy 1000 TL!

[JimLeonard]

Nice job. You did just about everything I would have done, with the exception of removing the command processor from root -- never remove the one from root! :-) Remove it from the DOS directory instead, unless you're going to rewrite COMSPEC as well. Also: Not sure you need to worry about a specific version of ZModem, as Chuck passed away in 2015.

FreeDOS definitely needs volunteers, because there's a lot of the OS and distribution that could really use some tightening down.

[spitefulwar]

This brings back memories of roughly downsizing an early Knoppix Distribution just to use gparted to rollout PCs with windows preinstall images. We basically took a hacksaw and deleted anything that wasn't required, then changed the startup sequence to launch directly into bash console. The XP images barely fit on the DVD but we made it happen and in the end we preinstalled about 9000 clients with it during the project.
Yes that's awfully crude but when it's 2004 and you're in a hurry facing a showstopper you make ends meet.

[starry-ptg]

I've always wondered what the deal was with FreeDOS but I never bothered to do the research, so this was the perfect video for me lol

[Flashy]

Deleting unnecessary files from programs and operating systems WAS a thing back then. People tried stripping down DOS, Windows 3.1 and other applications by a trial and error method even later with hundreds of megabytes of hard disks. Some programs dropped a few "missing file" error messages but if it ran, it was okay :)

[jafirelkurd]

Pretty cool. I will say that the number of floppy disks could grow and still remain "authentic" because my copy of MS-DOS 6.22 on 360K is on 13 diskettes!

[adamsfusion]

I'm sure it's buried deep in my bookmarks folder, but there was an 8086/8088 distribution of FreeDOS I used back in 2010-2014. It was small enough to fit on a single 1.4MB floppy and was generally pretty speedy. Unfortunately, FreeDOS at the time didn't have 100% compatible support for some DOS routines I needed at the time, so I didn't end up using it, but I never thought I'd see someone take up the mantle again.
I super appreciate you making this distribution, and I have a 5150 clone next to me that's about to try it out :D

[illegalsmirf]

I miss 'dead trees'. Reading the documentation in a book is so much more pleasurable than squinting at oversized, overly-complicated man pages.

[the-bizzy-bee]

amazing set. you really get that 80's home vibe. this feels like a magazine cover for the topic you want to discuss.

[demifrehley]

okay. this is epic.

*listens to the entirety of the 1986 Van Halen album 5150 in celebration*

[JeffCD]

I'll absolutely amazes me at how smart so many of you are on YouTube! See some of the stuff you do and explain on here completely boggles my mind as to how you know and understand it. You are still SO YOUNG and have amassed so much knowledge in this area already. I hope you know and appreciate that!

[MurderMostFowl]

I have known about FreeDOS since the beginning but I hadn’t been tracking it. I had no idea the install was so large. I would have thought compatibility with classic systems would have stayed important to the project.

[qviewq]

When I did this for a hotel chain in the 90's I used the Dos from Windows 95 and found it gave the best environment with the most free ram and all the utilities on a 1.4 MB disk to set up the hard drive. I am proud to say it self installed and included the ethernet drivers and the ability to pull down the hotel application to the hard drive. Worked for years on a 1000+ PCs so well worth the effort. Not too sure about the licensing but the PCs did come with Dos 3.x so it was nearly okay, I guess.

[JORGETECHJorge]

FreeDOS is not only used by vendors for updating BIOS and firmwares. It has become somewhat of an "standard" to ship laptops without Windows or Linux preinstalled with FreeDOS.

[Strmcrash]

Very cool to see. It always struck me as odd that FreeDOS installs in such a non DOS like way, the CD seems to even boot the Linux kernel instead of being self installing. The 2 disk transfer setup is really cool, but I think the 4 disk option was in the sweet spot for being fully self contained. Wondered why FreeDOS was so big and documentation and languages make sense since they only want one distribution and there's no other way to provide local documentation for a download, but it is odd that the install to disk still includes every language, multiple copies of files, and versions of executable for multiple cpu revisions, seems they could really slim that down with prompts in the install process

[zaxchannel]

7:39 This is giving me flashbacks from when I used to delete translations and help files to get file sizes down to save space on a 2GB hard drive in an old laptop. I really like new operating systems for vintage computers

[systemchris]

this is what we need on youtube, very helpful and informative, not just just filler!

[MontegaB]

Awesome video, and thank you for sharing your work with the community!