Can't Find DBLSPACE.SYS (MS-DOS 6.22) and BaK
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:58 pm
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TL:DR : Error message on Boot Disk procedure during install for MS-DOS 6.22: "Can't find DBLSPACE.SYS". No boot disk, no memory, no play.
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The Longer Version
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For reasons still unfamiliar to me, I have been on a tear to go through my old library and play my old games...and the exercise of getting them to run on my new-ish machine has been both enlightening and deeply agitating...but also, rewarding.
I received as a gift Betrayal at Krondor at some point and the disk has been in my library for years...but I never played it. However, I have been able to get a number of my older DOS games to work using compatibility mode in Windows Vista...or using one of a number of virtual machines using VirtualBox that I maintain for the purpose of running apps that won't play nice with my equipment or newer OS.
I realize by perusing the site that there is probably a preference for just funneling people down the DOSBox path, but as I'm using my own retail disk and not a new one from GoG (requiring payment...and I'm surviving this life right now on my previous investments in entertainment and hardware and it appears that may not change anytime soon...so GoG purchases are not an option), I would prefer if I could actually get some help for the set of circumstances I actually have rather than a workaround for a set of circumstances that pertain to a totally different reality.
Important particulars:
I want to run BaK through VirtualBox on an MS-DOS 6.22 OS. Using either MS-DOS or Windows 95, I've been able to use this method to run Kings Quest 7, Daryl Gates' Police Quest: SWAT, and Phantasmagoria 2: Puzzle of Flesh. E.g., I know it's a functional environment.
I'm uncertain why BaK looks specifically for DBLSPACE.SYS instead of a wider set of memory management tools, and I have a sneaky suspicion that there is probably just a small series of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS lines that need to be added that will do the trick, but I can confirm that although DBLSPACE.BIN is indeed present in my C:\DOS directory, DBLSPACE.SYS is not...
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The Question
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Do I need to do something with DBLSPACE.BIN to produce a DBLSPACE.SYS file that can be referenced in AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS so that that boot disk procedure can complete successfully, so I can play the game?
...or, if I go through my other installations (Windows 95/98/XP/MS-DOS 7.1) and just copy a DBLSPACE.SYS file I find...will this function as a wonky workaround (or just blow up my VM). One good thing about using VMs is there's not permanent damage... Meh, reinstall...
TL:DR : Error message on Boot Disk procedure during install for MS-DOS 6.22: "Can't find DBLSPACE.SYS". No boot disk, no memory, no play.
===============
================
The Longer Version
================
For reasons still unfamiliar to me, I have been on a tear to go through my old library and play my old games...and the exercise of getting them to run on my new-ish machine has been both enlightening and deeply agitating...but also, rewarding.
I received as a gift Betrayal at Krondor at some point and the disk has been in my library for years...but I never played it. However, I have been able to get a number of my older DOS games to work using compatibility mode in Windows Vista...or using one of a number of virtual machines using VirtualBox that I maintain for the purpose of running apps that won't play nice with my equipment or newer OS.
I realize by perusing the site that there is probably a preference for just funneling people down the DOSBox path, but as I'm using my own retail disk and not a new one from GoG (requiring payment...and I'm surviving this life right now on my previous investments in entertainment and hardware and it appears that may not change anytime soon...so GoG purchases are not an option), I would prefer if I could actually get some help for the set of circumstances I actually have rather than a workaround for a set of circumstances that pertain to a totally different reality.
Important particulars:
I want to run BaK through VirtualBox on an MS-DOS 6.22 OS. Using either MS-DOS or Windows 95, I've been able to use this method to run Kings Quest 7, Daryl Gates' Police Quest: SWAT, and Phantasmagoria 2: Puzzle of Flesh. E.g., I know it's a functional environment.
I'm uncertain why BaK looks specifically for DBLSPACE.SYS instead of a wider set of memory management tools, and I have a sneaky suspicion that there is probably just a small series of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS lines that need to be added that will do the trick, but I can confirm that although DBLSPACE.BIN is indeed present in my C:\DOS directory, DBLSPACE.SYS is not...
====================
The Question
====================
Do I need to do something with DBLSPACE.BIN to produce a DBLSPACE.SYS file that can be referenced in AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS so that that boot disk procedure can complete successfully, so I can play the game?
...or, if I go through my other installations (Windows 95/98/XP/MS-DOS 7.1) and just copy a DBLSPACE.SYS file I find...will this function as a wonky workaround (or just blow up my VM). One good thing about using VMs is there's not permanent damage... Meh, reinstall...