Thanks to Mr. Ulrich Hansen for his permission to publish this article
in the FreeDOS help!
This document describes how to network a computer running FreeDOS
(http://www.freedos.org/). Most things are supposed to work with other
versions of DOS as well.
The first chapter is about the history of DOS networking, which mostly
happened in the years 1981 to 1995. In the second chapter you find an
overview over the drivers, protocols and applications that are still
around in the 21st century. The third and fourth chapter finally
explain how to install TCP/IP to a DOS machine. It is a detailed guide
through the installation and configuration of drivers and other
required software.
If there is a LPT port available on both machines you also can use a
parallel cable connection to transfer files (f.i. with MS DOS 6.22
Interlnk, Open/DR DOS Filelink, Laplink, Winlink or FileMaven, see:
http://www.briggsoft.com/fmdos.htm (*01)).
(Picture Testsuite for this Wiki: A Compaq Contura Aero 4/33C with
PCMCIA)
To connect to a network you need some physical device to allow a
connection between your PC and the network. This can be done:
* via Modem, using the phone line or
* via an Ethernet network card, using direct wiring or
* via WiFi.
Modem
Networking via Modem is not yet described in this Wiki - maybe you want
to help?
Ethernet
If you are considering buying an Ethernet card for your FreeDOS
machine, look if it comes with a packet driver. Many TCP/IP
applications for DOS need a packet driver to work (see here for more
info). If the card comes with other drivers for DOS or Windows 3.1 like
ODI drivers (Novell) or NDIS2 drivers (Microsoft), they will also work
in DOS (they are just a bit more complicated to install).
If you use PCMCIA, the following cards are reported to work:
* The 3Com Megahertz 3C574 10/100 LAN PC Card (no packet driver, but
with ODI and NDIS2),
* the 3Com EtherLink III 3C589 10 MiB Card (with packet driver) and
* the D-Link DFE-670TXD Fast Ethernet PC Card (with packet driver).
PCMCIA cards need to be installed with 3rd party software like
SystemSofts CardSoft. It can be downloaded from driverguide as "System
Soft Version 3.1, CARDSOFT.ZIP", see:
http://www2.driverguide.com/uploads/uploads9/26188.html (*02)
WiFi
Some older WiFi cards work with FreeDOS. See here for more information.
Writing this document has only been possible because many other people
were willing to share information and code on the internet. Thanks!
Some parts of this document were inspired by Michael Bernardi's DOS
Networking HOWTO, http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/dos-net.html (*03).
Also his collections of FAQs http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/ (*04)
and networking applications, see:
http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/dos-apps.html (*05)
and his DOS-Meta FAQ about networking DOS machines, see:
http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/dos-meta_faq.html (*06)
are of great value.
Another nice introduction into DOS networking was written by Michael
B. Brutman. The title: "TCP/IP Networking on DOS. Why on Earth would
anybody want to do that?" See:
http://www.brutman.com/Dos_Networking/dos_networking.html (*07).
The whole work ("Networking under FreeDOS") is licensed under the
terms of the "GNU Free Documentation License 1.2" (GNU FDL).
The screenshot of "LAN manager 2.1" in chapter LAN manager, see:
http://lazybrowndog.net/freedos/#Manager (*08) was taken by Michal
Necasek for his "History of OS/2", see:
http://pages.prodigy.net/michaln/history (*09). He gave his friendly
permission to use this screenshot and to publish it under the GNU FDL.
The foto of the software package "Workgroup Add-On for MS-DOS" in the
same chapter has been made by Dirk Makowski for his "Winhistory",
http://www.winhistory.de/ (*10) a huge collection of items and
screenshots of historic software. He also allowed to use his foto as
preview picture in this document and publish it under the GNU FDL.
Main parts of the text and many graphics were created by Ulrich Hansen,
http://www.ulrich-hansen.de/ (*11). Copyright (c) 2007 by Ulrich
Hansen, Mainz (Germany). License: GNU FDL.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A
copy of the license can be found here: GNU Free Documentation License,
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gfdl.html (*12).
This text reflects our own experiences with DOS networking. The
solutions and suggestions may or may not work in your environment. So
please be careful: Installing software to your system or changing
system files can damage your machine, disturb your workflow and waste
your time.
(*01) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20220717094005/http://www.briggsoft.com/
fmdos.htm
(everything in ONE LINE, NO free space!)
(*02) Link is no longer available, new link:
https://archive.org/details/SYSUTI11
(*03) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20220717093957/http://www.dendarii.co.uk/
FAQs/dos-net.html
(everything in ONE LINE, NO free space!)
(*04) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20220517013522/http://www.dendarii.co.uk/FAQs/
(*05) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20220717094220/http://www.dendarii.co.uk/
FAQs/dos-apps.html
(everything in ONE LINE, NO free space!)
(*06) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20190106174120/http://www.dendarii.co.uk/
FAQs/dos-meta_faq.html
(everything in ONE LINE, NO free space!)
(*07) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20220704170840/http://www.brutman.com/
Dos_Networking/dos_networking.html
(everything in ONE LINE, NO free space!)
(*08) Link is no longer available, new link:
http://freedos.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Networking_FreeDOS
(*09) Link is no longer available, new link:
http://ps-2.kev009.com/michaln/history/index.html
(*10) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20220516143751/https://www.winhistory.de/
index.php
(everything in ONE LINE, NO free space!)
(*11) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090919131330/http://ulihansen.kicks-ass.
net/other/index.html
(everything in ONE LINE, NO free space!)
(*12) Link is still OK, see also:
http://web.archive.org/web/20220430232123/http://www.gnu.org/
licenses/fdl-1.3.html
(everything in ONE LINE, NO free space!)
Copyright © 2007 Ulrich Hansen, Mainz (Germany), 2010
and 2020 and 2022 by W.Spiegl.
For more information see here.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
"GNU Free Documentation License 1.2".