Earliest Version of EBasic

[Logman]

Okay, this may sound kind of odd, but I would like to know if there is an early version of EBasic "console mode" that would run on an IBM XT/AT with 640 mb RAM, dual 8080/80286 cpu, 30 mb hard drive, 5.25" floppy and 3.5" floppy? Or do you think the current version would work just fine in console mode?

The reason I purchased this system is that I have some extensive Ada and MASM program code on over 100 floppies for a series of inventory control programs and helicopter training simulators I developed while in the military in the 1980's/very early 1990's. The army asked me if it would be possible for me to download the code from the 5.25" floppies and put it onto CDs and turn it over to them.

Of course they are going to reimburse me for the effort, but I thought it would be neat to be able to pick up some business by using a version of EBasic to translate or rewrite some of the training simulator code. Believe it or not, these multi-million dollar aircraft training simulators (built in the 1980s) still use 8" and 5.25" floppies for program input.

Thanks in advance.

Logman

[LarryMc]

I would think that the console mode of the current EB would work for you.

I don't know though because the XT/AT was a 16 bit machine I think and EB is 32 bit, so I'm not sure.

Paul will be able to give you an absolute answer.

If it were me I'd take the floppy drive from the old computer and put it in a newer computer and do it that way.

Larry

[Logman]

Larry:

I'm going to give it a shot as soon as the computer arrives. My wife can't believe that I am bragging about picking up an MS DOS 6.1 upgrade for the IBM XT when everyone else is talking about Windows version 7 for their systems.

I tried putting a 360kb Sony and IBM 5150 5.25" floppy drive in a newer system and couldn't get either to work at all. Vista/XP didn't have workable drivers and the ISO interface didn't work on the new motherboards. Neither Sony or IBM have drivers for their respective 5.25" drives posted on their websites. I called Sony and was saddly informed that they don't have any drivers available for their very old floppies.

Anyway, thanks for the reply. I didn't know if the EBasic compiler requires more memory to function than the 640kb available on the XT motherboard or whether or not the 80286 cpu could function in 32-bit mode without DOS extenders and etc. Just wondering if there was an earlier 16-bit version of EBasic or if it was always a 32-bit compiler.

Logman

[Ionic Wind Support Team]

Emergence requires Windows to work, and the console mode of Windows is not the same as the old 16 bit dos "shell".  The supported OS's are :Windows 98,ME,NT,2000,XP, Vista and 7.  Even 98 is a bit of a stretch now for some of the GUI code, and NT never supported anything over DX3 so the 2D stuff is out for that OS.

Paul.

[Logman]

Okay, thanks for the technical details Paul.

I kind of thought EBasic is pretty much geared for 32-bit OS programming environments like Windows--as it should be.

I'll just download the 16-bit code for the Army using the IBM XT computer and leave it at that. I'm not interested in working in or learning another language right now as I like EBasic. Besides, I'm pretty much work loaded using EBasic in a current project for the government and I like what I'm doing.

Logman