Caldera DR-DOS FAQ <author>Caldera Support Staff, <tt><htmlurl url="mailto:support@caldera.com (Wabi FAQ)" name="support@caldera.com"></tt> <abstract> This document contains Frequently Asked Questions for Caldera DR-DOS. This document is updated as new questions are asked (and answered by Caldera's technical staff). </abstract>  <toc>  <sect>Introduction This document lists frequently asked questions, with their answers, for Caldera DR-DOS. This document is a work in progress. <sect1>Where can I obtain the latest version of this document? To obtain the most recent version of this document, please refer to Caldera's web site at:<newline> <tscreen> <htmlurl url="http://www.caldera.com/tech-ref/opendos/faq/faq.html" name="http://www.caldera.com/tech-ref/opendos/faq/faq.html"> </tscreen> Also, this list can be obtained from caldera's FTP site at:<newline> <tscreen> <htmlurl url="ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/opendos/info/faq.txt" name="ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/opendos/info/faq.txt"> </tscreen> <sect1>Are there other resources for answering questions about DR-DOS? Yes. The <tt/Caldera DR-DOS/ mailing list provides a forum in which users of Caldera DR-DOS can discuss issues amongst themselves. It is not a formal support channel. Though Caldera employees may occasionally please don't <bf/expect/ responses from Caldera. For more information about the <tt/Caldera DR-DOS/ mailing list see the <htmlurl url="http://www.caldera.com/mailing-lists/Caldera-OpenDOS-Info.html" name="DR-DOS Mailing List Info page">. Formal support for Caldera DR-DOS is available via email at <htmlurl url="mailto:dos.support@caldera.com" name="dos.support@caldera.com">. Finally, a number of non-Caldera web sites which provide information about various aspects of DR-DOS have started to appear. Here are a few which may be helpful: <itemize> <item><htmlurl url="http://www.deltasoft.com/" name="The Unofficial OpenDOS Page">  <item><htmlurl url="http://www.rhrz.uni-bonn.de/~uzs180/mpdokeng.html" name="DOS FreeWare and ShareWare packages"> <htmlurl url="http://www.rhrz.uni-bonn.de/~uzs180/mpdokger.html" name="[German]"> by <htmlurl url="mailto:matthias.paul@post.rwth-aachen.de" name="Matthias Paul"> </itemize> <sect>Availability This section of the FAQ contains questions and answers about pricing, ordering, and availability of Caldera DR-DOS. <sect1>How do I get a copy of Caldera DR-DOS? The DR-DOS binary may be downloaded from the Caldera web site by accessing <htmlurl url="http://www.caldera.com/dos/" name="http://www.caldera.com/dos/">. For more information on DR-DOS or other Caldera products and technologies, please call (800) 850-7779 in the US, (801) 269-7012 internationally or by E-mail at <htmlurl url="mailto:orders@caldera.com" name="orders@caldera.com">. <sect1>When will the source code be available? The source code for the kernel components of DR-DOS is avaiable now, at <url url="http://www.caldera.com/dos/html/dload.htm" name="http://www.caldera.com/dos/html/dload.htm"> This is a form you will need to fill out in order to obtain the code from Caldera. After filling out the form, you will be able to download the binaries or source code. The kernel components available now are IBMBIO, IBMDOS and COMMAND.COM. Additional source code will be made available as it is readied for public use. <sect1>When will Internet connectivity features be included? Caldera has announced that it is considering including Internet connectivity features (like a TCP/IP protocol stack, and a suite of Internet tools) in DR-DOS in future releases. However, Caldera has not announced a time frame for the next release of DR-DOS. This first release of DR-DOS fulfills Caldera's promise to make the base distribution of DOS that it acquired from Novell available. <sect1>Your site doesn't work! (or, why can't I download the software?) The response to the release of DR-DOS has been overwhelming. Due to a variety of factors, some users have experienced difficulties downloading the DR-DOS files. Here is some brief information about the first few weeks of the release which may explain some of the problems: For the first few days of the release, Caldera served the DR-DOS files from its web server. The web server timeouts were not configured high enough for some of the slower connections, and many people were only able to download a part of the file they were interested in. When users tried to extract the files by running the file they downloaded, these partially downloaded files would report a problem with the ZIP, and would not perform the self-extraction properly. For the next few days, the web server timeouts were configured higher on the web server, but we eventually decided to put the files on our FTP site instead. At the same time this change was made, Caldera put in place the form which requests user information prior to the download. This form was put in place to help us get a better feeling for who was interested in the software, and also collect the information necessary for us to keep our customers up to date on new releases (like the upcoming source release). In violation of any sane web server administration practice, we also changed our web server software during this same period. Although the form apparently worked OK with our prior server, running it under the new server revealed a subtle bug in the handling script's CGI processing, which caused new, form-related, problems for the next few days. Finally, we received notice from our service provider that a rare and unprecedented series of failures led to service problems for our Internet connection during this same period. All of these factors, coupled with the huge demand and our current bandwidth constraints (we are currently connected to the Internet via a T1 line), has resulted in slowness and download failures over the last few weeks. We have resolved several of the problems mentioned above, and are closely monitoring the download rate (and download failure rate) to see if additional measures are required. Please let us know if you continue to be unable to download the DR-DOS software. To do so, contact the account at <htmlurl url="mailto:webmaster@caldera.com" name="webmaster@caldera.com">, and include information about the client software you used to attempt the download, the time and date of your attempts, the speed which the download was progressing at before it failed, etc. Thank you for your continued patience as we try to make this product available over the Internet. <sect>System Requirements This section lists information about system requirements for Caldera DR-DOS. <sect1>What does the DR-DOS binary include? The DR-DOS binary includes: <itemize> <item> Full-featured DOS <item> Full Multitasking--Pentium, 486 and 386 <item> Novell Personal NetWare (client/server) --easy peer-to-peer networking for the end user (SERVER.EXE) <item> Leading Memory Management--DPMS and DPMI <item> Stacker Disk Compression--safely and reliably doubles disk capacity <item> NetWars--new and improved version of the popular ``arcade'' game <item> Power management and ROMming </itemize> <sect>NetWare Client and Utilities This sections lists the questions about the NetWare client. <sect1>What NetWare support is included? DR-DOS includes the Novell VLM client, which supports all versions of Netware, including Personal NetWare and Advanced Netware versions 2.x, 3.x and 4.x. The complete Personal NetWare product is included for full DOS peer-to-peer networking. This includes the Personal NetWare server, the NetWare VLM client mentioned above, and a large number of DOS network card drivers. Virtually every network card manufacturer provides a Novell-compatible DOS ODI driver with the card when you purchase it, which can be used with all of DR-DOS' NetWare connectivity software. <sect>Miscellaneous Questions This is a list of questions that have yet to be categorized. <sect1>Can I access the Internet using DR-DOS? Yes. Caldera is currently working on a set of Internet access programs (TCP/IP stack, web browser, etc.) for the next release of DR-DOS. In the mean time, there are several programs you can obtain today to access the Internet from DOS. You may want to look at one of the following sites for a list of programs you can use now: <itemize><item><url url="http://www.fdisk.com/doslynx" name="FDISK.COM DOS Internet Pages"> <item><url url="http://www.best.com/~darknerd/realmspace/rsdos.htm" name="RealmSpace for DOS"> <item><url url="http://www.afn.org/~afn45694/" name="The Best Free Internet Software"> </itemize> </article>