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I'm trying to create a bootable USB for MS-DOS 6.22. I can't risk using FreeDOS or any other version of DOS because I'm working with a very niche utility that has the potential to break expensive things if things are wrong.
I'm using the ISO for MS-DOS 6.22 found at AllBootDisks.
So far I've tried this ISO in several versions of Rufus and the latest version of UNetbootin.
I've tested the following versions of Rufus from this link:
- V1.3.0 Beta (w/o FreeDOS)
- V1.2.0 (w/o FreeDOS)
- V1.2.0.183 (w/o FreeDOS)
- V1.1.7 (w/o FreeDOS)
...all of which produce the following error when selecting the ISO:
This version of Rufus only supports bootable ISOs based on 'bootmgr/WinPE' or 'isolinux'. This ISO image doesn't appear to use either.
From the main Rufus page, I've tested versions:
- V2.15
- V2.14
...which both produce the following error when selecting the ISO:
This image is either non-bootable, or it uses a boot or compression method not supported by Rufus.
According to this link, it's not possible at all to use Rufus to create a bootable USB for specific versions of MS-DOS.
By contrast, UNetbootin seems to accept the ISO when creating the bootable USB, but booting into it causes the boot loop described here.
Is it at all possible that the ISO from AllBootDisks is faulty? If it's not the ISO, then how else can I create a bootable flash drive for MS-DOS 6.22?
Did you try using Rufus v 1.1.7 without FreeDOS Support as described here?
– DavidPostill – 2017-07-08T21:31:36.223I'd come across that guide but disregarded it because it was creating a Windows 98 DOS bootable. I also wouldn't have thought the version without FreeDOS support would have helped because I wasn't selecting FreeDOS while creating the bootable USB. Regardless, I've just tried doing so, and it results in a different error:
http://i.imgur.com/53aKC8b.jpg
Yes, but is that v1.1.7? – DavidPostill – 2017-07-08T22:02:01.533
My bad, I had scanned over the version number. Nevertheless, just tried that particular version, and it produced the same error. I've also tested several more and updated the main post with this information. – Hashim – 2017-07-08T22:35:24.737
MS-DOS is an operating system, one that never supported USB anything. Even if you could get it to boot with BIOS legacy emulation I wouldn't trust it with anything so important you're scared to try FreeDOS. ;-) Please use a DOS that supports USB devices or install it to your hard drive. – Patches – 2017-07-09T21:37:05.277
@Patches - You're not making much sense. Why would it need to support USB? USB in this case is simply for booting into DOS, once actually in DOS the program I'm using will be making use of an RS232 interface. – Hashim – 2017-07-10T01:21:07.957
1Or just use a GRUB ISO to load and boot a DOS floppy image. – binki – 2017-07-10T02:45:37.687
1@binki That is basically what I did when I needed to use DOS to install a BIOS patch. I had a USB Linux, and edited the boot menu to have an option that points to an MS-DOS floppy image. The disk emulation persists beyond merely booting--it would be useless if it didn't, since a full bootup requires accessing files after the initial boot. – trlkly – 2017-07-12T17:21:19.527
1If you are having trouble with UnetBootIn (which is supposed to work with ISOs), you may want to use a floppy disk image instead. There is one available from the same site. – trlkly – 2017-07-12T17:42:48.787