Posted by Dave Dribin on 30, 2001 at 2:01 AM:
In Reply to: DOS MAME as an embedded system (read on) posted by EmuMannen on 29, 2001 at 3:50 PM:
: Any other prefered embedded DOS version for DOS MAME?
DR-DOS is supposedly romable, too.
: Required hardware to boot DOS from ROM, prefered motherboard, configuration etc?
I have no clue, but I imagine you would need a special motherboard, or at least a customized BIOS. I don't see how you can get around the BIOS given DOS' heavy reliance on it.
Maybe there is a BIOS that allows you to customize the boot screen so you don't see all that BIOS crap as it boots up. My IBM Thinkpad laptop does that, so maybe there are custom BIOS's that allow you to set any image.
: Any other ideas on how to make a MAME cabinet boot faster and to minimize the PC look and feel (only pure DOS based systems)?
I have always wanted to try suspending using APM. This way, your system only boots up once, but from then on is just suspended (or even hibernated). I have no idea how well APM works under DOS. I recall seeing some programs to control this under DOS, but do not know how well they work, if at all.
BTW, you are using BLACKOUT.EXE and BANNER.COM, right? These allows you to set an image while DOS is booting like the Windows boot screens. If I could only get ride of the BIOS crap, no one would ever know there is a PC inside.
-Dave