Well I finally got my jr out of storage, cleaned up, and set up on my workbench. Opened my jrIDE and plugged it in for the first time. Using a CF card and CF->IDE adapter the bios recognizes "InnoDisk Corp.." on Disk 0. So far so good! Now time to partition 32MB worth into a usable drive now wait where did I put my FDISK, it's not on this boot disk. Got format, chkdsk, all kinds of other utilities but no fdisk. Great now what!
Well my question is can I set up a 32MB partition on a different machine then be able to use format on the jr? If not any suggestions on how to get a copy of fdisk for IBM DOS 2.10 onto a 5.25" floppy? I would like to set up a 32MB partition using a modern machine and then can transfer files to the jr that way. It works out in my head but I don't know. Anyone else set one up this way or have any advice?
jrIDE Rev B and a 2gb CF card
Re: jrIDE Rev B and a 2gb CF card
Sticking with DOS 2.10, although period accurate, is going to give you more headaches than it's worth, especially if you plan on using any kind of modern PC to transfer files.
DOS 2.10 uses FAT12 which is why the max partition size for a hard disk is 32MB. With DOS 3.31 or higher, you can get FAT16 which will allow 2GB partitions, and even multiple 2GB partitions on a single device. So with a DOS upgrade, you get mountains of storage (more storage than there is software to run on an 8088!) and compatibility with modern operating systems which can easily work with FAT16 formatted drives.
IMO, your best bet is to get someone to ship a set of 5.25" PCjr patched DOS 5.0 disks to you. I've done such a thing a few times before and would be willing to ship some to you too.
DOS 2.10 uses FAT12 which is why the max partition size for a hard disk is 32MB. With DOS 3.31 or higher, you can get FAT16 which will allow 2GB partitions, and even multiple 2GB partitions on a single device. So with a DOS upgrade, you get mountains of storage (more storage than there is software to run on an 8088!) and compatibility with modern operating systems which can easily work with FAT16 formatted drives.
IMO, your best bet is to get someone to ship a set of 5.25" PCjr patched DOS 5.0 disks to you. I've done such a thing a few times before and would be willing to ship some to you too.
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Kablamabam
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 3:44 pm
Re: jrIDE Rev B and a 2gb CF card
Dos 5 sounds heavenly. That has edit and qbasic ya? Don't get me wrong I love edlin just as much as the next guy but using edit would be just dreamy. Are there memory issues running that kind of stuff? Oh and DOS shell! does it have DOS shell? I will of course be googling the answer to these questions shortly but yes, absolutely I would love some DOS 5 disks. How does that work I can mail you some disks and a return envelope? Or just buy some disks from you? If it is possible PM me and let me know how would definitely be interested. Does it come on 3 DSDD disks? Is there a PC DOS 5 in one of those 3-ring binder books I might be able to find on e-bay? That would be nice to add to my collection. along with planning assistant, graphing assistant, and reporting assistant 
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Kablamabam
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 3:44 pm
Re: jrIDE Rev B and a 2gb CF card
Been reading about DOS 5 and the Jr and my combo cartridge. I have combo cartridge 3 which includes the compatability cart so does that mean I can run Dos 5 without a software patch? Thats what the documentation lead me to believe...