README_FIRST for TAMU modifications to the base xdos-03f package:

The README.xdos file is the original readme from the base
xdos-03f package.  This readme_first supercedes the original
readme, which is included only for reference.

This TAMU version of xdos-03f makes several enhancements to
the base package:

1. the xd and xd.init scripts have been written for automatic
   handling of hdimage initialization, with prompts.

   The initial hdimage.dist does not have DOS bootstraps installed
   (for obvious copyright reasons).  To initialize hdimage,
   root must first run xd.init, which will prompt root to insert
   a bootable DOS diskette (with sys.com) into drive a:
   When this is done, xdos is booted off the floppy.  At the
   DOS "a>" prompt, root then runs "sys c:" to transfer the DOS
   bootstraps to c: (hdimage), and then "exitemu" to exit back to
   the xd.init script.  The script then asks if hdimage was successfully
   configured.  If the reply is 'y', hdimage.dist is moved to hdimage
   for general use.  
   Subsequent normal use of xdos is done with the "xd" script, which
   copies the configured hdimage into the current directory, and then
   runs xdos with appropriate arguments.

2. xd, xd.init, and xdos have been moved to /usr/X386/bin

3. hdimage.dist and libxdosemu have been moved to /usr/X386/lib

4. xdos is *NOT* installed setuid root.  This was a HORRIBLE
   security hole!!!! (add "device=c:emufs.sys /" to config.sys,
   reboot, and then edit d:\etc\shadow, for example)

5. the hdimage_src directory was added with all documentation and
   sources necessary to make hdimage.dist.  (This was all pulled
   from dosemu-0.50 and source diving.) Lredir was added to
   hdimage.dist.

6. a command switch was added to xdos to disable debugging output
   in a much more efficient way than the originally recommended
   redirection to /dev/null.

7. the dosemu int was moved back to 0xe6 (from 0xe5) for compatibility
   with the dosemu-0.50 tools, such as emufs.sys, exitemu.com ...

8. a man page (xdos.1) was written.

dave safford
dave.safford@net.tamu.edu
