Developing for DOS 3

[proteanthread]

Hey I've read nearly all the threads (both on AtariAge and other forums) regarding Atari DOS 3. I still even have my DOS 3 (the "bug-free" version) Master Disk that came with my original 1050. As with many here, it was the first DOS I used before I stumbled upon DOS 2.5 and later MyDOS followed by SpartaDOS (my fav). Other than being a seemingly worthless POS, it is neat to just tinker around with.

 

Has any programmer's information ever been located for DOS 3? For example, I remember a small patch on some of the BBS's back in the day for the XL series that converted DOS 3 from Enhanced Density to true Double Density (IIRC this came out either shortly before DOS 2.5 or thereafter) for some non-Atari DD drives (like my rana had a hard time reading Enhanced Density DOS 3 disks but reads Ehanced Density DOS 2.5 disks just fine, not sure now if it was my disks or the drive). Weren't there some commercial programs that used DOS 3?

 

Any programmer's or developer's information would be greatly appreciated.

[+Stephen]

I don't think I have anything in my collection, but I will check. I only ever formatted a few disks with 3.0, before moving to 2.5. Once I got Sparta DOS, I never touched a menu based DOS again.

[Rybags]

It's not worth bothering with.

 

Few commercial games have a Dos included or even use a Dos file structure for that matter.

 

If you properly use the programming interfaces, the Dos in use shouldn't matter, so the info will be much the same as any other Dos.

 

The big difference for Dos 3 vs 2.x is the NOTE/POINT use relative offset rather than absolute sector. It's also about the only good thing about Dos 3.

[proteanthread]

I don't think I have anything in my collection, but I will check. I only ever formatted a few disks with 3.0, before moving to 2.5. Once I got Sparta DOS, I never touched a menu based DOS again.

 

Once I got my HD setup back in the early 90's I first used MyDOS but settled on SDX after I bought the RT:8 cart.

[walter_J64bit]

I did have a game menu for dos 3, back in the day but I've lost over time. It was a nice one too.

Edited January 2, 2013 by walter_J64bit