Hi all 'your computer' sleuths: > Ray's problems descriptions are similar, but still different, and > Ray doesn't tell us what version(s) of Arachne he is using. I > cannot try to confirm/etc Ray's description, since I have nothing > to do with Arachne on any Winzzdozz..
Pardon, I'm using Glenn's latest, but I've had the problem with every previous version of Arachne, too. > Working on this assumption. > I fired-up W95 which I have installed on FAT16. > ... > So.... the problem IS MsDos v7.x and how it accesses drives. :(( Yes, we're geting somewhere now--the problem is not associated with FAT32 per se, but with MsDos 7.x!!! The next question is: What happens under MsDos 7.x if there is no CD installed on the system? > Looks like I'll be doing some work on wwwman.exe for a while. > (specifically.... drvtypes.cpp) > The problem is that most of it inline ASM. > And I haven't done any ASM in almost 20 years. :(( Where is Clarence when we need him most! > It looks like WWWMAN has trouble with interpreting available drive > letters under plain MS-DOS 7.10; someone who has the sources should > carefully check every DOS function call (e.g., with Ralf Brown's > Interrupt List). Some internal system structures are much different > in DOS 6.x and 7.10, and there are some bugs in MS-DOS 7.10 that > "disappear" when Windows GUI (or rather its virtual drivers) takes > over much of the DOS functionality. This sounds exactly right to me. But the fact that *all* drives can be accessed individualy tells me that a fix shouldn't be too dificult. > Subject: Wake UP! Arachne *ain't* a Windoze program!! > Since Arachne is designed for "low end" systems, those which operate on > Linux, or MS-DOS 5.x or lower, I think it is counterproductive for people > to be "testing" it on Win9x or W2K or WinMe or WinXP. > Those Windows systems are *not* the machines/systems Arachne is designed > for, and to expect Arachne to be redesigned to run on those systems -- > to take into consideration all the shortcomings of the truncated "DOS" > that Win9x and higher use -- is ludicrous! That would require Arachne > to bloat up damn near as big, and hog resources damn near as much, as > Windozes does! > Arachne is not a Windows program!!!!!!!! If you want to run Arachne, > then use an OS that is fully functional ... don't blame it on the > software design of Arachne. Thank's for the reminder, L.D, but I think that even though Arachne is a DOS program, it would be nice if we (Glenn ... :-) ... ) could get it to work under msdos 7.1 (just like every other DOS app. on my system). I disagree with you entirely that Arachne was "designed for low-end systems". I have a late model Pentium machine with both IEX and Opera 6.0 installed--I use Arachne *because*I*love*her*, and because it imunizes me against windows viruses. I want Arachne to continue to develop, and to be a proud resident on the machines of folks like me who have windows installed because we need it (damn it!), but still want to use our trusty old DOS software whenever we possibly can. You are quite wrong when you say that fixing the 'your computer' bug will "bloat up danm near as big ... as Windozes does" ... my guess is that the bug will be fixed with no change in Arachne's size at all ... want to bet? Ray Andrews, Vancouver, Canada -- Arachne V1.71;UE01, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
