Command-line DOS Emulators

[Linux for blind general discussion <blinux-list@redhat.com>]

	What I want to do is see what a particular DOS diskette
prints when one boots it up. I downloaded a zip file that has a
whole tool kit of interesting goodies that will let a person boot
an older PC from a usb drive even when the system in question has
no usb drivers in it's BIOS.  The DOS disk simply has a usb
driver which probably runs just long enough to allow a bootable
thumb drive to get a Linux or other kernel up and running which
then goes through it's boot sequence, sort of a case of a boot
for a boot.

	This application is called plpbt and was written in
Germany but the English documentation is very good.

	I guess one could even boot a version of Windows this way
but as soon as the usb drive begins it's boot procedure,one isn't
going to gain anything in accessibility.

	What I am interested in is what shows up on the screen so
I will know what keys to press when booting it blind, so to
speak.

	I should also add that if the dos disk writes directly to
video memory, this is not going to work but my question again is
strictly about a way to run the DOS boot far enough to get some
output.

	For those who are curious, the zip file is called

plpbt-5.0.15.zip

	My hopes are to use the dos to usb booter on a couple of
Dell systems I have that tend to keep rearranging their boot
order so that the hard drive boots the system if there is no
floppy, leaving the CDROM drive for last. When that happens, you
can't just try a live CD without first going in to the BIOS setup
which, as we all know is a royal pain on the vast majority of
PC's.

	If this works, I can beat those systems at their own game
and start the boot from a floppy.

	Thanks for any constructive ideas.

Martin McCormick