Applications that Check the DOS Version Number

Document 1609
Applications that Check the DOS Version Number

Initials:
        11/26/91
        DRDOS 6.0

Keywords:
        COMPAQ
        3.31

Description:

The DR DOS 6.0 Version Numbers

A few applications and device drivers have been encountered which, 
when loading under the DR DOS 6.0 operating system, display an error 
message that states the current version of operating system is not 
supported. This can occur for several reasons, which are outlined 
below.

Device drivers for disk drives or networks are sometimes produced 
for specific versions of DOS or occasionally will use specific configurations 
for different versions of DOS. The DR DOS 6.0 operating system will 
appear to be COMPAQ DOS 3.31 to applications and drivers. Usually, 
a DOS 3.3 driver works properly. If you have been running previously 
with MS/PC DOS 4.x, the driver that you have been using might be designed 
specifically for that version. Contact the manufacturer of the driver 
to see if they have any specific configuration information or drivers 
for DOS 3.3x.

When applications request the DOS version number from the operating 
system, the DR DOS 6.0 operating system returns version 3.31. The 
application then knows that it should expect support for DOS 3.3-level 
calls and support for larger than 32 Mbyte partitions using the COMPAQ 
Extended Interrupt 25 and 26 convention. Most applications do follow 
these conventions and therefore work without any difficulty.

However, some applications have been designed to go beyond those conventions 
and actually attempt to directly manipulate DOS data structures or 
replace sections of the operating system code with their own. These 
applications depend on having intimate knowledge of each DOS version 
they detect and have been written to react differently for each of 
those versions. If an application uses this type of technique, the 
manufacturer will have to design the application to take the DR DOS 
6.0 operating system into account as well. It is possible that the 
manufacturer has already produced another version of your application 
that runs under the DR DOS 6.0 operating system. Contact the manufacturer 
to see if there is any information about upgrades or specific configuration 
steps for the DR DOS 6.0 operating system. If the manufacturer is 
interested in more information about the DR DOS 6.0 operating system, 
they are welcome to contact Digital Research Inc. directly and we 
will work with them on the situation.

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