Pete's QBASIC Site

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-26T17:46:35-05:00

I understand your passion for old hardware and keeping stuff alive. It's definitely a fun challenge to take something that a lot of people would otherwise consider useless or obsolete, and make it work or do something useful. Heck, I guess that's why we like to dabble in QB, isn't it?

I'm not sure what the fate of QBasic/QuickBASIC is going to be. It seems like it's trying to hang on as long as it can, but I'm aware that alternatives like QB64 and FreeBASIC really have carved a niche and are supplying the QB programming community with what they need -- a Windows-friendly, 32-bit BASIC compiler that's highly compatible with QB syntax. I just installed both of them on my machine this past week, and I'm impressed -- I'm definitely going to spend some time with these languages and see if I can get any projects off the ground.

About that old Windows game that I wrote (the Connect 4 clone) ... the reason I say it was "funny" was the fact that the AI logic that I programmed into it had the ability to slow down machines at the time that were considered to be high-end -- in other words, fast 486 PCs and Pentiums. In fact, when you played on the highest skill level, you'd usually have to sit there for at least five minutes and wait while the computer made its move! This is because it looked ahead so many moves, and the number of iterations and permutations that it had to cycle through could amount to a very high number.

Once in a while I will fire up that game in Windows 3.1 in DOSBox, just for kicks. It runs faster on my 3.0 GHz quad-core.

Statistics: Posted by msdos622wasfun — Sat Jun 26, 2010 5:46 pm

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-25T03:49:29-05:00

Protien folding sounds like the recessive genes in DNA or RNA or something like when the nucleous sends out info to the organelles during celluar mitosis The ribosome strips the DNA, copies it, sends out RNA to get the new materials, and changes the original code by "tying off" recessive genes and exemplifying (ones that are duplicate) dominate ones, all during one cellular division. I never went to school on it but read up on it because its the natural computer . Sounds like reprogramming your source code on the fly I think. But really I'm just guessing. I don't know.

Statistics: Posted by JamesWiding — Fri Jun 25, 2010 3:49 am

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-25T03:34:41-05:00

I've seen Linux play with windows like its a marrenet. I mean I still do a lot of computing with windows and its cool but what we need to do is try and make the old qbasic better and I know you guys are going to say qb64 but I tried it and there are backwards compatablity issues with it. The other intresting thing I think might be intresting about that book is you might be able to get that program to commuicate with any other type of computer or program. What if you could directly connect it to an apple computer or some other type of computing processor that it wouldn't normally connect to. Then you make a network out of any old piece of junk like that Hacker bridge place with the dolphin in Johnny Memmonic. You could connect stuff thats old and that has never connected before. What if you could write OS programming for DVD players or something. I like to turn Junk into Gold. My dad was going to throw out this old sayo computer and I told him I would take it. I put it back together and now I'm running it with that DSL without a harddrive. Im not dissing on qb64. I like the fact that it complies and its windows friendly but like people on this site I like to raise stuff from the dead. I want to see trash shock and awe people not to say any qb is trash. I would like to see a modern mainstream Qbasic product that was compatable on all systems with coding that was backwards compatable you know the fabled holy grail program. So far qbasic is the only thing I have expiremented with that has run on everything without any problems and thats what gave me the idea to use it to connect the computers. By the way windows programming (for me) from scratch like that is cool. You say it was funny? Do you still play it every now and then?

Statistics: Posted by JamesWiding — Fri Jun 25, 2010 3:34 am

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-25T02:56:48-05:00

Im Fearless. I doubt my chances but I really hope I can. Thanks for your input man. You made me feel like I know what Im talking about. Thats cool that you made a Game. What type of game was it? Was it hard to code? I think that it would be cool to use qbaisc as the codeing that links the computers together. Ive got this book thats a little old called real world interfacing with qbasic as the coding that programs the electronics. It has the source code in the book and uses the printer port for the connection. I was gonna somehow use that to connect them but its a lot of work. Im jobless and I watch my 1.5 year old daughter during the day so I have the time to do this right now.

No problem. I like to encourage people when they are enthused about something.

The VB game I referred to that I wrote was a version of "Connect Four." I'm sure you're familiar with it -- where you drop chips into a grid and try to get four in a row. That was my very first serious Windows application -- for 3.1! It wasn't too difficult to create ... but I thought it was funny that at the time, the artificial intelligence I programmed into it pushed even 486 machines to their limits (but then again, a lot of it had to do with the fact that Visual Basic 3.0 didn't compile to native machine code).

The application of QB to control physical devices sounds pretty interesting. I wonder to what extent QB can be used to do something like that ... it always had capabilities like that in the language (manipulating ports, for example), but I wonder if the fact that it runs on DOS would be a limiting factor today, since we're in a Windows world now.

Statistics: Posted by msdos622wasfun — Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:56 am

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-25T02:45:32-05:00

It's basically a type of distributed computing in which your PC processes data and does calculations, then sends the completed work back to the organization doing the research (a lot of it has to do with protein folding and fighting diseases, but I don't know enough about biology to provide an explanation).

Check out: http://folding.stanford.edu/

I run this on my main rig: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/

Statistics: Posted by msdos622wasfun — Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:45 am

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-25T00:02:33-05:00

What is Folding? See how much I know.

Statistics: Posted by JamesWiding — Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:02 am

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-25T00:01:33-05:00

Im Fearless. I doubt my chances but I really hope I can. Thanks for your input man. You made me feel like I know what Im talking about. Thats cool that you made a Game. What type of game was it? Was it hard to code? I think that it would be cool to use qbaisc as the codeing that links the computers together. Ive got this book thats a little old called real world interfacing with qbasic as the coding that programs the electronics. It has the source code in the book and uses the printer port for the connection. I was gonna somehow use that to connect them but its a lot of work. Im jobless and I watch my 1.5 year old daughter during the day so I have the time to do this right now.

Statistics: Posted by JamesWiding — Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:01 am

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-24T19:14:04-05:00

Sounds very ambitious -- just think of the folding you'll be able to do!

Best of luck to you on that. I've experimented with Ubuntu and a few other Linux OSs, but not DSL. Sounds like it's the distribution that can be squeezed into tight spaces and goes where other distros fear to tread.

Statistics: Posted by msdos622wasfun — Thu Jun 24, 2010 7:14 pm

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-24T18:46:02-05:00

I want to make a supercomputer that links all the computers in the house and makes them act as one which is 6 not-including the old PS2. If they are all running Linux it should't be that hard but Im not that skilled in setting up networks. I heard that NASA and the military have done this to make a cheap supercomputer because they didn't have the funds. They had a 20+ nodes connected. Woo the electric bill was a lot. I want to install win 95 on my XBOX but it can't find the hardware when it does the check. 'Back in 92' if you wanted to up grade windows 3.1 to win 95 it was ok because win 95 was also dos based. If I could do that then i could run more modern programs. I also have a remaster of Damn Small Linux that has the windows on the cdrom. Technically with dosbox and dsl, I now can run windows 3.1 on any computer that runs Damn Small Linux which is like everything without installing it to any drive. One more thing, did you know that Damn Small Linux overides the security login in windows XP for the users? It bypasses it and looks at software on the harddive. I didn't even mean to gain what I call level 1 security hacking, I just liked Damn Small Linux.

Statistics: Posted by JamesWiding — Thu Jun 24, 2010 6:46 pm

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-24T16:08:28-05:00

Just when you thought Windows 3.1 was dead.

Interesting hack!

(Actually, I have Win 3.1 installed in DOSBox as well in order to run a really old VB game of mine that I wrote, and also just to see if it would work. Amazing that it does!)

Statistics: Posted by msdos622wasfun — Thu Jun 24, 2010 4:08 pm

I also now have installed Windows 3.1 on my original XBOX

2010-06-23T00:03:54-05:00

Hi everybody. I just wanted to say something again because I'm a dork and this is fun. I have used the same DosBox and Damn Small Linux to install windows 3.1. on my Xbox original. I had to imgmount the ISO and mount it under a:\ and make a regular mount c:\. I also had to create a swap file because XBOX ram limit is 50MBs and with dsl, dosbox, and the windows 3.1. takes about 60MBs. I also had to say that you have to switch the windows 3.1 swap file to permenent from the default temp. Finally, you have to engage the mouse in the DosBox BEFORE you start it otherwise dsl is trying to keep track of demon possesd mice pointers and exits or freezes. Me thinks it's awsome that I go into file manager and use a controller on my TV. I also retain all of the original XBOX functionality with the XBOX games including almost every znes game which equals 896MB. My goal is to eventually make a small network that has everything working togather including the PS2.

Statistics: Posted by JamesWiding — Wed Jun 23, 2010 12:03 am