MSDOS expert required

It's too long ago, I can't remember...

When 4.3 is released, I will be uploading it in pieces, to make it easy for those on dialup.

So, pup-430.iso will be split into xaa, xab, xac, xad, xae, etc.

After downloading, if running Linux it is easy to put them together:

# cat x* > pup-430.iso

However, does anyone know the equivalent to that in a Windows DOS-box?

Um, I presume that you can still open a DOS-box in Windows? Perhaps the average Windows user would need instructions how to do that, open it wherever they have downloaded the files?

I'll provide the pieces on ibiblio, and a readme that tells how to assemble them.

Of course, in the future they will be able to use our Xdelta file difference manager.

---

Comments

merge in windows
Username: IAmnikin
This is what you arelooking for http://elliottback.com/wp/combine-split-files-in-windows/

from elliottback
Username: linuxcbon
"They say this works : copy /b x* pup-430.iso /b

hjsplit can join files on windows
Username: headfound
"hjsplit is a small windows utility that can join files (also for dos and linux!) http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/#win32

MSDOS
Username: D2R
"I'm no expert but for Windows XP Start>programs>accessories>command prompt then try copy *x pup-430.iso I think that should work D2R - Puppy lover since 1.09

MSDOS Copy
Username: ICPUG
"Reading from my MSDOS v.5.0 reference manual linuxcbon is nearly right and D2R is either dyslexic or not an expert (just kidding). copy /b x* pup-430.iso should suffice. The /b indicating binary files works on all files until a /a paremeter is met so the final /b of linuxcbon is not necessary, but probably does no harm.

Split Program
Username: purple_ghost
"http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/ I have not tested it. Good thing being user would ask questions of someone besides the Puppy Forum for Windows problems.

type in DOS =? cat in Linux
Username: gulk
"I just ran an experiment and found that for DOS/Windows users: [code] type x* >pup-430.iso [/code] should work.

Tool to split file in windows (CHUNK)
Username: William Hales (Dthdealer)
"If you need to split something on a *shiver* Winblows system try CHUNK. http://www.jbplay.com/software/chunk/ I don't know if it can put them back together though.

Invitation to winblowers ?
Username: maggie thatcher
"Do you think this way of downloading will invite many Winblowers ? Especially when you see already now how experts have a little struggle on "howto".

Copy but verify...
Username: RetroTechGuy
"After using the "copy /b ..." command, be sure to check the md5. Sometimes MS collects the files out of order, and you might end up with garbage. If this happens, you can, of course, specify each file in sequence, and assemble them correctly... Or we could put a batch file up with sections, to eliminate that problem.

Further thoughts on Windows
Username: RetroTechGuy
"Barry writes: "Um, I presume that you can still open a DOS-box in Windows?" At least through XP. Win ME was the last system with a "real" dos command prompt, the newer systems are sometimes fussier about stacked commands (like pipes and redirects). For old DOS users, XP has the peculiarity that it doesn't load the autoexec (and hence your path). You can fix it by manually running your autoexec.bat, or by linking the command into the DOS prompt launch (create a shortcut to "cmd", and set the properties "target" line to "C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /K c:\Bin\autoexec.bat", where C:\Bin\autoexec.bat is your preferred file). I have heard rumors that Vista (I don't and WON'T have it, so I cannot confirm) no longer has "cmd.exe", so you may not have a command prompt.

BTW
Username: RetroTechGuy
"BTW, I use Firefox, with the "downloadthemall" plugin, which (most of the time) allows the download to be paused and restarted. IIRC, wget can also be configured to continue a download, rather than restart. And there are other recoverable FTP clients available.

MD5 for assembled images?
Username: RetroTechGuy
"Hi Barry, Just checked the ibiblio site and see your pieces. It would also be a good idea to add the md5 for the assembled image into the md5sums.txt file (so the user can confirm that the reassembly was successful), or just make a note as to where the md5 can be found...

split
Username: pstef
"Windows users don't use any kind of command prompt so I don't understand why are you talking about how to force them to merge file chunks into a file. Use GUI application. What's more important is that dividing the file into pieces won't make downloading it any easier. It's almost year 2010 for God sake, people have download managers...

To ke-mo sah-bee from Tonto.
Username: cthisbear
"Barry. Why go down this road for Gods sake. Split the Iso for dialup people and upload. Post the full ISO from the telecentre in Penjori. PM me and I'll send you the money Pronto. And I mean quick. Problem over. Who wants to go doing that crap. Ridiculous. Sorry don't mean to be so uncharitable. Chris.

Download pieces
Username: BarryK
"I'm providing the iso in pieces because dialup people have asked me for this many times. Apparently some people do have an easier time of it downloading a number of smaller files. cthisbear, you seem to have the wrong end of the stick -- I will of course be providing the full files. Regarding uploading speed, my satellite connection is ok, the main problem is ibiblio itself. They throttle the transfer rate at about 10.5KB/sec, so a 100MB file takes about 2.5 hours to upload. Regarding the pieces being already on ibiblio -- sh, sh, that's a secret! :happy: I'm still testing. I have done a retro build with 2.6.25.16 kernel, have been testing that, will upload that too ...maybe tomorrow.

Boomerang
Username: cthisbear
"" cthisbear, you seem to have the wrong end of the stick -- I will of course be providing the full files." Ouch! That wasn't a stick, that was a boomerang. Sorry BK for the misunderstanding. Forgot about ibiblio transfer rate. As always...cheers....Chris.

split
Username: pstef
""Apparently some people do have an easier time of it downloading a number of smaller files." I won't tell you what to do with your time, but if I were you, I'd tell those people to use one of download managers that are able to continue download. Splitting files for this kind of purpose is pure nonsense.

md5sum of rejoined iso
Username: cli_user
"I suffered through this for years. 1. copy /b xaa+xab+... > full.iso 2. md5sum.exe -c md5sums.txtn Add the full.iso md5sum to md5sums.txt. Here's the URL OpenOffice provides for md5sum utilities, plus the md5 firefox plugin: http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/using_md5sums.html#links

DOS code
Username: PathFinder_Cate
" After reading MattN's comment I wasn't going to add anything, but reading the others, here's mine. Vista [b]does[/b] have a command prompt that you can run, and even if it didn't, you could use FreeDOS's freecom.com (renamed to command.com) {http://www.freedos.org/freecom/}. If you would rather use a DOS batch file, you could use something like the following (I call it [b]stitch_puppy.bat[/b]): [code] :: Written by Kenneth H. Cate, 2009-09-16 :: @echo off set VN=430 if not %1! == ! set VN=%1 set LST= for %%A in (xaa,xab,xac,xad,xae,xaf,xag,xah,xai,xaj,xak,xal) do call :ADD1 %%A set CMD=COPY /b %LST% pup-%VN%.iso if "%LST%" == "" set CMD=Could not find the parts echo %CMD% if not "%LST%" == "" %CMD% if exist pup-%VN%.iso if exist md5sums.txt md5sum -c md5sums.txt echo. pause goto EOF :ADD1 if %1! == ! goto EOF if not exist %1 goto EOF if not "%LST%" == "" set LST=%LST%+ set LST=%LST%%1 :EOF [/code] I use batch files to automate repetitive tasks all the time on Windows systems; it's bash scripting that I'm trying to learn.

RE: Download pieces
Username: RetroTechGuy
"Barry writes: "Apparently some people do have an easier time of it downloading a number of smaller files." This is quite true. Also, when something does puke (and it [i]will[/i] at some point on dialup), it's far easier to restart a 10 MB file, than to start over on the 100 MB image... [BTW, "pstef"'s comment that "Windows users don't use any kind of command prompt..." is incorrect. More correctly, MOST Windows users don't a command prompt (I do so all the time...) ;) ]

Tags: woof