Introduction

WebNP2 bundles a FreeDOS(98) boot floppy. Choose "Start with FreeDOS(98)" and a PC-98 DOS boots right away, with nothing for you to prepare.

DOS is the operating system people used before Windows. There are no icons and no mouse: you type commands on the keyboard. The Windows Command Prompt is a descendant of this DOS, so if you have ever touched it, you already know half of what is here.

This page describes what the bundled boot disk can actually do. Everything here was run on WebNP2 and checked. Note that the set of available commands differs from a general FreeDOS installation.

Reading the screen

When the boot finishes, this appears at the bottom left and blinks.

A:\>_

It means "you are at the top of drive A, please give me a command." This is called the prompt. Type something, press Enter, and it runs. It plays exactly the same role as C:\> in the Windows Command Prompt.

Drive letters

The bottom line of the screen

The C1 CU CA S1 SU … row at the very bottom is the PC-98 function key label line. It is not part of DOS and is always there, so you can ignore it.

Three commands to try first

1. ? — list every available command

There is no help command here. Instead, type a single question mark and press Enter. It prints the list of built-in commands.

A:\>?
利用できるコマンド:
ALIAS     BEEP      BREAK     CALL      CD        CHDIR     CDD       CHCP
CLS       COPY      CTTY      DATE      DEL       DIR       DIRS      DOSKEY
...

2. DIR /W — list the files

Plain DIR works, but this disk holds around 24 files, so the list scrolls off the top of the screen. Use DIR /W (packed into columns) or DIR /P (pause after each screen).

3. COMMAND /? — read the details

Adding /? after a command name prints a detailed description (in Japanese). This is effectively the manual — reach for it first when stuck.

A:\>DIR /?
DIR [drive:][path][filename] [/P] [/W] [/A[[:]attributes]]
 /P     Pause after each screenful.
 /W     Wide format (file names only, packed into columns).
...

Mapping from the Windows Command Prompt

Most everyday commands keep the same name. Upper and lower case both work.

It is more convenient than you expect

• Tab completes file names
• The up arrow recalls previous commands
• > redirects to a file (e.g. ECHO HELLO > TEST.TXT)

No need to brace yourself for a primitive experience: the bundled FreeCOM has completion and history enabled from the start.

Commands available on this disk

There are two kinds of command, and knowing the difference explains most "why doesn't it work" moments.

Always available (51 built-in commands)

These live inside COMMAND.COM itself, so they keep working even after you swap disks.

Available only while this disk is inserted (8 external commands)

Each of these is a single file on the disk. Swap the disk in drive A for another one and they stop working.

DOS conventions

File names are "8 characters + 3 for the extension"

Like READMEJA.TXT: up to 8 characters for the name and 3 for the extension. Long names generally do not work. In a DIR listing the two parts are shown apart, as READMEJA TXT.

The path separator is \

You write 386\EMM386.EXE. Same as Windows — not /.

Wildcards * and ?

• DIR *.TXT — everything with the TXT extension
• DIR F*.* — everything starting with F
• COPY *.TXT B: — copy all TXT files to drive B

Stopping a running program

Ctrl + C. Use it when output keeps scrolling and will not stop.

Keys worth knowing

• Tab — complete a partially typed file name
• Up / Down — recall previous commands

Recipe 1: getting files in and out

You can take what you made inside DOS back to your machine, and hand files to DOS the same way. For the details see "File transfer" in the Help page. The rough flow is:

1. Use "New Blank" on FDD2 to create an empty floppy
2. Put your files onto that disk with the file manager
3. From DOS, DIR B: shows them; COPY B:name A: brings one in
4. To take files home, use "Download" on FDD2

Recipe 2: writing text (EDLIN)

There is no Notepad-style editor on this disk. What you get is EDLIN, a line editor — an old-fashioned tool where you address each line by number.

For short text it is actually easier than COPY CON.

A:\>EDLIN B:MEMO.TXT      <- start it with a file name
*I                        <- I enters insert mode
 : HELLO                  <- type one line at a time
 : FROM EDLIN
 :                        <- press Ctrl+Z then Enter to finish
*E                        <- E saves
*Q                        <- Q quits back to DOS

Typing ? inside EDLIN lists its subcommands (i insert, l list, d delete, s search, r replace, and so on).

Check the result from DOS with TYPE B:MEMO.TXT.

Recipe 3: build your own boot disk

SYS turns a blank floppy into a disk that boots on its own, so you can ship your own programs on an original boot disk.

1. Insert a blank floppy with "New Blank" on FDD2
2. Run SYS B:
3. "System transferred." means it worked
4. Download it from FDD2; next time, put it in FDD1 and boot from it

A:\>SYS B:
49938 Bytes transferred
Writing boot sector...
...
Copying COMMAND.COM...
69638 Bytes transferred
System transferred.

When something goes wrong

To type Japanese, use "Sending text" in the Help page — it pushes text you wrote on your own machine straight into the guest.

Bonus: writing a program with DEBUG

From here on it is a bonus for the development-minded. Feel free to skip it.

The bundled DEBUG lets you inspect memory and write and run machine code on the spot. No compiler needed — this boot disk alone is enough to write a program.

Here is one that just prints HELLO.

A:\>DEBUG
-A 100            <- start assembling at address 100
MOV AH,9
MOV DX,110
INT 21
INT 20
                  <- press Enter on an empty line to finish
-E 110 "HELLO$"   <- place the text at address 110
-G               <- run it
HELLO
Program terminated normally (0000)
-Q               <- quit

? lists its commands. D dumps memory, U disassembles, and L / W read and write raw disk sectors.

If programming the PC-98 itself starts to interest you — writing to the text screen, reading the keyboard, hooking interrupts — the WebNP2 Wiki holds a hardware reference built entirely from measurements.

About what is bundled

The bundled boot disk is FreeDOS(98), a port of the MS-DOS compatible OS FreeDOS to the PC-9801/9821. The kernel comes from lpproj/fdkernel and the command interpreter from lpproj/freecom_dbcs2; both are free software under GPLv2+.

No PC-98 ROM data and no commercial software are included. It is bundled purely so that you can try the emulator without having to obtain an OS disk image yourself.

Everything on this page was verified by booting the bundled disk on WebNP2 and running the commands (2026-08-25 / FreeCom 0.85a_DBCS).