x86/DOS system backup via rs232?

I meant for the livecd to be on the usually-running-DOS machine. But see below. Of course, if you have the ability to add hardware, you might be able to pop an Ethernet in to the machine. But you specified serial.... Yes, if it's _that_ old, it may be difficult to find a livecd that will run. Perhaps minix? It also might be worth investigating to see if any of the [xyz]modem implementations would be willing to read directly from a disk. At 9600, assuming no loss to framing, error detection/correction, and the like, my arithmetic says 20MB should take a little over 6 hours. True enough. However, I _think_ some old Sun and MicroVAX machines play in that space; I've seen Qbus hardware that talks to drives with card-edge connectors and I've seen SCSI-to-cardedge interfaces on Suns of Sun-3/260 vintage. I don't know the details of ST506, ESDI, and all that, but it strikes me as at least _possible_ that something in that line might be able to help. /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B