Yes. Their BIOS isn't "broken", but it's certainly *much* different. They weren't trying to build a PC clone. Definitely not PC-DOS. And there isn't really such a think as "generic MS-DOS", except in the sense that Microsoft sold MS-DOS adaptation kits to OEMs. What shipped to customers was always specific to a particular kind of computer. So MS-DOS 1.25 for the Sanyo is NOT the same as MS-DOS 1.25 for an HP 150, Tandy 2000, or Heath/Zenith Z-100. Of course, by the late 1980s most everyone had given up on making x86-based machines that were not PC-compatible.

Whether or not THAT says that it will work, be aware that MS-DOS 1.25 is an OEMed version, and each and every company that built a computer that used it had a mutually incompatible version of it. SANYO MS-DOS 1.25 would certainly work. Morrow MS-DOS 1.25 won't, etc. A statement that "MS-DOS 1.25 will work" is so incomplete as to be FALSE, even though there exists a single true instance. Thus, it is as valid a statement as "Honda 600s can use Michelin tires" being interpreted to mean that because I have a michelin tire, it will fit a Honda 600 (not ALL Michelin tires are 145x10!). MANY versions were close enough that they would at least partially work, but not all. The Sanyo was an especially weird one, particularly things such as MODE.COM. Once you find a version of MS-DOS that works with it, then "well behaved" MS-DOS programs will work. Note: that does not include any real world software. Programs with well documented customization (such as PC-Write) can be easily reconfigured for it. The versions of MS-DOS with the most "customization" for "non-standard" hardware were: 1.25, 2.11, 3.31 (ALL of those have characteristics that are not present in any corresponding version of PC-DOS) By MS-DOS 5.00, customization for "non-standard" hardware was no longer supported. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com

Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote: Anyone tried FreeDOS on these sort of "semi-PC-compatable" systems? If you felt ambitious (and can program, which I can't), you could probably tweak the OS for your particular configuration. Maybe even submit patches back for others to custom-compile FreeDOS kernels for their own systems.