I received several requests on how to set up Windows 1 on the Rainbow-100 B, so let me share some info.First, it seems that DEC Windows for the Rainbow was never offically endorsed / released and the main SETUP is missing from all archives. The whole thing looks like a hard-wired, runtime version of Windows.
We haven't figured out how to connect a serial mouse (neither with 1.03 nor with the older version floating around). This is consistent with the Rainbow FAQ. There could be a dongle involved.I believe it was on port #1 (not the crippled serial printer port) and hardware handshake is necessary (-> FDXB mode in SET UP).
The keyboard [cursor keys + Enter] may be used to move the mouse, but that's not really pleasant...
Windows 1.03 -for DEC Rainbow- had the serial Microsoft Mouse hard coded in the main executable (the 2-button version).
The older Windows release 1.02 (or was it 1.01...?) had an unemulated, proprietary 'DEC serial mouse' built-in [basically a reprogrammed Logitech C-7 mouse].
Mouse drivers from older archives are PC-specific and thus useless (dissamblies show Windows *.DRV files poke PC - I/O ranges not valid on the Rainbow).Here are some hints to get Windows working - somehow
You'll need a hard disk loaded with MS-DOS 3.1x from Suitable Solutions (think so) and the 7220 Color Graphics Expansion (i don't have), as well as >= 128 K RAM (more is better).
The 7220 Graphics Card can be enabled via DIP switches in emulation. You'll have to choose one of the 'side-by-side' configurations in 'video options' (so you'll see 2 screens, one for text, one for graphics).
1) Bsdimp put up a repository of a 'cleaned' version (version 1.03
minus useless *.DRV driver files):
https://github.com/bsdimp/rainbow100/tree/master/decwinDecompress the files on a DEC hard disk to folder C:\WINDOWS. Hard disk must be enabled before boot.
2) start the game 'pacman.zip' (and quit / F10) ... before you start Windows 1.
This is an unresolved initialization bug in our graphics card emulation Link:
http://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/pub/mirror/os2site/sw/dec/rainbow/msdos/games/pacman.zipOtherwise a blank screen appears with unresponsive controls.
AJR fixed the serial interface (in MAME/MESS >= 0.196) after my Windows experiments - so things might have improved (from an emulation perspective).
I tried to debug the case without success, so i'd be really happy if someone figures out what inhibits the first Windows start (see 2) or how to exactly set up a mouse.
[Bavarese]
P.S.: an updated introductory PDF (-> covers non-obvious steps like the complicated MS-DOS 3.x setup):Dropbox link: First steps with the DEC Rainbow 100-B (April 2018 edition)[April 2018 edition]Windows 1.x + 2.x Appshttp://toastytech.com/guis/win1x2x.htmlPC-centric history about Windows 1 (Premiere Edition)
https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-10/final
