This IBM PC XT boots the BASIC-DOS HD Serial Port Demo diskette and runs two independent consoles: an 80x25 console on the Color Display and a serial console on COM1 at 9600 baud, with no parity, eight data bits, and one stop bit. The serial console uses the GENERIC terminal mode for this text pane. The PC XT has no clock to keep the date and time, so this page types DATE and TIME commands with the current date and time at the first prompt.
Click the Serial Display pane to the right of the machine and type a command, such as DIR or PRINT "Hello from COM1". Click the Color Display to use the local console, and try commands such as DIR > COM1 or DIR > AUX. Both consoles share the same hard disk.
Press any key at the boot message (or wait 2 seconds) to start the diskette. Its CONFIG.SYS creates both consoles and launches C:COMMAND.COM for each. Each session starts on the drive named in its SHELL line, so both sessions start on C:. The hard disk supplies programs and files.
REM Local and serial displays, using shells on the hard disk
SHELL=C:COMMAND.COM PATH$="C:\;C:\EXT;C:\DEMOS;C:\SAMPLES;C:\TOOLS\BIN":HELLO.BAT
CON=COM1:9600,N,8,1,GENERIC
SHELL=C:COMMAND.COM PATH$="C:\;C:\EXT;C:\DEMOS;C:\SAMPLES;C:\TOOLS\BIN"
Changes to the hard disk are lost when you leave the page. Use Save HD to download a copy as an IMG file.
Copyright (c) 2020-2026 Jeff Parsons Released under MIT License