Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by Aldipower on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @06:17AM
(#48459071)
A pre-build floppy disk image would be great, so I could run it on my IBM PS/1 from a floppy.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by valleyer on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @06:27AM
(#48459154)
There seems to be an 8 meg image here: https://github.com/luke8086/gentleos32/releases/download/202...
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by ginko on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @06:55AM
(#48459357)
Someone prepare a set of floppy disk images so you can get the proper installation experience.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by RobotToaster on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @08:20AM
(#48460141)
Including the mandatory corruption on the last one.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by Aldipower on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @07:33AM
(#48459721)
This is a hdd image, I guess.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by luke8086 on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @08:24AM
(#48460190)
For PS/1 you'll need the 16-bit version from https://github.com/luke8086/gentleos. A floppy image is provided in releases. Note you only need to copy the first 64KB, the rest is just padding for emulators.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by Aldipower on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @11:02AM
(#48462074)
Ah, even though the 386SX-25 is 32bit in my PS/1? Will try it eventually.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by gunapologist99 on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @11:49AM
(#48462688)
Yes, the CPU is full 32-bits, but the bus in a 386 SX is only 16 bit. Those PS/1's are such a cool piece of computing history!
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by wtallis on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @12:20PM
(#48463141)
The data bus was only 16 bits wide, but that doesn't really have much impact on OS compatibility; it just means that transferring a 32-bit value to or from memory takes two bus clock cycles instead of one. The address bus is only 24 bits wide, but that only affects physical memory address space; it still uses 32-bit pointers and a 32-bit virtual address space.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by luke8086 on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @01:12PM
(#48464061)
Oh sorry, a quick google check told me PS/1 had 286. 386SX itself should be supported, the monochrome Toshiba on the photo has 386SX/20 with 10MB RAM.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by Aldipower on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @03:48PM
(#48466660)
Anyway, I tried the 16bit version, and it works like a charm!! Thank you.
Here's a video of the boot, I've just made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fSsTa8Oc48
Although, the floppy light does not turn off. Not sure, if this a problem with the OS or my hardware.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by Aldipower on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @09:04AM
(#48460607)
Ok, I built the floppy image now. dd'ed it on a floppy and powered my IBM PS/1 up. Despite some nasty sounds of the HDD bearings that went away after 30 seconds, the floppy does not boot on this machine. Just a black screen. 386SX-25 2MB RAM. Maybe 2MB RAM too less, but I thought at least something will happen. :-)
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by luke8086 on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @01:06PM
(#48463949)
Even on 2MB, you should be able to at least see GRUB, which would tell you that it can't load the kernel. Does it go blank before that? This could mean an issue with either GRUB or the floppy.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by Aldipower on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @04:15PM
(#48467051)
Yes, it goes blank before GRUB and after 2MB count-up. I ruled out a defective floppy too. I suspect GRUB?
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by luke8086 on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @05:35PM
(#48468083)
Yep, possibly.
In case you have DOS installed on the hard drive, you can also use GRUB4DOS [1] - just put gentleos.elf on C:\, run grub.exe, then `kernel /gentleos.elf`. You may first need to comment out any upper memory managers from config.sys. A bit of an academic exercise since the kernel still won't fit into memory.
Btw. feel free to reach out to me on my profile email. I'll be busy with work for the rest of the week, but later I may look for some workarounds to get it running on 2 megs.
Re:GentleOS – Classic operating system with a lovely retro GUI
by sillywalk on Tuesday June 09, 2026 @12:24PM
(#48463218)
I'm curious what model of PS/1? My first PC was a PS/1 model 2011, with a 286@10Mhz.
Also, there's an emulator for PS/1 machines at https://www.ibmulator.org/