dosgate v.1.0, a Linux+dosemu interface to dos-based screen readers.
This is the first release of dosgate, a program to recreate in a dosemu session
every i/o event that would occur during normal linux console routine. This is
useful to use every dos screen reader that works under dosemu as a Linux screen
reader.
Note that if your braille display is supported by the excellent BRLTTY you'd
best give it a try: it will surely give you more power and less problems.
dosgate consists of a dos program and the Linux 'vkeyboard' kernel module, both
licensed under the GNU Public License.
I tried to put up a little script to automate installation in some way: to use
it, follow these instructions:
- Prepare a dos boot floppy with your screen reader software
- Put in that floppy a batch file named 'reader.bat' that starts your screen
reader
- Insert the floppy in your floppy drive
- Run ./install
[floppy device], where is the directory when I can
put everything is needed to start dosgate and [floppy device] is the device
where install can find your floppy (if omitted it defaults to /dev/fd0)
- Hope, pray, cross your fingers, smoke a joint, do whatever your religion
suggests you to bring luck
- Change into and run ./dosgate
Note that this script is intended to be more something to read to know how to
get things done than something to run to get things done.
I need help here! I do not know how to run parallel port screen readers under
dosemu, nether how to automatically setup devices on ports greather than
/dev/ttyS1 (like dos COM3 and COM4)!
I just tested everything with a TSI Navigator on COM1, so it might not work out
of the box for you.
If you incurr in any problem, have suggestion or want to help, feel free to
contact me by e-mail at zinie@cs.unibo.it. Any help is really appreciated.
Good Linux screen reading! Enrico
P.S.
The dos executable is compiled from the included sources using an old Borland
Turbo C.
Thanks goes to:
Nicolas Pitre, nearly a co-author
Vainer Broccoli, for the need that gave me the idea
Leo Cerreta, for lending me a braille display
Andrea Arcangeli, for help on vkeyboard
Leonardo Serni, for help on dos deep hacking
Riccardo Sisti, for answering questions about screen readers
Mauro Fontana, for help on dos programming
...and more I probably forgot.