Kithara DOS Enabler

Finally: 16-bit applications in real time on 32/64-bit Windows!

Kithara DOS Enabler allows hardware-dependent DOS programs to directly access PC hardware. Further information on how to program hardware-dependent and time-critical 32-bit or 64-bit applications can be found in the section Kithara RealTime Suite.

As it used to be, but much faster

Kithara DOS Enabler provides its own DOS system (with FreeDOS) and natively runs the 16-bit application on a dedicated CPU core. Thanks to avoiding any Windows influence, even time-critical applications are possible this way. Program execution, including hardware access to IO registers and physical memory as well as interrupt handling, all happen in real time.

Features of Kithara DOS Enabler

  • Usage of a separate CPU core without being interrupted by the Windows multi-tasking
  • Full allocation of processing power to the DOS program, so that time-critical routines run without restriction
  • Direct and undelayed access to physical I/O registers
  • Direct access to physical memory between C000:0000 and E000:FFFF
  • Handling of hardware interrupts
  • 16-bit applications are executable under Windows (32-Bit/64-bit)
  • No virtualization environment necessary!
  • COM ports can be redirected, e. g. to USB ports, PCMCIA cards, PCI boards, virtual COM ports
  • Intelligent buffering for avoiding loss of data
  • DOS applications are able to access separate drives such as USB sticks (FAT and FAT 32 are supported)
  • new command line option allows for the automatic startup of the DOS Enabler including a DOS program, e. g. for the starting via desktop icon or autorun registry entry
  • on the DOS side a batch can be used to close the DOS Enabler or to shut down the PC
  • 4 MB extended memory can be used
  • support of ISA-BUS devices
  • improved keycode translation

 

Technical Requirements

The following requirements must be met to run Kithara DOS Enabler:

  • Operating system Windows 10 and 11 (32 bit and 64 bit) as well as Windows Server 2016, 2019 and 2022
  • appr. 600 MB free space on hard disk
  • minimum quad-core processor
  • Single-core PCs are not supported

For questions regarding technical support please consult us!

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