Swiching from MASM 6.1 (windows 3.1) to MASM 32 today

[WayneSallee]

I am at this moment downloading MASM 32.

I am getting tired of having to run win 3.1 on this computer to write code.

Can I easily open a asm file that was written with Masm 6.1, and simply start up where I left off?

Well I jsut finished downloading it and installing it. That old old version installs beter than this one.

I'm going back to windows 3.1

It won't let you install where you want it. It just installs in the root drive, I get a test.exe error, and it won't assemle my asm file. It just says it can't find my.asm

Stupid software

Anyone know how to fix it so that I don't have to keep going back to windows 3.1 ?

I tryed reinstalling it, but no luck.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

[hutch--]

Wayne,

It depends on what you are interested in writing, the masm32 project is purely a 32 bit project and does not support 16 bit DOS code at all. If you get an old OMF linker from Microsoft you can use ML 6.14 through windows and use the old linker to build dos EXE and COM files and this works fine through win9x but not so well under win2k/zp.

[MichaelW]

Hi Wayne,

I use the MASM32 package for Windows code, but I still do a fair amount to 16-bit DOS code, often working with code that I originally developed with MASM 5.1.

I install the MASM32 package directly off the root directory of drive C, add a subdirectory named My to the MASM32 directory, and place each of my projects in a separate subdirectory in My. I don't care for conventional IDEs, so I use (and really like) the MASM32 Quick Editor. I create a Quick Editor shortcut on my desktop, and specify the start-in folder as "c:\masm32\my". I also add a "c:\masm32\my" shortcut to my desktop. The MASM32 package does not alter your environment (or the Windows registry) by design, and I view this as a good feature. I avoid dependence on any specific environment settings because I have in the past wasted too much time wrestling with multiple tools that required mutually exclusive settings. The templates provided by Quick Editor have include statements that specify the full path, as do the batch files that Quick Editor uses, so even though the current directory is a project directory in My, there is no problem with finding the MASM32 components.

For 16-bit DOS code, I create a folder on my desktop and copy ML.EXE, ML.ERR, and a 16-bit linker to it. I have all of the source file extensions that I use associated with the editor that I use for everything other than MASM32 ( SciTE). I temporarily place whatever source files I am working with in the folder, edit them there, and use batch files to assemble and link.

hth

[Vortex]

Hi Wayne,

Welcome to the forum.

Would you mind if I ask you why you insist on Win 3.1? The segmented architecture of the old 16-bit systems is making difficult coding where you need to deal with all those far calls. You will feel much more comfortable yourself with the 32-bit flat model system.

[WayneSallee]

Im just wanting to quickly and smoothly finish writting the current asm file, and testing it, in windows xp, but the sofware would not work, so I had to go back to win 3.1

On my computer I have win xp, win 98, and win 31.

Is there a way to get the old MASM software to work in win xp? The old masm software wont assemble the code. it thinks that it is, but it does not run nmake.

Maybe it's just me getting used to something new, but the new masm seems cheasyer than the old.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets
Wayne@WaynesPets.com

Hi Wayne,

Welcome to the forum.

Would you mind if I ask you why you insist on Win 3.1? The segmented architecture of the old 16-bit systems is making difficult coding where you need to deal with all those far calls. You will feel much more comfortable yourself with the 32-bit flat model system.

[WayneSallee]

How can I do that?

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

Wayne,

It depends on what you are interested in writing, the masm32 project is purely a 32 bit project and does not support 16 bit DOS code at all. If you get an old OMF linker from Microsoft you can use ML 6.14 through windows and use the old linker to build dos EXE and COM files and this works fine through win9x but not so well under win2k/zp.

[Vortex]

Hi Wayne,

Here is the 16-bit DOS linker:

http://www.website.masmforum.com/microsoft/Lnk563.exe

[AeroASM]

If the make process is not working, you could try doing it command line manually to see if it is a batch file problem or something else.

For a Win32 EXE:

ml /c /coff thefile.asm
link /subsystem:windows thefile.obj

For a DOS EXE:

ml /c /omf thefile.asm
link563 thefile.obj

[WayneSallee]

Can MASM 61 be made to work in windows xp?

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

[AeroASM]

Yes. just use it like normal and it will work.

[WayneSallee]

Yes. just use it like normal and it will work.

Do you use masm 61 on win xp?

It wont' work for me. The only thing that it will do is edit the asm file. It will not assemble the code or check for errors. When I tell it to asemble the code, it syas done with 0 errors, but actualy does nothing.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

[Vortex]

Hi Wayne,

For your information, ml.exe V6.14 / 6.15 is fine for 16-bit coding.

[AeroASM]

The only thing MASM can do is assemble files. (how it managed to edit one is beyond me).

Like I said before, go the the command line and assemble it manually.

[tenkey]

Do you use masm 61 on win xp?

It wont' work for me. The only thing that it will do is edit the asm file. It will not assemble the code or check for errors. When I tell it to asemble the code, it syas done with 0 errors, but actualy does nothing.

What are the command lines you are using?

If we can verify the command lines are correct, we might want to look at environment variables. If you have installed MASM32, you may need to modify the environment variables.

Another thing to check or do...create a copy of the Command Prompt shortcut in your source file directory. In the Properties of the new shortcut, from the Shortcut tab, set "Start in" directory to blank. Use this new shortcut. All relative file paths will be based from the source directory.