Compiler for IBM PS/2 Model 30 286

Question

I am working on a project that entails developing software for the IBM PS/2 Model 30 286 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_System/2#Models). I am wondering how I might go about compiling programs for this system. I need to be able to render graphics, but I am not sure where to start. Following is a list of ideas of how I might go about doing this. Any thoughts and/or suggestions are welcome.

• Find the source code for a piece of software (ideally a game) that can operate on this machine.
• Decompile an existing program (ideally a game) and pick apart its inner working.
• If I can figure out how to compile C programs, then:
  • Find some documentation on drivers.
  • Figure out whether there is an existing library I can leverage to render graphics.
• If I can find a way to compile programs for this system without having to run a compiler on the system, then:
  • Simulate my program on my PC, then compile my program for the IBM PS/2.

FWIW, I can run DOS on this system. The manual that comes with the computer has no instructions on what program to run for compilation.

Answer 1

DOS did not include a compiler, that's why it's not mentioned in the documentation (though PS/2 did have the ROM BASIC). You had to acquire one separately. There were many options available back then, and a few still exist these days. Here's a couple which are more or less usable IMO:

• DJGPP is a port of GCC to DOS. However, it requires a 80386 so it's not suitable here. It seems there was an attempt to produce a 16-bit port but it was not finished.

• OpenWatcom is a C/C++ compiler which can target 16-bit DOS. You can actually run the tools on your PS/2 box, or cross-compile binaries from Windows or Linux.

• Old versions of Turbo Pascal and Turbo C++ are available from Embarcadero Software Museum. These were very good compilers for their day and included a nice text-mode IDE with integrated interactive debugger.

• Quick Basic was a Basic compiler for DOS from Microsoft. It's available on many abandonware sites but I'm not sure about the legality of using it.

• Microsoft Visual C++ 1.52 was the last version of Visual C++ to support 16-bit DOS and Windows programming, and it's apparently still available for MSDN subscribers.