Notes on RDC:

Remote Dos Console (RDC) is a utility which allows you to access the
DOS console from another PC using either a serial or parallel connection.
Its primary purpose is to provide a small/simple means to transfer files
to and from a "bare" PC booted from a DOS diskette, and to perform these
and other operations from a single location (the client PC).

Remote Dos Console - Dave Dunfield - Jan 06 2011

Use:    RDC SERVER      [C= | P=]
        RDC CLIENT      [C= | P=]
        RDC GET file    [B=]
        RDC PUT file    [B=]

opts:   C=1-4[,speed]   - specify Com port      [none,115200]
        P=1-3|addr      - specify Parallel port [none]
        B=128-2048      - specify Blocksize     [1024]


RDC can communicate over a serial or parallel port.

The required serial port connection are:

    2-3 , 3-2    (RXD <> TXD)
    5-5          (DB9  only! .. Ground)
    7-7          (DB25 only! .. Ground)

The required parallel port connections are:

   2-15 , 15-2   (D0 <> ERROR)
   3-13 , 13-3   (D1 <> SLCT)
   4-12 , 12-4   (D2 <> PE)
   5-10 , 10-5   (D3 <> ACK)
   6-11 , 11-6   (D4 <> BUSY)
  25-25          (Ground)


RDC operates in two parts - the SERVER which runs on the PC to be
controlled, and the CLIENT which runs on the PC from which you are
accessing the remote console.

The SERVER PC still responds to it's local keyboard and display,
allowing you to control it from either location.

The SERVER loads into memory and then spawns a COMMAND.COM shell.
To terminate the SERVER, simply use the EXIT command to terminate
the instance of COMMAND.COM running beneath it.

When running under the SERVER, you can use 'RDC PUT file' and
'RDC GET file' to transfer a file to/from the SERVER and CLIENT.

The CLIENT presents a 24x80 TTY screen and a status line. To exit
the CLIENT, press both SHIFT keys at the same time.

RDC hooks INT 10h(0Ah,0Eh,10H) for output, and INT 16h (00h,01h,10h,11h)
for output at the lowest level excepting direct video memory access.
This allows most command line utilities to be executed with no problems.
It does NOT support attributes, cursor positioning, or direct RAM access
- programs which use these features, including "enhanced output" drivers
such as ANSI.SYS will NOT display correctly at the RDC client, although
in most cases, you will see the correct output on the SERVER display.

RDC and windows:

RDC is a 16-bit DOS program and will NOT run under 64-bit windows.

RDC uses DOS compatible directly accessable serial and parallel
ports - USB ports and other non-standard devices will not work.

Windows versions >9x poll/access the parallel port at any time,
preventing it's use by other programs such as RDC.

The RDC SERVER runs to some extent under most versions of windows,
although some versions of windows have internal "ANSI.SYS" drivers
and the output will not display correctly on the client (You can
still see it on the SERVER display).

I've tested the RDC client under Win9X, Win2K and WinXP and it works.
Note that Win2K and WinXP have poor DOS serial port emulation which
loses data at higher speeds. You may need to select a lower COM speed
and a smaller transfer buffer. For best results under WinXP, configure
a DOS shortcut to open FULL SCREEN, and never let it go "windowed".

