msdos2elks

msdos2elks rewrites plain DOS .COM and MZ .EXE programs into ELKS-loadable executables. It is a static converter, not a DOS emulator.

The converter is intentionally strict. DOS file, console, keyboard, time, and text-output paths are rewritten to ELKS calls or small compatibility stubs. Raw video memory, ROM BIOS graphics calls, packed executables, archives, installer stubs, TSRs, and arbitrary hardware access are rejected.

Build

./configure
make
make check

Use

./msdos2elks input.com output
./msdos2elks input.exe output

Useful options:

--format=auto|com|exe
--mz-output=auto|aout|os2
--stack=BYTES
--heap=BYTES
--bss=BYTES
--partial
--verbose

Use --partial only for diagnostics. Strict conversion is the normal path and fails when unsupported DOS behavior would remain in the output.

Notes

Inputs must already be unpacked plain DOS binaries. This project contains no compression or decompression support.

Flat-compatible MZ inputs are written as native ELKS a.out. Segmented MZ input can use OS/2 1.x NE output when the target ELKS build supports it.

More detail is in docs/CONVERTING.md, docs/HOW-IT-WORKS.md, and docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md.