Hi Richard,
The dos .exe's are in .zip form, which may be why you didn't find 'em.
http://www.nasm.us/pub/nasm/releasebuilds/2.10rc8/dos/You're right, the only actual .exe we've got is the Windows installer. I don't know if it still works on Win98. Used to. AFAIK, I created the first ever installer for Windows (98) - outfit called "NSIS", in a directory called "free sh!t", had a script/program to create an installer. I did it as a "joke" really - doesn't take a lot of "installing" really, compared to other programs - but I figured "make sure they've got the manual with it". As I recall, I made it so it opened the manual at the end, whether you asked for it or not, in the default browser - Netscape or "Exploder". But that was a long time ago...
I don't know what the problem could be with OW. I don't think the difference between 1.7 and 1.9 should do it, but it might. I think Peter uses Watcom on Linux to build the dos targets, so it must be possible, but maybe not what you or I would call "easy"...
My latest experience with OpenWatcom was trying to build 16-bit targets - not actually for dos, but for a "homemade OS". I don't recall that the install went well, and as you say... a cascade of "not defined"s... I think I started adding "dummy" variables to get rid of it, but I don't think I ever got it to work.
I've got a FreeDos partition, but I rarely boot to it. I "remember dos fondly", but when I actually boot to it, I'm anxious to get back to Linux. Wasn't always that way. When I first installed Linux, I'd run it for a while and then want to get back to something "familiar". Eventually I made the transition. At one point, I needed drive space and realized that I never booted Windows anymore, so I wiped it out and installed Linux on that drive, too.
Someday when I'm "in the mood" I can boot FreeDos and experiment, but I don't have my "preferred tools" installed and it would take me a while to get "comfortable" with it. No internet access - can't find a driver that wants to work with my card - and no access to Linux files, so it's a PITA. I'm not highly motivated to "go back", but Nasm is "supposed to work" and if there are problems, I'd like to find out why. Don't hold your breath!
Best,
Frank
P.S. Just saw your latest post. As you say... "Never mind"...