How to create and boot freedos (from: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/QEMU/FreeDOS):

1) Create the harddrive image:
  # qemu-img create -f raw ~/freedos.img 100M

2) Boot from the cd and install freedos:
  # qemu -rtc base=localtime ~/freedos.img -cdrom /share/freedos/fdbasecd.iso -boot d

  At the FreeDOS 1.0 Final CD prompt:
    1) Press Enter
    2) Select "Install to harddisk using FreeDos Setup"
    3) Select desired language
    4) Select "Prepare the harddisk for FreeDOS 1.0 FInal by running XFdisk"
    5) Partition the free space:
      a) "New Partition -> Primary Partition..."
      b) Enter in "100"
      c) Select "Yes" when asked whether or not you want to initialize the Partition Area
      d) Select "No" when asked to initialize the whole partition
      e) Install Bootmanager
      f) Press F3 to quit and say "Yes" when asked if you want to write to the Partition Table
      g) Say "Yes" to restart
    6) Once again, you should be at the FreeDOS 1.0 Final CD prompt, press Enter here
    7) Select "Install to harddisk using FreeDos Setup"
    8) Select desired language
    9) Select "Yes" when prompted to format your harddisk
    10) Type "Yes" and press enter to proceed with format
    11) Select "1) Continue with FreeDOS installation"
    12) Select "1) Start installation of FreeDOS 1.0 Final"
    13) Press any key to continue when asked until it asks "Where are the install files?"
      a) Press Enter
      b) Select "yes" and press Enter when asked "Are above directories correct?"
      c) Use the down arrow key until "DONE" is highlighted like: <DONE>
      d) Press Enter
      e) Select "yes" and press Enter when asked "Proceed with installation?"
      f) Follow the "Press any key to continue" when prompted
      g) Wait for system to reboot

3) Boot the system normally:
  # qemu -rtc base=localtime ~/freedos.img


Note: if you want to transfer files to the image:
  # mkdir -p /mnt/freedos
  # mount -o loop,offset=32256 ~/freedos.img /mnt/freedos
  # cp oldgames /mnt/freedos
  # umount /mnt/freedos

