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CD-ROM installation 1
- Thread starter GregK
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Good question. I try to boot up with the installation cd in place but there is no response. Then I boot up with a start up floppy but which of course it boots to dos but I am unable connect to the d:. What do think? Now remember. I am still in the learning process. Be gentle.
Alright... Now, the boot disk you are using, does that have the CDRom drivers loading in Config.sys and MSCDEX.exe loading in autoexec.bat? Let me know if you'd like me to get into a little more detail about this, I'd be happy to.<br>
<br>
Some systems, especially older systems, do not allow booting from the CDROM. If you go into the BIOS, there should be a section for Boot Order -- make sure the CDROM is before the Hard Drive (if you don't have CDROM as an option, unfortunately you cannot boot to the CDROM and must use the floppies).<br>
<br>
Also, what operating system are you trying to load?<br>
<br>
When you boot the computer and it does the RAM count and detects the Hard Drive(s), it should also detect and display the CDROM, are you seeing the CDROM there?<br>
<br>
When you say there is no response from the CDROM with the Installation CD, when you boot - does the CDROM spin and appear to be trying to access the CDROM, just fails to read it? I have seen systems that say they can boot to the CDROM, but actually do not.<br>
<br>
Your best bet is to get the Boot Floppy going with the CDROM drivers. If you have a Windows 98 machine up and running you can create a boot disk with the CD drivers on it from within Add/Remove Programs. Else I can walk you through creating a CDROM boot disk from scratch.<br>
<br>
<br>
Some systems, especially older systems, do not allow booting from the CDROM. If you go into the BIOS, there should be a section for Boot Order -- make sure the CDROM is before the Hard Drive (if you don't have CDROM as an option, unfortunately you cannot boot to the CDROM and must use the floppies).<br>
<br>
Also, what operating system are you trying to load?<br>
<br>
When you boot the computer and it does the RAM count and detects the Hard Drive(s), it should also detect and display the CDROM, are you seeing the CDROM there?<br>
<br>
When you say there is no response from the CDROM with the Installation CD, when you boot - does the CDROM spin and appear to be trying to access the CDROM, just fails to read it? I have seen systems that say they can boot to the CDROM, but actually do not.<br>
<br>
Your best bet is to get the Boot Floppy going with the CDROM drivers. If you have a Windows 98 machine up and running you can create a boot disk with the CD drivers on it from within Add/Remove Programs. Else I can walk you through creating a CDROM boot disk from scratch.<br>
<br>
- Thread starter
- #5
Making a CDROM boot disk isn't all that difficult... Let me first apologize if you are more knowledgable than I am giving you credit for, my explanation is going to be the very simplest there could be...<br>
<br>
<b>1.</b> Create a bootable floppy -- from a DOS prompt do format a: /s (the /s is going to copy io.sys, msdos.sys and command.com, these are the only files you definately need in order to boot to DOS, the rest are optional...)<br>
<b>2.</b> Copy mscdex.exe to the floppy disk (usually located in c:\windows\command or c:\dos if you have DOS on the computer)<br>
<b>3.</b> This is where it can get a little tricky -- you need to find out the device driver that your CDROM uses. If you got a new CDROM, you should be in luck, look for a .SYS file on the CD (probably in the root directory or a DOS directory on the disk -- if all else fails and there is a setup file for the CDROM, backup your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, run the setup and compare the two files for changes, this will give you the name of the device driver in the CONFIG.SYS file.) once you have found this .SYS file, copy it to the floppy also. Now the bad part, if you do not have the install disk.... There are some generic CDROM install files out there, one I use all the time and it works nearly all the time is a file called VIDE-CDD.SYS. This is a very generic driver to get an IDE CDROM going.<br>
<b>4.</b> Copy HIMEM.SYS from c:\windows (or DOS) to the floppy. Not required, but speeds things up a little...<br>
<b>5.</b> Edit a:\config.sys<br>
device=a:\himem.sys<br>
files=150<br>
buffers=99<br>
dos=high,umb<br>
device=a:\vide-cdd.sys /d:cd001<br>
<b>6.</b> Edit a:\autoexec.bat<br>
@echo off<br>
prompt $p$g<br>
a:\mscdex.exe /d:cd001<br>
<br>
Explanation of those two files:<br>
<b>Config.sys</b><br>
<i>files and buffers</i>-- basically just setup the number of files that can be open at a time by DOS - not actual programs, but things like system calls, copying files, etc.<br>
<i>dos=high,umb</i> put DOS in upper memory - frees up some of the base memory - a little spedd increase also.<br>
<i>device=a:\vide-cdd.sys /d:cd001</i> - this is where you load the CDROM device driver (obviously insert you device driver name instead of vide-cdd...). the /d: is the name of the CDROM used between config and autoexec - this MUST, MUST, MUST be the same between the two files, however you can call it absolutely anything you'd like (a lot of times you'll see it as MSCD001), although a word of caution I have seen it not like really short names, so I usually just call it CD001 (don't ask me why, just something that I have seen.)<br>
<b>Autoexec.bat</b><br>
<i>@echo off</i> -- does not print the names and commands to the screen as they are executed, just shows the result. If you are having problems with a batch file running and you are getting errors but don't know the source, you can remove this line and see the command lines as they are executed with the results right below it. Its just a personal preferance that I don't like seeing the commands as they are executed, just the results. It is definately not required.<br>
<i>prompt $p$g</i> -- this is actually a carry over from the older DOS days, this specified the prompt you saw in DOS (ie C:\> was not the default way to see the prompt, without that statement you'd only see C> and not know what directory you were in) I don't think it is required any longer if you use Win9x to format your floppies. I usually just put it in as habit.)<br>
<i>mscdex.exe /d:cd001</i> -- this is where DOS assigns a drive letter to the CDROM. You need both the device= in CONFIG.SYS and the mscdex in AUTOEXEC, both having the /d:<name> and the SAME NAME. (this is usually the most forgotten thing and cause of a lot of pain and heartache, that's why I stress it so much...)<br>
<br>
Hope this helps,<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
<b>1.</b> Create a bootable floppy -- from a DOS prompt do format a: /s (the /s is going to copy io.sys, msdos.sys and command.com, these are the only files you definately need in order to boot to DOS, the rest are optional...)<br>
<b>2.</b> Copy mscdex.exe to the floppy disk (usually located in c:\windows\command or c:\dos if you have DOS on the computer)<br>
<b>3.</b> This is where it can get a little tricky -- you need to find out the device driver that your CDROM uses. If you got a new CDROM, you should be in luck, look for a .SYS file on the CD (probably in the root directory or a DOS directory on the disk -- if all else fails and there is a setup file for the CDROM, backup your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, run the setup and compare the two files for changes, this will give you the name of the device driver in the CONFIG.SYS file.) once you have found this .SYS file, copy it to the floppy also. Now the bad part, if you do not have the install disk.... There are some generic CDROM install files out there, one I use all the time and it works nearly all the time is a file called VIDE-CDD.SYS. This is a very generic driver to get an IDE CDROM going.<br>
<b>4.</b> Copy HIMEM.SYS from c:\windows (or DOS) to the floppy. Not required, but speeds things up a little...<br>
<b>5.</b> Edit a:\config.sys<br>
device=a:\himem.sys<br>
files=150<br>
buffers=99<br>
dos=high,umb<br>
device=a:\vide-cdd.sys /d:cd001<br>
<b>6.</b> Edit a:\autoexec.bat<br>
@echo off<br>
prompt $p$g<br>
a:\mscdex.exe /d:cd001<br>
<br>
Explanation of those two files:<br>
<b>Config.sys</b><br>
<i>files and buffers</i>-- basically just setup the number of files that can be open at a time by DOS - not actual programs, but things like system calls, copying files, etc.<br>
<i>dos=high,umb</i> put DOS in upper memory - frees up some of the base memory - a little spedd increase also.<br>
<i>device=a:\vide-cdd.sys /d:cd001</i> - this is where you load the CDROM device driver (obviously insert you device driver name instead of vide-cdd...). the /d: is the name of the CDROM used between config and autoexec - this MUST, MUST, MUST be the same between the two files, however you can call it absolutely anything you'd like (a lot of times you'll see it as MSCD001), although a word of caution I have seen it not like really short names, so I usually just call it CD001 (don't ask me why, just something that I have seen.)<br>
<b>Autoexec.bat</b><br>
<i>@echo off</i> -- does not print the names and commands to the screen as they are executed, just shows the result. If you are having problems with a batch file running and you are getting errors but don't know the source, you can remove this line and see the command lines as they are executed with the results right below it. Its just a personal preferance that I don't like seeing the commands as they are executed, just the results. It is definately not required.<br>
<i>prompt $p$g</i> -- this is actually a carry over from the older DOS days, this specified the prompt you saw in DOS (ie C:\> was not the default way to see the prompt, without that statement you'd only see C> and not know what directory you were in) I don't think it is required any longer if you use Win9x to format your floppies. I usually just put it in as habit.)<br>
<i>mscdex.exe /d:cd001</i> -- this is where DOS assigns a drive letter to the CDROM. You need both the device= in CONFIG.SYS and the mscdex in AUTOEXEC, both having the /d:<name> and the SAME NAME. (this is usually the most forgotten thing and cause of a lot of pain and heartache, that's why I stress it so much...)<br>
<br>
Hope this helps,<br>
Paul<br>
Easier way to find your CD-ROM driver on the Hard Drive....check your c:\config.sys file....it'll be referenced in there for you 
<p>-Robherc<br><a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a><br><a href= > </a><br>*nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't
<p>-Robherc<br><a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a><br><a href= > </a><br>*nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't Yes; that <i>is</i> unfortunate...has he put anything on it....maybe he could unformat.<br>
<br>
My idea was just for his future reference mainly (to go along with your last post prev. to mine). <p>-Robherc<br><a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a><br><a href= > </a><br>*nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't
<br>
My idea was just for his future reference mainly (to go along with your last post prev. to mine). <p>-Robherc<br><a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a><br><a href= > </a><br>*nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't
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