Need to boot from portable CDROM

[Etogo]

Im using an old toshiba 3020 and i need to boot from the portable CDROM, can anyone help me with this?
Any help would be greatly apreciated

 

[jexster]

Hmmm im not sure if you can boot from it ive never had a prtable one but if you can it would be in dos in the setup you can choose which way you want your system to boot i.e. a: c: d: or d: c: a:.

 

[Etogo]

Thanks Jexster, but i've already tried that
I went in the BIOS to change the boot order but since it's a portable CDROM, it doesnt appear as a choice.

Thanks anyways

 

[mudskipper]

Sorry to add bad news, but it isn't likely that your system will allow it to happen. Hopefully you find another way to get that system up and running.

 

[jexster]

Although if you got this big nice cd drive you want to use i would just suggest going out and buying another internal cd drive there cheap like $50.00 for a 52x.

 

[Snickle]

The problem with portable parallel-port/USB/Firewire drives is that the operating system [whether DOS or Windows] has to be working before the plug-ins can be found. I have a parallel-port CD, a parallel-port hard drive, and a parallel-port Zip drive that can be accessed from either DOS, Windows, or a boot floppy, but they cannot be booted to by themselves.

 

[ceh4702]

You might try using a DOS DRIVER for the portable and some multiple boot software like system commander. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[dinosnake]

Sorry. Read my answer in General Discussion:

Laptop with external harddrive

The BIOS was never designed to do that (unless you are installing Linux. The Linux install boot disks support PCMCIA CD-ROM boot, but only for the install).

Can you please let us know what you are doing with the CD? Maybe we can help with other possibilities. Your mileage may vary...

 

[dinosnake]

Misspoke. The Linux install boot disk can INSTALL from the PCMCIA CD-ROM, not boot. It still boots from the (install) floppies.

Your mileage may vary...

 

[Guest_imported]

I agree with ceh4702. I had the same machine as you and a PCMCIA CD-ROM. I downloaded DOS drivers for the (Freecom)CDROM and after a bit of messing around with the autoexec.bat and config.sys files I was able to use the CD-ROM to install a new OS - which is what I guess you are trying to do.