Installing CD ROM in DOS

[Xortham431]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some help to install a Sony CD ROM on my system. Long story short, I formatted the C: drive, so I had only the command.com on the C drive. My CD ROM drive is connected to a PCI paddle-board in the first pin connection, and the hard drive is connected to the second.

On boot up, the BIOS recognizes both the CD ROM drive and the hard drive.

However, even after

1. "SYS"-ing the C drive (from 3.5" windows 98 boot disk)
2. copying MSCDEX.EXE to the C:\DOS directory (from 3.5" windows 98 boot disk)
3. installing the driver that I downloaded directly from Sony's website
4. rebooting

my system STILL won't recognize the CD ROM. I've tried this several times, I have the latest and correct drivers, and still I'm having trouble. What could be the problem(s)? Can anyone offer any advice?

If I can provide any other information that may be helpful to answering my question, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

[EzyStvy]

What is your overall goal? Load an OS on the machine???

Does booting off the 98 floppy and selecting CD-Rom support not help?

To get the MSCDEX.EXE to run, you have to insert a command line in the autoexec.bat and or config.sys file to start MSCDEX.EXE....

[Xortham431]

Hi ezy,

Thanks for the quick reply. I believe everything is correct in the autoexec.bat--the installation program for the sony driver automatically added a line (which is currently the only line) in the autoexec.bat file.

The machine I'm working on (obviously not the one I'm typing on now ) is a P3 450 256MB ram--the plan is to solve this cd-rom issue so that I can put gentoo linux on it and turn it into a high powered router.... Should be fun

Another thing: I know the CD-ROM is good because it worked fine to read and write (it's a sony crx230A) in Win98 before I formatted the hard drive (C:\). It is jumpered as a master.

[Lespaul20]

Why do you need DOS running to install Linux?

[glc]

Install your Linux from a bootable CD.

[Xortham431]

Hi guys,

I'm sorry, I don't think I was as clear as I should have been--my CD ROM does not work. The system is having trouble recognizing the CD ROM device.

That's the problem.

The only option I have is to install it in DOS (since I formatted the hard drive) so that I can put linux on the machine with a CD.

[glc]

"My CD ROM does not work" - WHAT doesn't work? The drive itself or the CD you are trying to use? Replace the drive or make a new CD.

Okay, make a BARE bootable floppy in a Win9x machine by typing SYS A: at a dos prompt. Copy the CD driver and MSCDEX to the floppy. For the sake of this tutorial, assume the CD driver is named IDECD.SYS, substitute the exact driver name for that.

Boot to the floppy, and at the A prompt, type:

copy con config.sys (enter)
device=idecd.sys /d:mscd001 (enter)

Then hit ctrl+Z and hit enter.

copy con autoexec.bat (enter)
mscdex /d:mscd001 (enter)

Then hit ctrl+Z and hit enter.

[Lespaul20]

If your CD-Rom is not working, installing drivers isn't going to fix anything. You shouldn't have install DOS to get the Linux installed. If the drive is working you should be able to download the live cd and install from there.

[Xortham431]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses. I'm looking for some help to install a Sony CD ROM on my system. Long story short, I formatted the C: drive, so I had only the command.com on the C drive. My CD ROM drive is connected to a PCI paddle-board in the first pin connection, and the hard drive is connected to the second.

On boot up, the BIOS recognizes both the CD ROM drive and the hard drive.

However, even after

1. "SYS"-ing the C drive (from 3.5" windows 98 boot disk)
2. copying MSCDEX.EXE to the C:\DOS directory (from 3.5" windows 98 boot disk)
3. installing the driver that I downloaded directly from Sony's website
4. rebooting

my system STILL won't recognize the CD ROM. I've tried this several times, I have the latest and correct drivers, and still I'm having trouble.

Another thing: I know the CD-ROM is good because it worked fine to read and write (it's a sony crx230A) in Win98 before I formatted the hard drive (C:\). It is jumpered as a master.

Also, I don't need to make a boot disk. I already have one.

I wasn't asking a gentoo question. I was asking a DOS question. I'm asking how to install a Sony crx230A CD ROM drive using DOS. I can't put gentoo on my machine because I don't have a functioning CD ROM drive.

In addition, I don't even have a gentoo disk. Gentoo isn't even in the picture yet.

Thanks in advance for any information you may be able to provide.

[glc]

It will not be recognized in DOS without both the driver properly referenced in the config.sys and mscdex properly referenced in the autoexec.bat. My tutorial may give you the clues you need to make that happen. If the files are not in the root, full path required (i.e. device=c:\drivers\idecd.sys /d:mscd001 - c:\dos\mscdex /d:mscd001)

[Xortham431]

Hi guys,

In the autoexec.bat file I have one line, which is this:

C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD000 /M:12 /V


In the config.sys file I have one line, which is this:

DEVICE=C:\DEV\ATAPI_CD.SYS /D:MSCD000 /I:0


Both mscdex.exe and atapi_cd.sys are correctly placed in their respective directories. This latter file, atapi_cd.sys is the driver written and provided by Sony itself specifically for my drive, the CRX230A.

Here's the crazy thing: after I ran the install program provided by Sony with the driver, I find I have a file called "eject.com" installed (among other files for the driver) to the root directory. I entered this into the command line, and I got an error saying "mscdex.exe is not installed," even though I have mscdex.exe in the root directory (in addition to having it in the C:\DOS directory).

What thinkest thou?

Thanks in advance. Best.

[edfair]

And what kind of message do you get from ATAPI_CD.SYS when it loads?

Most give you a flash screen that they have found a drive and tell you where it is located. I've generally found that when they don't report a drive it is the fault of the drive.

You say that you are using a 98 boot floppy. What does it do with the drive? That seems to be the best available boot disk for recognizing CD related stuff.

[Xortham431]

Hi guys,

The drive itself worked fine in W98 before I formatted the HD.

The problem has been that I get the dreaded error message "MSCD001 driver not found" when I boot with a bootdisk. When I boot normally, even after having installed Sony's specific drivers for the working drive I have (CRX230A), where the config.sys and autexec.bat files have the pathnames mentioned above, I get an error message saying, "NO DRIVES ARE ATTACHED, OR DRIVES ARE POWERED DOWN. THE DEVICE DRIVER IS NOT INSTALLED." Arg.

The drive itself is jumpered as a master, is plugged in and is no different than it was when W98 was installed.

Also, I'm not using the IDE I/O pin connections on the motherboard. The explanation of the reason for this gets quite hairy, so suffice to say that when I still had W98 on my machine, I had problems with the IDE Bus Controller driver--long story short: the IDE pin connection on the motherboard to which my CD ROM drive was originally connected was not recognized by the machine--neither under windows NOR DOS. Therefore, I did a workaround.

I now have both my HD and CD ROM connected to a promise ultra 66 PCI paddle-board card. The HD was originally in pin slot #1, and the CD ROM was in pin slot #2. This configuration was recognized by W98. However, after reformatting the HD, the CD ROM was not recognized (again........).

I'm planning to try putting the CD back to the IDE I/O pin slot 0 to see if the BIOS recognizes the CD ROM from there, even though I had trouble with it in W98.... I'll post results.....

Thanks a lot for all the responses and suggestions! After spending a month or so working with this machine, I was 2 straws away from taking a sledge hammer to the thing

Thanks and Best.

[edfair]

The driver isn't found becuase it wasn't loaded because it was looking at the wrong IDE controller for the CD.

Can you cripple the controller on the M/B? That may force the BIOS to look to for the secondary controller. Or possibly a jumper to change the Promise to primary.

Do you still have the manual?

[glc]

You would need a DOS driver for the Promise card, loaded in config.sys before the Sony driver loads. Unfortunately, I don't think one exists.

Set the bios to boot from SCSI first and the CD *should* boot attached to the Promise. No guarantees - optical drives and Promise cards are famous for not getting along with each other.

[Xortham431]

Hi guys,

After what glc mentioned it all makes sense

On a hunch, I put the CD ROM cable to the IDE I/O pin slot on the motherboard, and then I put the HD cable pin connection back to the first pin slot on the PCI card. Slap my face and call me stupid because--wonder of wonders--it worked! The CD ROM is now recognized and reads CDs in DOS.

This is the original configuration for the system. I have no idea why gateway (it's a gateway box) decided to build this system such that the CD ROM is connected directly to the motherboard I/O IDE pin slot while the HD is connected to the promise PCI card *instead of* the second IDE pin slot......

The reason I hadn't tried this before is that with this configuration the CD ROM was NOT recognized by w98 because of an IDE bus driver problem. I couldn't get this problem fixed in windows, hence the format of the HD. All this time, I had been working under the assumption that the driver for the IDE bus was bad, corrupted, had a conflict, or who knows what else...... Thus as far as I can see, I had no real reason to assume that the original configuration would work under DOS.

Anyways, thanks for all your help and interest--I really appreciate it. I'm thrilled that it's working now

Now for implementation of phase 2: Linux

Thanks again and best


P.S. Any tips before I get started? I haven't really read much about installing gentoo besides the how-tos on the gentoo site. Somewhere I read that it might be a problem to have DOS on the machine...... Now that the system and CD ROM are in working order, should I format the C: drive again? Just wondering....

[glc]

Here is the exact reason why Gateway did it that way:

The bios on the motherboard has a 32gb hard drive size limitation, and the Intel 440 controller is only ATA 33. They installed the ATA 66 card to bypass both these limitations.

What you NEED to do to make things completely functional is this - connect the opticals to the SECONDARY onboard IDE with a standard 40 wire cable, jumpered master/slave. Connect the hard drives to the card with an 80 wire Ultra ATA cable, jumpered to Cable Select. Go into the system bios and DISABLE the PRIMARY IDE controller, leaving the secondary controller enabled.

The Promise Ultra 66 card has a 64gb hard drive size limitation as shipped, but there is a card bios update available to overcome this.

Another option - and this is the simplest way to do things - is if your hard drive is less than 32gb, remove the Promise card, connect the hard drive to the primary onboard controller and the CD to the secondary controller. Enable both IDE controllers in the bios. If the Promise card is in the system, there will be a resource conflict and the system will not successfully run unless you disable the primary IDE controller. This resource conflict only seems to affect Dell and Gateway systems with Intel 440 LX/BX/EX/ZX chipsets and Phoenix bios.

To install Linux, simply boot with the CD and let it prep the hard drive. I don't see a need to preformat it.