Making a bootable dos 6.22 cd

To make a bootable CD you have two options: one to make a bootable partition on your hard disk that is small enough to fit on a CD, and use that as the source for the bootable CD, or the simpler method is to make a bootable floppy, and use the 'pretend to be drive A' mode of bootable CD's.  Then you put the other programs/data you want access to in a second session on the CD.

Using the second (floppy) method is easier, but there are a few tricks... namely you need to install dos drivers for your CD drive, and MS-DOS CD Extentions (MSCDEX.EXE) in the floppy image to enable access to you CD drive.

If you have SCSI CD drives, then you need the DOS SCSI drivers and SCSI CD drivers as well as MSCDEX.

Get the dos drivers for your CD drive.
copy them to a bootable floppy (one prepared with sys a: command, or formatted to be bootable from win 98/95 etc. )
copy MSCDEX.EXE from c:\windows\ or c:\msdos to the floppy.

Copy high memory drivers to allow maximum memorymanagement: himem.sys and emm386.exe, and the smartdrv.exe cache as well so that cd/hdd access is reasonable speed.

create a text file on the floppy called config.sys
in this file put the lines

dos=high,umb
device=emm386.exe noems
device=himem.sys
devicehigh=oakcdrom.sys /d:mscd001

(the oakcdrom line is the cdrom driver - this line will be different depending on the driver file available from the manufacturer of your cd - it is a pretty standard IDE driver though. the /d:mscd001 is almost universal: it is assigning the name 'MSCD001' to the CDROM device, which is needed later for MSCDEX.exe  read on)

Create another text file called autoexec.bat with the lines

lh mscdex.exe /d:mscd001 /l:m
lh smartdrv.exe

(the /l:m assigns the drive letter M to the cd drive with the device name MSCD001 - handy to keep the letter well away from the lower end)

Test out the boot process from the floppy to see that it works for you, then if it is all ok, use your CD burning software to make a bootable CD, and use the floppy as the source image.  Nero makes this easy, Adaptec software is a little more cryptic, but consult your online help to find out how to do this.

Add other programs etc into the CD layout.  You will be able to access them on drive M: after booting with the CD.

Make sure you bios is set up to boot from a CD drive if available when testing it out.

Good luck

Pete

Hi,
As you ask, my investigation is about making a bootable cd for installing MSDOS 6.22 exactly as the diskettes do. My interest is making a cd with all the files of MSDOS and install the operating system into a hard disk exactly as if we were doing it by diskettes. As you say, "Booting with a CD to install MSDOS 6.22". Thats what I want to do.
I have Nero burner version 5.5.8.0 and its great, the best I think. I know that we first have to make a bootable diskette to make an image. So I use the first diskette of MSDOS and Nero makes the image. Then I pass the rest of the files of the next two diskettes and burn them. Then I reboot and MSDOS starts installing normally as if they were diskettes. In a moment it asks me about the second diskette. There is my problem. Where can I correct this so it install smoothly all the way? Do I have to make some changes in some files of the first diskette in order to MSDOS goes right down and finishes successfully the installation?
Thats where I need your help.
Thanks,


Carlos.

The problem that you are having is when you create the bootable disk using disk one that disk is now your boot drive.  When you just "burn" the other disks using nero it puts them on the CD drive not the Boot drive, making them inaccesable to DOS without a CDrom driver installed as prosewall gave advice to you can not access the data on the CD drive and so you cant continue your install of DOS.

I would actually follow prosewalls advice and make a bootable disk that initializes your CDrom

www.bootdisk.com (May have one ready for you)

Then put all 3 of your DOS 6.22 disks on the CDrom portion of the burn.

Carlos,

As I previously mentioned, there are various ways
in which you can Setup or "install" DOS 6.22 ...
I presume Pete was writing as I posted
as it merely echoes my comments
which are on the right track...

When you get the prompt to insert Disk 2 the Setup is looking for
a volume label as the volume label name appears on the Setup disks...
If you write each disk to a directory having the same name as its label,
you can merely hit Enter at the prompt and Setup finds the correct files...
But depending on your copies and release version of the Setup disks
the labels may contain spaces and you can't make the directories.

As I noted, you can burn an existing installed DOS directory
to the bootable CD and run commands from Autoexec.bat
or call another batch file to create a C:\DOS directory
and copy the entire directory contents to there,
and then clear the read-only attributes, etc...

But you said that you want to install DOS 6.22 "exactly as the diskettes do."
So you probably don't want to use that method to copy an existing installation...
But do you still want to get the prompt to insert the subsequent disks?
Or eliminate the prompt and do a completely automatic install?

You said, "So I use the first diskette of MSDOS and Nero makes the image.
Then I pass the rest of the files of the next two diskettes and burn them.
Then I reboot and MSDOS starts installing normally as if they were diskettes.
In a moment it asks me about the second diskette."

The Setup program is looking for the next disk
in the same drive\directory as the initial disk...

If you want to continue using the Floppy Emulation in Nero (i agree it's great)
then I recommend using a good bootable disk model to boot from the CD
and then burn the entire contents of all the 6.22 Setup disks to the CD
and launch Setup.exe with a call from Autoexec.bat during boot.
(Or you can change to the directory having the Setup files
and then run Setup.exe manually from there.)

With all the files from all the Setup disks residing in one directory,
the Setup should proceed as you want without the prompt for disks.

I'll also post recommended Config.sys and Autoexec.bat configurations
that you can burn to the CD and then copy to the C: drive's root directory
(using a batch file) after the 6.22 installation is complete to optimize DOS
if you want to see the difference after getting the Setup to run as you want.

Did you look at my DOS 6.22 boot disk from the url I provided?
That is a good boot disk to use for a boot disk model
when creating a bootable DOS 6.22 CD ...

This boot disk is configured to load drivers to enable
an ATAPI IDE CD-ROM drive which will be assigned
the next available drive letter when they're initialized.

For example, if the system contains only one hard drive
having only one partition then the CD drive becomes D: ...

If interested, download the application and run it in Windows
to create the DOS 6.22 boot disk. (Use a defect-free floppy.)
The boot disk contains most all the tools you'll possibly need
and includes other utilities that may help you now or later.
Then use that boot disk for the Nero boot disk model
(unless you currently have a better boot disk)
but here's the url again if needed...

http://users.aol.com/bydesigns/bootdisk/dos622.exe

Post back if this is how you would want to do it
(or after you've tested some of it) and if needed
I'll provide suggested startup configuration files
and batch file script commands for automating
the Setup and other tasks that you may want.

And if so, indicate whether you're installing
to a currently bootable DOS 6.22 hard drive
and what drive letter the CD drive becomes
after booting with your created bootable CD ...
And please mention if some of this isn't clear.
 

quite right rin1010, I was writing my reply as you posted. ;-)

rin1010,
Ok, I think your idea is good. Im gonna use your boot disk I downloaded and try it.
Second is, yes I prefer the method of eliminating the prompt and do a completely automatic install. Its more faster.
So this is what I will do:
Burn the image of the diskette I downloaded from you,so I can boot from it on the cd, and then copy all the files from the three diskettes into the cd.
My question is: Once I boot from the cd and MSDOS starts installng, will there be no problem that setup will ask me again about the second diskette? Or will it goes fully until it finishes...?
Let I check this and I will post back to you telling what happened.


Carlos.

rin1010,

Hi! again here...
ok, there are some good things about this and some not good things about it.
First, I did a floopy disk that could boot msdos normally, detect the cdroms, etc. This cdrom detected the directory the cd had the DOS files.
To be more clear about this:
The diskette boots normally "starting MS-DOS", then it goes on and on, detects cdrom, continues, and detects the directory DOS that I created on the CD with all the files of the three diskettes. Since my DOS installation disks are in spanish "setup.exe" is called "instalar.exe".
Ok, the problem is that when "instalar.exe" is executed it tell me this: "Insert the diskette in the unit D: Installation Disk # 1. To continue, press ENTER."
This is because the cd is detected normally on drive D:
But for me the problem continues because it is asking again for volume labels. So I have to correct this problem before I burn this diskette as the image on the cd with no installation errors.
How can I resolve the problem of the volume labels?
I believe the problem resides on the dossetup.ini file because this is the one who tells setup to look up for the labels. Am I sure on this?
Or what else could it be?

thanks,



Carlos.

No comment has been added lately, so it's time to clean up this TA.
I will leave a recommendation in the Cleanup topic area that this question is:
- Points to rin1010
Please leave any comments here within the
next seven days.

PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THIS COMMENT AS AN ANSWER !
pbarrette

Finalized as proposed

modulo

Community Support Moderator
Experts Exchange

Hello
I don't use dos but just for the sake of learning ,I have tried to put the three
dos 6.22 disk on cd and have them install from cd.
I used the boot disk from the following:
http://users.aol.com/bydesigns/bootdisk/dos622.exe

I used it as the boot image and then put all of the files from the setup
disks in a directory and burned the cd.
This method will work as long as the C: drive is already formatted.
It will install all of the 6.22 files without prompting for any disk.
and will assing the cdrom drive letter to d:
But If the C:\ drive is unformatted the C: drive is setup up as the cd rom drive.
and then you can't do an install.
Is there any way to prevent this program from assigning the cdrom drive letter C:
when not finding a formatted drive.
thanks for any help

Hi kw1952,

This question is now over 2 years old and is already closed.

You will likely get more responses if you open a new question. I know that rin1010 hasn't been here for quite some time, and neither have I.

pb

 
kw,

Thanks for the feedback regarding
placing all the setup files in one directory
and then doing the installation without prompts.
That is what I was explaining and how it should work.

Are you attempting to create a procedure
to automate the formatting of the drive
before the installation? Of course
the drive must be formatted
before the installation.

If the hard drive is at least Fdisked,
then the C: drive letter should be reserved
and the next available letter assigned to the CD.

You said,
"This method will work as long as the C: drive is already formatted.
But If the C:\ drive is unformatted the C: drive is setup up as the cd rom drive.
and then you can't do an install."

You will definitely need to format the hard drive first anyway,
regardless of drive letters, to be able to install anything to the drive.


Also, as I noted, DOS 6.22 doesn't actually need to be
"setup" or "installed"... You can merely expand the
DOS 6.22 setup files from their floppies to a
temporary directory, then burn the files
to your CD and then copy them
to a directory named DOS
on the hard drive that
you're installing to.

This can all be done with a batch file.

The hard drive must first be Fdisked and Formatted
and then the system files should be copied
to the drive using SYS.COM or the
FORMAT.COM /S switch
to make it bootable.

After configuring Fdisk and Formatting the drive, you should
place copies of  CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
(for booting) in the hard drive's root directory.

I recommend using Path edited copies of the
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files
from my boot disk you downloaded.
These will configure DOS for the
best memory management.

The Paths will need editing to C:\DOS  ...
I'll paste examples at the end of this post.


Regarding your question, you can try using the
MSCDEX /L switch to specify a drive letter
to assign to the CD-ROM drive;  e.g...

LOADHIGH MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDDRIVE1 /L:D

In the above, MSCDEX will assign the letter D
to the first system CD-ROM Drive that it finds
as specified after the colon on the  /L  switch.

(Note that you should load SMARTDRV.EXE
after MSCDEX loads in AUTOEXEC.BAT
so that your CD Drive is also cached.)


Another option would be to tell AUTOEXEC.BAT to skip the line
that loads MSCDEX if the C: drive isn't formatted or doesn't exist.

To do that, you could test for the presence of the NUL device
on the hard drive. If it doesn't exist, such as when the drive
isn't formatted, you can tell DOS to skip MSCDEX and
go to any subsequent line in AUTOEXEC.BAT ...

That won't give you CD-ROM drive support for that session
but that may serve your purpose for an automated process
if you're using floppy emulation until the hard drive formats.
Then the NUL device will be found and a CD drive letter is
assigned as the next available during subsequent boots.

An example of doing it in AUTOEXEC.BAT would be like:


@ECHO OFF
PROMPT $P
PATH C:\;C:\DOS
if not exist C:\NUL goto skipcd
LOADHIGH MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDDRIVE1 /V
:skipcd
LOADHIGH SMARTDRV.EXE /X /V
LOADHIGH MOUSE.COM
LOADHIGH DOSKEY.COM
CLS


Another method would be to create a Ram Drive
from CONFIG.SYS during boot. If there is no
Fdisked hard drive then DOS will assign
the first letter C: to the Ram Drive.
Then the CD-ROM Drive would
get the next available letter.

Syntax for RAMDRIVE.SYS is like:

DEVICEHIGH=RAMDRIVE.SYS 1024 /E

The above command will create a Ram Drive
and allocate 1024K of memory for the drive.
(The /E switch tells RAMDRIVE.SYS to
create the drive in extended memory.)

If you omit an amount of memory to use for the Ram Drive,
RAMDRIVE.SYS will allocate 64K (the default amount.)
Allocating 1024K (1 MB) or even 64K isn't necessary
if the Ram Drive is used only as a "place holder."
You can specify the minimum of 4K instead.


Please post back with more details
on exactly what you're doing
if you need more info on it.

Here are some other notes on
maximizing DOS 6.22 performance
using CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
to load memory managers and the other devices
in the best order and for tweaking the other commands
(instead of using the device's or driver's defaults) to yield the
most available High, Upper, Extended and Conventional memory.

Once you get all the DOS 6.22 files
"installed" (or copied) to the hard drive,
I recommend using the same configuration
for memory management and loading devices
as the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files
loaded on the DOS 6.22 boot disk you downloaded.

Here are examples of CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT,
edited to indicate a path to the C:\DOS directory
where the DOS 6.22 files would reside.

(Ensure that each device or driver you're loading,
such as CDDRIVER.SYS, MOUSE.COM, etc.,
is located in whatever directory is specified.)



;CONFIG.SYS :

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /VERBOSE
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE /NOEMS /VERBOSE
DOS=HIGH,UMB
FILES=30
BUFFERS=10
STACKS=8,128
FCBS=1,0
;LASTDRIVE=
;DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 2048 /E
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\CDDRIVER.SYS /D:CDDRIVE1



::AUTOEXEC.BAT :

@ECHO OFF
PROMPT $P
PATH C:\;C:\DOS
LOADHIGH C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDDRIVE1 /V
LOADHIGH C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE /X /V
LOADHIGH C:\DOS\MOUSE.COM
LOADHIGH C:\DOS\DOSKEY.COM
CLS



As noted, the above configuration files
presume the DOS 6.22 files reside
in a directory named DOS ...
Edit as appropriate.


Whether the procedure is done manually or otherwise,
I recommend you Fdisk and then Format the hard drive,
then copy the system files to the hard drive (SYS.COM),
then copy CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to the root,
then create a C:\DOS directory on the hard drive, and copy
(or install) the DOS 6.22 files to the directory path indicated.

When done, the hard drive will boot with an optimal configuration.

Again, please post back if you want any more info on it
and include further details on what you're doing
and why the hard drive isn't formatted.


 

Hello
Thanks for the reply
I guess what I am trying to say is that if the c: drive is formatted or not formatted when
using the orginal disks the program itself will format the c: drive.
But using your bootimage the c: drive has to be fdisked and formatted or the cdrom drive will
be assigned the drive letter c:.
But if the drive is formatted it will assign the drive letter d: to the cd rom.
What I was trying to do is make the program format the harddrive like the orginal disks do.
For example when inserting disk one of the the dos 6.22 disks if the harddrive is not formated
it will format the drive.
But using your bootimage the drive must be formatted before running the setup program from
the cd.
It will come up formatting drive c: but then it will ask for disk 1.
Maybe I explained my self on this
thanks for the reply

Well,

Since rin1010 came back from the dead to deal with this one, I guess I can take a stab at it too.

First off, why not force the CD-Rom to use a different drive letter?
AUTOEXEC.BAT:
MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDDRIVE1 /L:Z

Then you would be able to assign the HD as C: D: or whatever you like depending on the number of partitions.

Next, why not toss some additional 3rd party tools in there to fdisk and format the HD from autoexec.bat?

Use something like: http://www.23cc.com/free-fdisk/

You can then check if the partitions on the HD are correct, clear them all if needed, create new ones, then format the partitions you need.

If you need to reboot after an operation, use a reboot utility like one of those found here:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/c/m/cmech617/flist.htm

The possibilities are almost endless when using 3rd party utilities. Just remember to keep the like-named utilities in a directory that is separate from the DOS install directory or you may end up installing those instead of the "true" dos utils.

pb

PS: Hi rin1010.
It's been a while. I haven't been answering Q's for almost a year now. Got burned out, actually. And started on too many disparate projects to keep up.
Anyway.. Good to see that you're still alive and kicking.

Hello
I tried assigning the cdrom drive letter to different letters.
What I don' t understand is that if the C: drive is already fdisk and formatted
then the dos 6.22 will install without prompted for any disks.

But if the drive is not formatted upon switching to the d: drive where the dos 6.22 files are
located and upon starting setup I get the message(configure unallocated disk space recommended)
Then the messge says (Please inset into drive D: Setup Disk 1.

Why doesn't the program just go ahead an format the drive from the dos setup?
It does do this when installing with the setup disks.
The only reason I am asking these questions is I am just curious as to why this will not work.

hello
Also
I have noticed where some people have said that Microsoft at one time had a cd out
which had dos 6.22 and win 3.1 which would install from the cd.
Has anyone heard of this or know where to find it.
thanks