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cd drive thier but not

3K views 26 replies 6 participants last post by  oshwyn5 
#1 ·
i'm running win 98SE and went to install and old game that requires the installation be done in DOS.
so i restart in DOS Mode then try to change from C: to my Rom drive whichh is E: because i'm using two HDD's but it doen't see it.
the "My Computer" window see's it and the windows explorer see's it but when i'm in DOS it's not thier.

any ideas?

thanks
 
#5 ·
Nonono
Boot up into DOS and type this exactly, without the quotes "cd \"
You then should be in C:/
Then type this exactly without quotes "dir E:"
If it says that it can't find the directory, then that could mean DOS isn't booting with your cd drivers.
Post back with the results, and include your CD drive specs (brand and model)
 
#7 ·
Mmk
Go here: http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml
And download the Windows 98/98SE boot disk. Put a blank floppy in your floppy drive, copy the downloaded file to it and then run the downloaded file. It will format your disk and make it bootable for you.
Restart your computer and boot from the floppy, and it has generic drivers on it. See if you can "cd E:" now.
 
#8 ·
ok i get to it but i type dir and get:

Volume in drive E is MS-RAMDRIVE
Directory of E:\

ATTRIB EXE 15,252 05-06-98 8:01p

CHKDSK EXE 28,096 05-06-98 8:01p

COMMAND COM 93,890 04-23-99 10:22p

DEBUG EXE 20,554 05-06-98 8:01p

EDIT COM 69,902 05-06-98 8:01p

EXT EXE 13,299 05-06-98 8:01p

EXTRACT EXE 93,242 04-23-99 10:22p

FORMAT COM 49,575 05-06-98 8:01p

HELP BAT 36 05-06-98 8:01p

MSCDEX EXE 25,473 05-06-98 8:01p

README TXT 14,764 04-23-99 10:22p

RESTART COM 20 05-06-98 8:01p

SCANDISK EXE 143,818 05-06-98 8:01p

SCANDISK INI 7,329 05-06-98 8:01p

SYS COM 18,967 05-06-98 8:01p


15 files(s) 594,217 bytes

0 dir(s) 1,487,872 bytes free
 
#11 ·
Hmm... it must be reading the floppy drive or one of your partitions as E:/
... Ok, boot again with the floppy, and do a dir on all of the drives, "dir A:" "dir B:" "dir C:" etc, until you run out of drives. If you see anything with game files, we're lucky
 
#13 ·
Alright. Let's try this through windows command prompt. I'm a little rusty on Win98, but I think Start>Run "cmd.exe" or "command.exe" will open an MS-DOS prompt.
Once you get the prompt, "cd \" and then type "dir E:" and this time you should almost definitely see the same files that you do in windows explorer.
If we find the files, then run the setup file or whatever it is. "E:/(filename).exe"
See what happens
 
#17 ·
I was afraid of that. There are really only two things that can be done about this. We can emulate a CD-rom drive and make the computer think it has one, or we can get DOS to freaking recognize the drive you have. Since I don't know of any CD emulation software that will work under DOS, this means we have to get the computer to figure out that you have a CD drive.
It might be that DOS isn't registering your DVD-RW drive as a CD-ROM, as DOS predates DVDs...
Maybe there is a nice simple solution. Download the firmware upgrade.
http://www.liteonit.com.tw/ODD/English/e_downloads/e_firmware_dvd rw.asp
Scroll down until you see SOHW 812S and download the latest file, which is only a month old
 
#19 ·
Ok, well I conferred with my dad on the issue, because he's from the DOS days, and confirmed a suspicion. You need what are called real-mode drivers. We need to find drivers for your drive that are specific for DOS, so that you can boot with them. This is for LiteOn IDE drives, and it might not work, but download this:
http://www.cdrom-drivers.com/drivers/68/68967.htm

Now we have to edit the Autoexec.bat file and the config.sys file.
It doesn't matter where you have the driver, you can put it into any folder you want, but I'm going to use the example of it in C:/
Paste into your AUTOEXEC.EXE file:
LOADHIGH=C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /F:MATT

Paste into your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CDROM.SYS /F:MATT

Now reboot. By the way, the /F:MATT thing is just the name of the drive. It can be anything you want, just as long as it starts with "/(driveletter):" and they match.
 
#20 ·
ahhh! I have that game! I think I did get it to install, but it would not run (of course, my old computer was crapppy wappy, and I didn't know nearly as much back then as I do now)

Most CD drives do require a real mode driver to run in dos, it's what allows anyone to install win98

You didn't need a windows 98 boot disk, you needed a windows 98 STARTUP disk, which can load a real-move driver for your cdrom for you
 
#24 ·
i couldn't access the rom drive but i was able to install it this time from th copy i made on the c drive.
i guess the game is to old for todays parts, i kept getting errors during the setup, video, sound, buffer size, ect, ect... :(
so i'm gonna flag it and move on.
so anyways guys, i reallyappreciate the help i no nothing DOS wise and little tech wise.

thank you
 
#25 ·
I see I've come into this a little late, but there may be a way to get this to run in windows. Download DOSBox V0.63 and install it.

Run DOSBox, and you will find a window opens which looks like DOS. You will need to type the following into it to set it up for use:

Code:
mount c c:\
mount d e:\ -t cdrom
This is assuming you want the game installed onto your C drive and the cd drive is mounted as E in windows (it'll look like D in DOSBox after you type the above, but it is actually still the E drive). What the above does is sets up where DOSBox is looking for files. It tells it to use c: for the files on your C drive, and d: for the files on your E drive (and also tells it that the E drive is a CD drive).

Now, run the setup file from inside DOSBox, and it should work fine.

If you ever need more information about DOSBox, you can type INTRO or HELP, and it will come up with extra information for you.
 
#26 ·
i downloaded DOSBox, installed it but when i launch it 2 DOS looking windows open up, one on top of the other, the one thats in front says:

DOSBox 0.63,Cpu Cycles 3000,Frameskip 0.Program: DOSBOX

on the top pane

but the one in the back says:

NFIG:Loading settings from config C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.63\dosbox.conf
MIDI:Opened device:win32
Exit to error: SDL:Can't set palette

and they only stay open a few seconds then disappear.
 
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