C prompt

[Lamar]

Help please
I have an older 386 120mb hdd. I installed dos 5.o on it and when it boots up it goes though the memory test but where it should go to C:\ it just has a flashing curor. I'm to good on these computers so step by step please!! Thanks

[leeo]

You say, you installed DOS 5.0.
Did you run FDISK first to make sure you have a DOS partition? If not run FDISK.

If you did, and have the DOS partition. Did DOS 5.0 format the hard drive when it was installed? If not you should have run FORMAT C:/S, with your first DOS disk. That will make the drive bootable, then it should boot to C:\, and you can type MD DOS to make a DOS directory. Then type CD DOS to go to the directory. Copy each disk to C:\DOS\ with, copy A:*.* c:.
When you get it to boot, put a floppy in drive A:\, and type format A:/s. That will give you an emergency boot disk for future use.
Good luck.

[Lamar]

Hey thanks for the reply, but I have done all of that. I can run dos on the C drive if I start up with a boot disk. It will just not boot up to c:\ from the hdd it goes to a flsahing -
But when I boot up useing a boot disk it goes to A> then I switch to C> but there is no colon: between any of it (A:\> or C:\> )
Thanks
Lamar

[glussier]

>First to have a dos prompt of the form A:> add the statement line:
>
>PROMPT $P$G
>in your autoexec.bat file.
>
>For your other problem you must have a driver or program that his preventing your PC to boot properly. Try booting bypassing the load of your config.sys and autoexec.bat. Could you show us the content of your config.sys and autoexec.bat files?

[This message has been edited by glussier (edited 08-22-99).]

[Lamar]

Hi Thanks for the reply
My config.sys contains
DEVICE=c:\DOS\SETVER.EXE
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DOS=HIGH
FILES=30

my autoexec.bat contains
@ECHO OFF
PROMPT $p$g
PATH C:\DOS
SET TEMP=C:\DOS
tHANKS
LAMAR

[zookeeper]

Howdy
Had this problem once!! what ended up was this person reset the harddrive from master to slave.
Could read drive as long as i booted from floppy.
I don't know if this is your problem, But wanted to let you know.

There is a lot smarter people on this forum than me.

Hope this helps

[glussier]

>Lamar Zookeeper is wright, you should look for the basic first, You should check your drive jumper to make sure it is setup as a master drive. There is nothing in your config.sys and autoexec.bat files that can prevent your system from booting properly. zookeeper you should start tinking positive about yourself.
>
>Nobody is a dummy unless proven so.

[Igor M]

Also run FDISK and check out the primary DOS partition of your drive is active. If not set it active. I think there is what Zookeeper mean when said about moving drive from slave to master.

------------------
Good luck, Igor M

[Lamar]

Hi
I have ran fdisk and have an active partion for dos. I thought maybe ms dos 6.22 may work so I formated the drive and installed 6.22 but still have the same problem. the autoexec.bat and config.sys files are there and would not stop the c drive from getting a prompt also the drive is active in fdisk. After booting with A: drive C drive will work. I ran scandisk and it reported no problems I did a surface scan with no bad sectors. Could it be something in command.com? If so how would I know and how would I fix it? I think I will leave msdos 6.22 on the system because I like it better so all that answer I am now using 6.22
Thanks
Lamar

[zookeeper]

Howdy
Question:::
Did this HardDrive ever boot up on it's own???
Meaning when you got this computer did it boot before you, fdisk and formatted the HardDrive??

Hope this helps

[Lamar]

HI
No the drive did'nt work because when I got it the harddrive was bad. I replaced it with a known good hard drive that had no operating system on it. I formated the drive and instaled dos on it. works but it has to be booted from a:. The other harddrive would boot up to c:\ but you could not write to harddrive. With this harddrive you can read and write fine.

[glussier]

LAMAR DID YOU CHECK YOUR JUMPER SETTING TO MAKE SURE IT IS SET TO MASTER? WILL YOU ONE DAY ANSWER THIS QUESTION??????? Also, if you want to make sure your drive is bootable, copy the sys.* file on your boot disk, boot with the boot disk and at the a: prompt type: SYS C: .

[Lamar]

How do I check the jumper settings? I can see only 1 slot for the haddrive and it is plugged in there. the old drive booted by itself but just could not write.

[Igor M]

One more thing to mention. Boot to A: prompt and use FDISK /MBR commmand to rewrite Master Boot Record.

------------------
Good luck, Igor M

[ul2m8*Barbie]

Yes, I agree with Igor's suggestion about making sure the /mbr is correct & present on the hdd. And glussier, if he installed dos 6.22 on it, the system files would be transferred during the installation and he would get an operating system error wouldn't he, not a blinking cursor?
I had this problem once, in fact it was with my dos 6.22 system boot up disk, it would just blink after I booted up with it, no errors or anything. It was the original OS disk 1 of 3 that I had used a million times before to boot up & install, it was write protected and it was still good because I could install dos with it, just couldn't boot up with it. When I installed dos from it, it rendered that harddrive the same condition until I used another system disk to put the system on the hdd. I could never run the sys command to get the disk bootable again though. That sounds like it could be a bad mbr, doesnt it? I don't know a lot about drives & this kinda stuff, so I just thought I'd provide the information and hopefully someone knows what it is. Good luck.

[zookeeper]

Howdy
Just pull the hardDrive out and check the JUMPERS!!! SET to MASTER or to master single drive. (your going to have to do it sooner or later)

Hope this helps

[glussier]

:1st> Lamar there should be jumpers at the back of your hard disk and it should be at the back of your drive. Some old drives had the jumpers on the PC board under the hard disk, they were labeled SP, DS and CS if this is the case, make sure you have a jumper on SP.
:
:2nd> IgorM your suggestion makes sense, it could fix is problem.
:
:3rd> ul2m8*Barbie, how are you doing today? If you read Lamar second post, you will find that if he boots with his 6.22 floppy, he can access his hard drive. But reading your post about the flashing cursor made me remember something that some machines required a /machine switch to be able to boot to msdos from hard disk
:
:So Lamar at the end of your device=c:\dos\himem.sys you should had the switch /MACHINE:# colon required
:
:# should be one of the following:
:1 for IBM AT
:2 for IBM PS/2
:3 Phoenix Cascade BIOS
:4 HP Vectra (A and A+)
:5 AT&T 6300 plus
:6 Acer 1100
:7 Toshiba 1600 or 1200XE
:8 Wyse 12.5mhz 286
:9 Tulip SX
:10 Zenith ZBIOS
:11 IBM PC/AT (other delay)
:12 IBM PC/AT (other delay)
:12 CSS Labs
:13 Phillips
:13 IBM PC/AT (other delay)
:14 HP Vectra
:15 IBM 7552 Industrial Computer
:16 Bull Micarl 60
:17 Dell XBIOS

:Lamar, if your computer is not on the list try value 1, 11, 12 or 13
:
:4th zookeeper, I know you had to speak-up but if you read all the posts you'll find that that suggestion has already been made a couple of times already. Sorry, I had to say something, I like you anyway.

[Lamar]

Hey Thanks to all that repied. The FDISK /MBR
worked.
Thanks
Lamar