DOS boot disk to load PCMCIA CDROM

how can I create a DOS boot disk to load my HP CD-Writer Plus M820e Drive? I have a Sony laptop and it has no operating system on the hard drive. To load the operating system I need to have access to my external CDROM (HP CD-Writer Plus m820e). I remember in the old days that you could create a DOS boot diskette and make entries into Autoexec.bat and/or Config.sys to load the CDROM. I have the drivers for Windows 98/2000 and XP for this device (all Sys files) so it probably is possible to load the DEVICE= into Autoexec.bat and Config.sys but I have forgotten the syntax. And, since this is a PCMCIA device, will it matter?

You will need to put the files kmas365a.sys, kmasaspa.sys, kmascda.sys, and mscdex.exe on a boot diskette, and add these lines to the CONFIG.SYS of your boot diskette:

Code:

---

device=a:\kmas365a.sys /port=190 /mem=b000
device=a:\
device=a:\kmascda.sys /d:mscd001

---

in the AUTOEXEC.BAT, add the line a:\mscdex.exe /d:mscd001 .

Set your PCMCIA card to 16-bit mode, and boot from the floppy.


http://h30005.www3.hp.com/support/C4...ocal_2183.html

Click on the http://h30005.www3.hp.com/images/std...tpdownload.gif button to download the file.

Extract it, there will be a folder named Windows 95&98&NT containing a folder named DOS which will have the files you need.

Note: There are some non-HP sites that have those drivers available, however, most of those sites violate copyright law by providing them without the permission of the copyright holder. (Also, some people upload trojans to these sites.) So, while those sites may be in English, they may have pitfalls of their own. Thus, the referral to the Korean HP website.

I hope I did this right. I went to my Win98 desktop and inserted a blank disk. I selected FORMAT and just copied the SYS files to it. I copied the kmas365a.sys, kmasaspa.sys, kmascda.sys, and mscdex.exe files to the floppy, as well. Then, I created the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys file and entered the codes specified. I then placed the diskette into the floppy drive. It booted but advised me that I had some errors on specified lines. I haven't done this before so I'm sure I missed some steps. Should I have just taken a Windows 98 boot disk and added the files to it and adjusted the entries in Autoexec.bat and Config.sys? if so, where should the appropriate codes reside in each file? Thanks.

It depends on what the errors were. Did you make spelling mistakes? Did you put in a / instead of a \, or the other way around?

Errors contain the clues to their own solution-- post the exact error message received. (Otherwise, it's akin to a police officer stopping a motorist and merely saying "You broke a law, here's your $150.00 ticket" and not explaining what the law was or writing it down on the ticket.)

I do notice that somehow I messed up a tad bit on the lines for you-- that second line was missing the filename. Ooops! Hopefully it was that second line that gave you the error. Also, because that critical file didn't load, that would prevent the CDROM drive from being detected. Here's the revised CONFIG.SYS:

Code:

---

device=a:\kmas365a.sys /port=190 /mem=b000
device=a:\kmasaspa.sys
device=a:\kmascda.sys /d:mscd001

---

You may be able to leave the /port=190 /mem=b000 off the first line, also. It may autoscan the ports and memory ranges (but it may slow down the loading of the driver a bit.)

SERENDIPITY!!! You are absolutely wonderful. It works ! Now, I can access the drive and install an operating system. Many, many thanks.

Excellent! Glad to hear it's all working now. You'll want to save that boot disk in a very safe place, and print out this page as well, so that you may recreate it if you need to.

will do. much appreciated.