Can a bootable floppy access a simple TCP/IP LAN?

I am still new to adding drivers to DOS. I managed to add drivers to a bootable floppy for my Sanyo CDROM, but I'm not sure where to start with my Ethernet III 3C509 NIC card. I would like to use the bootable floppy to access my other computer using TCP/IP.

Am I supposed to use NetWare services? The only information I am able to see in the 3Com download for DOS drivers suggests this. How do install the drivers using the 3Com software to that floppy? I don't want to risk damaging my Windows 98SE installation by installing DOS drivers to C:\. Would that be a problem?

I saw the similar post asking about NT domains, does that apply to me too?

Why doesn't the Start Disk generated by Windows 98 in "Add Software" provide the means of making network connections?

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Build your own computer... An Introduction

Well I went to the 3 COM site and downloaded 3c509x2.exe . Which you can get here.. http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/r...509&order=desc

I opened it on my computer and it's a whole bunch of installion stuff...There is a very complete looking help file...
Check it out..You should find your answer.

Dave

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*** Help others less fortunate.

[This message has been edited by davidgsmith (edited 04-05-2002).]

http://www.bovistech.com/tcpip.htm

I'd been to 3Com and it didn't really explain the situation very well.

The Bovistech site was very interesting! It looks like floppy boot disks are something of an art form. I had no idea. Challenge: How much boot information can you squeeze into the little floppy disk?

Anyone remember when you couldn't get a hard drive in a desk top computer?

Thanks all!

Anybody else?

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Build your own computer... An Introduction

Quote:

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Originally posted by TensorField:
I am still new to adding drivers to DOS. I managed to add drivers to a bootable floppy for my Sanyo CDROM, but I'm not sure where to start with my Ethernet III 3C509 NIC card. I would like to use the bootable floppy to access my other computer using TCP/IP.

Am I supposed to use NetWare services? The only information I am able to see in the 3Com download for DOS drivers suggests this. How do install the drivers using the 3Com software to that floppy? I don't want to risk damaging my Windows 98SE installation by installing DOS drivers to C:\. Would that be a problem?

I saw the similar post asking about NT domains, does that apply to me too?

Why doesn't the Start Disk generated by Windows 98 in "Add Software" provide the means of making network connections?

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There are a few parts to this answer.

Yes you can boot dos with a TCP/IP stack. It can be difficult, but it is possible.

Do not try and run a DOS stack then load win98 - it will not work. You need to boot from a diskette or create a startup menu to boot into dos mode.

Do you need to boot to access Novell or Windows NT?

Let me know exactly what you are trying to do and I will get you some details.

Note: if you are creating this to access an NT network, then you can use the NT client disk generator.

I am trying to connect to one computer on a two computer LAN where both are running Windows 98 SE. The only protocol I have bound to my NICs is TCP/IP. I would like to be able to boot up one computer using a floppy alone and then connect to the other while it is running Windows 98 SE like I normally do.

Basically I am trying to figure out what "real mode drivers" are and especially regarding networking and its hardware. I would like to be able to confront the issue using features like the config.sys and autoexec.bat files.

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Build your own computer... An Introduction

Quote:

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Originally posted by TensorField:
I am trying to connect to one computer on a two computer LAN where both are running Windows 98 SE. The only protocol I have bound to my NICs is TCP/IP. I would like to be able to boot up one computer using a floppy alone and then connect to the other while it is running Windows 98 SE like I normally do.

Basically I am trying to figure out what "real mode drivers" are and especially regarding networking and its hardware. I would like to be able to confront the issue using features like the config.sys and autoexec.bat files.

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Below is a link to an example ms client with tcpip stack for dos. This has been optimized to fit on a win9x bootable diskette. Create a basic bootdisk and copy the files onto it. If you need to load himem.sys you will have problems fitting this onto one diskette. I would suggest creating a startup menu to load dos and one for loading windows.

You can make changes to your network workgroup and name in the system.ini and your IP information is in the protocol.ini

This example uses drivers for a 3com Etherlink III NIC
http://www.bvl.net/four_d/downloads/bootdisk.zip