Re: Risc PC Floppy Drive Problem

Path: yahoo.co.uk!ajw99uk
Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 22:48:28 +0100
From: Andrew Wickham <ajw99uk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.hardware
Subject: Re: Risc PC Floppy Drive Problem
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In message <0bcea50c4f.acdale@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Chris Dale <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In message <cde23fc4f%ajw99uk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Andrew Wickham <ajw99uk@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In message <fdce260c4f.druck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
druck <news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 2 Aug 2007 Andrew Wickham <ajw99uk@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 1 Aug, 22:53, druck <n...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 31 Jul 2007 Chris Dale <ch...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
This wasn't really a problem because I use an Iyonix most of the time
and I can transfer files across the network. However, I need to
re-install the x86 PC Pro software from hard disc and part of the
procedure seems to require a DOS disc to be inserted into the floppy
drive.

Does it?

It does if you don't already have a bootable DOSDisk partition!
The installation instructions will also refer to creating the boot/
drivers
floppy - again, not needed if the C: partition already has them
installed.

You should be able to get around that by getting hold of a bootable
DOS image, which can be produced by anyone with a working floppy drive
by putting the disc in, reading its entire contents using Zap's read
disc feature, then saving out as type DOSDisc. You can then mount this
file as one of the two drives in !PCPro, and use it to copy DOS across
and make it bootable with the sys command.

Which was the workaround I suggested in reply to Chris's opening post -
do keep up, Dave!-) Actually, thanks for the reminder that Zap can do
this - it's about time I made more/better use of Zap generally. I did
not have an image-reading util in mind on Tuesday.

Thanks. I've just tried this, but I'm probably doing something wrong.
What I have is five floppy discs for installing 'PC DOS 7 XDF Format'.
I just tried what you suggested with the first disc, but it doesn't
seem to work. I guess that these discs don't contain exactly "a
bootable DOS image". The DOSDisc image produced by Zap had the default
directory name 'C0H0S0'. I then re-created the Drive_C partition and
dragged this image into the root directory. Although it appeared as a
directory in RISC OS, it looks like a single file when copied into the
partition. When PC Pro tried to run I got the expected black screen
with the message 'Booting from hard disk' but then 'Non-System disk or
disk error Replace and press any key when ready'.

Don't try to copy the contents of the Zap-extracted file, but rather
enter the file path as the location of your (temporary) C drive in
!PCConfig. Enter the path for the C partition as a temporary D drive.

Then try booting. Your system will (hopefully) see C in exactly the
same way as it would see the floppy in A if you had a working FD.

Also, I found a floppy I made in 1999 that I had called 'DOS Windows
95 Start up disc'. I put all those files into the Drive_C partition in
the same way using Zap, but again the same Non-System disk' error.

You need a bootable system disk. Your Windows 95 start-up floppy will
do the trick, but may not contain the CD drivers needed to access the
RPC's CDROM via CDFS.

From scratch:
1. use Zap to extract a diskimage of the win95 floppy and copy the file
to the RiscPC, as (say) ADFS::4.$.dos_boot - but do nothing else with
this file.
2. run !PCConfig, and under "Disc setup" select 2 hard discs.
4. drag dos_boot to the Drive C position
5. create a fresh partition for Drive D (this will later become your C drive)
6. save config and run !PCPro
7. unless PCPro refuses to let a floppy image mimic a HD partition,
then Win95 should boot to DOS prompt (skip loading of drivers)
8. at the DOS prompt:> format /s d: [to format and transfer the system]
9. close the PC window, quit PCPro and run PCConfig again.
10. swap the order of hard discs (so C = new partition and D = dos_boot)
11. save config and restart PCPro - it should boot to the Win95 DOS prompt.
12. Quit PCPro; from the RISCOS filer, open the new C partition and copy
the drivers out of the PCPro download into the partiton (keep the directory
tree intact).
13. Create a config.sys file to load himem.sys and hpc_cd.sys (also
refer to the Win95 floppy for page mode etc)
14. create an autoexec.bat file to load nwcdex.exe (again some of the other
stuff you'll find in the Win95 floppy autoexec.bat)
15. dismount ADFS::4 before re-running PCPro the aim of 13 and 14 is to get
a minimal boot sequence which will enable the CDROM, from which you can
install Win95.
Alternatively:
13A using the RISCOS filer, copy the contents of the Win95 CDROM into the C
partition (you don't need it all, though - the tutorial files, for instance)
One of the help files describes exactly how to do a HD-based installation -
IIRC you may need to give the folder containing the Win95 installation files
a specific name (for Win98, "w98flat" is suggested)
14A dismount ADFS::4 before running PCPro; once Win95 DOS prompt comes back
up, run the Win95 setup program from wherever in the partition you copied it
to.

I've recently taken the PC card out of this RPC so can't test the above at
the mo', but that's the sequence I'd follow.

Good luck,
Andrew
.

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