borisyoch Posted September 7, 2012 Posted September 7, 2012 (edited) A few things first: RAMDISK driver won't load CD-ROM driver won't load himem.sys driver won't load due to A20 line being used by FastGate which I don't want disabled I am trying to learn and focus on this problem alone so please don't suggest firsthand other easier solutions because I want to tackle this alone. What I am trying to do? To update BIOS through MS-DOS environment with bootable CD from 1.44MB or 2.88MB images. The problem is that BIOS file is itself over 5MBs which cannot be on bootable session due to limited size of session. This only leaves me with loading CD-ROM driver or RAMDISK driver and both require himem.sys activated, but due to FastGate enabled option that I don't want to tinker with in my BIOS configuration, himem.sys cannot use A20 line of upper memory block rendering it inactive. Can I build bootable CD image by just integrating MS-DOS files into image along with BIOS update and simulate that image as custom or hard drive bootable image? I have tried "Patch Boot Information Table" but when booted from CD-ROM, it just stalled and white underscore kept blinking on the screen. Maybe I can somehow create or set boot table? If only I knew what to fill in "Load Segment" and "Sectors To Load". I want to point out that I don't want to make bootable image of my hard drive, but just simulate hard drive and load bootable image with MS-DOS and BIOS update just to flash BIOS, that is all. After you have answered my question, you are welcome to suggest other solutions. Thanks. Edited September 7, 2012 by borisyoch
LIGHTNING UK! Posted September 7, 2012 Posted September 7, 2012 There are loads of cdrom drivers, are you sure that all of them require himem.sys to have been loaded? Failing that, a quick google search leads me to believe the A20 stuff can just be disabled via '/A20CONTROL:ON|OFF'. Or you can tweak the way himem.sys loads for your machine using the '/MACHINE' switch. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/72302 http://users.cybercity.dk/~bse26236/batutil/help/HIMEM_S.HTM
borisyoch Posted September 8, 2012 Author Posted September 8, 2012 There are loads of cdrom drivers, are you sure that all of them require himem.sys to have been loaded? Now I am not sure himem.sys is required for loading CD-ROM. However I have tried many drivers until now, including cd1-4.SYS from HIREN's bootable cd, aspicd.sys, atapicd.sys, btcdrom.sys and ltnide.sys all to no avail:
LIGHTNING UK! Posted September 8, 2012 Posted September 8, 2012 From what I can see in your pics, the drivers aren't having trouble loading, they're just not finding any drives they can work with. You may find there's a pre-built image somewhere on the web that tries loads of different CDROM drivers (although I'm sure Hiren's can be made to try loads) - maybe the ones you've tried simply don't support your controller (or the mode it's in - AHCI etc). Keep an eye on the loading screen and which ones (if any) actually find your drive. Then copy that driver to your own bootdisc and include it in the config.sys file or whatever.
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