pingpong@milton.acs.washington.edu (Jimmy) (04/10/90)
I hava a weird 5.25 floppy disk. When I try to boot it from Drive A, it gives me two error messages : 1. Incorrect DOS version number 2. Command interpreter not found. So I boot from my C drive, and do a DIR on drive A. NOTHING. That explains error (2) since command.com is not there. Then I do a CHKDSK on Drive A and it said '3 hidden files.' Then I used DEBUG A:IBMDOS.COM assuming that is one of the hidden files. But nope, FILE NOT FOUND. Now, finally, I tried SYS A:, but it gave me 'insufficient space for system...' Could anyone explain error (1) to me? How could I find out the DOS version on my floppy disk? Why doesn't SYS work on my floppy disk? Any help is deeply appreicated. -Jimmy.
pga-grd@cs.rit.edu (04/11/90)
In article <2778@milton.acs.washington.edu> pingpong@milton.acs.washington.edu (Jimmy) writes: >I hava a weird 5.25 floppy disk. >When I try to boot it from Drive A, it gives me two error messages : > > 1. Incorrect DOS version number > 2. Command interpreter not found. > >So I boot from my C drive, and do a DIR on drive A. NOTHING. That explains >error (2) since command.com is not there...[stuff deleted] The fact that you saw nothing when you dir'ed A: has nothing to do with whether or not command.com is actually on that disk. The dir command you invoked was handled by the version of command.com sitting on your C: drive. [-----------------------------------------------------------------------------] [ Jack D. Unrue | "Alert is alive and alive is alert..." ] [ pga-grd@paris.UUCP | - a thief's credo in Sanctuary ] [-----------------------------------------------------------------------------]
bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) (04/11/90)
pingpong@milton.acs.washington.edu (Jimmy) <2778@milton.acs.washington.edu> : [ has a floppy with a puzzling DOS. Posting appended... ] This sounds like a floppy that was formatted with an earlier version of MSDOS from one of the vendors that (for what reason?) named those system files MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS (in Zenith's case; other names may also have been used). That would be why you can't find IBMDOS.COM. If the files are too specific to one machine (e.g., Z-100 DOS can't boot a real IBM) the error might be reported as "Incorrect DOS version number". And because it's an old version, it doesn't leave enough room for a newer version. You need something to show you what those hidden files are named. Various MSDOS implementations of *nix 'ls' do this, as do other programs. Or, get a 'chmod' that doesn't need explicit filenames, to unhide the files. Or, forget about it and reformat the disk from scratch. [ orignal query follows ] -I hava a weird 5.25 floppy disk. -When I try to boot it from Drive A, it gives me two error messages : - - 1. Incorrect DOS version number - 2. Command interpreter not found. - -So I boot from my C drive, and do a DIR on drive A. NOTHING. That explains -error (2) since command.com is not there. Then I do a CHKDSK on Drive A and -it said '3 hidden files.' Then I used DEBUG A:IBMDOS.COM assuming that is -one of the hidden files. But nope, FILE NOT FOUND. Now, finally, I tried -SYS A:, but it gave me 'insufficient space for system...' - -Could anyone explain error (1) to me? -How could I find out the DOS version on my floppy disk? -Why doesn't SYS work on my floppy disk?
dhinds@portia.Stanford.EDU (David Hinds) (04/11/90)
In article <41361@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>, bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) writes: > pingpong@milton.acs.washington.edu (Jimmy) <2778@milton.acs.washington.edu> : > [ has a floppy with a puzzling DOS. Posting appended... ] > > This sounds like a floppy that was formatted with an earlier version of > MSDOS from one of the vendors that (for what reason?) named those system > files MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS (in Zenith's case; other names may also have > been used). That would be why you can't find IBMDOS.COM. If the files > are too specific to one machine (e.g., Z-100 DOS can't boot a real IBM) > the error might be reported as "Incorrect DOS version number". And because > it's an old version, it doesn't leave enough room for a newer version. > As far as I know, the MSDOS system files are always called MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS. The IBM*.SYS files are what IBM chose to call them in PCDOS. I think these files are sufficiently generic that they'll boot any old PC, but they obviously don't work without a matching COMMAND.COM. Just reformat the disk, since there isn't anything else on it. -David Hinds dhinds@popserver.stanford.edu
bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante) (04/11/90)
- Me: -> This sounds like a floppy that was formatted with an earlier version of -> MSDOS from one of the vendors that (for what reason?) named those system -> files MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS (in Zenith's case; other names may also have -> been used). That would be why you can't find IBMDOS.COM. If the files dhinds@portia.Stanford.EDU (David Hinds) <11017@portia.Stanford.EDU> : - As far as I know, the MSDOS system files are always called MSDOS.SYS and -IO.SYS. The IBM*.SYS files are what IBM chose to call them in PCDOS. I -think these files are sufficiently generic that they'll boot any old PC, but -they obviously don't work without a matching COMMAND.COM. Just reformat the -disk, since there isn't anything else on it. No, Zenith at least converted their distribution of MSDOS to the IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM names with v3.21 (and later, I suppose). As for "sufficiently generic", these files are in fact intimately tied to the hardware configuration. Most clones try to be as generically compatible at this level as possible, but not all and not some competing "name" brands --- the Zenith Z-100, DEC Rainbow, and TI Business Pro machines, for example, and possibly some Tandy, Leading Edge, AT&T, and GRiD machines. You cannot boot them with genuine IBM PC-DOS disks, nor boot a True Blue PC with some of these versions of MSDOS. (But then, I don't think any of these machines except the Tandy's are still in production.)