#321 Cannot boot after installation on 80386-25MHz PC, but original MS-DOS 6.22 boots
Attempting to install FreeDOS on Nokia manufactured "MikroMikko 4 m 326SX" PC, on a CompactFlash card. Setup sequence was like follows:
- Boot from original MS-DOS 6.22 floppy disk 1.
- Install MS-DOS on C:\ drive. Installation fdisk/partitions drive to max 504MB recognized by the BIOS of this PC. (C/H/S of 1024/16/63). The CF card is a Transcend 1GB one.
- After installing MS-DOS, it boots properly from C:\ drive containing MS-DOS 6.22. Used the PC for a short while in this mode, no issues.
- Boot from FreeDOS floppy disk, bootks ok.
- Install FreeDOS over MS-DOS with FreeDOS CD-ROM in drive D:. During FreeDOS installation CD-ROM drivers were identified fine and the installation completed fine, except some "LBACache flush" error spam kept coming up during the installation. (The 386 system is not LBA capable) Installation proceeded fine though.
- After install, system no longer boots, but boot from C:\ gives a text "read error while reading drive".
Further diagnosing, rebooting from FreeDOS floppy, and quitting installation to DOS - then navigating to C:\ shows installation having succeeded fine, all FreeDOS files are present on the installed drive. Reading file contents like fconfig.sys or fdauto.bat print out the contents properly. 266MB of 504MB free.
FDISK shows there being one primary active partition C:\ with
Type: PRI DOS
Volume Label: MS-DOS_6
Mbytes: 504
System: FAT16
Usage: 100%
Searching the web, possibly similar symptoms have been reported in 2013 in https://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum/technical-support/vintage-computer-hardware/37272-hard-drive-boot-failure-gateway2000-p4d-66#post454485 where installing on a <504MB hard drive is suggested as a workaround/solution.
I can certainly try to source a smaller CF card, though it should be noted that the CF card being of 1GB in size was not a problem for original MS-DOS 6.22 to boot. Also during FreeDOS installation the partition table was not changed, and only a 504MB partition of the whole 1GB card was being used. So if FreeDOS cannot handle booting from >504MB disks, it would come as a regression compared to original MS-DOS 6.22.
Related
I am only a user, but when freedos does not boot the standard solutions are as follows:
a) boot from diskette or CD and then run fdisk, check if first partition is set active, shown by an "A" character,
b) execute fdisk /mbr,
c) reboot
d) start from diskette or CD and enter sys c:
this is the standard solution for most problems. Are there any messages if you do so?
Maybe the compact flash may cause problems because it only has a volume like on a diskette, but this is not my domain.
Pfiadi (bye bye in bavarian, instead of cheers)
Willi
Related
Bugs: #321
I can reproduce your issue on my 486, also using a 128 MB CF card, so that does not seem to be the problem. Frankly, I also would not know why disk size should make a difference. Willi's steps will not help you here, as they keep the status quo created by the FreeDOS installer.
Microsoft MBR works fine (I used one from a Windows 95 rescue diskette, in case you need a quick fix: FDISK /MBR from any MS-DOS-based boot floppy).
I will create a new bug in their current GitLab tracker and attach the relevant binary objects.
Similar issue reported recently on the email list with FreeDOS 1.2 and FreeDOS 1.3: https://sourceforge.net/p/freedos/mailman/message/37615781/
I also recall an earlier discussion that some CF cards don't properly emulate all HDD features?
In the meantime fdisk has been improved a lot. Could you test it again with FDT2412 , see:
https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/test/ or the next version FD 1.4 RC1 (will be available soon)?
Thx.