Hi everybody,

I'm new in DR DOS and I would like to learn some hints necessary for using it.
My first question is how to use Norton Commander under DR DOS?
When I just type "nc.exe" it doesn't load my favorite file manager (even in the NC-directory)!
:-(
Another question is what command replaces DIR command from MS DOS?
When I type "dir" I receive the message: "command or filename not recognized"
:-(

Where can I learn the basics about DR DOS commands?

Zennon

DR-DOS 7.0X has a file called dosbook.exe that explains how to use the dos commands in details.Most commands are similar to those used with MS-DOS but memory management and safety were major concerns since this system was often used in networking.For example, it is not possible to format C drive from a C dos prompt by mistake(you need to include an option called X.Nevertheless the DR-DOS deltree.bat used without a specific file in mind(like deltree C:) will wipe out all files from a drive without warning and may lead to a disaster.The MS-DOS one ,called deltree.exe keeps asking if you want to delete files.When you want to start a program from a dos prompt you must set a path in the autoexec.bat to eliminate the need to open the directory where the files is installed.For example:
PATH C:;C:\DR-DOS;C:\NC;C:\WINDOWS
or without the path statement
CD NC (this opens the directory called NC)
nc.exe (this starts the program nc.exe)
The dir command is an internal command that is part of the command.com and is used as follows:
dir c:
dir a:
DR-DOS 7.02 and 7.03 offer dual boot that you can use with Windows 9X.Setup Windows first and DR-DOS after to take advantage of this feature.Unfortunately it does not work with other dos system like MS-DOS 6.22.
Good luck.

You can also use the setup.exe file from the C dos prompt to make changes to the DR-DOS 7 config.sys or autoexec.bat(dconfig.sys and autodos7.bat if dual boot is installed).These changes cover all aspects of configuration including memory management.The interface is similar to the one used on the initial setup to install the DR-DOS system on the hard drive.DR-DOS 7 is compatible with Windows 3.X but has not FAT 32 support native.It can be added when needed.Visit DR-DOS web sites that offer files and support for this system.
http://stud3.tuwien.ac.at/~e0225895/drdos/drdos.htm
http://www.drdos.net/
http://www.drdosprojects.de/
http://www.senac.com/forums/4356/
http://www.uni-bonn.de/~uzs180/mpdokeng.html
Good luck.

Thank you!
I've got NC now.

Nevertheless despite of having loaded DRFAT32.sys in config.sys I got the message:"Found FAT32X PARTITION TYPE 0Ch (LBA) OND DRIVE 128. PARTITION NOT ALIGNED TO TRUCK BOUNDARIES" the FAT32 partition is not visible.

Why?

Zennon

The Fat 32 drivers is loaded in two parts to accomodate large size partitions:
1.fat32.sys is loaded in config.sys
devicehigh=C:\dr-dos\fat32.sys
2.fat32.exe is called via the autoexec.bat
lh C:\dr-dos\fat32.exe
Check your path to the files.At the same time load the LFN driver to avoid problems with long file names.This should enable drives larger than 8GB.Read here:
http://stud3.tuwien.ac.at/~e0225895/drdos/drfaq.htm#moreGB
Good luck.

The DRFAT32.EXE was added to the autoexec.bat file but now appears following message while booting:
DRFAT32 R1.00 Redirector Extension for FAT32 Partitions /.../ All Rights Reserved.

Driver not found: 'FAT32XXX'

What's FAT32XXX driver?

Another thing that I cannot work out is the QEMM386.sys driver.
What is the correct QEMM386.sys syntax?
I've put it in the config.sys as follows:
DEVICE=QEMM386.SYS RAM X=B000-BFFF DMA=32

but then I got the error message like:
"Exception 13: you computer has attempted to execute an invalid instruction due to an error in one of your programs ...
Exception #13 at 4F38:0000, error code 0000"

What's wrong?
:-(

Zennon

The file qemm386.sys is from the Quarterdeck memory management program.If you have problems with it,I would stick to the memory management from DR-DOS.It can be tuned from a dos prompt by running setup file.If you have loaded both fat32 drivers as indicated the FAT32XXX error may be gone after you make above change.
http://oopweb.com/Assembly/Documents/InterList/Volume/INTERRUP.G
From above you can get some details about the fat32.sys and fat32.exe drivers and error reported FAT32XXX:

----------2-----
INT 21 - DRFAT32.SYS device driver - IOCTL INPUT
AX = 4402h
BX = file handle referencing character device for DRFAT32.SYS driver
(e.g. "FAT32XXX" in the default configuration)
CX = number of bytes to read
DS:DX -> control block (see #04108)
Return: CF clear if successful
AX = number of bytes actually read
CF set on error
AX = error code (01h,05h,06h,0Dh) (see #01680 at AH=59h/BX=0000h)
Notes: the data returned depends on the first byte of the control block
the remainder of the control block is filled by the driver
one DRFAT32.SYS device driver supports up to 8 subunits (that is up
to 8 FAT32 partitions). By default, DRFAT32.SYS logs in all FAT32
partitions it finds, however, by using command line options /C (CHS),
/L (LBA), /H (Hidden) and /P:1..4 (Primary), /E:1..255 (Logical
Drive), and /U:min[,max] (Unit 128..255) it can be directed to
attach only to one or a specific range of partitions. Multiple
DRFAT32.SYS drivers can be loaded in a system when using the
/D:name option. To assign them to the redirector, the /D:name option
must be repeated for each of the DRFAT32.SYS drivers in the
DRFAT32.EXE command line.
SeeAlso: AX=4402h"CD-ROM",INT 2F/AX=0802h

Format of DRFAT32 control block:
Offset Size Description (Table 04108)
00h BYTE data being requested
00h device driver header address
09h media change status
48h address of DRFAT32 geometry table
else error
---function 00h---
01h DWORD device driver header address (see also AH=52h,#01646)
---function 09h---
01h BYTE media change status
00h don't know
01h media unchanged
FFh media has been changed
---DRFAT32 function 48h---
01h DWORD address of DRFAT32 geometry table (see #04109)

Format of DRFAT32 Geometry Table:
Offset Size Description (Table 04109)
00h 8*59 BYTEs eight DRFAT32 partition data tables (see #04110)
1D8h BYTE DRFAT32 access flags (see #04111)
1D9h BYTE DRFAT32 status flags (see #04112)
Note: This is the table layout used by DRFAT32.SYS 1.00 which supports up
to 8 sub-units. The layout of this table and its records may change,
so the version indicator in the device driver's signature ("FAT320")
and the size of the public data structure should be checked first.
SeeAlso: #04108

Format of DRFAT32 partition data table:
Offset Size Description (Table 04110)
00h BYTE size of following public data structure (9)
--- public data (needed by the DRFAT32.EXE redirector) ---
01h WORD bytes per sector
03h BYTE sectors per cluster
04h WORD reserved sectors
06h DWORD root directory start cluster
--- private data ---
0Ah DWORD sectors per track
0Eh DWORD root directory sector
12h DWORD partition start sector
16h DWORD highest partition sector allowed
(only if range checking enabled)
1Ah DWORD absolute cluster start sector
(cluster start sector+partition start sector)
1Eh DWORD total sectors per track (number of heads * sectors per track)
22h BYTE drive unit (default 80h)
23h BYTE temp buffer: CHS sectors to write (if verify enabled)
24h BYTE INT 13h extension version
--- CHS data ---
25h WORD cylinder
27h WORD head
29h WORD sector
--- LBA data ---
2Bh 16 BYTEs disk address packet (see #00272 at INT 13/AH=42h)
SeeAlso: #04109

Bitfields for DRFAT32 access flags:
Bit(s) Description (Table 04111)
7 using LBA addressing instead of CHS
6 using INT 13h extensions (see also INT 13/AH=48h)
5 multi-sector access allowed
4 force media change indication on removable drives
3 force verify after every write (/W)
2 more than 1024 cylinders, less than 64 heads (/A)
1 client-side asynchronous buffering allowed (/B), normally =0
0 read-only access (/R)
SeeAlso: #04109,#04112

Bitfields for DRFAT32 status flags:
Bit(s) Description (Table 04112)
7-2 reserved (0)
1 Save Guard enabled (blocks any further writes after a fault)
0 volume may have dirty sectors (set after write operations)
SeeAlso: #04109,#04111

Don't pay too much attention to the debug files but rather to the information about how the FAT32 files are loaded when you have multiple FAT 32 partitions.
Good luck.

As I said in an earlier thread, DRFAT32 has many compatibility problems, limitations and bugs. For example, DRFAT32 will not work with many systems, or FAT32 partitions beyond 15GB boundary. It won't work with LFN either (DRFAT32 and LFN driver are NOT compatible to each other, so you won't see LFN on the FAT32 drive mounted by DRFAT32 anyway). At the same time, it's very memory-hungry (DRFAT32.SYS + DRFAT32.EXE usually eats more than 80KB of conventional memory!) and unstable. Thus, DRFAT32 is really not good solution for FAT32 support. Why not try DR-DOS 7.01.06, DR-DOS 7.05 or DR-DOS 8.0 with native FAT32 support instead? I have tested DR-DOS 8.0 several days ago, and although it wasn't what I have expected, it seemed to work a little better than DR-DOS 7.03.

You can also try other FAT32 and LBA compatible DOSes, such as MS-DOS 7.10 and ROM-DOS 7.10, which are also better than DR-DOS 7.03. See this page for more information:

http://newdos.yginfo.net/dosfat32.htm

---------------
Long Live DOS!

http://mwpms.uklinux.net/

Many thanks for help to all of you!

Zennon