I need to make a boot floppy that grants cdrom access in the beginning of config.sys

Normally to access a cdrom from a bootable dos floppy, an entry needs to be added to both config.sys (which binds a driver to the cdrom) and then one in autoexec.bat (which binds a drive letter to the cdrom).

My problem is I need to give the cdrom a driver AND give it a drive letter BEFORE autoexec.bat comes into play (at the top of config.sys no less) this way I'll be able to have my config.sys lines use the cdrom path for their data.

What I've tried:
Config.sys in the A:\ drive with a cd in the cdrom drive with information on the cd located "D:\NETNET\3C90X\NTSTS.DOS"
---------
Test1:
DEVICEHIGH=A:\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001
install A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 /L: D

DEVICEHIGH=D:\NETNET\3C90X\NTSTS.DOS
set? a= did it load the above with no errors?
(can't access the D drive.. so this didn't work)
(Turns out "install" lines run AFTER all other config.sys lines.. so this doesn't help)
---------
Test2:
DEVICEHIGH=A:\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001
DEVICEHIGH=A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 /L: D

DEVICEHIGH=D:\NETNET\3C90X\NTSTS.DOS
set? a= did it load the above with no errors?
(freezes after oakcdrom.sys line)
---------
Test3:
DEVICEHIGH=A:\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001
DEVICE=A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 /L: D

DEVICEHIGH=D:\NETNET\3C90X\NTSTS.DOS
set? a= did it load the above with no errors?
(freezes after oakcdrom.sys line)

The only other idea I have at this point is from a thread online I read, there was mention of a dos shim that allows one to load drivers from autoexec.bat.. however no mention of said shim's name or a url to said shim (and I've looked all over and had no luck in my search for one thus far)

So thats where I'm at.. There has to be some way to do this. Any advice on how I can accomplish this would be much appreciated.

You may be thinking of DevLoad:

Load device drivers from the command line at any time without rebooting

I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.

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Thank jboy. Its gotten me further :)
On the floppy I've moved most drivers from config.sys to autoexec.bat and they look like this now:

Config.sys:
------------
DEVICE=A:\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001

DEVICEHIGH=A:\HIMEM.SYS
DOS=HIGH,UMB
LASTDRIVE = Z
------------

Autoexec.bat:
------------
A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 /L:D

DEVLOAD.COM D:\NET\NTSTS.DOS
DEVLOAD.COM D:\NET\PROTMAN.DOS /i:D:\NET
DEVLOAD.COM D:\NET\ELNK3.DOS
DEVLOAD.COM D:\NET\NTSTS.DOS
DEVLOAD.COM D:\NET\DLSHELP.SYS

SET TZ=GHO+05:00
SET PATH=D:\NET\;D:\;%PATH%;
SET TEMP=D:\
SET TCPHELP=D:\NET
SET ETCDIR=D:\NET
REM \MOUSE.COM
D:\NET\NET START
D:\NET\NET.EXE USE Z: \\img\ghost$
D:\NET\NET.EXE USE
------------

However after the cdrom gets a drive letter and hits the first devload.com line it spits out:
------------
A:\>DEVLOAD.COM D:\NET\NTSTS.DOS
DEVLOAD v3.16 (C) 1992 - 1996 David Woodhouse <Dave@imladris.demon.co.uk>
Patches for v3.12-3.16 by Eric Auer 2004/2005 <Eric*CoLi.uni-sb.de>
Loads device drivers from the shell.

Filename: \\D.\A.\NET\NTSTS.DOS

Error: EXEC Failed (0001h)
------------

Same error for the other lines as well..
However after it fails and stops at a command prompt I verified I can access those resources on the D drive.

Not sure why it has "\A.\" in there..

Tried to look up that specific error but not much luck (ther then me being pretty sure thats an interrupt). I've also read through the article on page: http://www.infradead.org/devload/
but it is a bit above my head and I haven't found any relation to that specific error code.. or for the "\A.\" in the file name..

I don't think my version of dos is an issue however I'll list it just in case. I'm using "PC DOS Version 7.1".

Any idea on where I'm going wrong?