(Background: The issue here is using a DOS-based program to recognize a USB
external HD for the purposes of partitioning/formatting such drive. This
would involve situations where (for one reason or another) a user wants to
partition/format a large-capacity, i.e., > 32 GB, USBEHD in FAT32. As we
know, a "normal" DOS boot disk will *not* recognize a USBEHD.)

> "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
> news:Oc57mvO6FHA.1148@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>>>> snip>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:e1CiPP15FHA.2716@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> To use a USB drive with DOS you need to load a USB driver, I use
>>>>>> DUSE.
>>>>>> It simply is not correct to say you cannot use USB or firewire with
>>>>>> DOS,
>>>>>> you can provided you load the drivers. The drivers are readily
>>>>>> available
>>>>>> via 'Google'.
>>>>>
>>>>> Edward:


>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message
>> news:OW1IbgH6FHA.2888@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Thanks for the information re the DUSE program. I note that in a
>>>>> number
>>>>> of prior postings you have mentioned that program in this context. I
>>>>> had previously requested additional details from you about using that
>>>>> program but I haven't come across any response.
>>>>>
>>>>> Would you be good enough to provide details about using that program?
>>>>> I
>>>>> note the DUSE 4.4 program can be downloaded from the
>>>>> http://www.stefan2000.com/darkehorse...S/Drivers/USB/ site.
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. Is it simply a matter of adding the DUSE.exe (and DUSELDR.COM?)
>>>>> file(s) to a DOS boot disk, e.g., a Win9x/Me Startup floppy boot disk)
>>>>> in order to use the program? Could you provide specific details re
>>>>> using
>>>>> the program?
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. Do I understand from what you're indicating that when you boot to a
>>>>> DOS boot disk containing the DUSE file(s) with a USB external HD
>>>>> connected to the system, the USBEHD will be recognized for the
>>>>> purposes
>>>>> of utilizing the FDISK & FORMAT commands? So that one could
>>>>> delete/create
>>>>> partitions and format partitions on a USBEHD in this manner?
>>>>>
>>>>> I (and I'm sure others) look forward to your response.
>>>>> Anna


>>> "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
>>> news:uvUzBRC6FHA.4012@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>>>> I'm sorry I didn't respond to your question, I must have missed it. On
>>>> the site you have mentioned I note the author has done all the 'hard
>>>> work'
>>>> and compiled bootable disks that incorporate the USB drivers. Just
>>>> download
>>>> one of his files, run the 'exe' and create a floppy, that should do the
>>>> trick. I am sure fdisk and format are included on his disks but I
>>>> haven't checked. If the utilities you need aren't on the disk you can
>>>> add them yourself of course.
>>>>
>>>> If you want to create your own disk you need to add the 'duse.exe' file
>>>> to the bootable floppy and modify 'config.sys' with the line
>>>> 'device=duse.exe' or 'devicehigh=duse.exe'.
>>>> When you now boot from the floppy, you will be able to read and write
>>>> to
>>>> your USB drive.
>>>>
>>>> As a suggestion go to www.bootdisk.com/usb.htm where you will find
>>>> everything you need to build a suitable floppy.
>>>>
>>>> As others have mentioned and you almost certainly know, format in DOS
>>>> will only allow you to format FAT, however once the disk is formatted
>>>> converting to NTFS should not be a problem.
>>>>
>>>> Hope this helps.
>>>


>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message
>> news:OW1IbgH6FHA.2888@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>>> Edward:
>>> Thanks for the additional information re the DUSE program.
>>>
>>> We usually use a standard DOS boot floppy created as a Win9x/Me Startup
>>> floppy disk to boot to DOS to access the FDISK & FORMAT commands when
>>> >>> the need arises to partition/format large-capacity HDs FAT32. I
>>> assume there's no need to use any other type of DOS boot floppy to use
>>> the DUSE program after one modifies that boot floppy disk along the
>>> lines you indicated.
>>>
>>> I added the duse.exe (and duseldr.com) files to a DOS boot floppy disk
>>> and modified the config.sys file as you described. With a USBEHD
>>> connected to
>>> the system, we booted with that floppy. But we could not get to a
>>> prompt.
>>> The final message at the end of the boot process indicated "DUSE version
>>> 4.4 Build 110 Release (General) ..." and then a blinking cursor. No
>>> prompt. We tried it with different USBEHDs connected with the same
>>> results.
>>>
>>> If you could shed any light on this initial failure I would appreciate
>>> hearing about it.
>>> Anna


Edward responds...
>> It's a little difficult to troubleshoot your problem. I suppose there is
>> an outside chance that the DUSE file is corrupt. I assume your
>> config.sys file is similar to that shown in example 2 at
>> www.bootdisk.com/usb.htm.
>>
>> Your problem has nothing to do with connected USB devices but with the
>> bootable disk. What is strange is if you have a mistake in the
>> config.sys
>> script it is usually ignored and shows up as a error. In your case the
>> boot process hangs which may indicate a corrupt driver file, likely the
>> DUSE
>> file. You could download a fresh copy of DUSE and retry.
>>
>> What I would do is to download a bootable 'USB' floppy from
>> http://www.stefan2000.com/darkehorse...S/Drivers/USB/ and try that.
>> If
>> it functions then it will tell you the problem lies with the
>> configuration
>> on your floppy disk and isn't something more fundamental. You can then
>> compare the differences between the disks and identify the differences.
>> My
>> money is on a 'bad' copy of DUSE.exe
>>
>> Hope this helps and good luck.


"Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:OAtOBma6FHA.2040@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Since posting the above, your problems prompted me to retry my trusted
> multiboot floppy (USB/Firewire/CDROM) and much to my chagrin I find I have
> identical problems to yourself. Duse 4.4 causes the boot to hang (no A:
> prompt). Duse 4.9 loads the USB driver and the EHD is corectly identified
> during POST but the drive cannot be seen in fdisk or gdisk Why this is I
> really can't begin to speculate. I know the configuration I have used to
> function without problems on my three machines, what has changed to cause
> this hiccup is presently a mystery.
>
> I have managed to get to the point where POST indicates the USB driver is
> loaded and the EHD identification is shown but no drive letter. The lack
> of a driver letter is not surprising as both my EHDs are formated NTFS.
> However if I run fdisk or gdisk the EHD is not recognised. I guess it is
> back to the drawing board. I have tried all combinations of Duse and aspi
> drivers together with the Iomega 'guest' solution but so far no success.
>
> If I find a workable solution I will post back.


Edward:
Thanks for the additional info. I spent the better part of the morning
yesterday trying this or that configuration with a DOS boot disk & the DUSE
program. All my efforts ended in failure, i.e., I was unable to get the
FDISK command to recognize the existence of a USBEHD. Like you, I tried
various aspisys files in the configuration, but to no avail. I finally gave
up in frustration.

I do look forward to any further posts by you re this issue. Since what we
are discussing has no further relevance to this specific thread, might I
suggest that we use the subject "Using a DOS boot floppy disk to recognize a
USB external HD", or some such? I'll be on the lookout for it.

Incidentally, you might be interested to know that we're (slowly) moving
away from using USBEHDs as we are building more & more machines with SATA
capability. The newer motherboards, are, of course, SATA-capable, and many
of them are coming equipped with an external SATA port. This yields
substantial benefits in that we can now easily connect an external SATA
drive to the machine which the system sees as an *internal* drive. Thus, the
"external" SATA drive is eminently bootable and of course has substantial
speed advantages over a USB/Firewire EHD. Note the SATA drive utilizes the
system's PS so that no external PS is necessary. It would seem the best of
all possible worlds, no? In those cases where the motherboard has SATA
capability but no external SATA port, we've been using a simple, relatively
inexpensive I/O device attached to the PCI slot openings on the rear of the
computer that contains SATA data/power connectors. Again, no external PS is
needed for the SATA drive.

We've been encouraging our customers who are contemplating purchasing a new
system or upgrading their present system to build a system around a
SATA-equipped motherboard, particularly one with four (or more) SATA
connectors.
Anna