"Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message
news:%23js9cgh6FHA.1720@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> >
>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message
>> news:%23R3aEde6FHA.476@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>>> (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
>
>
> "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
> news:%23mNfDqg6FHA.2176@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>> OK Anna I'm pleased to report I can now access my USB EHD from DOS on my
>> systems. The key files are 'usbaspi.sys' and 'di1000dd.sys'. The
>> 'usbaspi.sys' MUST be the Panasonic version that can be found in the
>> Panasonic driver klxrw40an.exe, folder F2H. The driver 'di1000dd.sys'
>> can
>> be found in 'mhairu.zip'. You can find both files by 'Googling' but if
>> you have a problem let me know and I can email them to you. The entries
>> in config.sys should be device=usbaspi.sys /w /v and device=di1000dd.sys.
>>
>> This works OK for me. The versions of these two files seem to be
>> critical. It maybe that other versions of the files, of which there seem
>> to be many, will also 'work' but the collective wisdom on the web is the
>> versions I have indicated are the 'definitive' versions. On the basis of
>> 'don't fix it if it ain't broke' I've only tried the recommended files
>> and
>> can confirm they 'work'. Now I'm back to where I thought I was a few
>> days
>> ago, that is a working floppy to load usb driver in DOS, I'm now going to
>> try to get the DUSE driver working.
>>
>> Hope this 'solution' will work for you.
>
> Edward:
> Seems I'm getting closer but no brass ring just yet...
>
> At the end of the boot process I get a "divide overflow" error and can go
> no further.
>
> Here's a snapshot of my floppy:
> autoexec.bat
> command.com
> config.sys
> DI1000DD.sys
> drvspace.bin
> duse.exe
> duseldr.com
> emm386.exe
> fdisk.exe
> format.com
> himem.sys
> Io.sys
> mscdex.exe
> msdos.sys
> usbaspi.sys
>
> Contents of autoexec.bat file:
> @echo off
> duseldr a:\duse.exe
> MSCDEX /D:USBCDROM /S /M:15 /V
>
> Contents of config.sys file:
> device=a:\himem.sys
> devicehigh=a:\emm386.exe
> device=a:\usbaspi.sys
> device=a:\DI1000DD.SYS
> dos=high,umb
>
> My DI1000DD.sys file totals 16,368 bytes
> My usbaspi.sys file totals 39,179 bytes
>
> See anything untoward in the above?
> Anna
I would guess you have a conflict with 'duse' in the autoexec.bat file. I
can't see the purpose of 'duse' as you are using usbaspi.sys as you usb
driver. Either remove or 'rem' out the duse entry and with luck it will be
OK.

Not that it matters but your dos=high,umb is redundant unless you intend to
use 'devicehigh' instead of 'device'. Further you have mscdex in
autoexec.bat that points to a cdrom but there is no correspondiung drive
(device) in config.sys. The mscdex line doesn'rt do any 'harm' but doesn't
do amything without a driver (device) e.g. device =a:\usbcdrom.

Hope this helps.