Help with DOS commands

fixer27 said:
Well I installed the extra memory went to open win3.1 and received an error
message about svga 256. I exited windows and received a disk error message
I then removed the new memory and reinstalled the old memory and win 3.1
opened right up.

I think there is some setting that needs adjustment for the extra memory
but this being Dos I have no clue how to even find the directory let alone
what to adjust it to.
Click to expand...
There are a number of issues here. For instance the TYPE of memory is important. Some computers simply will not work if the memory is even slightly different. In some, the BIOS will only support a certain maximum, regardless of how many slots might actually be in the motherboard. If you have several slots it is also important which ones are populated and in what order. You're in for an interesting ride! :)
 
Cougar Allen said:
When you first boot up does it tell you what keys to press to get into the CMOS settings?
Click to expand...

No when i first started it up it goes right into a memory test. It read the
expanded memory but wouldn't open windows, I got a svga error message.
Then it just crashed when I tried to restart it.
 
gajinoz said:
There are a number of issues here. For instance the TYPE of memory is important. Some computers simply will not work if the memory is even slightly different. In some, the BIOS will only support a certain maximum, regardless of how many slots might actually be in the motherboard. If you have several slots it is also important which ones are populated and in what order. You're in for an interesting ride! :)
Click to expand...

It read the expanded memory, when you first boot up the first thing you
see is a mem test. It went to dos no prob, when I typed

cd windows

windows> win run

I got back a error message that said something about device drivers and
svga 256. Then it went back to dos. I shut it off, restarted and got a
"non disk or disk error" please insert and start. And the mem is a one
piece affair, you simply snap it into place and off she goes. there is only
one place to install it. And btw the mem had been expanded before I got
there, there was a Crucial memory module in place of the factory unit.
 
fixer27 said:
It read the expanded memory, when you first boot up the first thing you
see is a mem test. It went to dos no prob, when I typed

cd windows

windows> win run

I got back a error message that said something about device drivers and
svga 256. Then it went back to dos. I shut it off, restarted and got a
"non disk or disk error" please insert and start. And the mem is a one
piece affair, you simply snap it into place and off she goes. there is only
one place to install it. And btw the mem had been expanded before I got
there, there was a Crucial memory module in place of the factory unit.
Click to expand...
This one is a little trickier. I'm not sure why but it sounds like the memory is, in some odd way, stopping the device drivers from loading properly. First it was your display driver and the second time your disk controller. Drivers depend on memory to load and, as a very tentative guess, maybe they can't recongnise the memory even though the BIOS does.

Can you start windows in safe mode?

I think, from very dim memory, it's win /s or something like that.
 
gajinoz said:
This one is a little trickier. I'm not sure why but it sounds like the memory is, in some odd way, stopping the device drivers from loading properly. First it was your display driver and the second time your disk controller. Drivers depend on memory to load and, as a very tentative guess, maybe they can't recongnise the memory even though the BIOS does.

Can you start windows in safe mode?

I think, from very dim memory, it's win /s or something like that.
Click to expand...

Could the bios or cmos already have been altered when the original memory
was removed? And if I start in safe mode, it won't do much good because
I had to remove the expanded memory just to get the thing to run.

I am guessing the problem is either a. the svga setting has been altered
to free memory and I have to go in manually and change it
b. some other parameter was changed on the on the first mem upgrade
and i have to go into config.sys and change it.
c. this laptop is only good for bayonet practice in the first place.
 
fixer27 said:
Could the bios or cmos already have been altered when the original memory
was removed? And if I start in safe mode, it won't do much good because
I had to remove the expanded memory just to get the thing to run.
Click to expand...
Generally speaking, things like BIOS and CMOS adjust themselves for memory. If I had the thing in front of me a an hour or two, and maybe a couple of beers, I could probably figure it out eventually but I think you're just going to have to play with it until you figure it out. The old computers can be temperamental buggers. :(
 
gajinoz said:
Generally speaking, things like BIOS and CMOS adjust themselves for memory. If I had the thing in front of me a an hour or two, and maybe a couple of beers, I could probably figure it out eventually but I think you're just going to have to play with it until you figure it out. The old computers can be temperamental buggers. :(
Click to expand...

Well thanks for your help anyway Gajinoz. After all the thing still operates
and runs win3.1 I might have to eat the 30 bucks for the mem though.
Oh I ran chkdsk, and it said for the first time that I have 9 sectors that
are corrupted and if I did X it would free up 303,000 bytes. What can I
do to execute the command that would auto fix those bytes?

regedit.exe
regclean.exe
Or fdisk.exe

And should I wipe the hard drive and just re-install win 3.1/dos 7.0?

A few hours and a few beers? Just as long as the beer isn't Fosters I have
heard that it is real pee water and the locals won't drink it. :D
 
fixer27 said:
Well thanks for your help anyway Gajinoz. After all the thing still operates
and runs win3.1 I might have to eat the 30 bucks for the mem though.
Oh I ran chkdsk, and it said for the first time that I have 9 sectors that
are corrupted and if I did X it would free up 303,000 bytes. What can I
do to execute the command that would auto fix those bytes?

regedit.exe
regclean.exe
Or fdisk.exe
Click to expand...
chkdsk /F will check and fix errors.

fdisk is not for fixing disk problems as such. It can recreate your master boot record but you don't need to do that.

You could also try: scandisk /autofix

And should I wipe the hard drive and just re-install win 3.1/dos 7.0?
Click to expand...
You could. If you can get hold of a program called Partition Magic it's great for deleting partitions and recreating them so you end up with a nice clean slate on the disk to start with.

A few hours and a few beers? Just as long as the beer isn't Fosters I have
heard that it is real pee water and the locals won't drink it. :D
Click to expand...
Dreadful stuff! :)
 
I think that I have found the problem! I am reading the thinkpad updates
to the user manual and came across this little factoid:

When installing the 16 mb so-dimm you must locate and change the switch
settings on the base memory board. They should be the following

SW1 off Sw2 On SW3 off SW4 off.

Are these manual switches or are they located in Dos settings? This would
seem to be the problem.
 
Those are tiny manually operated switches on the base memory board -- actually too small to operate by hand, you have to use a ballpoint pen or similar instrument.
 
Well thanks for the advice but the mem upgrade is a lost cause.
When they upgraded to 8mb they also changed the memory board
and the switches were in the correct position. so unless there is another
mem board hanging around the upgrade is dead.

Thanks for you responses however.
 
They might even be jumper switches.... Where you set a shorting jumper. Otherwise, they're normally called "dipswitches" as I recall.

Phil
 
Oh, man this thread brings back memories.... Long nights problem solving and DOS commands. I don't miss it. :) My 8088 had a 20mb HD and I *upgraded* to 1mb of ram.... :rolleyes:

I still have a boxed set of IBM DOS 2.0. with kooky help manuals. I am saving it because it has to be valuable to someone someday.

Hope you get this in order. We like knives, others love this stuff still. :D

Coop
 
I will say that the entire experience has been extremely educational.
This experience has reminded me why I despise DOS. :D

On a side note, I picked up an old Packard bell (141) for 20 bucks
and deleted all the partitions on the hard drive and then tried to
reinstall win98. The results are I won't be quitting my day job and
pursuing a career in the exciting field of computer repair. :rolleyes:
I did manage to make some win98 bootdisks before I ruined the hard
drive though. If I decide to wipe the IBM and reinstall everything then
the Packard bell didn't die in vain at least.
 
I have a MS subscription CD that includes MSDOS 6.0 and Windows for Workgroups. Wife and I have toyed with creating an old game PC based on this for those old old games.

Dosbox and a few other emulators have made that quest unneccesary.

Phil
 
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