Re: [Freedos-user] location of autoexec.bat?
Hi Doc, >>> I'm running the LiveCD (fdbasews.iso). >> Typically, C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT is what you want... Not for the live CD ;-) > 1. The "root" is a:. > 2. There is an a:\fdconfig.sys. > 3. Inside the fdconfig.sys file, the SHELL command points to: > a:\freedos\fdauto.bat > 4. So I edited a:\freedos\fdauto.bat to include the directories I want in > the path. > > At this point I thought that everything was as I wanted. but then I > discovered that when I reboot, the a:\freedos\fdauto.bat goes back to its > initial state (i.e., it lost the changes I had made prior to the reboot). What you see is a bootable ramdisk simulation of a floppy. The floppy diskimage is on the CD-ROM and the combination of ISOLINUX and MEMDISK puts it in RAM and boots it. The virtual floppy then contains CD-ROM drivers. DOS cannot boot from CD-ROM itself so the drivers must be on something which DOS can boot from. Same idea as with Linux and initrd :-) That said, FreeDOS first tries to load fdconfig.sys and if that fails it tries config.sys, both on the drive from which you booted (in your case A:, which is the virtual floppy). The SHELL line in that file then tells where command.com is and the command.com of FreeDOS allows you to specify an alternate name for autoexec.bat at that point :-) If you want to put stuff on your harddisk or USB to use with your bootable DOS CD-ROM, then you could make some C:\go.bat file which you start manually after booting the CD-ROM. With tools like DEVLOAD, you can even load drivers that way... So it is not a big problem that you of course can not edit a CD. Regards, Eric PS: Of course you can edit the ISO file and burn a new CD-R or CD-RW with your modifications on it :-) I think the FreeDOS ISOs even contain some tools or batch scripts to make that possible even inside DOS. PPS: We also have a CD-ROM driver which mounts the ISO directly, so you could boot from some small USB device or floppy and put the ISO on C: or on USB to avoid having to actually burn the ISO on a CD at all. Of course it is a bit more advanced to set up this. > (In other words: where on the C: drive does the live CD look to > see if there's an autoexec.bat file that it needs to execute?) It does not look on C: - it is self-contained does not automatically interact with C: - may be Windows. But the manual C:\go.bat thing would work fine :-) -- What happens now with your Lotus Notes apps - do you make another costly upgrade, or settle for being marooned without product support? Time to move off Lotus Notes and onto the cloud with Force.com, apps are easier to build, use, and manage than apps on traditional platforms. Sign up for the Lotus Notes Migration Kit to learn more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/salesforce-d2d ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] location of autoexec.bat?
> Oh, I thought that the liveCD would do something like look somewhere on > the > C: drive for a specific autoexec file and then execute that if it's > present. I just assumed that it would have that capability. I can't say > that I understand why it doesn't do this, but obviously there must be > some > reason for this restriction. Apparently no one saw a need for that. For symmetry, you would have to provide a writeable (FD)CONFIG.SYS file too (which is harder to accomplish). In both cases, these files should probably _replace_ the ones on the CD. Additionally, your drive C: could be some read-only device (or one you don't want to modify) too, or maybe there isn't a drive C:, or whatever. Even something as simple as saying that we always execute the file "C:\FDOS\CDAUTO.BAT" (for example) if it exists, does not appear reasonable to me. > I'll just have to write my own batch file and > remember to execute it manually on startup each time. That's the best workaround you'll get with the CD as is. > Yes, it does need to run natively. It needs real-time access to the real > hardware, and it needs to be in an environment in which nothing else is > going to steal cycles. Then I suggest you install a whole FreeDOS installation (or only the boot disk of the CD, or only a small installation containing everything you need) on your R/W storage (hard disk) and boot that. The live CD isn't intended for this usage. You can update the writeable installation with newer programs then, too. Regards, Christian -- What happens now with your Lotus Notes apps - do you make another costly upgrade, or settle for being marooned without product support? Time to move off Lotus Notes and onto the cloud with Force.com, apps are easier to build, use, and manage than apps on traditional platforms. Sign up for the Lotus Notes Migration Kit to learn more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/salesforce-d2d ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] location of autoexec.bat?
Rugxulo said the following at 12/03/2010 08:33 PM : > You'll have to remix / remaster / reburn / etc. the .iso itself once > you modify it. The liveCD itself won't change between sessions, even > if you try to manually edit it. This is a restriction of the format > itself, a hardware restriction, not a DOS flaw nor something you can > fix in such a simple way. > Oh, I thought that the liveCD would do something like look somewhere on the C: drive for a specific autoexec file and then execute that if it's present. I just assumed that it would have that capability. I can't say that I understand why it doesn't do this, but obviously there must be some reason for this restriction. I'll just have to write my own batch file and remember to execute it manually on startup each time. Thank you very much for the help. > In other words, in a true hardware install (with a r/w drive such as > HD or FD) you can edit anything you like. But for a CD, the only way > is to reburn it after creating a modified .iso (e.g. using > mkisofs.exe: http://alexfru.narod.ru/os/fat/fat.html ). Yes, I understand that you can't change the contents of the CD. > > Honestly, it might be easier to just use QEMU or VirtualBox or Bochs > with a fake HD install (unless whatever app you're trying to run > really needs to run natively). Yes, it does need to run natively. It needs real-time access to the real hardware, and it needs to be in an environment in which nothing else is going to steal cycles. Doc -- Web: http://www.sff.net/people/N7DR signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature -- What happens now with your Lotus Notes apps - do you make another costly upgrade, or settle for being marooned without product support? Time to move off Lotus Notes and onto the cloud with Force.com, apps are easier to build, use, and manage than apps on traditional platforms. Sign up for the Lotus Notes Migration Kit to learn more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/salesforce-d2d___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] location of autoexec.bat?
Hi, On 12/3/10, D. R. Evans wrote: > Rugxulo said the following at 12/03/2010 05:22 PM : >> >> On 12/3/10, D. R. Evans wrote: >>> >>> I'm running the LiveCD (fdbasews.iso). >> >> Long story short: check your root for (FD)CONFIG.SYS and see what >> SHELL= says.;-) > > I discovered that when I reboot, the a:\freedos\fdauto.bat goes back to its > initial state (i.e., it lost the changes I had made prior to the reboot). Right. > I checked this again, and indeed the a:\freedos\fdauto.bat file always > reverts to its unedited state on reboot. That's because it's an immutable liveCD. It's not as simple as just edit and reboot (sadly). > So the file I'm supposed to edit seems like it can't be > a:\freedos\fdauto.bat; but I'm back to my original situation now, still > wondering which is the right file I should edit so that the PATH is as I > want it. Like I said, I forget exactly what's going on in this exact specific case, but obviously "a:\" here is a fake drive, most like a RAM disk. > Maybe I misunderstood something in your instructions, but I don't think so. > > Doc > > PS As you point out, I can always change the PATH manually, but that is > error prone and something I'm likely to forget to do at some point. It > would be much more convenient to have the PATH set as I want it as part of > the boot sequence. You'll have to remix / remaster / reburn / etc. the .iso itself once you modify it. The liveCD itself won't change between sessions, even if you try to manually edit it. This is a restriction of the format itself, a hardware restriction, not a DOS flaw nor something you can fix in such a simple way. In other words, in a true hardware install (with a r/w drive such as HD or FD) you can edit anything you like. But for a CD, the only way is to reburn it after creating a modified .iso (e.g. using mkisofs.exe: http://alexfru.narod.ru/os/fat/fat.html ). Honestly, it might be easier to just use QEMU or VirtualBox or Bochs with a fake HD install (unless whatever app you're trying to run really needs to run natively). Sorry. :-/ -- What happens now with your Lotus Notes apps - do you make another costly upgrade, or settle for being marooned without product support? Time to move off Lotus Notes and onto the cloud with Force.com, apps are easier to build, use, and manage than apps on traditional platforms. Sign up for the Lotus Notes Migration Kit to learn more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/salesforce-d2d ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] location of autoexec.bat?
Rugxulo said the following at 12/03/2010 05:22 PM : > Hi, > > On 12/3/10, D. R. Evans wrote: >> >> I'm running the LiveCD (fdbasews.iso). > > >> (In other words: where on the C: drive does the live CD look to see if >> there's an autoexec.bat file that it needs to execute?) > > Typically, C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT is what you want. But sometimes FreeDOS > renames it FDAUTO.BAT, which is allowed in FDCONFIG.SYS (loaded if > CONFIG.SYS not found) in SHELL via /P:FDAUTO.BAT. > > Long story short: check your root for (FD)CONFIG.SYS and see what > SHELL= says.;-) Thank you very much. However, there still is a problem. 1. The "root" is a:. 2. There is an a:\fdconfig.sys. 3. Inside the fdconfig.sys file, the SHELL command points to: a:\freedos\fdauto.bat 4. So I edited a:\freedos\fdauto.bat to include the directories I want in the path. At this point I thought that everything was as I wanted. but then I discovered that when I reboot, the a:\freedos\fdauto.bat goes back to its initial state (i.e., it lost the changes I had made prior to the reboot). I checked this again, and indeed the a:\freedos\fdauto.bat file always reverts to its unedited state on reboot. So the file I'm supposed to edit seems like it can't be a:\freedos\fdauto.bat; but I'm back to my original situation now, still wondering which is the right file I should edit so that the PATH is as I want it. Maybe I misunderstood something in your instructions, but I don't think so. Doc PS As you point out, I can always change the PATH manually, but that is error prone and something I'm likely to forget to do at some point. It would be much more convenient to have the PATH set as I want it as part of the boot sequence. -- Web: http://www.sff.net/people/N7DR signature.asc Description: OpenPGP digital signature -- What happens now with your Lotus Notes apps - do you make another costly upgrade, or settle for being marooned without product support? Time to move off Lotus Notes and onto the cloud with Force.com, apps are easier to build, use, and manage than apps on traditional platforms. Sign up for the Lotus Notes Migration Kit to learn more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/salesforce-d2d___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] location of autoexec.bat?
Hi, On 12/3/10, D. R. Evans wrote: > > I'm running the LiveCD (fdbasews.iso). I haven't used that lately, so I can't remember (and it's not available on this machine either, so I can't check). > Where on the c: drive is an autoexec.bat file that I can edit so as to > change the path when running from the LiveCD? If all you want to do is change the path at runtime, "path c:\dos;c:\blah;%PATH%" etc. > (In other words: where on the C: drive does the live CD look to see if > there's an autoexec.bat file that it needs to execute?) Typically, C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT is what you want. But sometimes FreeDOS renames it FDAUTO.BAT, which is allowed in FDCONFIG.SYS (loaded if CONFIG.SYS not found) in SHELL via /P:FDAUTO.BAT. Long story short: check your root for (FD)CONFIG.SYS and see what SHELL= says.;-) -- What happens now with your Lotus Notes apps - do you make another costly upgrade, or settle for being marooned without product support? Time to move off Lotus Notes and onto the cloud with Force.com, apps are easier to build, use, and manage than apps on traditional platforms. Sign up for the Lotus Notes Migration Kit to learn more. http://p.sf.net/sfu/salesforce-d2d ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
