At 06:48 AM 8/30/99 , Doug Simmons wrote:
>I'm trying to make a boot disk so I can do a fresh install of Windows 95, but am having
>trouble with getting the CDROM recognized.  I have followed the previous discussions and
>the correct configuration in config.sys and autoexec.bat (see below for mine).
>
>My system:
>Rhino 12 motherboard (VIA Chipset) Award Bios
>Pentium 166
>80 meg memory
>3 G hard drive partitioned C: - 2 G and D: 1 G (on Primary Master)
>Old Toro CDROM (4X) on Secondary Master
>Windows 95b
>
>Let me give you a synopsis of what has occurred up to now.  I had a corrupt registry and
>could not recover.  I didn't have a current reg backup so had to go back to one of the
>original registry backups (1 ½ yr. old).  I could boot now and so I started fixing stuff
>to get by until I had time to format and re-install Windows.  I was able to get
>everything back in working order except for the cdrom (no drive letter in Windows).  As
>first attempt to fix, I added the DOS support in the Autoexec.bat and config.sys.  The
>drive letter appeared now in Windows but I got an "Error reading Drive E:, Abort, Retry,
>Fail" message. I then saw that the IDE controller had error in Device Manager.  I
>installed the VIA chipset controller drivers and now the cdrom worked in Windows.
>
>Next I tried to create a windows boot disk. I have the required files on the boot disk
>(MSCDEX.EXE, TSYCDROM.SYS, EMM386.exe, and HIMEM.exe).  The autoexec.exe and config.sys
>lines are from the TORI manual.  (P: SM is for Master on Secondary controller.)
>
>Now booting to windows command prompt from the floppy boot disk, the BIOS detects the
>cdrom, and the drivers appear to load from the floppy.  I can enter "CD E:" at the >A:
>prompt and the >E: appears OK. When I try to do a "dir E:" with any cd, I get the "Error
>reading Drive E:, Abort, Retry, Fail" message.
>
>Does anyone see something that would let the boot disk recognize the cdrom but not make
>it readable, or have any suggestions for further looking for problems?  The cdrom still
>works in full GUI Windows, but I don't want to format C: if I can't boot and load
>Windows from the cdrom.
>
>Config.sys
>
>device=a:\himem.sys /testmem:off
>DEVICE=a:\EMM386.EXE
>DEVICE=a:\TSYCDROM.SYS /D:TSYCD1 /P:SM
>
>Autoexec.bat
>
>a:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:TSYCD1 /M:20


I have seen this issue a few times...   here are a few things you can try
to solve the issue:

1)  Be sure to run a cleaning disk through the CD rom drive
2)  Try other CDs in the drive in case the problem is the CD you
       are using.
3)  SInce you are using the EMM386 memory manager, add the /E switch
      to your Dos driver:  a:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:TSYCD1 /E /M:20
      This will give the drive access to Extended Memory.
4)  Increase the number of buffers for the drive from  /M:20  to  /M:40
       in hopes that will help
5)  Change the drive to a slave on the secondary, a few CD drives will
      have an issue with being set as a Master.  This is rare with drives
      of 8x or faster, but this is a 4x drive.  Be sure to change your driver
      setting to match it,  ( /P:SS

Finally, you may need to admit that the drive is going bad and replace it.
I have seen a few old IDE CD rom drives that will work in Linux and not
DOS or Windows...  or will work in Windows and not DOS...  it is a sign
they are nearly ready to die.




                 Bob Wright
        The NOSPIN Group, Inc
http://nospin.com - http://nospin.org

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