PCMCIA CD-ROM in DOS Mode

My boss gave me a Toshiba Portege 3020ct a few weeks ago. It came into life with W98 on it but was rebuilt with ME a while back. In the process of rebuilding it with ME, my boss put in 3 partitions that are not exactly the way I'd like to have it. I'd like to return it to W98 but can't get the CD-ROM to work in DOS after booting with a boot floppy. I've read countless NG postings about loading real-mode drivers before MSCDEX.EXE and have even seen successful conclusions to the same problem but haven't seen any concrete evidence like the lines to put into autoexec.bat and config.sys on the boot floppy.

I'm sure this is not an isolated incident. Although Toshiba provides a small download that allegedly can be used to install the drivers, I can't for the life of me make it work. I'm sure many have had this problem but have been smart enough to figure it out. Can you help me put the right stuff in autoexec.bat and config.sys on my boot floppy to get the CD-ROM to work in DOS so I can FDISK back to a single partition and install W98 in a normal manner?

Thank you very much in advance.

AQTF

 

Go to this link and download the p301cdrd.exe:

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/...CT|1073769634&askNothing.x=33&askNothing.y=14

From the extracted files, copy the following to your Startup diskette:

Arccd.sys
Arccdena.sys
CDenb.sys

Replace the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys with the enclosed files, which you will need to rename accordingly:

Rename Autoexec_1.txt to Autoexec.bat, then copy this file to your Windows 98 Startup diskette replacing the existing one.

Rename the Config_1.txt to Config.sys, then copy this file to your Windows 98 Startup diskette replacing the existing one.

Note: When you rename a file, select View from the Explorer menu, then Folder Options. On the View tab, deselect "Hide the extension for known files". Doing this will allow you to see the entire file label. Once done, turn this feature back ON.

Now you can start the computer with this diskette and select Command prompt with CD Support.

 

I can't thank you enough for responding to my posting. Unfortunately (for me), your procedure didn't work. Hopefully, I read your very explicit and detailed description correctly and performed the steps as you indicated:

I created a boot floppy from within Windows 98.
I renamed autoexec.bat (on boot floppy) to autoexec.bak
I renamed config.sys (on boot floppy) to config.bak
I renamed the 2 files you attached...Autoexec_1.txt to autoexec.bat and Config_1.txt to config.sys and copied them to the boot floppy.
I booted the computer with the boot floppy, selected "Boot with CD-ROM support) then waited to see if it recognized the CD-ROM drive in the PCMCIA socket.

Although use of the new boot floppy resulted in the CD-ROM actually being accessed or otherwise powered-up for a brief moment, the bootup went along for a while then displayed that no CD-ROM could be found. This is much, much more than it has ever done with any and all of the other attempts I've made to boot up with CD-ROM support. At no time before did the CD-ROM drive even light up the power lamp during the bootup process. It does now buy still does not recognize that a CD drive is attached.

Although I'm pleased that SOMETHING is happening now, the end result is still not attained. Could this be that the I/O Magic 24X PCMCIA drive I'm using requires special drivers or might otherwise never work in DOS mode on the 3020CT Portege???

Oh...one last thing. I'm a bit confused with one sentence you included in your original posting:

"Now you can start the computer with this diskette and select Command prompt with CD Support." COMMAND PROMPT WITH CD SUPPORT is not one of the options. Did you mean something else???

Any additional assistance would be greatly appreciated.

AQTF

 

Oops...forgot the most important step. I extracted:

Arccd.sys
Arccdena.sys
CDenb.sys

from p301cdrd.exe then copied the 3 files to the boot floppy. I did nothing else with p301cdrd.exe other than extract the 3 files you indicated.

AQTF

 

The Startup Diskette is a diskette that can be use on any computer but, sometimes fails due to incorrect drivers for the cd_rom. It does contain numerous drivers, but these drivers may not be compatible with your cd_rom. The download p301cdrd.exe contains the correct drivers, according to Toshiba.

Since the Startup diskette is "Universal", maybe you should prepare a startup diskette specifically for your computer and avoid loading files for which you have no use. All you have to do is to copy all files extracted from the p301cdrd.exe download into the startup diskette (overwrite any file found as existing), except that the Config.sys in the diskette should read as follows:

device=himem.sys /testmemff
files=10
buffers=10
dos=high,umb
stacks=9,256
lastdrive=z
device=a:\arccdena.sys

You can edit this file by right clicking on it while holding down the Shift key and selecting Notepad from the list of programs.

The computer will boot directly to a command prompt. It will give you access to the high memory area block. There will be no menu, and hopefully, if the drivers are the right ones, will give you access to the CD_ROM.

If that does not work, enter the BIOS setup and set the values to default. Save the changes and try again.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is a Happy face on one of the commands when the reply is displayed in normal mode. I guess is due to the software in the forum

It should read testmem[no space]:[no space]off

I hope this will clear this up. With the [no space] indicator I am trying to say, "leave no space between the words and the colon -> :".

 

I want to thank you again for trying to help me with my problem. Although your recommendations were well though out and your descriptions were very clear and precise, I was unable to get the CD-ROM to work in DOS mode. I tried other combinations of autoexec.bat and config.sys but to no avail. Of course, Toshiba was little help and I'm certainly NOT going to pay them anything to get wrong advice.

I skirted the problem by formatting the HD and getting rid of all the extra partitions then used a laplink-like application to upload the Windows 98SE CD-ROM contents to the laptop. From there, I was able to quickly and efficiently install Win98SE. I'm not going to miss the CD-ROM usage in DOS but in the same breath, I am disappointed in myself for giving up so easily.

Once again, many thanks for your kindness and patience with me.

Best regards,

Enzo