VOGONS


Cd rom driver

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First post, by vacatedboat

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hi posting new thread.
I have a 386dx40 up and running windows 3.11
The current cdrom driver is oak oti-011. The physical drive is a nec cdr-1400b. I have been unable to locate a suitable driver. The current one reads fine in dos but in windows just freezes the system in file manager when i click on D:
The disc i have is space quest 4. Is it possible to dos copy contents to the hdd and then run setup that way as in dos setup states it must occur in windows. These old games i really love them.
Thanks for time and any help

Reply 1 of 23, by darry

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Assuming that NEC CDR-1400B is an ATAPI (IDE) drive, you could try VIDE-CDD.SYS, which is a favourite around these parts . You can find it in the Vogons Driver Library http://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=1456&menustate=0 or from an archive of its original source on the Benq web site https://web.archive.org/web/20040605235818/ht … os/apicd214.exe

Reply 3 of 23, by vacatedboat

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Hi not having much luck with my access to cd rom.
I couldn't install the vide drivers. I tried off the cd i burnt with the files but when running setup from dos it states cannot create directory or access file. So i then made the directory in c: and copied contents accross then ran setup but same error occurs.
Is there any other way to access the cd rom via windows apart from file manager.? A shortcut?
Do i have a hardware conflict? Its just a controller ISA board with one IDE connector going to hdd and cd rom. Thought i set jumpers correct.
Thanks again for any help

Reply 6 of 23, by vacatedboat

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jakethompson1 wrote on 2020-07-20, 12:58:

Are you using 32-bit disk access in Windows, and since you say 3.11, if this is WfW, 32-bit file access? Try disabling those?

Im using 3.11 wfw but uncertrain where to disable the 32 bit access? In control panel or bios. To be clear its disk accesss and not file access we are talking about.
Thanks for your help

Reply 8 of 23, by Horun

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Using the Oakcd driver can you access the CDROM from DOS and read and copy any from it ? That will tell if a Win 3.x issue or driver issue. First thing is to get it read proper from DOS then focus on Windows. Buerg's List is a good free DOS simple file manager but it better you get used to DOS commands like DIR and COPY before relying on a Windows File manager if you going to play around with any vintage PC gear. Troubleshooting is a big part of it that has a steep learning curve...
added: always try a commercial CD like your old game CD since burning CDR on newer DVDR can be tricky with old hardware as many old CDROMS do not like newer CDR disks burned on a newer computer.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 9 of 23, by vacatedboat

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Horun wrote on 2020-07-20, 23:06:

Using the Oakcd driver can you access the CDROM from DOS and read and copy any from it ? That will tell if a Win 3.x issue or driver issue. First thing is to get it read proper from DOS then focus on Windows. Buerg's List is a good free DOS simple file manager but it better you get used to DOS commands like DIR and COPY before relying on a Windows File manager if you going to play around with any vintage PC gear. Troubleshooting is a big part of it that has a steep learning curve...
added: always try a commercial CD like your old game CD since burning CDR on newer DVDR can be tricky with old hardware as many old CDROMS do not like newer CDR disks burned on a newer computer.

Thanks. Yes right now dos cd read/write etc no problem so sounds more a windows issue. I have tried both burnt and original cds. Dos fine. Windows a problem.
Yes troubleshooting for me is just relearning. I still remember copy/mkdir and mem commands.
I was trying to remember like norton commander but it may not work on 3.11 Windows.

Reply 10 of 23, by Horun

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That is great ! That eliminates bad cdrom, bad dos driver, etc. Windows uses a virtual CD driver for MSCDEX and it can conflict with DOS MSCDEX.
Try this: rem out the MSCDEX line in autexec.bat (assuming it was not remmed put by Windows install) and re-boot straight into Windows and see what happens. If that works then you should create a Config.sys+Autoexec Menu where you choose either DOS or Windows (with MSCDEX not remmed for DOS but remmed for Windows, OR keep it remmed and create a CDROM.BAT where when in DOS you launch that to re-enable MSCDEX to read CD's from DOS) .
Have been down this route and sometimes you have to do some extra work to get DOS and Win to play nice. There is also a way to get Win to launch MSCDEX on Exit if you typically boot straight into Windows but lets try to get Win to see the CD first. Good luck and post your results please !

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 12 of 23, by vacatedboat

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Ok i think I opened Pandora's Box.
So rem out the MSCDEX line caused windows boot to not see a d: drive icon. So i took out rem and upon reboot I'm now getting a hdd controller failure 50% of the time. If it does work then ive got some graphical glitches on the display. Dos looks ok but windows can have bad screens. Oh boy.
I was not successful in getting d: icon back.
Wondering if I should put another hdd in as i still have the floppy disks for dos 6.22 and windows 3.11.
These are the original config/autoexec files before touching.

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Reply 13 of 23, by vacatedboat

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Final update. Thanks for peoples input. So i went back to basics and used a new ide rbbon cable, a ide hdd 40gig newer and reinstalled 3.11 via floppy discs. It worked well as i can also sync hdd with my windows 10 system via a ide caddy. I put all drivers on very easy.
So i now have a system with no glitches, a faster spin hdd and the cdrom now accesses via file manager in 3.11 and dos. Final things to do is test the sound card with a game and check out web browsing.

Reply 14 of 23, by Horun

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Wow Great ! Sorry been out of town a few days and forgot to check this thread. So the old HD wasmost likely the issue, glad you got it figured out.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 15 of 23, by vacatedboat

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Yeah all ok
My trident 512k 9000-I video card only does 640x480. Not sure why but my lcd display hates 800x600 256 colors. I kinda remember yrs ago having a similar issue. Everything else is good. A bit uncertain about putting in my math coprocessor. The chip has a pin 1 but my MB i cant tell. Its not essential.
Space quest 4 looks good though!
FastDoom didnt work.

Reply 16 of 23, by darry

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vacatedboat wrote on 2020-07-25, 07:23:
Yeah all ok My trident 512k 9000-I video card only does 640x480. Not sure why but my lcd display hates 800x600 256 colors. I kin […]
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Yeah all ok
My trident 512k 9000-I video card only does 640x480. Not sure why but my lcd display hates 800x600 256 colors. I kinda remember yrs ago having a similar issue. Everything else is good. A bit uncertain about putting in my math coprocessor. The chip has a pin 1 but my MB i cant tell. Its not essential.
Space quest 4 looks good though!
FastDoom didnt work.

The 800x600 issue is likely due to the video card defaulting to 56Hz at that resolution. I am not surprised that a modern would not handle that . The RAMDAC on you card may not be capable of 60Hz at 800x600 or it may need to be set manually .

Reply 18 of 23, by darry

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vacatedboat wrote on 2020-07-25, 07:34:

Thanks. Im in a PAL territory. Setting the 60hz manually is it a jumper on the card or dip switch?

It would be a software setting, AFAICR . Your video card's RAMDAC may not be capable of more, though, as mentioned before .

Are you trying to run Windows or a DOS application at 800x600 ?

Can you post a photo of the video card (where RAMDAC model is visible) ?