I'm trying to mount a remote share from within pure DOS. I'm using windows 98, which already includes the ms network client, and which works fine from within windows via the "net use" command. The command seems to work in DOS, except that when it's complete, it just hangs, and I can't even ctrl-C my way out of it. Ctrl-alt-del also doesn't work. Any idea how to map a share from within DOS? Thanks.
When you say "pure DOS", does that mean you have a packet driver set up?
Well I do have one, but I have not set it up because when I exit to dos and enter the "net use x: \\remotemachine\sharename" command, it first asks me if it's ok to start the "WORKSTATION service," which I agree to even though I don't know what that is. But then, the next line is:
NETGEAR FA310TX Fast Ethernet PCI Adapter NDIS 2 Mac Driver Version 2.73
So, it clearly identifies my nic and its driver, but then just hangs and I can't enter any ctrl codes or anything. It just gets stuck at that point. I was wondering if there's a switch for net use that allows it to run as a TSR in the background or something. If it doesn't work at all from DOS, then why is the command even accessible?
Let me put another way:
When you say "exit to DOS", are you using the "Restart in MS-DOS mode" option from the Shutdown menu, or are you running an "MS-DOS Prompt" window?
If you are restarting in MS-DOS mode, then what happens when you use that "net use" command while Windows is running?
Yes, I'm using "restart in MS-DOS mode." And when I use the "net use" command, it asks me to start the "WORKSTATION service," which I then agree to. Then, it follows that with:
NETGEAR FA310TX Fast Ethernet PCI Adapter NDIS 2 Mac Driver Version 2.73
And then, that's it. It hangs at that point and does not return me to the c:\ prompt. What is supposed to happen? I've not entered any info in config.sys or autoexec.bat. It seems to recognize my card and driver, but that's it.
Oh, you said in your first post that "net use" works fine from within Windows. That answers that question.
I don't know why exactly the "net use" command should be available from DOS, or why it does not return a more intelligible error message. But I am confident that you will not get this to work without loading device drivers.
Most people just use the Microsoft Networking Client for DOS for this sort of thing, but a bit of Googling turns up this page:
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/j_helmig/w9xbtflp.htm
Unfortunately all the image links are broken, but you can fix them manually: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/jthadd/gif_d … sc/wnetbd01.gif is actually located at http://www.windowsnetworking.com/j_helmig/gif … sc/wnetbd01.gif . https://web.archive.org/web/20040222002304/ht … ig/w9xbtflp.htm displays properly.
You might be able to load the device drivers (as in http://www.windowsnetworking.com/j_helmig/gif … sc/wnetbd19.gif ) without rebooting by using a program as described in How to load DOS device drivers from the command line? .
Or perhaps someone will chime in with a better resource.
I second that. It's also possible to use Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and the TCP/IP-32 addon for such a purpose, by the way.
WFWG 3.11 can also be used without the GUI, so that only its network portion is functional.
I think this can be done by starting WIN.COM with a special parameter..
Here's some general information regarding WFW:
https://m.habr.com/en/post/436006/
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That 2nd link Jorpho posted goes into a bit more detail on how it isn't a pure dos setup (the fact you haven't loaded a driver, it pulls info from system.dat) It may work but I don't trust it.
I'm not a fan of restart in dos mode. I prefer a shortcut to command.com and having full control over what's loaded via autoexec/config.sys files manually so If I really wanted dos networking I would do it this way and use the dos client.
But as you already have Win98 installed I'd just use that for filesharing. Even on my 6.22 PC I only load the 3 drivers required for gaming, Filesharing I do from WFW as mapping drives is the only way to browse a network in dos.
If your doing this simply for the challenge fair enough. sounds like the workstation service is hanging for whatever reason. My 1st guess (and it is just a guess) is maybe the NIC is been assigned different resources in dos mode, run the Netgear diag tool and confirm its resources match up with what device manger has.
Jo22 wrote on 2021-04-16, 05:41:I second that. It's also possible to use Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and the TCP/IP-32 addon for such a purpose, by the way. […]
I second that. It's also possible to use Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and the TCP/IP-32 addon for such a purpose, by the way.
WFWG 3.11 can also be used without the GUI, so that only its network portion is functional.
I think this can be done by starting WIN.COM with a special parameter..Here's some general information regarding WFW:
https://m.habr.com/en/post/436006/
This is interesting. I had no idea you could do that with wfw311. I'll do this for my older pentium 166 machine. Thanks.
chinny22 wrote on 2021-04-16, 11:19:That 2nd link Jorpho posted goes into a bit more detail on how it isn't a pure dos setup (the fact you haven't loaded a driver, […]
That 2nd link Jorpho posted goes into a bit more detail on how it isn't a pure dos setup (the fact you haven't loaded a driver, it pulls info from system.dat) It may work but I don't trust it.
I'm not a fan of restart in dos mode. I prefer a shortcut to command.com and having full control over what's loaded via autoexec/config.sys files manually so If I really wanted dos networking I would do it this way and use the dos client.
But as you already have Win98 installed I'd just use that for filesharing. Even on my 6.22 PC I only load the 3 drivers required for gaming, Filesharing I do from WFW as mapping drives is the only way to browse a network in dos.
If your doing this simply for the challenge fair enough. sounds like the workstation service is hanging for whatever reason. My 1st guess (and it is just a guess) is maybe the NIC is been assigned different resources in dos mode, run the Netgear diag tool and confirm its resources match up with what device manger has.
I didn't know there was a difference between restart in dos mode and just booting directly to the command line from the boot menu other than the fact that, if present, a dosstart.bat file (located in the windows directory) is read in. I always thought that you just ended your windows session and dropped to dos.
kegepet wrote on 2021-04-17, 16:27:I didn't know there was a difference between restart in dos mode and just booting directly to the command line from the boot menu other than the fact that, if present, a dosstart.bat file (located in the windows directory) is read in. I always thought that you just ended your windows session and dropped to dos.
Yes, I believe that is the case. I'm not sure what M. Chinny22 is referring to. I expect the network client is hanging simply because the network drivers haven't been loaded and there is no way to load them except through config.sys or a utility like devload.
It does happen that Windows drivers change the state of hardware in such a way that the behavior is influenced even after restarting into Dos mode. For example, I have a sound card which the Windows drivers prevent from working after restarting to Dos. After directly booting into Dos the card works fine.
Oetker wrote on 2021-04-17, 17:51:For example, I have a sound card which the Windows drivers prevent from working after restarting to Dos. After directly booting into Dos the card works fine.
Care to elaborate..? Which card? Does it have DOS drivers?
Jorpho wrote on 2021-04-17, 23:40:Oetker wrote on 2021-04-17, 17:51:For example, I have a sound card which the Windows drivers prevent from working after restarting to Dos. After directly booting into Dos the card works fine.
Care to elaborate..? Which card? Does it have DOS drivers?
Aztech 2320. The built-in Win98SE drivers prevent the card from working in DOS. I believe it would be detected by the DOS drivers but not output any sound. Even rebooting with ctrl+alt+del wouldn't fix this. Directly booting into DOS would have the card work fine. However, installing a different Windows driver set also fixed the issue.
kegepet wrote on 2021-04-17, 16:27:I didn't know there was a difference between restart in dos mode and just booting directly to the command line from the boot menu other than the fact that, if present, a dosstart.bat file (located in the windows directory) is read in. I always thought that you just ended your windows session and dropped to dos.
I think that is the difference. Restart computer in Dos mode doesn't actually restart, it just drops into dos. If you run mem /c/p you'll see win.com is still loaded.
However if you go to dos via a shortcut you'll see it does a full reboot and brings up the post test, flushing anything and everything from memory.
I know I also had problems with the Restart in dos mode back in the day, I think it may have been with dos network games not seeing each other but could be wrong as that WAS 1995 but have doing the shortcut method ever since.
chinny22 wrote on 2021-04-19, 10:03:Restart computer in Dos mode doesn't actually restart, it just drops into dos. If you run mem /c/p you'll see win.com is still loaded.
Are you sure about that..?
Jorpho wrote on 2021-04-19, 14:51:chinny22 wrote on 2021-04-19, 10:03:Restart computer in Dos mode doesn't actually restart, it just drops into dos. If you run mem /c/p you'll see win.com is still loaded.
Are you sure about that..?
The PC not doing a full reboot or win.com showing in memory I am, even double checked before posting.
In the past I just used MSclient 3.0 and used the NDIS driver for whatever lan adapter I was using. Never had any problems trying to do what you described.
chinny22 wrote on 2021-04-19, 16:04:The PC not doing a full reboot or win.com showing in memory I am, even double checked before posting.
The first thing I do when I get access to a Win9x machine again is to see this for myself. Alas, I have nothing handy at the moment.
Jorpho wrote on 2021-04-20, 05:53:chinny22 wrote on 2021-04-19, 16:04:The PC not doing a full reboot or win.com showing in memory I am, even double checked before posting.
The first thing I do when I get access to a Win9x machine again is to see this for myself. Alas, I have nothing handy at the moment.
Not sure what's worse, the fact you don't trust me or the fact you don't have at least 1 Win9x PC setup! I'm leaning towards the second 😉
