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MS-DOS 3.2 Boot Disk Loading

A

ASM

Experienced Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Messages
54
Hello everyone,

I have finally acquired a Compaq Portable, this is my first real ‘Vintage’ computer and first time using a complete command line interface.
Along with the PC I brought a bundle of Amstrad 5.25” floppy disks, I was only really interested in MS-DOS v3.2 to boot the PC. First time booting up without a boot disk the BIOS stated that the disk entered was not a system disk, I then found out that there were some disks the previous person had left In. I replaced the disk in drive A with the MS-DOS boot disk and hit a key, the drive started reading the disk for a while and then stopped, nothing happened. The cursor continued to blink but nothing was happening, if I hit a key and then pressed enter the drive would make a 1-2 second sound but still nothing would happen. I then tried restarting with the disk already in but the same thing occurred.

I decided to try another disk which came with the bundle, “DOS-PRO v1.2 & GEM Paint”. This one actually booted up on start-up, I tried a few commands and it worked as intended but I really just want to use MS-DOS 3.2 so I can debug and such. I tried replacing the MS-PRO with the 3.2 disk which had all of the commands when I typed “DIR” but I am wondering why I cannot boot into it.

I was wondering if RAM was the issue, this machine has 128K of SRAM; I am not sure how it all works currently but I wonder if that is too small to load this version of DOS? I actually have another Compaq Portable which is not working; it has 640K memory so I could try taking some of that. Some help would be appreciated as of course the first key to break in the first 10 minutes was the enter key.

Thanks again!
 
The previous owner might have left the old floppy in there intentionally to protect the heads.
Since you can do a DIR, can you list the contents of autoxec.bat & config.sys on the DOS 3.2 disk ?
patscc
 
patscc said:
The previous owner might have left the old floppy in there intentionally to protect the heads.
Since you can do a DIR, can you list the contents of autoxec.bat & config.sys on the DOS 3.2 disk ?
patscc
Click to expand...

Ok, I have just opened the Compaq and I believe it is maxed out with SRAM but I will have to take a closer look
I will tell you once I fix the enter key.
Thanks,
 
Which Portable are we talking about, anyway ? The original big lugabble, or the later lunchbox ones ?
I thought they all used dynamic ram, not static ram ?
patscc
 
I am using the luggable, the Portable 1.
I am going to try and replace the keyboard using the other Compaq Portable instead of opening it,
I do not want bits flying everywhere.
 
Ok, I have taken the keyboard apart and found the problem.
The bits of foam which have the plates to make contact on the board have decayed, some of them push out further than others and thus some do not reach the board.
I am trying to think of a substance to replace them.
 
I have read that MS-DOS 3.2 usually comes on two 5.25" drives,
I am curious to why I only have one.
 
patscc said:
Is it a 1.2Mb or 360kb floppy ?
patscc
Click to expand...

Ah, that could be a problem; this computer has 360K drives.
If you are interested here is the ones I have brought, I am not too sure on the size but the other 3 disks work.
I am probably being an idiot here; if I am please politely inform me.
Thanks!
 
360KB have a ring around the center hole, 1.2mb disk don't. Do you have a way of writing 360KB disks? The DOS 3.2 disk just could be a bad disk.
 
DOS lives on!! said:
360KB have a ring around the center hole, 1.2mb disk don't. Do you have a way of writing 360KB disks? The DOS 3.2 disk just could be a bad disk.
Click to expand...

You tell me,
I can initially load the DOS-PRO 1.2,
I have 2 disk drives and a mountain of spare disks,
I am not too sure how I would go about writing it to another disk.

Sorry that I am not too informed, I suppose I should read a user guide for DOS,
 
I have just realised I said "DOS-PRO", I meant DOS Plus v1.2
The disk also has the ring so I suspect that it is 360K, I am also able to load it afterwards so I will try to make a copy if I can (not sure how but I will try).
Thanks.
 
Whether a disc has or doesn't have a reinforcing ring doesn't have anything to do with what type of media it is.

Reinforcing rings were a feature that manufacturers chose to install on their products or didn't. You could even install the rings yourself. They used to make kits with a two piece installer tool, and self adhesive rings.

MSDOS came on both 5.25" 360K and 1.2mb minifloppies discs.

You don't have to make every disc bootable, that takes up valuable space. Could be that your unbootable disc/s, simply did not have the system placed on them when they were formatted. That does not make them defective, nor does not being able to read a particular disc make it damaged or blank. Your computer may just not be able to read the disc because it's a different format (single-sided, double-sided, 48tpi, 96tpi, 300rpm, or 360rpm).
 
MicrocomputerSolutions said:
Whether a disc has or doesn't have a reinforcing ring doesn't have anything to do with what type of media it is.

Reinforcing rings were a feature that manufacturers chose to install on their products or didn't.
Click to expand...
I have 10,000 or more 5.25" floppies, both DS/DD and DS/HD, and roughly 99.9% of the DS/DD disks have the reinforcing ring. None of the DS/HD have it. That's pretty conclusive in my book but if you would like an exact count just let me know. :)
 
MicrocomputerSolutions said:
Whether a disc has or doesn't have a reinforcing ring doesn't have anything to do with what type of media it is.

Reinforcing rings were a feature that manufacturers chose to install on their products or didn't. You could even install the rings yourself. They used to make kits with a two piece installer tool, and self adhesive rings.

MSDOS came on both 5.25" 360K and 1.2mb minifloppies discs.

You don't have to make every disc bootable, that takes up valuable space. Could be that your unbootable disc/s, simply did not have the system placed on them when they were formatted. That does not make them defective, nor does not being able to read a particular disc make it damaged or blank. Your computer may just not be able to read the disc because it's a different format (single-sided, double-sided, 48tpi, 96tpi, 300rpm, or 360rpm).
Click to expand...

That would be a shame, but it might be the reason for no error message,
I am not sure who I could get a bootdisk from, I want v3.x so I can get network support,
Might have to keep scanning ebay,
 
Do your local county/city libraries have support groups? Out here they're mostly named "Friends of the Library", and materials donated to the local libraries are mostly sold to raise money. I've bought copies of old versions of MSDOS and Windows, new in the unopened packaging before from "Friends of the Library" stores within the county/city libraries.
 
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