jaclaz

Yep, the FTDI PL303 chip is said to be very reliable. You won't need an external power source, NO. It is STRONGLY recommended to use GROUND, ALWAYS! READ points #6 and #7 in the read-me-first: Don't you wonder WHY that adapter has THREE leads (Tx/Rx/GND)? Or do you think they haven't thought of saving 0.01 US$ and give you just Tx and Rx? Should you want TWO of them and with also a +5V line: http://cgi.ebay.it/2x-USB-auf-Seriell-Adapter-Kabel-Konverter-TTL-RS232-PC-/320550268639?cmd=ViewItem&pt=DE_Technik_Computerzubeh%C3%B6r_Kabel_Adapter&hash=item4aa248eedf Seriously, only to confirm that the PL2303 is a known "good work horse". From the photo on your link it seems not like a 2.54 mm plug, but rather single connectors, that you can use allright, all you will need is (maybe) a pair of pliers to "tighten" them a bit... This is a Dupont connector housing 2.54: http://cgi.ebay.it/50pcs-Dupont-Connector-Housing-Female-2-54mm-2x5P-/140368742795 i.e. it's a "housing" for the single wire connectors. If you want an actual 2 mm pitch plug, you can have it with a *small* surcharge : http://cgi.ebay.it/INTERFACCIA-USB-3V-TTL-per-HD-Seagate-7200-11-no-rs232-/190387498311?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Accessori_per_Radioamatori&hash=item2c53faad47 Sometimes I cannot believe it, the Italian text: means: jaclaz

Naah, that's as said - a "standard" setup, compatible with *everything*. Not at all to put down the nice app by rloew, but it repesents an "advanced tool" to do "advanced things". If you decide to go "standard", you can use "standard" (FDISK) or "super" (RPM) and need not "hyper" (RFDISK), just like to commute every day to work you may use your current car or (maybe ) a Porsche 911 , but don't *need* a Koenigsegg CCR or CCX, (mainly because you wouldn't be able to spell it's name ) jaclaz

How many "Rs232 shifter SMD" are there around? http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=449 @maridadi Check ATTENTIVELY these (about 15 posts starting from here) : http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807&st=2326 AND points 6 to 10 in the "reame_first": jaclaz

Just as a recent prove that Murphy's Laws do apply to non-standard setups : http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=144947 jaclaz

Is the internal drive SATA? Have you integrated the proper driver? Have you a setting in BIOS for "IDE emulation mode" or something like that? Try removing the flash card, most probably you will have a BSOD 0x000007b. Compare with: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8758 jaclaz

Basically you created a Primary partition on which you used a filesystem that is called "Extended filesystem" and you created a second primary partition with a filesystem readable by Windows 98. It is highly probable that those partition create the issue. Workarounds are (cannot say WHICH one may work for you): Hide the 2nd primary with XP on FAT32 and the third primary Ext3FS when booting DOS/Win98 Convert the XP partition to NTFS (thus making it "not understandable" by Win98) AND hide the third primary Convert the XP partition to NTFS only Try Letter Assigner: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.v72735.f2s.com/LetAssig/ Try the patched IO.SYS: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=118119 Try the above in reverse order, if the first partition is "big enough", it is possible that the partition with XP falls in the cases where #5 will work. More generally, to avoid this kind of problems, the rule of thumb is to use ONLY one primary partition with DOS/Win9x and all the rest as logical volumes inside extended, both NT based systems and Linux OS were designed to be installed on logical volumes. jaclaz

For the record, having two primaries is mostly pointless, as a logical volume inside extended is also safer (from dumb virus or most partitioning programs errors): http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=33964 And with some tweaks you can even install Windows 9x on a logical volume. (no don't do it) The point as I see it is: the most basic "standard" is having a SINGLE primary partition (formatted with a filesystem DOS 7.x recognizes, i.e. FAT16 or FAT32) the next "standard" is having a SINGLE primary partition and an Extended partition with how many logical volumes (within the limit below) you want/need in it, optionally having other two Primaries formatted with filesystems NOT recognized by DOS 7.x/Win9x/Me ANYTHING different from the above is NON-standard, and although it may cause NO problems whatsoever in all the life of that hard disk/win 9x install, I don't see the utility of doing something non-standard UNLESS you actually *need* some features that the "standard" does NOT allow. Just for the record, any Windows NT based system AND any Linux based systems are designed to be installed on Logical Volumes inside extended. I personally have been partitioning along standard #2 (standard #1 is simply inadequate) on "production machines" since more than 15 years, and had no problems whatsoever. Of course if the scope is to experiment, you are very welcome to try anything, though if this is the scope, "two primaries" is so common that it cannot be classified in the "new test" section. Of which roughly 976 NOT accessible with a drive letter... Norton 360? http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=140499 http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23902 jaclaz

@jorgeA FORGET (temporarily) whatever you have read. Read THIS: http://web.archive.org/web/20080726065134/http://www.ranish.com/part/primer.htm (I am linking to the Wayback Machine as the curremnt page seems like not having images anymore ) It seems to me the clearest expalanation around. About the historical part, when it all began, there were NO partitions. Then the good guys found a way to fit 4 partition entries in the MBR (first 512 bytes sector of the disk/device). Then they saw that 4 partitions could have been too little a number and invented the Extended partition and Logical Volumes inside it. The difference is simple: MBR contains a Partition Table where each entry points to a given address on the disk. In the case of a Primary partition this address contains the actual partition (i.e. "something" that starts with the bootsector). In the case of an Extended this address contains a pointer to ANOTHER pointer, this latter pointing to the address where the actual Logical Volume or parition (i.e. "something" that starts with the bootsector) resides. Primary: MBR->Entry in PT->Primary partition Logical Volume: MBR->Entry in PT->Extended partition->EPBR->entry in PT->Logical Volume @Mijzelf JFYI, there are ways to boot from Logical Volumes inside Extended (by correcting the "sectors before" data in the bootsectors) and with Letter Assigner you can change pretty much everything related to default drive lettering. There is not an actual "standard" for partitioning and formatting, most of the work has been done based of a certain set of assumptions derived by the way the original FDISK program and the various IBM/MS originated filesystems worked. The problem just like any non-standard setup (i.e. the same reasons I pointed out for Partition Magic or System Commander) is that you never know if and when you will run some other program that have a different set of assumptions about how the drive should have been set. For the record, even MS itself has not very clear ideas, compare with: http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9897 jaclaz

Almost, but not quite : For option 1 you need nothing but the FDISK you already have (though RPM is a very good tool that can be used INSTEAD of FDISK) For option 2 you need nothing but the FDISK you already have (though RPM is a very good tool that can be used INSTEAD of FDISK) For option 3 you need any of the freewares capable of resizing (RPM and Partition resizer are examples) For option 4 you need any of the Commercial tools capable of resizing (Partition Magic Acronis and Partition Doctor are examples) RFDISK s Commercial/Shareware, cannot say if it is usable as option 4, it may have been option 0 (as it can partition regardless of BIOS settings ) but since your BIOS proved to be allright, you don't need option 0. I.e. you choose between 1 or 2 or (3 or 4). 1 is "how things should be" 2 is "how things can be" 3 is "how things should be if everything works" 4 is "how things should be if everything works after having parted from a few bucks" Up to you the choice. jaclaz

@jorgeA Still, I guess we are talking about two different things. There is NO doubt that the original Toshiba geometry is the one rloew gave: 29,264*16*63=29,498,112 You can enter the above AND re-partition the disk with FDISK AND re-format and re-install allright. (OPTION 1). OR (if you wish NOT to re-partition the disk and re-format and re-install) you can try using the 31,214*15*63=29,497,230 and adding an extended partition and one or more logical volumens in it. (OPTION 2) Since 29,497,230 is LESS than 29,498,112, there should be NO problems except losing exactly 29,498,112-29,497,230=882 882*512=451,584 bytes of capacity. Nonetheless, checking that the last sector is accessible is advised, and it seems from your edit like allright. Now you only have to choose between the available options 1 or 2, but also option 3 (using one of the suggested freeware apps) and option 4 (needlessly using a commercial software you don't own a licence for), the latter two being deprecated, obviously #4 being MUCH MORE deprecated than #3. jaclaz

Cleaning the lens and using a pad usually fixes it: http://www.ehow.com/about_5366556_mouse-pointer-move-itself.html There are reports about the actual LED colour/wavelength, but I wouldn't go as far as that: http://reviews.ebay.com/Microsoft-Basic-Optical-Mouse-Drift-Fix_W0QQugidZ10000000004119253 From the mouth of the wolf: http://www.evoluent.com/support.htm jaclaz

I guess this must be cleared once and for all. Partition Magic ("good" versions are 2.0, 3.0 -but these are limited to the 8 Gb HD barrier - and 8.x - if you have 4,5,6 leave them alone) and Partition Table Doctor and Acronis are COMMERCIAL apps. I wouldn't spend the money for a license for any of them (and yes, I am notoriously cheap , to do something that: 1) is NOT *needed* 2) can be done anyay with freeware apps This said, BOTH Partition Magic AND Acronis apps have some UNDOCUMENTED very little quirks (like writing in some cases "non-standard CODE in the MBR/bootsector AND writing WITHOUT any warning to some hidden sectors of the HD). @JorgeA The main problem that we still have to solve is whether 31214 (or, say, 31213 or 31215 ... you get the idea) is an accurate value or not. If the highest accessible cylinder is 31215 having the BIOS set to 31214 won't do any harm and you'll simply lose a very little part of the overall capacity of the drive. On the other hand if highest accessible cylinder is 31213 you have potentially a system that may crash ANY time. Most probably your best bet is to set in BIOS a higher value, say 31250, then boot to DOS (NOT Win9x!) and try accessing latest sectors with PTS Disk Editor: http://thestarman.pcministry.com/tool/FreeTools.html Stop when you have an error. jaclaz

Good. Now I am completely lost again. The fact that chainloader /io.sys worked and and chainloader +1 only means that you either failed to establish root properly or your bootsector is NOT a Win9x one or it is NOT properly set. It is very likely that you need something "more" to have Win898 working from second drive, but from a quick look you performed such a number of changes/experiment ALL TOGETHER and without properly detailing them that I have NO idea what is causing the problem and even cannot say how it can be solved. If you are happy with WinME, I would consider the thing closed, otherwise please post again how you have setip the thingy with ALL details, including menu.lst and the ususal MBR's/bootsectors. It is very possible that the problem is originated by the primary FAT on 1st drive, if this is the case, try making it a logical volume inside extended and try again. jaclaz

Since the hard disk is "designed" with a 16/63 geometry, if it works on that BIOS, it would be better. All roads lead to Rome, but some are straighter/shorter! Try with the 29264x16x63. Just in order to say "I had told you" : The actual point now is to understand exactly how many cylinders you have actually available, I suspect that if you manually give a "higher-than-real" number of cylinders, everything will work UNTIL you get to actually write access one of those non-existing sectors. (This usually happens when you type in the "D" of "THE END" of your great literary work - the one that took you 15 years to write and of which you have NO backups - usually it happens on Saturdays, around 11:59 PM ) About the partitions, personally I would use FDISK to create an Extended partition and in it a Logical Volume (or more than one) that I would label "DATA" leaving your current primary as-is. I am personally not much a fan of ANY partition resizing software. Unless I am mistaken this nice thingy here: http://partitionlogic.org.uk/about/preview.html does not (yet) allow for FAT16/32 resizing. Good ol' RPM or Partition Resizer http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/partitioneditors.shtml may work, though. jaclaz

ACPI.SYS is a driver for particular (now pretty much standard) ACPI hardware. Is it possible that your PC mainboard is NOT ACPI compatible? Or that it needs some additional drivers slipstreamed? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Configuration_and_Power_Interface Which settings have you tried in BIOS? Some BIOS do have a setting for "Plug and play OS" or "ACPI" that may affect the installation. Unfortunately often BSOD's messages are not accurate and point to something whilst the actual cause is something completely different. Try using F7 to disable ACPI while booting: http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_installation_of_windows_xp.htm You can later re-enable ACPI, sometimes XP is "picky" during installation, but after it works allright. jaclaz

Those are relative to the partitioned/formatted part. Boot to plain dos and run FDISK. Check what you see in option 4. You can then try 31214x15x63. jaclaz

Well, you have FDISK, of course, but most probably it would be better (in the sense of easier and more "accurate") to use Ranish Partition Manager (you will need to use one of the latest versions, the "stable" is limited to 8 Gb if I recall correctly): http://www.ranish.com/part/ However you don't actually *need* to do it from DOS/Win9x, you can do it from a booted 2K or XP, but you will need to temporarily set the pagefile to some other volume and reboot before deleting the partition, and then set it again on the newly created partition. You are welcome. jaclaz

Maybe blind as a bat? (translates to cieco come una talpa ) We have a sticky: EXACTLY to convey the idea of: NOT using a Nokia cable These problems are the ones that take the most part of this thread: wrong/missing connections/schematics "fake" cables manufactured by every other Chinese electronic firm around using different chips and drivers extreme difficulties in finding the "right" driver extreme difficulties in actually installing the "right" driver, IF found Some "Nokia" cables draw power from the telephone in normal operation and NEED to be powered from the non-USB size and connected in order to even install the drivers, see point #11 of the mentioned sticky. A cheap "real" thing can be found for a handful of Euros, example (for Italy): http://cgi.ebay.it/Cavo-Seriale-JTAG-USB-TTL-rs232-fonera-DD-WRT-Seagate-/230488097483?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Cavi_Prolunghe_Convertitori&hash=item35aa2942cb jaclaz

Since all your OS will actually use LBA, it's not a problem, though it is "queer". The only way I can imagine such a thing happen on the same board would be a change in BIOS (either settings - unprobable - or a firmware update), really cannot say. I've tried this, but your scripts gave me this message while running from Windows 2k/XP: WARNING: MAXaddress: 512 is beyond EOF: 0 You need to have the cursor (or selection) on the first byte of the saved sector (or have pressed in the script interface the button with 4 arrows pointing to the center that means "lock to the beginning of file"). Beside other things, yes. The PTview may be useful to correct the 1F/0F, but it will show you at first glance what the problem with (hd1,1) is. You may also think at tiny hexer as a "professional" version of HDhacker, with it you can backup the Linux partition bootsector also (of course you will need to study a bit both the app and the theory in order to be able to find it ). jaclaz

Something "strange" on the drive side: http://sdd.toshiba.com/techdocs/HDD_TechNotes_480040_revg.pdf http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/storage/mk1517ga/ The drive is 16383x16x63. Which makes: 16383x16x63x512=8,455,200,768 bytes There are two models, the HDD2157*ZV and the HDD2157*ZF The "TBD" of the first makes me wonder. The second reports 25,800 cylinders, that sound like "wrong" anyway: 25,800x16x63x512=13,315,276,800 I'll have to find some more info. It's an attempt I would make anyway, as it costs you nothing (exception made for the USB adapter). Still, it won't allow to re-partition (and possibly re-formatting ) on-place. jaclaz

Yep, you are doing the same mistake I did, only the other way round. This is WRONG, the IF NOT DEFINED requires the variable NAME: IF NOT DEFINED Image_naam GOTO :Loop This is RIGHT, the IF NOT EXIST requires the filename, i.e. the EXPANDED variable. jaclaz

Try reading SLOWLY Rule #1.a: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/18408-forum-rules-updated-must-read/ jaclaz

You joking, right? jaclaz

Well, you'll have to find out, try doing the obvious things: SET Image_name= :Loop SET /P Image_name=Please Enter name of the image including the .wim extension PAUSE SET %Image_name% REM IF NOT DEFINED Image_name GOTO :Loop REM IF NOT EXIST Image_name GOTO :Loop ECHO START "A_title" /WAIT imagex /apply \\server\reminst\images\windows7\%Image_name% 1 c: PAUSE START "A_title" /WAIT imagex /apply \\server\reminst\images\windows7\%Image_name% 1 c: bcdboot.exe D:\Windows Edit: Sorry, my bad , there was a typo in: IF NOT EXIST Image_name GOTO :Loop it should be (obviously): IF NOT EXIST %Image_name% GOTO :Loop and you may also need to change it to the "Full" path: IF NOT EXIST \\server\reminst\images\windows7\%Image_name% GOTO :Loop jaclaz

Flashing a BIOS is not that much risky, though I wouldn't do it if - since you have the battery completely down - with the PC NOT connected to an UPS. Both the BIOS updates found seem allright, point is that we actually still don't know WHICH BIOS version you have currently. It is likely that you ALREADY have the 5316, you could use the PHFLASH utility to save your current one and check it against the two downloaded files. There is a reference to a 5317 file on a Korean board: http://translate.google.it/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fboard.nbinside.com%2Fnb_board%2Fzboard.php%3Fid%3Ddaewoo%26page%3D30%26page_num%3D25%26select_arrange%3Dheadnum%26desc%3D%26sn%3Doff%26ss%3Don%26sc%3Don%26su%3Doff%26keyword%3D%26category%3D%26no%3D5948&sl=ko&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8 Download: http://board.nbinside.com/nb_board/data/data1/gallery/daewoo/2006/5317.alz Since it uses the stoopid .alz format, I created a more conventional. zip, which is attached. About using an overlay - notwithstanding the exceptionally good quality of anything coded by rloew , it remains an overlay, and if there is ANY other possibility I would try that one first as you will never know when (mind you NOT if)something will create a conflict or a problem with it. Re-check the drive. Post exact model/number of the drive, we may be able to find some info. jaclaz 5317.zip