Installing FreeDos from USB ?!

[The Doss]

Dear all,

I have a problem which is very similar to the problem which is solved by

"Winsetupfromusb".

I want to install freedos on a netbook without cd-rom.

So i tried to create a bootable usb stick FROM which freedos

can be installed to the hdd of the netbook.

(The same would you would do with the freedos install cd.)

I did not find a workable solution.

I tried among others:

1) Preparing the stick with the HP USB tool

Copying the extracted iso image from the freedos install cd to the stick

- does not work, stick is not booting

2)Preparing the stick with the HP USB tool, copy the system files from a bootable dos partition to the

prepared stick. So far it is booting.

But then i tried to copy the extracted iso from the installation cd (freedos) to a folder to the stick.

This doesnt. work. I did not manage to manually start the installation process.

I tried many hours (maybe useless) to find other solutions.

Do you have any idea ?

I would be glad to get some tips from you.

Best regards from Berlin

The Doss

[jaclaz]

THe HP Format tool:

• partitions the stick in one single partition (often with "unbalanced" CHS/LBA)
  
• makes the partition have EITHER a bootsector for MS-DOS (invoking IO.SYS) or for NT/2K/XP/2003 (invoking NTLDR)
  

Since FreeDOS kernel file is kernel.sys it won't work.

Additionally, Freedos usually have problems with CHS mappings as the geometry of the device is sometimes detected wrongly (or however it is "pickier" than other OSs).

Solutions:

• use grub4dos or syslinux as "main" bootlaoaders
  or, easier:
  
• use RMPREPUSB:
  

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7739

that allows for having a bootsector invoking kernel.sys and partitions/formats sticks "correctly".

This will provide you a bootable USB stick with FreeDOS.

Converting the install .iso in a way that works from a USB stick may be tricky, as it is very possible that several modificatins to the batches that run th einstall are needed.

A known to be working way is to use grub4dos mapping of the .iso to (0xff), this way the Freedos will "see" the .iso as if it were a CD.

Read the stickies here (yes, ALL of them):

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=66

Paricularly this one :

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...c=5041&st=4

Installing option works. Live CD options do not.

So, given that newest RMPREPUSB allows for grub4dos booting too, you should use RMPREPUSB+grub4dos.

jaclaz