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How To Install DOS USB Drivers ?


Monroe

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I asked this question under the DOS Programs thread ... jaclaz responded suggesting that I start a new thread dealing with this subject. My original post in the DOS Programs ...

Need some help ... advice with installing the DOS USB drivers mentioned in Post #27 (DOS Programs).

I am interested in the USBDOS - http://bretjohnson.us/ package. There are around 28 items + a ReadMe file in the download but I am not sure how to put them on my machine or where. That package is dated Jan 30, 2010. Do I "drag and drop" or "copy and paste", if so, to what folder in Windows or do I click on each item to install?

thanks ...

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Reply from jaclaz ...

@duffy98

It is much more complex than what you think.

Please start a new thread where we can discuss this issue without hijacking the present thread.

jaclaz

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OK, I will be reading all replies.

thanks ...

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OK. :)

Some questions first:

WHY you want to install DOS USB drivers?

(meaning which USB devices you need to have access to/from pure DOS)?

You know that these drivers are NOT needed in Windows GUI operations and that they may actually interfere witrh Windows 98 "protected mode"?

You do know that loading DOS drivers normally results in further lowering the available memory and thus the size of programs that can be executed/run?

jaclaz

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OK, first of all, I have an older Win 98SE computer that I use for testing and trying things out on. I am weak on DOS knowledge ... have never spent that much time on DOS to really get to know what all I can do with it. I was not aware that the Win 98 "protected mode" could be a problem. I just thought I should know how to install these items for general knowledge.

Second, I have a few older desktop computers and my older notebook that do not have a CD burner. I want to try to do a Ghost backup on those computers using a Ghost USB program. I backup my newer computers with Ghost with no problem since they have CD/DVD burners but these older computers, I think I will have to use a USB flash drive in DOS. This is what I understand from searching things out on Google. I need to get the Ghost backup onto a flash drive then go to a computer with a burner and I then have my CD/DVD Ghost backup.

herbalist ... my older computers have both a floppy and CD drive but I try to transfer boot floppies and everything to a CD, much easier to work with.

thanks ...

Edited by duffy98
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So, is your problem related to accessing USB Mass Storage devices only from DOS?

Or is it the problem booting from a USB stick on older PC that do not support USB booting?

Please note how the above two questions are only apparently similar.

jaclaz

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No, all my computers accept a flash drive ... no problem there. I just added this to my last post ... "I need to get the Ghost backup onto a flash drive then go to a computer with a burner and I then have my CD/DVD Ghost backup."

From my research I need to get DOS USB flash drivers so that I can work with a flash drive in DOS. I just thought that DOS USB Driver package (USBDOS - http://bretjohnson.us/ ) would have what I need. I was just going to install the whole package to test other things also. I also have some old DOS games that I bought years ago but have never installed, although I probably don't need that package for that, not sure. Right now, if I have my USB flash drive inserted and I go into DOS with Ghost, I see no USB drives listed ... need the DOS drivers.

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OK, thanks, I will work with those USB drivers later in a few days. Concerning the other package ... what exactly are those DOS drivers? Since I already have Win 98SE with DOS installed, are those drivers already on my hard drive. I'd still like to know how to install something like that package, as I asked in my first post. Just for general knowledge for the future. That person that has that web site seems to be updating that DOS USB package regularly.

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OK, thanks, I will work with those USB drivers later in a few days. Concerning the other package ... what exactly are those DOS drivers? Since I already have Win 98SE with DOS installed, are those drivers already on my hard drive. I'd still like to know how to install something like that package, as I asked in my first post. Just for general knowledge for the future. That person that has that web site seems to be updating that DOS USB package regularly.

I wonder which is the difficult part in this:

The programs are all still in a testing phase (alpha/beta), so do not yet include complete documentation. Read the included USBINTRO.DOC file for documentation and information on how to use the programs.

The zip file contains more than 20 different programs, and includes drivers for keyboards, mice, joysticks, printers, disk drives, and hubs, as well as several different test and support programs. Unfortunately, the only type of host controller currently supported is UHCI (full-speed controllers made by Intel and Via Technologies). Support for additional host controllers (OHCI, EHCI, WHCI, XHCI) and devices will be added in the future.

I'll try to translate it:

  • this is alpha/beta software, ONLY people with an adequate DOS background, and specifical DOS driver knowledge should attempt using it
  • the USBINTRO is a 186 page document, you should read them all
  • you cannot expect that anyone will explain the whole 186 pages AND teach you about DOS driver loading on a technical board
  • in order to be able to read and understand the mentioned document you need to have a base knowledge; from the fact you posted:
    Do I "drag and drop" or "copy and paste", if so, to what folder in Windows or do I click on each item to install?
    I presume that you miss this base knowledge, that you can only build by reading, googling, and reading again, and experimenting, in order to have the needed DOS background

Please don't take the above as "I don't want to help/assist you", but you should be conscious of what you are asking, more or less a complete DOS course, which I presume would take a few days/weeks.

:hello:

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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Ok ... I missed that line, "Read the included USBINTRO.DOC file for documentation and information on how to use the programs." at the web page. After unzipping the package, I read the "readme" in the package but there is no mention made in there to go the USBINTRO.DOC. I saw it but didn't open it. Had no reason to go back to the web site where I might have read that line. Honest mistake on my part ... with 186 pages I may have to put that off for a few days also. I will figure it all out. ... thanks

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Building a bootable DOS CD or floppy with USB support involves adding several drivers, each of which serves a specific function. There's DPMI and long file name support in addition to being able to access USB devices. Building it requires writing your own config.sys and autoexec.bat to load these drivers. They often have to be loaded in a specific order using specific switches. Give MDGX's site a good look. He's got some good DOS pages there that we'd be hard pressed to do any better. What drivers you add really depends on what you're going to do with that disk, and like Jaclaz said, this is a very big subject that could take many pages to cover.

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Thanks jaclaz and herbalist ... as I mentioned before, my knowledge of DOS is very limited. I worked for the government in the early 90s when I actually got my first computer placed on my desk ... it was DOS (I think, it was hard to get things figured out!) and then in like 3 months, everybody was getting another new computer with Win 95 on it. That was for me, I at least understood a computer better. It didn't seem to be too very long that new computers with Win 98 were being installed. All that stuff was happening fast back in the 90's. So you might say, DOS came and went fast for me, I just really never had the opportunity to fool around with it. I still have that interest to play around with DOS on one of my computers and try to understand it better and how it worked.

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Just a quick update on the USB Drivers for DOS so that Ghost would also work with a flash drive. I came across this article about Panasonic Japan USB drivers for DOS. This particular package seems to be the one to have. It's called the "miracle driver" from Japan. I never could get my Kingston Data Traveler 4GB flash drive to show up in DOS but now it does. I was able to make a Ghost backup on a computer with no CD/DVD burner. I made the backup to the flash drive and then went to another computer with a burner to put the backup on a CD.

Article about the Panasonic Japan driver:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1046069/yes-usb-drivers-dos

This is just the "beginning" of the article and it does mention using Ghost:

Yes, there are USB drivers for DOS...

Miracle-driver from Panasonic Japan does the unthinkable

By Fernando Cassia

Friday, 27 June 2003

HAVING AN EXTERNAL USB cd-writer or hard disk works wonders as long as your operating system is in good shape. But if someday the system stops booting, you are lost. Booting from good old MS-DOS or Windows boot diskettes - even fitted with the needed third party NTFSDOS or EXTFS drivers - gives you access to your fixed hard disk only, but none of the USB peripherals can be accessed from the DOS command line.

Before you start scratching your head, let me repeat that this is not related to your favorite linux distro's or Windows XP/W2K/98/ME's USB support, this has to do with people like me, booting some flavor of DOS to copy files around or using DOS-based partition back-up software.

Imagine that you want to use Paragon Drive Backup, Powerquest's Drive Image, or Norton Ghost, to backup your hard disk partitions to that nice 120gb external USB 2.0 hard disk you just bought. You can't do it. Or if your wife/husband has managed to mess up her/his system so badly that it can't boot anymore, yet she/he wants you to have a copy of those nice digital pictures stored on a compactflash card plugged into the compactflash reader?. No way, Jose. Not from DOS, used to be the phrase.

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This is the backup (in Japanese - but the download tab is easy to spot.)

http://panasonic.co.jp/pcc/products/drive/cdrrw/kxlrw40an/download.html

Thought I should post this, if anyone else had the same problem or needed a fix.

Edited by duffy98
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Thought I should post this, if anyone else had the same problem or needed a fix.

If anyone has the problem, he should get the already given floppy:

http://johnson.tmfc.net/dos/usbdrv.html

which contains the same panasonic drivers+a few others (DUSE,Iomega) updated when compared from those in the 2003 article, the ones in the given link on Panasonic site are v2.06, the ones in the given link are v2.15, which should be faster/better.

However, this is the reference to get v2.06 and v2.15 and use them:

http://www.computing.net/answers/dos/dos-mass-storage-driver-usbaspisys/15261.html

jaclaz

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Ok, I did forget to mention that I also downloaded the USB drivers mentioned in your earlier post. I installed both, so maybe it was those drivers that worked. I can't say with my limited knowledge on all this. I do still have a problem though ... it was my older Toshiba notebook that has no CD burner and I needed the flash drive to be reconized in DOS for the Ghost program. The USB slot in that computer is 1.1 ... and of course the flash drive does work. Now in my newer IBM Thinkpad I still do not see the Kingston flash. The USB slot in the IBM is 2.0 speed. I am thinking that these drivers are only for USB 1.1 and not 2.0 ... then that might explain why I still can't see the Kingston flash drive in the IBM. Is the case or can someone give me some ideas or an explanation on the flash drive not being detected (DOS)on the newer IBM? ...thanks

** thanks for the new version download ... will work with that.

Edited by duffy98
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