Incroyable HULK Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 I got another brillant idea and I wanted to know if someone could help. I'd like to add an option on my multi-boot CD to FLASH the BIOS of our motherboard. Since we always buy the same hardware it would be a great feature.I figured out that what I should do is the following:1- Build a boot floppy image2- add the BIOS file + flash program to the image3- ??? create an autoexec.bat to start the flash program ???The command I use normally is the following A:\>ADSFI711.EXE A6728IMS.3A0This is where I need your help as my experience with dos is limited...Also I'd like to know what should be a minimal boot disk. If I build a boot disk with Windows XP, I get the following files (555Kb total):91Kb - COMMAND.COM (hidden)22Kb - KEYB.COM29Kb - MODE.COM58Kb - EGA2.CPI58Kb - EGA3.CPI58Kb - EGA.CPI1Kb - CONFIG.SYS (hidden)17Kb - DISPLAY.SYS114kb - IO.SYS (hidden)34Kb - KEYBOARD.SYS32Kb - KEYBRD2.SYS31Kb - KEYBRD3.SYS13Kb - KEYBR42.SYS1Kb - MSDOS.SYS (hidden)Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jito463 Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 An autoexec.bat file should work fine. If that's the command you always use, then that should be all you need in the autoexec.bat file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incroyable HULK Posted October 20, 2004 Author Share Posted October 20, 2004 so that's it? I just create an autoexec.bat and put exactly: A:\>ADSFI711.EXE A6728IMS.3A0should I put the A:\> since I am running from a multiboot CD is there a problem with this path? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asky Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Instead of using XP's boot disk stuff, I would get a DOS boot disk image and copy it to a floppy using RAWRITEXP. Put a copy of whatever you need (flash program, BIOS file) onto the floppy and edit the autoexec.bat file in Notepad to just say:@echo offADSFI711.EXE A6728IMS.3A0Leave out the A:>As a (probably important) side note: While viewing the floppy in XP, autoexec.bat will probably not be visible. To rectify this, get into Folder Options (either through the Control Panel or under the Tools menu). Under the view tab, hit "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)". Tell Windows, that yes, you do know what you're doing and hit OK. Autoexec.bat should appear there. Be sure to re-enable "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" after you're done.After this, use RAWRITEXP to recreate the image file, using the edited floppy and it should work for your Multi-boot CD. I'll post a link to a ZIP with the image and RAWRITEXP in a minute.EDIT: Here's the link: http://www.ray5.net/jonathan/boot/boot.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incroyable HULK Posted October 20, 2004 Author Share Posted October 20, 2004 @ Jito463, Thanks! @ Asky, Méga-Thanks! B) I was about to create my floppy image with Winimage but I used RAWRITEXP and your DOS image as you suggested. RAWRITEXP is quite a simple app but it does the job! And the DOS image is exactly what I was talking about... a simple minimal boot disk!I can wait to try it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asky Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Cool. Great to know something that I can use to help someone. Let me know how it works for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incroyable HULK Posted October 27, 2004 Author Share Posted October 27, 2004 Ok, I finally got some time to test the solution and it worked fine! The fun thing is that it goes faster since it is on a CD instead of a floppy.Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htc Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 You can improve the usage of your "bios flash boot cd" by adding the ability to "import" a newer bios file from the regular floppy drive or usb stick(if you find a dos drive of usb for your MB), so you do not need to build and burn a new cd every time a new bios version come out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incroyable HULK Posted October 29, 2004 Author Share Posted October 29, 2004 I am updating my CDs once a month (after the second tuesday of the month - Microsoft Patch Day!) so I check for BIOS update, drivers update, software update, etc. all at the same time so even if there is a new BIOS out there it can wait a few days... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htc Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 so you create the boot cd monthly?for the patch for MS-Software it is not neccessary to create a new boot cd, you can just install them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incroyable HULK Posted October 30, 2004 Author Share Posted October 30, 2004 Yes I do!And I prefer to integrate MS hotfix into my CDs since it can take a bit of time to get to windows update, select the critical update, start the process of downloading and installing them (depending on the network connection), reboot the computer, etc.If you have to do this 20 times in a month, it could become time consuming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitalis8 Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 Also I'd like to know what should be a minimal boot disk.:For minimal boot disk you need only.:COMMAND.COMIO.SYSMSDOS.SYSAUTOEXEC.BATCONFIG.SYS you need only in that case when you want to build menu or load some DOS device drivers (himem or CD-ROM). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incroyable HULK Posted October 30, 2004 Author Share Posted October 30, 2004 Is there a difference between those files if I take them from a MS-DOS floppy disk, a Win98 Boot Disk or a Windows XP created Boot Disk (Win ME boot disk)?wich one is the best suited for BIOS update? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asky Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 For BIOS updates, it shouldn't matter much, MS-DOS should work fine. Just don't try mixing XP files into a DOS disk. A DOS 6 disk with XP's command.com...bad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htc Posted November 1, 2004 Share Posted November 1, 2004 for create dos boot floppy, I've posted in the thread "how to create ms dos 6.22 boot floppies":http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=31131also point out the dos version and file system (Fat16, Fat32) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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