DOM Corrupted?

[jmetal88]

Yes the partition is set to active.

I booted with my dos 5 boot disk, used the fdisk program to make a primary active dos partition, formatted it (I didn't use /s like I said), created a dos directory, then copied over all the files (I was given a disk with them already expanded).

How do I use the mbr option? Is it just FDISK /MBR got the command prompt?

If you don't use /S when you format or the SYS command afterward, your drive will not be bootable.

[Tempest]

Ok, how do I use the sys command then? Id rather not have to reformat the hard drive.

[Brutman]

Google for "DOS sys command" ...

All of this has been pretty well documented for 30+ years now. After you read the instructions sys will probably do the trick, but at worst case you'll have to start over and format the drive from scratch. And it might be worth doing that anyway just so you can run through the process and take notes.

[Tempest]

Got it all working. My first problem (the hanging problem) was fixed with the FDISK /MBR command. The second problem of the missing system files was a little trickier. SYS C: didn't work for some reason, it kept saying that there wasn't enough room on the C: drive so I was forced to reformat it with the /s flag and that worked. I have DOS 5.0 up and running again.

One thing I discovered during my odyssey was that my new disk drive is flaky. It seems to randomly have trouble with some disks and files that my main DOS box (with the old PCjr drive in it ironically) doesn't. However I was able to format a disk or two in the jr, so the drive itself does work at least that much. At this point I'm thinking that it's either dirty, or starting to fail. Any maintenance tips other than clean the lens and lube the rails?

EDIT: It looks like my problem might still be related to the top of the case rubbing against the drive arm. For some reason it seems to sit 'high' on this new drive. I took the lid off and now I'm not having any problems. I wonder if there's a way to fix this other than try and pad the supports so the lid sticks up higher.

[Tempest]

I've confirmed that the problem is indeed the case rubbing against the disk drive. I'm going to swap the drive out with the original one and see if that solves the problem. Otherwise I guess I can't keep the monitoring the case anymore.

[Brutman]

There is no way that the drive is too tall. You must not have the drive tray fully installed; the plastic friction feet have to go through the case holes at the bottom of the case, not just sit nestled in them.

[Tempest]

There is no way that the drive is too tall. You must not have the drive tray fully installed; the plastic friction feet have to go through the case holes at the bottom of the case, not just sit nestled in them.

That was my first thought as well, I can't believe the clearance between the drive and the case is so small.

I'll take a look, but I don't see how I can push them in further. I've pushed down pretty hard. It appears that the plastic posts (I assume these are the friction feet you're talking about) broke on the very bottoms years ago (where the post starts to narrow down). How do I know when I have it down as far as it can go? Is there some sort of 'pop' when they're in? What about the front of the drive? Do you just line it up with the drive hole in the case?

[jharre]

Perhaps when the bottoms of the posts broke off they left debris under the motherboard that is preventing you from fully seating the drive assembly?

<*> Jim

[Tempest]

Perhaps when the bottoms of the posts broke off they left debris under the motherboard that is preventing you from fully seating the drive assembly?

That could be, but I don't recall seeing anything when I looked (I had the same thought). I'll double check tonight just in case.

[Tempest]

Things *appear* to be working fine now. Looks like I had two problems:

1. The tray was actually on the power cable for the disk drive so it wasn't resting 100% flat

2. I appear to just have some iffy disks. I think the drive might not be 100% and a dodgy disk is a bit too much for it.

I still get errors now and then which leads me to believe this drive is dying and I need a new one.