Very Computer

I am desperately trying to get clear instructions on installing SCO openserver
from an IDE cdrom drive. I heard it could be done and am looking for the
solution. Thanx a lot.

Jehsom

Quote:Moshe Jacobson writes:
> I am desperately trying to get clear instructions on installing SCO openserver
> from an IDE cdrom drive. I heard it could be done and am looking for the
> solution. Thanx a lot.

--

: No sweat, if the CD-ROM is fully ATAPI compliant.  The Release Notes do
: discuss this...

        Hmmmm.  I was just looking at the system requirements for the new
free OpenServer and it says it needs a SCSI CD-ROM.   (I'm looking at
http://scaffold.sco.com/owa_dba/owa/freeunix_system_req0).  Is this
incorrect?

Thanks.

--
James Macnicol

http://goblet.anu.edu.au/~m9305357/home.html

Thanks,
Nuno Costa

1) Using the Free* SCO boot disk, boot your PC with this
   disk.
2) At the boot prompt ":" enter ahslink and hit enter key.
3) a text message should print out asking support you need for
   the install. Enter wd at the prompt. And hit the enter key.
   The boot process will continue.
4) You will prompted to enter your Advanced Hardware Supplement
   disk to load the boot time IDE and ATAPI CD-ROM support driver.
   enter the disk and hit return.
5) After the driver is loaded, you will be prompted to replace or
   select something or other. I forget exactly what. Enter r at
   the prompt and hit the enter key. The boot will complete.
6) After the boot completes you will be in the install program.
   Read the text and the enter key to continue. You should be on the
   select install media screen.
7) On the install media screen select the media source to be SCSI
   CD-ROM( trust me :> ). The next selectable option should be set to wd
   if you made it past the previous steps correctly. Don't change it.
   The next option to relates to IDE interface of your CD-ROM. Select
0    for primary IDE interface or 1 for secondary. The next field is
used
   to specify whether your CD-ROM is master or slave on its interface.
   Select 0 for master or 1 for slave.The last two changeable fields  
should set to zero( another trust me :> ).
8) Hopefully, your Free* SCO CD is already in the drive. If so just hit
   enter on the highlighted text "continue" after completing the above
   step. Hopefully you will some CD-ROM activity and the next install
   screen. If the first read fails, try again. I've seen this happen
   before, and the second time it works. Good luck and hope this helps.

Ismael Garcia

$       Hmmmm.  I was just looking at the system requirements for the new
$free OpenServer and it says it needs a SCSI CD-ROM.   (I'm looking at
$http://scaffold.sco.com/owa_dba/owa/freeunix_system_req0).  Is this
$incorrect?

   As has been discussed here many times since the announcement,
this is incorrect.  While SCSI is a better idea than ATAPI, ATAPI
CD-ROMs _are_ supported.
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manager, Technical Services                     United System Solutions Inc.
104 Carnforth Road, Toronto, ON, Canada M4A 2K7          (416) 750-7946 x251

Quote:

>I am desperately trying to get clear instructions on installing SCO
openserver
>from an IDE cdrom drive. I heard it could be done and am looking for the
>solution. Thanx a lot.

>Jehsom

If you check the OS/5 Release Notes, you'll see a section (page 17 ???) on
installing it. Here it is in a nutshell:

What you'll need to locate is the ATAPI BTLD diskette that should have come
with your installation media and, of course, the Installation Boot Disk.

Get to the Boot: prompt as normal. Type in "defbootstr ahslink=ATAPI" and
<ENTER>.

Insert the the BTLD (Boot Time Loadable Driver) disk when it asks you for it.
It will ask you if you want to replace the "wd" driver. Answer "r" then  
<ENTER>. The next thing that it will ask you is the media type. You'll then
choose "SCSI CD-ROM". If it's on the primary IDE controller, it's HA 0. If
it's on the secondary controller, it's HA 1. THEN, if it's the MASTER device
it's SCSI ID 0, else SCSI ID 1. Proceed as normal from there according to the
installation instructions.

Jim Kotan
Kotan Consulting Services

Note that the Free OpenServer distribution does *not* require a BTLD to
use EIDE/ATAPI CD-ROMs.  The appropriate driver is included in the
kernel on the N00 disk.  Only OpenServer Release 5.0.0 requires an ATAPI
BTLD; the Free OpenServer distribution is 5.0.2-based.

If you *are* installing 5.0.0, you can get the ATAPI BTLD from the
Release Supplement 5.0.0c floppy (where it's called "ATAPI") or from the
AHS 5.1 or 5.2 BTLD floppy (where it's called "wd").  The BTLD is not
necessary to use an EIDE *hard disk*; it adds ATAPI CD-ROM support to
the existing EIDE driver.

Quote:>Bela<

$I am currently facing the same problem; however, I haven't bought the
$Free OpenServer media yet. I am trying to sort out whether my Goldstar
$IDE CD-ROM drive is compatible with the installation of the software.

   If it's ATAPI-compliant, you're OK.  The Web page quote about
SCSI support is, unfortunately, a quote from an erroneous Web
page; both SCSI and ATAPI CD-ROMs are supported.

$Isn't it possible to copy the files to the hard disk and then install
$OpenServer (like Windows NT does, I believe), simply losing the CD-ROM
$within the SCO operating system?

   Nope.

   You can copy the NT CD onto a filesystem which NT can read, and install
from it if you like (so you need to have DOS or NT installed
already), but a normal NT installation is like a normal OSR5
installation; the files are read directly from the CD and installed
onto your hard drive in final format.  Neither one reads an image
off the CD, puts in on the hard drive, and then installs from the
hard drive image.
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manager, Technical Services                     United System Solutions Inc.
104 Carnforth Road, Toronto, ON, Canada M4A 2K7          (416) 750-7946 x251

$2) At the boot prompt ":" enter ahslink and hit enter key.

   Or just link.  ahslink is a 5.0.0 thing; apparently, some features
were needed in the linker, but only for some BTLDs, and too late for
SCO to do rigorous enough testing to be confident that ahslink
was a suitable replacement for link.  So in 5.0.0, link is the
usual one, and ahslink is to be used only when required.

   In 5.0.2 (the same release as Free SCO), ahslink's functionality
has been incorporated into link.  ahslink still exists, but only
for backwards compatibility, and it's noted somewhere (the release
notes?) that you should not get into the habit of using it because
it may well vanish in future releases.

   Yeah, I'm being pedantic :-)  Technically, either one will
work just the same on Free SCO (the platform in question) or
5.0.2.

$8) Hopefully, your Free* SCO CD is already in the drive. If so just hit
$   enter on the highlighted text "continue" after completing the above
$   step. Hopefully you will some CD-ROM activity and the next install
$   screen. If the first read fails, try again. I've seen this happen
$   before, and the second time it works. Good luck and hope this helps.

   There are reports of a few quirks like this.  Sometimes you may
have to try it several times.  Some systems, apparently, are also
sensitive to whether the CD is already in the drive at boot time;
I've heard of systems where you get errors if you have the CD in
too soon.

   I've just added a few notes on ATAPI CD-ROM support to the
FAQ, and it was just posted a few hours ago.  By the time you
see this note, you should also have seen the FAQ.
--

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manager, Technical Services                     United System Solutions Inc.
104 Carnforth Road, Toronto, ON, Canada M4A 2K7          (416) 750-7946 x251