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Organization: Czech Technical University
Priority:     normal
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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.novell
Date:         Mon, 23 Nov 1992 22:27:45 CET
Reply-To:     meloun@vision.felk.cvut.cs
From:         Michal Meloun <MELOUN@VISION.FELK.CVUT.CS>
Subject:      Re: Windows on NW3.11 addicted to a: drive

> Recently we installed windows 3.1 on a NW3.11 netwerk.
> We first used "setup/a" to transfer the files from floppy to a shared
> network directory.
> The next step was running "setup/n" to make a set of personal files in the
> directory where you will start windows. Already during this procedure the
> Setup program frequently checked the a: drive, could however be precuded
> to continue from the networkdrive by responding with "F" on the question
> "Abort, Retry etc.".
>
> After this procedure and some modification in Config.sys and Autoexec.bat
> one is ready to start Windows by typing Win <enter>.
> In our case Windows than first checks the a: drive and askes the well known
> question "Abort, Retry etc.". Responing here with "F" <return> result in
> normal functioning of Windows, The "Arbort etc." however is very
> irritating.
>
> I would appreciate any suggestion on what i did wrong during installation.
>

The problem arises when you use remote boot from the network, national
DOS support, and Windows 3.1 together.  Under these three conditions, the
problem appears.  Otherwise, the problem is not apparent.  Why does this
happen?  1st.  Before going into operation, Windows calls DOS to get
country information(INT 21h function 38h).  During this call for country
information, DOS tries to read from a file called country.sys from the
boot disk using the internal DOS function.  The Novell shell(netx.com),
unfortunately, does not recognise that internal reading and the command
tries read from the original boot disk(that means Disk A:).  As the
software is now, you cannot change this "bug."  We will have to wait until
Novell, Microsoft, or someone else modifies the starting sequence for
Windows.
    By the way, it would interest me, if it will be possible in Novell 4.0
to support the  change of codepage (for example chcp 850). When I use
remote boot and national support this doesn't work.  This currently
doesn't work.   Because Novell Shell(netx.com) doesn't support many
internal DOS functions(between them reading used during the get country
info function) it won't patch the filename in memory to the valid network
drive.


       +----------------------------------------------------+
       !        Michal Meloun, network and system manager   !
       !        Czech Technical University                  !
       !        Dept. of Control Engineering                !
       !        Karlovo namesti 13                          !
       ! 121 35 Prague 2, Czechoslovakia                    !
       !----------------------------------------------------!
       !   phone: (+422) 29 56 64    fax: (+422) 29 01 59   !
       !       internet: meloun@vision.felk.cvut.cs         !
       +----------------------------------------------------+
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU