wen-king
09-29-2005, 11:00 AM
I have figured out how to install win2k or winxp on a 3500 without the
use of a floppy drive. The instruction for win2K install on 3400
written by Sid6.8 largely apply, though you have to use 3500 drivers
where appropriate.
One major problem with the installation is that you cannot format the
15G drive in a desktop and make it work in the tablet. The reason
being that BIOS in the two machines report different geometries for
the same disk. For example, the desktop I tried reported
C/H/S=1950/240/63, but the tablet reported C/H/S=1835/255/63. Win2K
and XP are sensitive to the disparity between the geometry reported
by the BIOS and the geometry recorded onto the file systems at time
of formatting. Mismatch results in "NTLDR not found" error after the
initial stage of installation.
I have solved this problem by using the fact that one is allowed to
repartition and reformat a computer's boot disk, even if doing so wipes
out the boot partition. It also rely on the fact that win98 boot
does not care about the geometry disparity, at least with FAT-16.
The first step is to create a win98 boot floppy per Sid6.8's
instruction. Put a copy of sfdisk.exe (smart fdisk) on the floppy.
You can download it somewhere for free. Most of the web sites I found
through google seem to be in Chinese, however. I use version 2.05.
It should just barely fit onto the boot floppy.
Next put the tablet drive and the boot floppy in a desktop. I make
sure I disconnect the desktop's normal drive just so I can't make a
mistake. Boot the desktop off the floppy.
1) sfdisk
a) delete all partitions
b) create a minimum sized primary FAT-16 partition
* enter 1 mb and it will set it to minimum allowed size.
c) save the changes to disk
* this allows you to format the partition
d) format the partition
e) make it active
f) exit with reboot
after booting from the floppy
2) sys c:
3) copy *.* c:
* answer no to the first and only name conflict
At this point you have created a small FAT-16 partition and you have
transfered the content of the boot floppy to it. Now move the drive
into the tablet and boot it up. It should boot off the small FAT-16
partition just as it would off a boot floppy. Then you can run
sfdisk to repartition and reformat the disk. From this point on
probably more than one way would work, but this is one way I found:
4) sfdisk
a) delete all partitions
b) create a minimum sized primary FAT-16 partition
* yes, again. but this time it would be sized according
to the geometry as seen by the tablet.
c) save the changes to disk
d) format the partition
e) make it active
f) exit without reboot
* it can't reboot because you just wiped the boot disk.
* just push the reset button to shut it down afterward.
Move the drive back into the desktop and boot off the boot floppy.
5) sys c:
6) copy *.* c:
* answer no to the first and only name conflict
This create another image of the boot floppy in a tiny partition,
except this partition is sized and formatted according to the
geometry as seen by the tablet. Now move the drive back into
the tablet and boot it up. Remember we did FAT-16. When I tried
FAT-32, it failed. So I stick with FAT-16.
7) sfdisk
a) leave the small partition alone and create a 4G
primary FAT-32 partition from the unpartitioned space.
b) save the changes to disk
c) format the partition, don't make it active
d) exit with reboot
after reboot, the large partition should be visible as D:
8) sys d:
9) sfdisk
a) delete the small partition
b) mark the large 4-G partition active
c) save the changes to disk
d) exit with reboot
The tablet should boot up from the large partition, and the partition
should be empty except for one file. You are done. Shut it down again
and move the drive back to the desktop. Reconnect the desktop's normal
drive and boot it up normally. Continue with the rest of windows
installation as described in Sid6.8's instruction. After installation,
use your favorite method to reclaim unused disk space at your will.
use of a floppy drive. The instruction for win2K install on 3400
written by Sid6.8 largely apply, though you have to use 3500 drivers
where appropriate.
One major problem with the installation is that you cannot format the
15G drive in a desktop and make it work in the tablet. The reason
being that BIOS in the two machines report different geometries for
the same disk. For example, the desktop I tried reported
C/H/S=1950/240/63, but the tablet reported C/H/S=1835/255/63. Win2K
and XP are sensitive to the disparity between the geometry reported
by the BIOS and the geometry recorded onto the file systems at time
of formatting. Mismatch results in "NTLDR not found" error after the
initial stage of installation.
I have solved this problem by using the fact that one is allowed to
repartition and reformat a computer's boot disk, even if doing so wipes
out the boot partition. It also rely on the fact that win98 boot
does not care about the geometry disparity, at least with FAT-16.
The first step is to create a win98 boot floppy per Sid6.8's
instruction. Put a copy of sfdisk.exe (smart fdisk) on the floppy.
You can download it somewhere for free. Most of the web sites I found
through google seem to be in Chinese, however. I use version 2.05.
It should just barely fit onto the boot floppy.
Next put the tablet drive and the boot floppy in a desktop. I make
sure I disconnect the desktop's normal drive just so I can't make a
mistake. Boot the desktop off the floppy.
1) sfdisk
a) delete all partitions
b) create a minimum sized primary FAT-16 partition
* enter 1 mb and it will set it to minimum allowed size.
c) save the changes to disk
* this allows you to format the partition
d) format the partition
e) make it active
f) exit with reboot
after booting from the floppy
2) sys c:
3) copy *.* c:
* answer no to the first and only name conflict
At this point you have created a small FAT-16 partition and you have
transfered the content of the boot floppy to it. Now move the drive
into the tablet and boot it up. It should boot off the small FAT-16
partition just as it would off a boot floppy. Then you can run
sfdisk to repartition and reformat the disk. From this point on
probably more than one way would work, but this is one way I found:
4) sfdisk
a) delete all partitions
b) create a minimum sized primary FAT-16 partition
* yes, again. but this time it would be sized according
to the geometry as seen by the tablet.
c) save the changes to disk
d) format the partition
e) make it active
f) exit without reboot
* it can't reboot because you just wiped the boot disk.
* just push the reset button to shut it down afterward.
Move the drive back into the desktop and boot off the boot floppy.
5) sys c:
6) copy *.* c:
* answer no to the first and only name conflict
This create another image of the boot floppy in a tiny partition,
except this partition is sized and formatted according to the
geometry as seen by the tablet. Now move the drive back into
the tablet and boot it up. Remember we did FAT-16. When I tried
FAT-32, it failed. So I stick with FAT-16.
7) sfdisk
a) leave the small partition alone and create a 4G
primary FAT-32 partition from the unpartitioned space.
b) save the changes to disk
c) format the partition, don't make it active
d) exit with reboot
after reboot, the large partition should be visible as D:
8) sys d:
9) sfdisk
a) delete the small partition
b) mark the large 4-G partition active
c) save the changes to disk
d) exit with reboot
The tablet should boot up from the large partition, and the partition
should be empty except for one file. You are done. Shut it down again
and move the drive back to the desktop. Reconnect the desktop's normal
drive and boot it up normally. Continue with the rest of windows
installation as described in Sid6.8's instruction. After installation,
use your favorite method to reclaim unused disk space at your will.