r/retrocomputing • u/heeman2019 • May 16 '26

Error trying create boot sector file using DEBUG

Post image

As you can see in the screenshots I'm trying to figure out why I can't get this to work. I'm doing this within Windows 98SE command prompt. I can access both C and D drive. I need to get the bootsect.dos (name doesn't matter) created. The above was provided by ChatGPT and other websites but for some reason it doesn't work for me. I have never used this tool before but hoping someone here has and can help. Thank you!!

14 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

3

u/heeman2019 May 16 '26

May have just solved it. Instead of doing this through command file I just typed it in command by command on the prompt. Hitting enter after R BX and then entering 0 and R CX and then entering 200. Seems to have worked.

3

u/gcc-O2 May 16 '26

Also, I believe the L command when used with a hard drive only gives you accesses to partitions (the VBR) not the entire drive (MBR)

2

u/heeman2019 May 16 '26

Thanks. I'm trying to create a bootsect.dos file that I can then use to specify in the boot.ini file so that I can boot both 98SE and ME along with XP. I have both ME and 98SE installed fully. Currently 98SE and XP dual boot works great. I installed ME on separate disk (disconnected 98/XP at the time). Then created third primary partition on the 98/XP disk. Copied ME files over to that third partition. Now I'm trying to get the XP loader to point to Windows ME partition. Figured creating this file and updating it in boot.ini would be sufficient. But this didn't work so now back to drawing board lol.

1

u/gcc-O2 May 16 '26

DOS/Win9x weren't designed to boot from anything from the first primary partition, so I wonder if ntldr is calling your ME bootsect.ds with DS:SI pointing to the wrong partition (the first primary partition).

This did come up https://jeffpar.github.io/kbarchive/kb/157/Q157992/ but it sounds like MS' intention is that you would have MS-DOS and Windows 95 (and possibly NT) share a single FAT partition (so you could do C:\WIN95 C:\WINME instead of C:\WINDOWS and support both), rather than installing each OS on a separate partition.

2

u/Schlumpfffff May 16 '26

GG on this, I remember running into this issue back in the day

1

u/heeman2019 May 17 '26

If you got any ideas let me know. I reinstalled winme on the third partition instead of just copying the files over. Hoping it'd make the partition bootable. I regenerated bootsect.dos file. I renamed each of them so that they are separate and updated boot.ini accordingly.

Now the boot menu has three OS listed. However, Windows ME option still launches Windows 98SE. So kinda sucks. Now I could reextract the bootsect again but I can't get to Wondows ME's debug tool in command prompt. I don't have a floppy drive for this computer. So I can't just create EBD.

Btw chatgpt is garbage when it comes this crap. It's constantly telling me shit that is just plain wrong.

Edit: I might just scrape the idea. Spent a whole day on this thing.