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34 | C1508M (02/01)
APPENDIX II – DOS ENVIRONMENT AND COMMAND
REFERENCE
DOS is an acronym for Disk Operating System. Every time you turn on
the CM9740-CC1 or every time you reboot (Alt + Ctrl + Delete), the
computer loads DOS from disk (the CC1’s drive) into memory (RAM).
Once loaded, DOS lets you run other programs, in particular, the
CM9740.EXE program, which is located in the C:\9740 directory of the
CC1. On factory-produced systems, the boot process doesn’t end at a
basic system prompt (C:\ > ), as would be the case for a normal PC.
Instead, the process ends either at the C:\9740> prompt, or else the
boot process loads and executes the CM9740.EXE program. The rea-
son for this, in both instances, is the result of autoexec.bat file configu-
ration. We’ll examine the details of autoexec.bat configuration, but first,
let’s look briefly at the highlights of the boot process and how the
autoexec.bat file is invoked in the first place.
➤ The Boot Process
The following process occurs when the CC1 is turned on or is
rebooted:
1. If turned OFF and then turned ON, the CC1 goes through a power-
on self-test (POST). Here the computer essentially examines its
electronic components.
2. The computer looks at drive A for a DOS system disk. If one is not
there, the CC1 will load DOS from its hard drive.
3. This process looks for two “hidden” system files: IO.SYS and
MSDOS.SYS. If these files are not present, DOS displays the fol-
lowing error message:
Non-System disk or disk error*
(The CC1 will also display this error during the boot process if
you’ve left a floppy disk in your A drive that has no system files).
4. If the “hidden” files are present, IO.SYS loads first and executes.
An initialization program called SYSINIT contained within IO.SYS
reads in the MSDOS.SYS file; SYSINIT next locates the
CONFIG.SYS file and executes its files in order for it to configure
itself in memory. Then SYSINIT locates and invokes
COMMAND.COM. If SYSINIT cannot find COMMAND.COM, DOS
will display the following error message:
Bad or missing Command Interpreter**
5. If SYSINIT finds and loads COMMAND.COM, it, in turn, searches
your root directory for the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If it exists,
COMMAND.COM will cause the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to execute.
If AUTOEXEC.BAT doesn’t exist, the DATE and TIME commands
will be invoked by COMMAND.COM. After entering date and time
information, the basic system prompt (C:>) appears. This com-
pletes the startup or boot process.
You cannot separate the boot process from CC1 initialization. The DOS
boot process must succeed before the CM9740.EXE program can run.
The result of the DOS initialization process is that you are either sitting
at a system prompt on a DOS screen or, as part of the boot process,
the CM9740.EXE program has been invoked. In the latter case, the
System Window of the diagnostic screen will read “Setup Complete”
if everything initialized OK; otherwise, an applicable error message
should appear.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Generally speaking, the CM9740-CC1 that you or-
der is configured in one of two ways and depends
on whether the CC1 exists as part of a system or-
der or whether it has been purchased as a stand-
alone unit.
If the CC1 is configured as part of a system, flat
files are created for the system configuration ac-
cording to customer ordered criteria and placed in
the 9740 directory on the CC1 hard drive. The
AUTOEXEC.BAT file is configured to call the
CM9740 executable program at the end of the DOS
boot process instead of reverting to an onscreen
system prompt. The result is that, at the end of the
boot process, the 9740 diagnostic screen should
appear on your monitor. Assuming you have cor-
rectly connected and configured all of the equipment
attached to the CC1, a “Setup Complete” message
appears in the System Window of the diagnostic
screen.
CC1s purchased as stand-alone units differ in that
there usually is not enough information with respect
to where or how the unit is to be used; therefore,
the factory cannot create flat files for the unit. With-
out flat files, no reason exists for altering the
autoexec.bat file to invoke the 9740 executable;
the flat files the executable needs don’t exist. The
result of the DOS boot process, in this case, is sim-
ply an on-screen system prompt. It then becomes
the user’s responsibility to create flat files, load them
into the 9740 directory and appropriately alter the
autoexec.bat file for the boot process to call the
executable. All the information you need to accom-
plish this is contained in this and the rest of the sys-
tem manuals.
* The error listed in step 3 should not occur with
respect to the hidden system files as these were
put on the hard drive when it was configured at
the factory. If you see this error during the boot
process, you probably have a disk in the A: drive.
** Since COMMAND.COM is not a hidden file, it’s
possible that it could accidentally be moved,
corrupted, or erased. If this occurs, you may
need to start DOS from a floppy disk and COPY
COMMAND.COM into the CC1’s root directory.