Hi Eric, thanks for your answer.
For the past 20 years, since Windows 95, most (or maybe all) PCs had the HDD as
third or forth boot option, mainly after floppy disk and optical drive. So this
can't be a source of problem. Even today, for a USB device, CD or DVD to be
loaded; those must be bootable, so there's really few risks for any infection
to spread that way, even if DOS virus may exist... but do they ?
Yes you got it right, we just want our computers to be able to try the next
boot option if the first, second, third one is not available; exactly how most
computer do (as long as UEFI is deactivated). Boot option 1 and 2 must be ODD
and USB, and then only boot option 3 and 4 should be HDD then PXE... but boot 1
as ODD and 2 as HDD would already be great, if Asus was simply capable of doing
it right like any other brand.
I don't get what you say about FreeDOS bootable disks. No matter the disk we
use, bootable or not, operating system or else, the problem is when the drive
is EMPTY or if the disk is not bootable. A proper bios is smart enough to try
next boot option... not Asus'.
It looks like we don't understand one another very well, so long story short :
- we need computers capable of using LiveCDs,
- we change all necessary settings in the bios (checked and confirmed ok),
- now boot option 1 is ODD and boot option 2 is HDD.
- if LiveCD is in ODD = fine, we can use the ODD,
- if the ODD is empty = not fine, the PC is unable to boot on HDD as if there
was no boot option 2 and it shows error message "Reboot and Select properBoot
device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key_"
So the question remains : if Asus really integrated FreeDOS in their PCs, can
FreeDOS cause this kind of problem because of a compatibility issue with the
BIOS ? And if yes, may can be done ?
Regards.
> Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2015 03:18:34 +0100
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Freedos-devel] FreeDOS compatibility issue according to Asus
>
>
> Hi Teddy,
>
> > We are customers about to make a trial against Asus on french court
> > for a hidden problem in the bios of their "Asus ROG G741JM" notebook
> > preventing it from switching between several boot options (ie. when
> > ODD is set as boot option #1 and there's no bootable disk inside the
> > PC shows an error message instead of booting on boot option #2, the
> > HDD).
>
> I personally would recommend to not select drives with
> changeable media (floppy, CD, DVD, BD, USB storage) as
> the first choice for booting: If you forget a disk in
> such a drive and reboot, your computer will try to boot
> from it and you might get a virus from that if the disk
> is not one of the boot CD / ... that you wanted to use
> but some arbitrary other one with possibly tainted data.
>
> But I understand your problem: You want that the BIOS
> does a fall-through, trying the next disk instead when
> it detects that the first choice is not bootable...
>
>
>
> > Asus R&D and technical support are putting the blame on FreeDOS for
> > this bug saying "We regret to inform you that the boot limitation on
> > the optical drive is due to the compatibility of this BIOS wirh
> > FreeDOS" (see below e-mail, in french).
>
> [omitting that: it looks as if you summarize them well]
>
> Unfortunately you have not shown us your question to ASUS,
> only their answer: I can imagine that if you put a FreeDOS
> boot CD or DVD in the optical drive, it will load a boot
> menu from that CD and that boot menu might then have some
> menu item "skip CD, continue by trying to boot next drive"
> and THAT indeed may have limited support for certain BIOS
> and boot menu combinations. But that could also happen for
> Linux or Windows boot CD left in the drive, depending on
> how they implement the "try next disk on boot drive list"
> menu option...
>
>
>
> If your problem, however, happens when you do NOT have ANY
> disk in the CD drive, then it probably means that somehow
> ASUS has a feature in their BIOS which SIMULATES a FreeDOS
> CD in the drive whenever the drive in fact is empty. I have
> seen similar problems with LG CD/DVD drives which (inside
> the BIOS of the CD/DVD drive) had a simulation of a CD: It
> was there to "give" the user some additional software from
> LG without having to ship a physical CD with the drive. As
> many users got annoyed about that, LG provided a firmware
> update for the CD/DVD drive which removes the "feature" :-)
>
> So maybe ASUS is trying to give you a feature by having a
> simulation of a FreeDOS CD in your optical drive exactly if
> it finds no physical CD in the drive? And maybe it uses a
> version of a FreeDOS CD where the boot menu "try the next
> drive on the boot priority list" selection is incompatible
> with the boot capabilities of the ASUS BIOS? In that case,
> they could probably update either the BIOS or the version
> of the boot menu used on the (probably outdated copy of a)
> FreeDOS "CD", but you will have to give more details here.
>
> Note that we use common third party boot menu software for
> our bootable CD, so both updating the CD and updating the
> BIOS should be possible without modifications from FreeDOS
> but of course some FreeDOS experts could advise ASUS about
> the possibilities here.
>
>
>
> As you notice, my advice is mostly based on guessing what
> your problem is and which change you want from ASUS. Your
> mail and the cited mail from ASUS are not specific enough.
>
> Regards, Eric
>
>
>
> PS: The unwanted LG "CD" was called "Bluebirds" installer
> and as said, removal is done by either upgrading the drive
> firmware (basically a BIOS) or by teaching your operating
> system to identify the simulated CD as such and ignore it.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dive into the World of Parallel Programming The Go Parallel Website, sponsored
> by Intel and developed in partnership with Slashdot Media, is your hub for all
> things parallel software development, from weekly thought leadership blogs to
> news, videos, case studies, tutorials and more. Take a look and join the
> conversation now. http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/
> _______________________________________________
> Freedos-devel mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dive into the World of Parallel Programming The Go Parallel Website, sponsored
by Intel and developed in partnership with Slashdot Media, is your hub for all
things parallel software development, from weekly thought leadership blogs to
news, videos, case studies, tutorials and more. Take a look and join the
conversation now. http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/
_______________________________________________
Freedos-devel mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
