Gateway 2000 P5-100: Installing MS-DOS and Drivers

Initially, I'll be installing MS-DOS 6.22 on the largest partition that's allowable. In this case, the MS-DOS file allocation table (FAT) file system can support only 2 GB partitions.

The 2-GB partition limit is imposed by the maximum number of clusters and the largest cluster size supported by the FAT file system. The FAT file system is limited to 65,525 clusters. The size of a cluster must be a power of 2 and less than 65,536 bytes--this results in a maximum cluster size of 32,768 bytes (32K). Multiplying the maximum number of clusters (65,525) by the maximum cluster size (32,768) equals 2 GB. This is commonly known as the FAT16 file system.

My hard drive has a total capacity of 10 GB, but because of the limitations of my computer's BIOS, I'll only be able to utilize 8 GB. This 8GB limit only applies because of a longtime standard BIOS function. In order to access bigger drives, some extensions were added to them (the so-called INT13h-extensions, INT 13h are the functions to access the disk drive via BIOS). Operating systems not aware of these extensions like MS-DOS 6 are still limited to the lower 8 GB even with a new BIOS.

My plan is to use special software to make four primary partitions. Each 2 GB partition will have a different OS.

Installing MS-DOS 6.22

My new hard drive was shipped fresh with 10 GB of unallocated space. Using MS-DOS 6.22 installation disks and by following the prompts, MS-DOS automatically created the maximum 2 GB partition and formatted it. The hard drive is then ready for the system installation.

After a successful installation, DOS SHELL was added along with the other extras supplied on the Supplemental Disk. 

Installing the mouse driver

MS-DOS 6.22 did not come with a mouse driver. Adding one is quite simple, by downloading the Microsoft mouse driver and adding the mouse.com file to the DOS directory. In order to run the driver automatically, we need to add a line to the autoexec.bat file.

I find using the Dos Shell an easier method of moving about DOS. This, of course, is with the aid of a mouse, but at the moment, the driver has not been loaded. To be able to use the mouse, we first have to load the driver. Do this, by going into the DOS directory and entering mouse. Now, the mouse is ready for use in the Dos Shell.

At the Dos Shell GUI, there is a text editor available under MAIN.

Make sure that drive C: is highlighted and not the DOS directory. Double-click on Editor and type autoexec.bat in the required popup window. This will open the file's contents in the editor. Add the line:

LH C:\DOS|MOUSE.COM 

(by mistake, I typed > instead of a period initially, but it still worked).

The LH at the beginning is used to load programs in to high memory to free up your conventional memory. There will be more about this later. 

At this time, it's also good to write one last line, simply dosshell. This will automatically load the shell at boot.

Installing the CD-ROM driver

The last essential driver is the CD-ROM driver. This is one of the more difficult drivers to install, due to different systems and CD-ROM manufacturers. I found what works most of the time is a driver that I found that installs on different systems using doscdrom.exe. 

I did a manual install by adding the file cd1.sys to my DOS directory. I then added these lines to my config.sys file:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\cd1.SYS /D:banana
LASTDRIVE=Z

I added this line to my autoexec.bat file:

MSCDEX.EXE /D:banana /L:R

The last letter in the line denotes the drive letter. After a re-boot, the dosshell appears with an operating mouse and all drives accessible.

Gateway 2000 P5-100: Installing New Drives

I plan to use this computer for many of my vintage computing needs, so I'll have more confidence in this system if all the drives are replaced with new ones.

Starting first, the case needs to be opened. It's rather straight forward, there are seven screws on the back of the computer.

The case then slides back slightly and then can be lifted off. The drives are located in caddies where circled.

The hard drive and 1.44mb floppy are located together. It's removed by removing two screws and then by sliding out and up.

The installed Quantum Fireball 3gb drive was replaced with a HEWLETT PACKARD 10.1 GIG IDE HARD DRIVE DTLA-30510.

MS-DOS has a 8.5gb limitation. At most 1024 cylinders (numbered 0-1023), 256 heads (numbered 0-255), 63 sectors/track (numbered 1-63) for a maximum total capacity of 8455716864 bytes (8.5 GB). This is a severe limitation in regards to today's hard drive needs, but in this case, it should be sufficient.

The hard drive also needs to be recognized by the computer's BIOS. The jumpers are positioned as indicated by the chart on the drive. In this case, the drive is set up as DEVICE 0 (MASTER). It will be the primary drive.

If the jumpers are set incorrectly, the computer's BIOS may not recognize the hard drive or the computer's BIOS may not load at all, and the screen will remain dark with no activity.

The 1.44mb floppy is replaced with a NEC FD1231H 3.5 1.44MB Internal Floppy Drive. This drive can support the following formatting:

720 KB mode = 720 KB

1.44 MB mode = 1.44 MB

The CD-ROM and 5.25" floppy drive will slide into the drive caddies after the old CD-ROM and ZipDrive are removed. To get to these, the front panel must be removed. There are four screws located at the inside corners holding it in. The two on the left can be seen in the below image.

The panel cannot be removed completely because of a series of cables to the far right. There's no need to detach these cables since there is plenty of space to swing the panel aside.

By removing the screws on either side of the drives and the rear cables the component can be removed.

I'm replacing the 4x CD-ROM drive with a new Compaq 48x CD-ROM Drive CRD-8484B.

I'm replacing the ZipDrive with a new TEAC FD-55GFR 5.25" 5-1/4  FLOPPY DISK DRIVE (1.2mb). This drive connects to the same ribbon cable that the 1.44mb floppy drive (A:) by using the larger FDD connector. It will be recognized as drive (B:).

After installing all the drives, the computer was booted. The hard drive and floppy drives were detected.

Looking at the BIOS settings though, I found that Foppy B: is disabled under Floppy Options. This was corrected by choosing the proper setting.

  

At this time, only Floppy A: and B: are in operation. The hard drive needs to be formatted and the CD-ROM will need a driver.

Gateway 2000 P5-100: Setting up Dosshell

There's one more item I'd like to save from the hard drive before I replace it. This is the SOUND directory that contains (I presume) the software for the installed SoundBlaster card. The contents are too large to save on one floppy, so I would find it easier to copy the contents onto 2 floppys using a DOS Shell interface.

DOS Shell includes common features seen in other file managers such as copying, moving and renaming files as well as the ability to "launch" applications with a double-click. The shell could be run by the command "DOSSHELL".  The shell was one of the first successful attempts to create a basic graphical user interface (GUI) type file manager in DOS.

From DOS 6.0 the DOS Shell was not included with the OS, but was added on a supplemental disk.

Looking at the contents of the disk, it's easy to overlook the SETUP command because the contents scroll by so fast. One easy method of viewing a page at a time, is to type dir /p at the command prompt.

To run SETUP, the command plus the drive and directory must be entered. In my case, I had to enter 

SETUP C:\DOS 

You'll be asked if all of the utilities should be installed or only selected components. I went through the list and only chose MS-DOS Shell. Once installed, navigating back to C: drive and into the DOS directory, the shell can be launched by entering dosshell.

Next, I'm using the dosshell to format some disks. This is easily acheived by clicking on Disk Utilities (located towards the bottom screen) and following the prompts.

Copying the SOUND directory, requires selecting the C: drive and then selecting the SOUND directory. A list of it's contents can be easily scrolled through.

From here, I selected the files I wanted to load on the first floppy. Then, going to FILE in the menu, I was able to choose COPY. 

Gateway 2000 P5-100: Saving important DOS system files

The Gateway 2000 P5-100 has a pre-installed version of Microsoft DOS 6. There are three files I would like to copy for safe keeping. They are:

CONFIG.SYS
AUTOEXEC.BAT
OAKCDROM.SYS

The  CONFIG.SYS is a text file that contains commands that configure your computer's hardware components (memory, keyboard, mouse, printer and so on) so MS-DOS  and your applications can use them. When MS-DOS starts, it carries out the commands in your CONFIG.SYS file first.

The AUTOEXEC.BAT file is a batch program that MS-DOS runs immediately after carrying out the commands in your CONFIG.SYS file. Your AUTOEXEC.BAT file can contain any commands you want carried out when you start your system--for example, commands that define the port your printer is connected to, clear your screen of startup messages, or run your favorite menu program.

OAKCDROM.SYS is a generic CD-ROM driver that will work with the majority of all IDE CD-ROM drives. It may be useful to keep this copy.

The computer has a functioning 3.5 floppy drive, so I'll be saving these files on a 1.44MB diskette. In order to do this, navigating in DOS and using some basic commands will be necessary.

First, let's look at the contents on the hard drive C:\   This can be done by typing DIR at the C: prompt and the contents are as seen in this screenshot:

To save the files on the floppy, type  COPY CONFIG.SYS A:  

and then repeat with COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT A:

To copy the CD-ROM driver, you will have to open the MS-DOS directory (this is where the driver is located). To do this, type

CD\DOS (lower case works as well, such as cd\dos). The prompt will confirm by appearing as:

C:\DOS>_

Now you can copy the file by typing copy oakcdrom.sys a:

To return to the C directory, type cd\ after the C:\DOS>_  prompt.

Now that the files are saved to disk, let's look at the contents of the CONFIG.SYS and 

AUTOEXEC.BAT with a text viewer on a modern PC.

It's quite possible, you may not see anything except the OAKCDROM.SYS file. This is because WINDOWS is generally set up to hide important system files. To show these files, you must go to Folder Options and deselect Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). This will give you access to the system files on the disk.

To view the system files, open a general text editor and change the file setting to All Files.
Starting with CONFIG.SYS, the contents are:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE
DEVICE=C:\DOS\OAKCDROM.SYS /D:MSCD01
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\CTCM\CTCM.EXE
DOS=HIGH
FILES=30
STACKS=9,256

The contents of AUTOEXEC.BAT are:

SET CTCM=C:\CTCM

C:\CTCM\CTCU /S

C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE /X

C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD01

C:\DOS\MOUSE.COM

@ECHO OFF

PROMPT $p$g

PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\DOS

SET TEMP=C:\DOS

These may be of good reference later when a fresh system is installed later.

Gateway 2000 P5-100: Boot settings and BIOS

The first action I'm taking before I make any changes to this machine will be to record the boot screen information and important BIOS settings for reference.

The following screen shots shows the information processed during a boot to a pre-installed version of DOS:

The computer's BIOS is AMIBIOS c. 1992 American Megatrends, Inc Version 1.00.10.BR0T.
Apparently this is the latest update according to the Gateway site which allows for the BIOS update for this computer. Here's the info:

aladd10.exe
1.00.10.BR0T for Intel Pentium motherboards
Download Now How to Download

Note: When updating your computer's BIOS, the update process fails if you use a floppy disk formatted in Microsoft® Windows® 2000, Windows NT®, or Windows XP. Instead, use a new IBM pre-formatted disk. Refer to Readme.txt file for more details.

Release Date:  8/27/1999

File Size:  384 KB

Download Time:  1 min @ 56K

Operating Systems:   All Operating Systems

The following are screenshots of relevant information in the BIOS:

Gateway 2000 P5-100

The Gateway 2000 P5-100 was released around 1995. According to the advertisement I found, it sold for around $2,995. In 2014 dollars, that would be $4,662. Not a small sum for a computer which was being sold as a "family PC".

It came with an Intel 100MHz Pentium processor, 16MB RAM, 4x CD-ROM player and a 1GHz harddrive. It operates with DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.1.

The system I purchased used on eBay, has 8MB RAM, a ZipDrive and a 2GHz harddrive. I'll be upgrading all of the drives to new or refurburished, removing the Zipdrive and also adding a 5.25" floppy drive.

Here's a front and back view of the system: