FreeDOS - Bad or Missing Command Interpreter, help!

Dashken · 19th Feb 2006, 01:20 PM

Hi everyone! This is my first time using FreeDOS and it's been cool so far. Until I encounter a problem now.

I've tested FreeDOS on a few desktops and laptops, some are ok, but some are not. Those that are not ok will prompt out... the message below when loading the kernel and trying to load the config.sys I think.

Bad or missing Command Interpreter
Enter the full shell command line:
command.com /P /E:256

I've tried to enter the command shell=c:\command.com /p /e:256 into the config.sys but no luck.

One funny thing is, the affected laptop/desktop will be able to load everything (config.sys and autoexec.bat) when I plug in a USB floppy drive. When I unplug it, restart, the same problem persists.

This is a problem because it not possible for me to plug-in the usb floppy drive onto the laptop all the time when I start FreeDOS.

This happen to those affected desktops too. When I disable floppy support, the same problem as above. But when I enable floppy support, it works!

So, is there anyway around this problem? Is it possible to trick FreeDOS that I have a floppy drive connected even when I don't have one?

Appreciate it if someone can lend me a helping hand or advice.

Thank you very much and have a nice day!

The_YongGrand · 22nd Feb 2006, 10:15 AM

Did you installed FreeDos in a main partition, the um... Primary Partition if I'm not mistaken? And did you install the FreeDos into NTFS partition?

Dashken · 22nd Feb 2006, 04:53 PM

Yup... fdisk and created a new partition, made it active, formatted it with the format.exe included at the ramdisk at a:\freedos. So, it's FAT32 I guess.

Nope... not NTFS.

It's the same case even when I created a 2GB main partition (install FreeDOS on it) and left the rest untouched.

The_YongGrand · 23rd Feb 2006, 08:54 AM

Are you trying to dualboot FreeDos with WinXP? I got the same problem as well but it'll go away after a few configurations...

Dashken · 23rd Feb 2006, 09:33 AM

Nope... just doing a plain install, one OS on a pc/laptop.

Well, it seems like only older platforms have the problem. I think so far should be no problem. Older platforms can use the old FreeDOS>

Actually I came across your question asking about the dual boot configuration at some forum.

19th Feb 2006, 01:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dashken Administrator! Join Date: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Penang Posts: 29,763 Reputation: 2162 Rep Power: 56	FreeDOS - Bad or Missing Command Interpreter, help! Hi everyone! This is my first time using FreeDOS and it's been cool so far. Until I encounter a problem now. I've tested FreeDOS on a few desktops and laptops, some are ok, but some are not. Those that are not ok will prompt out... the message below when loading the kernel and trying to load the config.sys I think. Bad or missing Command Interpreter Enter the full shell command line: command.com /P /E:256 I've tried to enter the command shell=c:\command.com /p /e:256 into the config.sys but no luck. One funny thing is, the affected laptop/desktop will be able to load everything (config.sys and autoexec.bat) when I plug in a USB floppy drive. When I unplug it, restart, the same problem persists. This is a problem because it not possible for me to plug-in the usb floppy drive onto the laptop all the time when I start FreeDOS. This happen to those affected desktops too. When I disable floppy support, the same problem as above. But when I enable floppy support, it works! So, is there anyway around this problem? Is it possible to trick FreeDOS that I have a floppy drive connected even when I don't have one? Appreciate it if someone can lend me a helping hand or advice. Thank you very much and have a nice day! __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.2Ghz \| ASUS P5B-E Plus \| G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2 800 \| 6 HDDs (2TB+ only ) \| NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| Blog : Dashken's I-Blog Gallery : Dashken's I-Paintings

22nd Feb 2006, 04:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
Dashken Administrator! Join Date: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Penang Posts: 29,763 Reputation: 2162 Rep Power: 56	Yup... fdisk and created a new partition, made it active, formatted it with the format.exe included at the ramdisk at a:\freedos. So, it's FAT32 I guess. Nope... not NTFS. It's the same case even when I created a 2GB main partition (install FreeDOS on it) and left the rest untouched. __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.2Ghz \| ASUS P5B-E Plus \| G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2 800 \| 6 HDDs (2TB+ only ) \| NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| Blog : Dashken's I-Blog Gallery : Dashken's I-Paintings

23rd Feb 2006, 09:33 AM	#5 (permalink)
Dashken Administrator! Join Date: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Penang Posts: 29,763 Reputation: 2162 Rep Power: 56	Nope... just doing a plain install, one OS on a pc/laptop. Well, it seems like only older platforms have the problem. I think so far should be no problem. Older platforms can use the old FreeDOS> Actually I came across your question asking about the dual boot configuration at some forum. __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.2Ghz \| ASUS P5B-E Plus \| G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2 800 \| 6 HDDs (2TB+ only ) \| NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| Blog : Dashken's I-Blog Gallery : Dashken's I-Paintings

22nd Feb 2006, 10:15 AM	#2 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Super Active Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,320 Reputation: 852 Rep Power: 14	Did you installed FreeDos in a main partition, the um... Primary Partition if I'm not mistaken? And did you install the FreeDos into NTFS partition?

23rd Feb 2006, 08:54 AM	#4 (permalink)
The_YongGrand Super Active Join Date: 12 Feb 2005 Location: Somewhere in 甲洞... Posts: 2,320 Reputation: 852 Rep Power: 14	Are you trying to dualboot FreeDos with WinXP? I got the same problem as well but it'll go away after a few configurations...