Having Trouble Re-Installing Windows 95 On 380XD

[nNebula]

Hi again!

So after figuring out how to fix the issues in my last post I've unfortunately come across another issue. Though this one should be pretty simple to solve because I feel I already have an indication of what exactly is the problem. Anyways, I'm attempting to re-install Windows95 onto my 380XD which has one of these Combo floppy and CD drives (and yes I am using an MSATA SSD converted to IDE via an adapter but I don't think that should matter until I need to create a partition). For one thing, I know the drive isn't broken because it can read my bootable CDs and I can hear the read head of the floppy drive moving back and forth. However, I think that becuase it is a combo drive that problems are arising with continuing the boot process. Let me break the problem down, I'm trying to use the win98 install CD to boot into DOS to install Windows 95. However, the problem I have been running into is that once I go past the initial screen where it asks you if you want to boot using the CD-ROM or the hard drive, nothing happens. When I say that I literally mean nothing, It always goes to a screen with an infinitely flashing cursor, and I don't mean I only waited a few minutes and nothing happened I sat and waited for maybe 45 minutes and nothing happened. Though one of the last times I attempted to try this method I noticed something, the floppy drive read head was moving around but the CD drive wasn't spinning at all. Which has led me to believe that the Combo drive only checks the Floppy drive if it is trying to boot via a disc. I'm guessing that it's because the computer only recognizes the drive as a CD-ROM drive instead of two different drives. I further believe this is the case because there only seems to be a single ribbon cable connecting the entire combo drive to the rest of the computer. Regardless, I of course need to ask the question needed to solve whatever is actually going on. First off, is this actually the issue or is it actually possible to use this combo drive to boot from CD-ROM? If that's the case should I replace the Sanyo Combo Drive? Are there other methods that don't require CD-ROM or Floppy Disks to install Windows 95 on this Thinkpad? Or, should I just buy/make a Boot Floppy? Anyways thanks in advance to all who reply!

[RealBlackStuff]

https://kb.iu.edu/d/aema
Put the HDD in another computer to do this if the above doesn't work.

[nNebula]

https://kb.iu.edu/d/aema
Put the HDD in another computer to do this if the above doesn't work.

Hey, thanks for replying

Unfortunately, the issue I'm having isn't related to the inability to partition the drive. It's that I can't seem to boot the computer using a CDROM to even get to a screen that allows me to access Fdisk. And the primary question that I was asking is if it is even possible to do so on the 380XD's hardware. Moreover, I don't believe I have a computer with compatible hardware to be able to connect the drive to format it FAT32 even if I wanted to. So, In that case, what step do I take next? Thanks.

[RealBlackStuff]

AFAIK computers of that age only boot from a formatted HDD (with a working OS), or from a floppy.
For a fresh install, to get access to a CDROM you need a bootable floppy with the proper CDROM driver.

[nNebula]

AFAIK computers of that age only boot from a formatted HDD (with a working OS), or from a floppy.
For a fresh install, to get access to a CDROM you need a bootable floppy with the proper CDROM driver.

Ok,

I'll see what I can do about getting my hands on a bootable floppy. I'll update here if or when I can get my hands on a working one. If I can't and I do manage to find another way to install Windows95 On the SSD I'll let y'all know. Until then thanks for the help.

[Enig]

Don't really have anything specific to your 380XD.


I don't know if you're just playing with the 380XD as a single project or you intend to collect more,
but I'd recommend you have some more tools to make your life easier.

1. some way to read/write/image floppies. Some external floppy drive or another PC with a floppy drive. I use an old T23 running windows 98SE for this.
plus a box of working floppies.

2. Some way of accessing the harddrive of the machine you're working on directly. I use an old USB to 2.5" IDE/44 external HDD enclosure.
and then prep the drive from another machine (The T23 again). similar to what RBS suggested.
I'll gladly share my own method, but I'm sure it's overly complicated compared the guide he gave you.