About ROMDISK - China DOS Union Forum - China DOS Union

Everyone has used RAMDISK software on boot disks, right? That is, using memory to simulate a virtual disk.
So has anyone ever thought of using ROM (EPROM, FLASHROM), that chip used by the BIOS (besides the BIOS, there is still a lot of free space), to simulate a virtual disk?
There is a piece of software that can do this. ROMD-BIN. This is a foreign university student's graduation project. It can use ROM to simulate a virtual disk up to 128K, with the drive letter B:. It can use the DRVIEB command to modify the MBR and turn the ROM virtual disk into a boot disk. Unfortunately, after I restarted, that disk disappeared, let alone booting from it.
Later I found another tool, MAKEROM. This one is even more amazing: it can make a small operating system into an image file, then use two small tools to FLASH that image file into your ROM on M6117D or Vortex86 serials. If this function can be achieved, that would be incredible—you could boot the computer without any drive at all. What M6117D and Vortex86 are, I'm not too sure, but when I tried to FLASH it, it said my computer didn't have those two things.
I once tried to implement this function on my boot disk, and in the end I failed. I hope the experts can study this problem together. I believe it is even more challenging.

You're talking about this one, right.....open attachment

Following this with great interest!

The following is quoted from Roy's post at 2003-6-26 15:04:40:
You're talking about this one, right.....open attachment

Right, ROY, MAKEROM is the one you mentioned, but you can't just provide the software, can you? I'm looking forward to your opinion.

This is romd-bin:

open attachment

Is there any more detailed documentation?

>>but when I FLASHed it, it said my computer didn't have those two things
http://www.dmp.com.tw/tech/makerom/

I think this is so complicated and so dangerous~~ I'm not interested.。。

Let's solve that a: problem later... right now the issue is how to virtualize it in the BIOS... yys, put some more effort into it...

Not the BIOS—the extra part of the ROM that holds the BIOS. If it were virtualized inside the BIOS, that really would be suicide.

In theory it should be possible. BIOS chips nowadays are all 2M, and some are 4M. What is actually used is only about 256K, and a large part is idle. If it were really put to use, a lot of things could be done with it, not just booting~~~

I support Brother YYS in trying this. I don't have a suitable machine to experiment on, otherwise I could try it together with you~~~

It seems like Jebo's Restore Wizard, right! And Lenovo's Recovery Wizard too, both write files into the BIOS, and OEM XP also writes files into the BIOS. Looks like everyone is paying attention to this treasure trove, the BIOS! Isn't it possible to write the entire boot disk files, that is the *.img file, into the BIOS? Then use a piece of software to have the BIOS read that img when it starts! This way a lot of software could be put into the BIOS, and for our current DOS technology this would be a development!

Floor1　yiyesong	Posted 2003-06-26 00:00
元老会员　Posts 632　Credits 1,987
Everyone has used RAMDISK software on boot disks, right? That is, using memory to simulate a virtual disk. So has anyone ever thought of using ROM (EPROM, FLASHROM), that chip used by the BIOS (besides the BIOS, there is still a lot of free space), to simulate a virtual disk? There is a piece of software that can do this. ROMD-BIN. This is a foreign university student's graduation project. It can use ROM to simulate a virtual disk up to 128K, with the drive letter B:. It can use the DRVIEB command to modify the MBR and turn the ROM virtual disk into a boot disk. Unfortunately, after I restarted, that disk disappeared, let alone booting from it. Later I found another tool, MAKEROM. This one is even more amazing: it can make a small operating system into an image file, then use two small tools to FLASH that image file into your ROM on M6117D or Vortex86 serials. If this function can be achieved, that would be incredible—you could boot the computer without any drive at all. What M6117D and Vortex86 are, I'm not too sure, but when I tried to FLASH it, it said my computer didn't have those two things. I once tried to implement this function on my boot disk, and in the end I failed. I hope the experts can study this problem together. I believe it is even more challenging.

Floor2　Roy	Posted 2003-06-26 00:00
管理员　Posts 1,633　Credits 4,869
You're talking about this one, right.....open attachment

Floor3　hunome	Posted 2003-06-26 00:00
银牌会员　Posts 721　Credits 2,265
Following this with great interest!

Floor4　yiyesong	Posted 2003-06-26 00:00
元老会员　Posts 632　Credits 1,987
*The following is quoted from Roy's post at 2003-6-26 15:04:40:* You're talking about this one, right.....open attachment Right, ROY, MAKEROM is the one you mentioned, but you can't just provide the software, can you? I'm looking forward to your opinion.

Floor5　yiyesong	Posted 2003-06-26 00:00
元老会员　Posts 632　Credits 1,987
This is romd-bin: open attachment

Floor6　zist	Posted 2003-06-26 00:00
初级用户　Posts 45　Credits 237
Got a website?

Floor7　如是大师	Posted 2003-06-26 00:00
元老会员　Posts 3,351　Credits 9,654　From 湖北
Is there any more detailed documentation?

Floor8　zist	Posted 2003-06-26 00:00
初级用户　Posts 45　Credits 237
>>but when I FLASHed it, it said my computer didn't have those two things http://www.dmp.com.tw/tech/makerom/

Floor9　dos时代菜鸟	Posted 2003-06-27 00:00
初级用户　Posts 216　Credits 672

Floor10　Wengier	Posted 2003-06-27 00:00
系统支持　Posts 10,521　Credits 27,736
I think this is so complicated and so dangerous~~ I'm not interested.。。

Floor11　yiyesong	Posted 2003-06-27 00:00
元老会员　Posts 632　Credits 1,987

Floor12　如是大师	Posted 2003-06-27 00:00
元老会员　Posts 3,351　Credits 9,654　From 湖北
Let's solve that a: problem later... right now the issue is how to virtualize it in the BIOS... yys, put some more effort into it...

Floor13　yiyesong	Posted 2003-06-27 00:00
元老会员　Posts 632　Credits 1,987
Not the BIOS—the extra part of the ROM that holds the BIOS. If it were virtualized inside the BIOS, that really would be suicide.

Floor14　雨浪飘零	Posted 2003-06-28 00:00
中级用户　Posts 95　Credits 364
In theory it should be possible. BIOS chips nowadays are all 2M, and some are 4M. What is actually used is only about 256K, and a large part is idle. If it were really put to use, a lot of things could be done with it, not just booting~~~ I support Brother YYS in trying this. I don't have a suitable machine to experiment on, otherwise I could try it together with you~~~

Floor15　minisheep	Posted 2003-06-28 00:00
高级用户　Posts 233　Credits 830
It seems like Jebo's Restore Wizard, right! And Lenovo's Recovery Wizard too, both write files into the BIOS, and OEM XP also writes files into the BIOS. Looks like everyone is paying attention to this treasure trove, the BIOS! Isn't it possible to write the entire boot disk files, that is the *.img file, into the BIOS? Then use a piece of software to have the BIOS read that img when it starts! This way a lot of software could be put into the BIOS, and for our current DOS technology this would be a development!