BFD - Build Floppy Disk
Version 1.0.7
Created: Sep 9, 2002
Updated: Dec 9, 2002
Important notice: the development and maintenance for this page has stopped. Please don't contact me about this page! I'm leaving the page as it is, for reference...
Introduction
BFD builds bootable (or non-bootable) floppy disks or floppy images.
Fully automatic!
Features:
- Runs on Windows NT4/2000/XP.
Uses only win32 programs, no 16-bit dos applications are used.
So this should make it compatible with future windows platforms like XP and
whatever is next.
- Automated building of (bootable) floppy disks or images.
- BFD run's completely from command line.
- BFD has multi-user/multi-computer support,
you can put BFD on your fileserver and run it from any workstation,
no need to install any files on the workstation.
- Easy configuration by using a configuration file (bfd.cfg).
What doesn't it do:
- BFD cannot run on Windows 95/98/ME, support for these platforms will
not be added!
How does it work
BFD is a command line utility, you can use the following parameters:
| BFD usage |
|---|
BFD, Build Floppy Disk, v1.0.7
Copyright (c) 2002 Bart Lagerweij. All rights reserved.
This program is free software. Use and/or distribute it under the terms
of the NU2 License (see nu2lic.txt or http://www.nu2.nu/license/).
Usage: bfd [-o os] [-d] [-i file] [-t type] name [target]
name : name of the disk or image to build (see bfd.cfg)
target : target drive or file (default is "a:")
-o os : os to use (default is "md701")
-d : print debug messages
-i file : create an image file (optional winimage!)
-t type : image type (144 or 288)
-n : don't wait for the user to insert a diskette
Returns environment variable "rv", 0 if succesfull, 1 if error
This program uses the following files (located in the "bin" directory):
- Cabinet Tool (cabarc.exe) by Microsoft Corp.
- Bart's choice (bchoice.exe) by Bart Lagerweij (Nu2 license).
- Build Floppy Image (bfi.exe) by Bart Lagerweij (Nu2 license).
|
When you run BFD (with the correct parameters) this is what happens:
- It checks for some required files like: bfi.exe, bchoice.exe anf cabarc.exe
in the "bin" folder.
BFD cannot continue without these files.
- When first run it show's a notice that you must have a valid windows 98
license.
- If no config file (bfd.cfg) exists, a sample file (bfd.sam) will be
renamed into bfd.cfg. This will prevent overwriting your bfd.cfg file when you
unpack future updates.
- The configuration file is processed.
And all commands for the given floppy name will be run.
| Configuration sample file (bfd.sam) |
|---|
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Configuration file for bfd.cmd
#
# format: <command> <arg1> <arg2> <arg3>
#
# Available commands:
# n <name> name
# f <arg> format (quickformat if <arg> is "/q")
# b <label> make bootable (should be right after format!)
# i <f> include other config file <f>
# c <f1> <f2> copy <f1> to <f2>
# t <f1> <f2> (try) copy, when <f1> exists, no warning if fails
# d <f1> <f2> <f3> copy a driver (.cab) file from <f1> to <f2>
# and add driver to pre-built index <f3>
# x <dir1> <dir2> xcopy dir1 to dir2 (incl. subdirs)
# m <dir> make directory
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# cdrom boot disk
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
n cdrom
f
b cdrom
i modboot.cfg
c cabs\utils.cab level0
c cabs\os\%bfd_os%\dos.cab level1
c cabs\doskey.cab level1
c cabs\mouse.cab level2
c cabs\help.cab level2
c cabs\cdrom.cab level3
m lib
c cabs\mscdex.cab lib
c cabs\aspi.cab lib
c cabs\aspicd.cab lib
c cabs\atapicd.cab lib
c cabs\eltorito.cab lib
c cabs\cdautrun.cab lib
c cabs\vc.cab lib
m lib\aspi
c cabs\drivers\aspi\*.cab lib\aspi
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
# network boot disk
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
n msnet
f
b msnet
i modboot.cfg
c cabs\utils.cab level0
c cabs\os\%bfd_os%\dos.cab level1
c cabs\doskey.cab level1
c cabs\help.cab level2
c cabs\mouse.cab level2
c cabs\msnet.cab level3
m lib
c cabs\msclient.cab lib
c cabs\mstcp.cab lib
c cabs\msnwlink.cab lib
c cabs\vc.cab lib
m lib\ndis
m etc
d cabs\drivers\ndis\*.cab lib\ndis etc\_msnet
#c etc\msnet\autoexec.net etc\autoexec.net
|
Installation
BFD installation instructions:
Please download:
BFD full package v1.0.7 (1.45MB).
Or update from previous versions:
BFD update package (v1.0.x-v1.0.7) (410KB).
When updating from previous versions, just extract the package over the
previous version, overwrite any existing files. The
bfd.cfg file will
not get overwritten!
Unpack BFD in the same directory as BCD, for example
d:\bcd.
If you have already unpacked BCD, then some files from BFD will overlap with
files from BCD, like the
nu2lic.txt and the
bchoice.exe.
This is no problem, just skip or overwrite them.
Make sure you also unpack the subdirectories!
The BFD full package contains:
- The following modboot modules:
cdrom,
cdautrun,
aspi,
aspicd,
atapicd,
cdautrun,
cdrom,
doskey,
eltorito,
help,
mouse,
mscdex,
msclient,
msnet,
msnwlink,
mstcp,
utils and
vc.
- The following network drivers: dc21x4, e100b, el59x, el90x, elnk3, elpc3,
elpc575, ne2000, netflx3, pcntnd and smc9432.
- The following aspi drivers: aspi2dos, aspi4dos, aspi7dos, aspi8dos,
aspi8u2, aspi8xx and aspi910u.
To create a
CD-Rom boot disk run "bfd cdrom".
To create a
Network boot disk run "bfd msnet".
Note! BFD only works on Windows NT4/2000/XP systems.
Used tools
BFD uses the following tools:
- Cabarc.exe by Microsoft.
- Some Windows 98 files, like: io.sys, command.com, fdisk.exe, format.com,
mem.exe, xcopy.exe, himem.sys and emm386.exe.
You need a valid windows 98 license to use these files!
- Bchoice, bfi.exe and
mkbt.exe by Bart Lagerweij
(Nu2 license).
Changes
View change log file for BFD
