Manually add HDDErase v3.3?

[IsLNdbOi]

HDDErase v3.3 is the only version that works properly with my 160GB Intel G2 SSD.

Is there any way to manually add it to UBCD5?

I downloaded HDDErase v3.3 from the PC Perspective website:
http://go.pcper.com/?id=267X417&url=htt ... se_3.3.zip

the zip file contains:
DataSanitizationTutorial.doc
file_id.diz
HDDEraseReadMe.txt
HDDERASE.EXE

the exe is a 16-bit DOS application.

[Victor Chew]

Compress all files to a CAB archive:

Code: Select all

cabarc -r -p -m lzx:21 n hdderas3.cab *

(You can get cabarc here.)

Move "hdderas3.cab" to "c:\ubcd-extracted\ubcd\custom".

Edit "c:\ubcd-extracted\ubcd\dosapps\ubcd.ini" and append at end:

Code: Select all

[Custom]
hdderas3; "hdderase.exe"; -$; HDDErase V3.3

Now edit "c:\ubcd-extracted\ubcd\custom\custom.cfg" and append at end:

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LABEL -
MENU LABEL HDDErase V3.3
TEXT HELP
 Older version of HDDErase
ENDTEXT
LINUX /boot/syslinux/memdisk
INITRD /ubcd/images/fdubcd.img.gz
APPEND raw ubcdcmd=hdderas3

Run ubcd2iso/ubcd2usb to create your customized UBCD, then access your custom item under "User-defined - HDDErase V3.3".

[IsLNdbOi]

Thanks Victor.

In that code, what happens if I type:

hdderase3_3.cab

instead of what you typed:

hdderas3.cab

[IsLNdbOi]

How do I create this cab without having all of the cabarc files in it too?

The way I'm doing it is I'm copying all the HDDErase v3.3 files to the same folder cabarc.exe is in.

When I run the command:

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cabarc -r -p -m lzx:21 n hdderas3.cab *

It puts EVERYTHING (even the cabarc files) into the cab file.

I tried this, but it doesn't work:

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cabarc -r -p -m lzx:21 n hdderas3.cab C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\HDDErase_3.3\*

The HDDErase v3.3 files are in this directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\HDDErase_3.3

The cabarc files are in this directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\cabsdk\BIN

[Victor Chew]

Try:

Code: Select all

cd "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\HDDErase_3.3"

"C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\cabsdk\BIN\cabarc" -r -p -m lzx:21 n hdderas3.cab *

In that code, what happens if I type: hdderase3_3.cab

You shouldn't. You should adhere to the 8.3 DOS filename limitation.

[IsLNdbOi]

Thanks. It's in there and it's selectable, BUT...

when I run either HDDErase v4.0 or this version I added (v3.3) from the CD and from the UBCD USB flash drive I just created, I get this message:

[something about the cdrom being disabled]

BOOTDRV: A:
RAMDRV: Q:

UBCD: Error!!! missing hdderase3.bat (check CD)

Press any key to continue...


My optical drive and hard drives are all SATA. I've tried changing the BIOS from AHCI to IDE modes, but still get the error.

[Victor Chew]

You should see:

Code: Select all

BOOTDRV: A:
RAMDRV: Q:
CDDRV: X:

The last line is incredibly important. It should reflect the drive letter of the USB drive, othewise things won't work.

Also, I am not sure if it's a typo, but "hdderase3.bat" exceeds the 8.3 DOS filename limitation.

[IsLNdbOi]

What about when booting from UBCD on a SATA optical drive? Is the drive letter important there?

Also, the "hdderase3.bat"; I'm not sure where that's from. I only copied and pasted what you posted earlier when making the modifications to the various files in your instructions so I don't know where that "hdderase3.bat" comes from, but UBCD / HDDErase does seem to be looking for it.

[Victor Chew]

What about when booting from UBCD on a SATA optical drive? Is the drive letter important there?

No matter what drive you use (USB, IDE or SATA), the last line must point to the drive containing UBCD source material, because the FreeDOS script will need to copy stuff from there to the RAM drive.

Also, the "hdderase3.bat"; I'm not sure where that's from. I only copied and pasted what you posted earlier when making the modifications to the various files in your instructions so I don't know where that "hdderase3.bat" comes from, but UBCD / HDDErase does seem to be looking for it.

For the time-being, looks like the simplest way will be replace c:\ubcd-extracted\ubcd\dosapps\hdderase.cab with your own version.

[IsLNdbOi]

I got it to work from the UBCD USB flash drive by manually changing the USB flash drive in the BIOS from auto to HDD mode.

Now though, I get to this screen in HDDErase (both v4.0 and v3.3) and it just hangs there:




It sounds like the hard drive is thrashing though when it's just hanging at that screen.

Also, after rebooting from hanging at that screen, if I try running DBAN on that hard drive it immediately finishes with some errors.

[The Piney]

@ Victor

This would be a good thread to sticky in the new Tutorial section.

[Victor Chew]

@The Piney: This is detailed here under Adding FreeDOS-based applications.

[dick.dunbar]

> (You can get cabarc here.)

Good ole' Microsoft has been removing useful utilities from their site very actively this year.
cabarc is gone.

[ady]

cabarc is gone

There are many other options to make a cab. Cabarc is just one of them.

[Victor Chew]

I have replaced cabarc in the customization page with CabPack V1.4a, a freeware GUI tool for creating CAB files.

The CAB files produced are identical to the ones produced by cabarc.

[ady]

CabPack 1.4a has a little problem displaying unicode.

In general, the resulting .cab archive should be fine, but expanding it again could give you slightly different filenames, depending on the OS.

In any case, since we are talking about DOS, you should avoid not-ascii characters, and you should follow the DOS 8.3 filename.extension convention.

Additionally to CabPack 1.4a, there is already a makecab.exe executable in Windows, which is a command line app.

By default, makecab.exe makes 1 archive from 1 file, but you can make it work with a list of files to make 1 archive from them.

Other tools for making cabs in Windows are IZArc and CLTools4Win.

There are apps for Linux also.

[Victor Chew]

You are right. CabPack should have no problems for our purpose, since the target platform is FreeDOS.

I have added links to IZArc and CLTools4Win to the customization page. Thanks!

[Icecube]

There are apps for Linux also.

Can you tell which ones?
I only know cabextract.