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    AST RESEARCH, INC.          TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 1202                6-5-95

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    CD-ROM DEVICE NAMING ERRORS

    PROBLEM

    When naming a CD-ROM device during installation, if a file is referenced
    with the same name as the CD-ROM device, the action (copy, rename, delete,
    etc.) will fail.  For example, in CONFIG.SYS

    	DEVICE=C:\SCSI\DOSCAM.SYS
    	DEVICE=C:\SCSI\CDROM.SYS /D:CDROM

    and in AUTOEXEC.BAT

    	MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDROM

    When attempting to copy, rename, or delete a file by the name of CDROM.NLM or
    CDROM.SYS, the action will fail with the message

    "Cannot write to device CDROM"
    or
    "Device not ready."

    NOTE

    The above configuration is a common one.  This configuration causes specific
    problems midway through a Netware 4.1 installation.  CDROM.NLM will not copy
    to the DOS partition on the server.

    CAUSE

    Once the device driver is in place, it becomes the same as LPT1, COM1, or
    any other device in the system.  Any reference to the name is interpreted as a
    redirection to the device.

    SYSTEMS AFFECTED

    All AST systems.

    SOLUTION

    Name your device carefully.  Choose SONY001, MYCD001, or a similar name which
    would normally not occur as a filename.