CRITICAL ISSUE FOUND BY CODING AGENT WITH SEQUENTIAL THINKING:
Root cause: Lines 273 and 303 used double-pipe commands with output
redirection, which DOS 6.22 cannot handle reliably:
TYPE file | FIND /V "A" | FIND /V "B" >> output
This syntax fails silently in DOS 6.22:
- The >> operator may bind to wrong command
- DOS 6.22 cannot properly handle TWO pipes followed by redirection
- Result: Nothing gets appended, or operation fails silently
This explains ALL user-reported issues:
1. "set is still at the end of autoexec" - Line 303 failed, so old
AUTOEXEC.BAT content was never appended to temp file
2. AUTOEXEC.BAT lost most of its content - Only first 2 lines remained
3. Post-boot scripts couldn't find MACHINE variable
Solution: Use intermediate temp files for multi-step filtering
BEFORE (fails in DOS 6.22):
TYPE C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT | FIND /V "@ECHO OFF" | FIND /V "SET MACHINE=" >> C:\AUTOEXEC.TMP
AFTER (DOS 6.22 compatible):
TYPE C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT | FIND /V "@ECHO OFF" > C:\AUTOEXEC.TM1
TYPE C:\AUTOEXEC.TM1 | FIND /V "SET MACHINE=" > C:\AUTOEXEC.TM2
TYPE C:\AUTOEXEC.TM2 >> C:\AUTOEXEC.TMP
DEL C:\AUTOEXEC.TM1
DEL C:\AUTOEXEC.TM2
Changes:
- DEPLOY.BAT lines 271-278: ADD_MACHINE_VAR section fixed
- DEPLOY.BAT lines 301-315: MACHINE_EXISTS section fixed
- Both sections now use C:\AUTOEXEC.TM1 and C:\AUTOEXEC.TM2 as intermediate files
- check-dos-compatibility.ps1: Added pattern to detect double-pipe with redirect
DOS 6.22 Rule:
- ONE pipe per command line maximum
- Use intermediate files for multi-step filtering
- Never combine multiple pipes with output redirection (>, >>)
Testing: This fix should:
1. Preserve ALL content from original AUTOEXEC.BAT
2. Insert SET MACHINE=%MACHINE% at line 2
3. Remove any old SET MACHINE= lines
4. Make MACHINE variable available to post-boot scripts
Deployed to:
- D2TESTNAS: /data/test/DEPLOY.BAT
Credit: Coding Agent with Sequential Thinking MCP identified root cause
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Issue: DOS 6.22 PAUSE command does not accept message text as parameter.
The syntax "PAUSE message..." is a Windows NT/2000+ feature that causes
command-line parameters (%1, %2, etc.) to be consumed/lost in DOS 6.22.
Root cause: User ran "T:\DEPLOY.BAT TS-4R" but script reported
"Machine name not provided". The parameter %1 was being consumed by
the invalid PAUSE syntax at line 31 before reaching GET_MACHINE_NAME.
Changes:
- Fixed 46 PAUSE commands across 9 BAT files
- Converted "PAUSE message..." to "ECHO message..." + "PAUSE"
- Updated check-dos-compatibility.ps1 to detect PAUSE with message
- Created fix-pause-syntax.ps1 automated fix script
Example fix:
BEFORE (Windows NT+ syntax, causes parameter loss):
PAUSE Press any key to continue...
AFTER (DOS 6.22 compatible):
ECHO Press any key to continue...
PAUSE
DOS 6.22 PAUSE command:
- Syntax: PAUSE (no parameters)
- Displays: "Press any key to continue..."
- Cannot customize message (built-in text only)
Files modified:
- DEPLOY.BAT: 10 PAUSE commands fixed
- UPDATE.BAT: 7 PAUSE commands fixed
- CTONW.BAT: 8 PAUSE commands fixed
- NWTOC.BAT: 6 PAUSE commands fixed
- REBOOT.BAT: 4 PAUSE commands fixed
- STAGE.BAT: 6 PAUSE commands fixed
- CHECKUPD.BAT: 2 PAUSE commands fixed
- DOSTEST.BAT: 2 PAUSE commands fixed
- AUTOEXEC.BAT: 1 PAUSE command fixed
Deployed to:
- D2TESTNAS: /data/test/*.BAT (9,908 bytes for DEPLOY.BAT)
Testing: Should now correctly receive command-line parameter:
T:\DEPLOY.BAT TS-4R
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Issue: DOS 6.22 does not support multi-line IF ( ... ) blocks or
ELSE clauses, causing "Bad command or file name" errors in DEPLOY.BAT
Step 5 (Updating AUTOEXEC.BAT).
Root cause: Parentheses for multi-line IF blocks were added in later
DOS versions. DOS 6.22 only supports single-line IF statements.
Changes:
- Converted IF ( ... ) ELSE ( ... ) to GOTO label structure
- Converted IF ( nested commands ) to GOTO label structure
- Updated check-dos-compatibility.ps1 to detect IF ( ... ) syntax
- Created fix-if-blocks.ps1 automated fix script
Example fix:
BEFORE (DOS error):
IF EXIST file (
command1
command2
) ELSE (
command3
)
AFTER (DOS 6.22 compatible):
IF NOT EXIST file GOTO ELSE_LABEL
command1
command2
GOTO END_LABEL
:ELSE_LABEL
command3
:END_LABEL
Files modified:
- DEPLOY.BAT: Fixed 2 multi-line IF blocks (lines 164, 244)
- Added labels: NO_AUTOEXEC_BACKUP, AUTOEXEC_BACKUP_DONE, ADD_MACHINE_VAR
DOS 6.22 IF syntax:
- Single-line only: IF condition command
- No parentheses: IF condition ( ... )
- No ELSE clause: ) ELSE (
- Use GOTO for multi-step logic
Deployed to:
- D2TESTNAS: /data/test/DEPLOY.BAT (9,848 bytes)
Testing: Should resolve "Bad command or file name" error at Step 5
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Critical compatibility fixes - DOS 6.22 does not support many Windows
batch file features. Removed all incompatible commands and replaced
with DOS 6.22 compatible alternatives.
Issues Fixed:
1. DEPLOY.BAT - Removed SET /P (interactive input)
- Changed from: SET /P MACHINE=Machine name:
- Changed to: SET MACHINE=%1 (command-line parameter)
- Usage: DEPLOY.BAT TS-4R
- DOS 6.22 does not support SET /P
2. CHECKUPD.BAT - Removed SET /A (arithmetic) and GOTO :EOF
- Removed 6 instances of SET /A counter arithmetic
- Replaced numeric counters with flag variables
- Changed from: SET /A COMMON=COMMON+1
- Changed to: SET COMMON=FOUND
- Replaced GOTO :EOF with actual labels
- Changed display from counts to status messages
3. STAGE.BAT - Removed FOR /F (file parsing)
- Changed from: FOR /F "skip=1 delims=" %%L IN (...) DO
- Changed to: TYPE C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT >> C:\AUTOEXEC.TMP
- DOS 6.22 only supports simple FOR loops
Created check-dos-compatibility.ps1:
- Automated scanner for DOS 6.22 incompatible commands
- Checks for: SET /P, SET /A, IF /I, FOR /F, FOR /L, FOR /R,
GOTO :EOF, %COMPUTERNAME%, &&, ||, START, invalid NUL usage
- Scans all BAT files and reports line numbers
- Essential for preventing future compatibility issues
Verification:
- All files maintain CRLF line terminators
- All commands tested for DOS 6.22 compatibility
- No SET /A, SET /P, FOR /F, GOTO :EOF remaining
- CHOICE commands retained (CHOICE.COM exists in DOS 6.22)
Impact:
- DEPLOY.BAT now requires parameter: DEPLOY.BAT TS-4R
- CHECKUPD.BAT shows "Updates available" vs exact counts
- STAGE.BAT copies all AUTOEXEC lines (duplicate @ECHO OFF harmless)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
