How Firm Works; Running Firm - Symantec ALTIRIS DEPLOYMENT SOLUTION 6.9 SP4 - V1.0 Manual

How FIRM Works

Drive mapping comparison
Sample Partitions
Embedded BootWorks
partition (always drive
W:)
FAT 32
FAT 16
NTFS
EXT2/EXT3

Running FIRM

Deployment Solution
FIRM identifies two drive types: DOS drives and FIRM drives. DOS drives are those that
DOS recognizes, such as local drives and network drives. FIRM recognizes DOS drives in
addition to other local partitions that are present but may not be recognized by DOS.
FIRM assigns drive letters to partitions in the order they are defined on the hard disk.
Because FIRM and DOS both assign drive letters, they might "see" different drives. So,
the drive letter assignments might be different depending on which operating system
you use to see the mappings.
Here is an example of what you would see with several operating systems compared to
what you would see with FIRM. Note that the only way to see the location of the
embedded BootWorks partition is with FIRM.
Partitions
recognized
by WIN NT
*
*
*Drive letters are assigned according to where the drives physically reside on the
disk.
FIRM uses the following logic to determine which type of drive to use:
Drives A: and B: are DOS drives.
All other drives are assumed FIRM drives unless prepended with the drive type identifier
D. Example: DC: indicates DOS drive C:.
If a FIRM drive is not found, then a DOS drive is assumed.
FIRM drives can also be explicitly specified by prepending the drive type identifier F.
Example: FK: indicates FIRM drive K:.
The computer must be booted to DOS.
The firm.exe program must be on a disk or a server where you have rights to access it.
To run FIRM
1. Put the disk containing FIRM.EXE into drive a:, or log into the server where the
program files are located.
2. Type to run the program.
FIRM
Partitions
recognized
by FIRM
*
*
*
*
*
RapiDeploy Technical Reference
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