eSATA booting External links Options

[ktp]

This ugly issue could I fix with booting the eSATA harddisk as a raw disk in VMware (booting again thought USB 2.0 would have been also possible, but I didn't remember the easy way at this point). After booting the working configuration I forced windows to install the eSATA controller driver. Luckily booting this harddisk works now from either USB 2.0 or eSATA.

Could you put more details and explain a little more the procedure. Why don't you simply boot from USB2, and then install the eSATA driver ? By the way if XP already has SATA drivers (Intel matrix storage, ICHn stuff, ahci/iastor), is there a need for eSATA driver ? Is it possible or simpler to set Boot bus extender and start=0 for some registry entry for SATA as with USB ones?

[ktp]

Update: I confirm that with eSATA booting, no problem to boot either full XP or full Vista (no BSOD 0x7B). No need for any registry tweaks. The reason is that the SATA driver iastor.sys is text-mode and is classified as SCSI miniport and is loaded at the very beginning (while unde XP/Vista some usb* entries have to be tweaked to "Boot bus extender" class and set to start=0 to be loaded early).

But booting Linux Mandriva 2008.1 Spring or Ubuntu with eSATA does not work, "Booting has failed". It seems that there is problem with udev for determining devices. All boots OK with USB2 on the same hard disk (it is a HDD with both eSATA and USB2 ports).

Knoppix 5.3.1 boots well on both USB2 and eSATA.

DOS (io.sys, msdos.sys) boots OK with eSATA.

[lucav]

Hi to all,
i have installed Vista on my esata drive (connected by esata express card) but esata can't boot from bios so i have tryed to install a bootloader (grub4dos, super grub disk, etc...) but all of these bootloader can't detect my esata controller (and the drive).
I think because the bootloader need the controller driver.
But how i can load the needed driver?
I have search for a solution but i haven't find a easy way for esata booting.

Could you please help me?

Thanks

[was_jaclaz]

It is not an easily solvable problem.

As you can see in the thread previously referenced:
http://www.msfn.org/board/Installing-Booting-Es-t118355.html
in the case of e-sata booting through an express card there is an additional "layer" of complexity (and driver).

The only possible way out at the moment is maybe to use something similar to the "XP Kansas City Shuffle" (link as well given previously):
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=21242&hl=

A subsequent thread with a basic batch:
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?sho...c=21939&hl=

The method is still VERY experimental (and not fully documented) for XP, and AFAIK noone has tested a similar approach with Vista.

Theoretically, if there aren't additional "checks" implemented in bootmgr (as compared to ones in NTLDR) it could work, but really cannot say.

If you have a XP license also, you may want to try replicating/adapting the method to the express card+e-sata for XP, and then try to find out if it is portable to Vista.

jaclaz

[lucav]

i don't understand, how grub (or other bootloader) can load needed drivers?
the most simple solution is to find a bootloader that can load additional drivers.
I have windows xp installed on my internal sata hard disk and i can use a bootloader in mbr of this disk.

i have read many topics that talk of usb/firewire booting but nothing for esata booting.

By the way, i have tryed to install mandriva linux 2008 on esata drive and it seem to be ok until the first reboot that freeze on grub load (that i have installed on mbr of internal sata disk) with error 21.

[was_jaclaz]

I'll try to re-phrase :

There exists NO known bootloader capable of loading drivers, exception made for BCDL, see here:
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=18650
that was designed (and is now abandoned) to boot from CD on motherboards that did not support it (by loading the DOS CD driver)

There is PLoP:
http://www.plop.at/en/bootmngrusblog.html
that has support (through an internal driver stack) for adding USB booting capbilities to motherboards that do not have it.

As said what you want to do (booting from e-sata through express-card) is currently IMPOSSIBLE.

It may be possible using a "kicker" of some kind, the "XP Kansas City Shuffle Method" is currently the ONLY known method for doing so for booting XP.

The same approach may work with Vista, but there are no related reports.

Linux is an alltogether different matter (and OS), most probably you could use the same approach of the "kicker" using kexec-loader or kboot:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=4266
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4307
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=4636

jaclaz

[lucav]

As said what you want to do (booting from e-sata through express-card) is currently IMPOSSIBLE.

Impossible is nothing.

I have windows xp in sdc, but is not important, mandriva 2008 boot also without this disk.
I have used a usb pen (sdb) with /boot mounted in it.
I have simply configured this in installation fase.

Attached thumbnail(s)

 

[was_jaclaz]

If I get it right, you booted Linux from a USB pen, didn't you?

Or you booted Linux from the express-card connected e-sata drive?

However I was talking about NT based systems, I am sure that Linux can be made working.

jaclaz

[lucav]

Yes, i have boot the system by the usb pen with grub installed on it.

[was_jaclaz]

Yes, i have boot the system by the usb pen with grub installed on it.

And what has this to do with express card and e-sata connected to express card?

e-sata being the topic?

jaclaz