PXE / TFTP Boot of LiveXP now working! External links Options

[was_jaclaz]

I am confused, you appear to be trying to PXE (read RAMDISK) boot a RAMDISK booting image.

It looks to me like "Matryoshka booting" (a neologism I just invented ):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matryoshka_doll

Try doing the following:
Use this as your PXE dir WINNT.SIF:

CODE

[SetupData]
BootDevice="ramdisk(0)"
BootPath="\i386\System32\"
OsLoadOptions="/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportashd /rdpath=BootSDI.img"

Transfer via PXE the BootSDI.img, NOT the livexp.iso containing it.

The BootSDI.img, UNLIKE the name suggests, is NOT a SDI format image, but rather a RAW image of a partition (or if you prefer a "superfloppy" image).
As thus it can be mounted using either IMDISK (suggested in this case) or FILEDISK or VDK, some links:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=1507

Alternatively, re-build your LIVEXP WITHOUT the BootSDI option checked, make sure that the RAMDISK.SYS inside the .iso is the right one, and serve via PXE the "plain" livexp.iso, keeping your PXE dir WINNT.SIF:

CODE

[SetupData]
BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)"
BootPath = "\i386\System32\"
OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=livexp.iso"

In other words, what you want as your system directory is:
WARNING PSEUDO-CODE:

CODE

ramdisk(0)\i386\System32\

i.e. something like:

CODE

ROOT(BootSDI.img)\i386\System32\

or:

CODE

ROOT(livexp.iso)\i386\System32\

What you are having now (maybe) :
WARNING PSEUDO-CODE:

CODE

ramdisk(0)\i386\ramdisk(0)\I386\System32\

i.e. something like:

CODE

ROOT(livexp.iso)\i386\ROOT(BootSDI.img)\i386\System32\

jaclaz

[yurry]

Yes, you are right!

I know the matryoshka, in fact, I have a few at home

I didn't understand how this really works. I have managed to get passed the status 14 now, of course. I have just extracted the BootSDI.img file and loaded it.

I have one last (I hope) hurdle now. I get a BSOD error UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. It says stop: 0x000000ED.

I presume this has something to do with the ramdisk driver? There is a file included on the boot CD, next to the image file, called BOOTFIX.BIN. This is the image created with the SDI option. Does it fix some stuff in the CD booting sequence to prevent this error?

I will try building a normal iso with krokodox's script. I think I now understand why it broke my txtsetup.sif file

[was_jaclaz]

Yes, you are right!

I know the matryoshka, in fact, I have a few at home

I didn't understand how this really works. I have managed to get passed the status 14 now, of course. I have just extracted the BootSDI.img file and loaded it.

I have one last (I hope) hurdle now. I get a BSOD error UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. It says stop: 0x000000ED.

I presume this has something to do with the ramdisk driver? There is a file included on the boot CD, next to the image file, called BOOTFIX.BIN. This is the image created with the SDI option. Does it fix some stuff in the CD booting sequence to prevent this error?

I will try building a normal iso with krokodox's script. I think I now understand why it broke my txtsetup.sif file

No, the BOOTFIX.BIN is only responsible for the "Press any key to boot from CD" message.

The 0x000000ED BSOD is generally connected to "corrupted data", typically (on a "normal" booting using a 40 leads IDE cable on ATA drives - that need 80 leads cables)
With ramdisk booting that error has been reported:
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21559
when using improperly the /rdexportascd or /rdexportashd parameter.

jaclaz

[yurry]

This was the issue. I changed the parameter to /rdexportashd and it booted.

Thank you for all your help.

[was_jaclaz]

This was the issue. I changed the parameter to /rdexportashd and it booted.

Thank you for all your help.

Happy to hear a story of success



jaclaz

[magic12kenneth]

I'm also trying to do a PXE using LiveXP to help someone install Windows XP for a laptop without bootable cd, dvd, floppy or USB. However I do not have a copy of Windows Server for this tutorial.

Will it work if I replace Microsoft's TFTP server with Tftpd32 server? If so, what are the steps? I just need to get an idea how to setup the TFTP to boot LiveXP on the target computer and start Windows XP setup.

Kenneth

[yurry]

I can not give you a full anwser, because I used linux for this part.

The TFTP server is not an issue here. Using any should be fine as long as it is configured properly. I think you can draw the configuration parallels from krokodox's work with Microsoft's server.

[magic12kenneth]

I can not give you a full anwser, because I used linux for this part.

The TFTP server is not an issue here. Using any should be fine as long as it is configured properly. I think you can draw the configuration parallels from krokodox's work with Microsoft's server.

Thanks. I'll give it a try. If I get it to work, I'll post the result here.

Kenneth