Re[2]: [Etherboot-users] PXE image seems bad

[Anselm M. H. <an...@ho...>]

Hello Tiger,

Sunday, May 25, 2003, 4:58:11 AM, you wrote:

> So,what's a "PXE-enabled" NICs?I think the point is the ROM iamge.If
> the ROM supports PXE,the NICs can boot using PXE protocol,if it
> supports BootP,it can boot using BootP protocol.I think PXE and
> BootP are two method/protocol to boot from network.They both have
> their own method to get boot file  from network.I just want to get
> my 3c905b-tx boot from network using PXE instead of BootP.So I
> just want to get a "PXE-enabled" rom image,and burn it into the
> rom on the 3c905b-tx.Maybe I have been confused with some concepts.
> Please tell me if I'm wrong.

Looks as if you perturbed it. Well, I can understand that confusion as
network booting is a concept with lots of possible methods!

PXE booting (with a so-called PXE-ROM on the NIC) works like this:
  ROM gets control from BIOS
  ROM asks for DHCP info (IP address etc)
  ROM loads a "secondary stage loader" (e.g. bpbatch, etherboot,
    pxelinux) - etherboot would have to be in a "PXE-loadable"
    format, thus .(lz)pxe.
  This 2nd loader does what it is meant to (load linux, format
    your hard disk, etc)

Etherboot can sit in a ROM and be called directly from BIOS.
  Then it is in "ROM" format. It gets dhcp info and retrieves a
  network boot tagged image and loads the OS therein.

There are lots other methods, eg Novell RPL (or however they call it)
which even is onboard my brand new mainboard - pity I don't have a
novell server to test booting.

The problem is: You want to load a PXE second stage loader, right?
(Not a tagged image) Then you need something that behaves like the
first-stage-loader and gets this second-stage-stuff for you (spoken
unprecisely, there is more behind PXE). Etherboot 5.0 does not have
this function (it can be loaded by PXE but not load PXE files itself).
In Etherboot-5.1, it seems to become implemented right now, so get
onto developers list for more info.

May I ask why you need pxe and cannot just download tagged images with
a standard etherboot ROM (in ROM format, for burning :-)?

Best regards,
 Anselm                            mailto:an...@ho...