etherboot-users — Discussion of user issues

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[<di...@ma...>]

On Tue, Sep 27, 2005 at 12:59:36PM +0100, Roy Wiseman wrote:
> Hi Cristian,
> 
> >  To understand more about how the etherboot/pxelinux
> > works,
> > get a look at the LTSP wiki (wiki.ltsp.org) under
> > 'Booting methods':
> >  http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/Etherboot
> >  http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/PXE
> 
> This is fascinating, I'll keep going with this.
> 
> > For simple DOS booting images you can try
> > http://tinyurl.com/9dxyv
> > for starters, it's a floppy image with FreeDos, you
> > can boot it with
> > memdisk.
> 
> This is great, I think I'll be able to do it simply
> with this. but, this page
> http://syslinux.zytor.com/memdisk.php
> is causing me some grief. it describes a lot about
> what memdisk is and how to use it, but it's not part
> of pxelinux. When I boot PXE linux and get to the
> command line, memdisk is not a valid command, so this
> is not too helpful ... any ideas how to *use* memdisk
> ?

memdisk is a separate program distributed with syslinux. Download the
latest syslinux sources and look there.
-- 
Didi

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Roy W. <roy...@ya...>]

Hi Cristian,

>  To understand more about how the etherboot/pxelinux
> works,
> get a look at the LTSP wiki (wiki.ltsp.org) under
> 'Booting methods':
>  http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/Etherboot
>  http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/PXE

This is fascinating, I'll keep going with this.

> For simple DOS booting images you can try
> http://tinyurl.com/9dxyv
> for starters, it's a floppy image with FreeDos, you
> can boot it with
> memdisk.

This is great, I think I'll be able to do it simply
with this. but, this page
http://syslinux.zytor.com/memdisk.php
is causing me some grief. it describes a lot about
what memdisk is and how to use it, but it's not part
of pxelinux. When I boot PXE linux and get to the
command line, memdisk is not a valid command, so this
is not too helpful ... any ideas how to *use* memdisk
?

Thanks,

Roy.


	
	
		
___________________________________________________________ 
Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Cristian M. <cri...@on...>]

* Roy Wiseman <roy...@ya...> [25-09-05 11:08]:
 
> 
> [...]
> 
> About what I'm trying to achieve, I described it a bit
> in my first email, but basically, I have some Fujitsu
> Stylistic tablet PC's with no floppy drives and no
> cd-rom's. They have 4 GB hard drives and Pentium 233
> CPU's with 64MB. ok, I cannot boot from floppy or CD,
> but they do have PXE support on the NIC's. These
> little systems will run Debian or Win98 very nicely
> and for firewall/email/ftp servers there really is
> enough power to do that under Debian but I cannot boot
> them without using the PXE function on the network
> cards ! But *generically*, this is something I've
> wanted for ANY system for a long time, a way to always
> be able to boot an image across the network for
> diagnostics, Ghost, repartitioning etc.

Then you could try and install debian over the network, booting with PXE
and loading the installation from network, Fedora & RedHat also can be
installed this way.
 
> It seems that STEP 1 for anyone doing PXE network
> booting is to boot a system across a network, and to
> do that is almost imporssible without spending 10
> hours wading through very awkward documentation. As an
> example, I've got an honours degree in physics and
> over 15 years of working in large corporate networks
> (so I'm fairly used to looking at dry documentation),
> and in many hours of looking at this documentation I
> cannot get to STEP 1 ... it's like SYSLINUX and
> Etherboot are incredibly cool technology, but they are
> a bit crippled for the lack of someone saying "Here's
> the quick way : get a tftp/dhcp server <some examples
> of what's suitable>, here's a FreeDOS and a Linux boot
> image <download links>, here's some sample
> configuration scripts for these images, now put this
> here, and that there, turn on the tftp/dhcp server and
> you are DONE". 
[...]
 To understand more about how the etherboot/pxelinux works,
get a look at the LTSP wiki (wiki.ltsp.org) under 'Booting methods':
 http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/Etherboot
 http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/PXE


> 
> 
> Thanks !   (... and I'm sorry for the long emails !!)
> :o)
> 
> Roy.

 For simple DOS booting images you cand try http://tinyurl.com/9dxyv
for starters, it's a floppy image with FreeDos, you can boot it with
memdisk.


mitu

PS please replay below the message and not above it, it's much easier to
follow the discussion thread this way.

[Etherboot-users] Re: pxe boot ?

[<fel...@gm...>]

Hi,

>  [ lack of easy understandable documentation ]

> Does anyone have example FreeDOS images and Linux images, that they
> actually use, pre-made that I could have ? Cristian, the images you
> have sound ideal, could you let me have a look at those please ? I
> know they are your own personal work, so if you do not want to let me
> see those I understand.

I think you can find the documentation of the kind you are looking for 
at udpcast: (this is just an example from you to work from, as the 
udpcast images aren't really generic)
http://udpcast.linux.lu/bootloader.html#etherboot

There is one etherboot section an one pxelinux section.  For my own 
projects I personally prefer pxelinux as you do not have to do 
_anything_ to your kernel image. (mknbi...)  Etherboot does support 
loading pxelinux.0 files since around version 5.4.13, so you are able to 
use PXE on older computer.

The ltsp-wiki is alway interesting to read for example:
http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/PXE

HTH
Felix Möller

As you said that you have several of these tables I think you really 
should have a look at udpcast, it will allow you to clone one system to 
all the others.

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Roy W. <roy...@ya...>]

Thanks Marty and Cristian, this is great. The PXES
HowTo is useful, and I came across that about 2 months
ago, but again it decsribes some important parts but
there is a big grey fog at the bit where (in my
opinion) it should say "ok, here is the link to a
pre-built FreeDOS image and a pre-built Linux image,
just pop them in the PXELINUX folder, here are the
working configuration scripts and hey presto, you're
off. Now you can hack the scripts, read the more
complex documentation to your heart's content and
learn what you need to learn WHEN you need to learn it
...". But it's missing, so again, I'm stumped. But
what you are saying Cristian is incredibly useful and
I really want to get up and running with the route
that you describe.

About what I'm trying to achieve, I described it a bit
in my first email, but basically, I have some Fujitsu
Stylistic tablet PC's with no floppy drives and no
cd-rom's. They have 4 GB hard drives and Pentium 233
CPU's with 64MB. ok, I cannot boot from floppy or CD,
but they do have PXE support on the NIC's. These
little systems will run Debian or Win98 very nicely
and for firewall/email/ftp servers there really is
enough power to do that under Debian but I cannot boot
them without using the PXE function on the network
cards ! But *generically*, this is something I've
wanted for ANY system for a long time, a way to always
be able to boot an image across the network for
diagnostics, Ghost, repartitioning etc.

It seems that STEP 1 for anyone doing PXE network
booting is to boot a system across a network, and to
do that is almost imporssible without spending 10
hours wading through very awkward documentation. As an
example, I've got an honours degree in physics and
over 15 years of working in large corporate networks
(so I'm fairly used to looking at dry documentation),
and in many hours of looking at this documentation I
cannot get to STEP 1 ... it's like SYSLINUX and
Etherboot are incredibly cool technology, but they are
a bit crippled for the lack of someone saying "Here's
the quick way : get a tftp/dhcp server <some examples
of what's suitable>, here's a FreeDOS and a Linux boot
image <download links>, here's some sample
configuration scripts for these images, now put this
here, and that there, turn on the tftp/dhcp server and
you are DONE". I swear I've been trying to get
something like this to work for a LONG time, I want to
be able to USE the cool Etherboot technology, but this
is not written to allow a very cool and useful
function to be used by EVERYONE, and instead seems
only written for a very very small select group of
people who need all the very complex and cool features
and there does not seem an easy way IN. It just seems
to me, that if everyone could get the STEP 1 part
going simply and without any fuss, THEN they could
start to investigate the documentation and learn all
the very cool stuff that is behind Etherboot or
SYSLINUX or whatever, but the documentation that's
there with Etherboot and SYSLINUX with all the
preamble's and cross-references (without any simple
way to do it) is not, how should I put this ...
warm-and-friendly ? Sometimes it's great fun to read
10's of hours of complex documentation, but sometimes
you want to do things fast, and you just want to get
it WORKING, and then later when you have more time,
you can come back to it, and learn other features, but
that is *very* difficult here. You have to read all
the documentation or nothing it seems.

I will *gladly* write a Quick Guide page (well for
Windows anyway) and post up example FreeDOS and Linux
images and configuration scripts, as I simply don't
want anyone else to go through this. It's incredibly
frustrating and blocks a whole very very cool area of
technology from being used by a huge number of people
people (who don't have the time to wade through all
the documentation, and frankly don't NEED 95% of the
features, they just want network booting to work
quickly for it's very obvious usefullness).

Does anyone have example FreeDOS images and Linux
images, that they actually use, pre-made that I could
have ? Cristian, the images you have sound ideal,
could you let me have a look at those please ? I know
they are your own personal work, so if you do not want
to let me see those I understand.

Thanks !   (... and I'm sorry for the long emails !!)
:o)

Roy.



--- Marty Connor <md...@et...> wrote:

> On Sep 24, 2005, at 5:32 PM, Roy Wiseman wrote:
> > Please, I would be so grateful if someone could
> send
> > to my private email address or point me to premade
> > images for DOS or Linux and the configuration
> files
> > that go along with them all to run from a Windows
> box
> > with tftpd32 so that PXELINUX can boot ? Then I
> can
> > start to play with the settings described on the
> > PXELINUX page and really learn something.
> 
> Hi Roy,
> 
> Here is a link for using tftpd32 on a Windows box:
> 
>     
>
http://pxes.sourceforge.net/howtos/ms_only_environment/
> 
> I hope you find it enlightening.
> 
> If I might also offer a suggestion:
> 
> I have been reading your messages, and I must ask,
> what is it that  
> you are trying to accomplish?
> You have described difficulties getting this
> component or that to  
> work, but never really explained what your larger
> goal is.  If you  
> could describe it, perhaps we could be of more help
> to you.
> 
> Etherboot has a lot of capabilities and options.  It
> can load  
> operating systems in a lot of ways.  Our
> documentation is currently  
> rather out of date and not particularly coherent. 
> We do, however,  
> have a lot of dedicated people who really want to
> help people succeed  
> with Etherboot and network booting in general, and
> who would enjoy  
> helping you.  We are working to improve our
> documentation as well.
> 
> So, please take a deep breath and tell us what
> you're really trying  
> to do, and we'll suggest how you might use Etherboot
> to help you do  
> it. (or not, if there's an easier way).
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to write, and we look
> forward to hearing  
> from you.
> 
> Marty
> 
> -- 
>      Try: http://rom-o-matic.net/ to make Etherboot
> images instantly.
> 
>     Name: Marty Connor
> US Mail: Entity Cyber, Inc.; P.O. Box 391827;
>           Cambridge, MA 02139; USA
>    Voice: (617) 491-6935; Fax: (617) 491-7046
>    Email: md...@et...
>      Web: http://www.etherboot.org/
> 
> 
> 



		
___________________________________________________________ 
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Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Cristian M. <cri...@on...>]

* Roy Wiseman <roy...@ya...> [25-09-05 00:32]:
 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Thanks for this Cristian. I have been looking at the
> PXELINUX and SYSLINUX sites for hours. Unfortunately
> although I have considerable knowledge on TCP/IP and
> other sysadmin work, I cannot make sense of this. This
> is written confusingly. Maybe if I was a Linux user
> for many years, I would get this, but it's been a very
> frustrating few hours I must admit.
> 
> Here's the easy bit : I got the PXELINUX.0 file to
> boot the PXELINUX.

 The PXELINUX is in fact the pxelinux.0 file. That's what it takes.
 
> Here's the hard bit : I have not got a kernel image or
> the configuration script that would make something
> boot, and there are no examples as such. There are
> some descriptions of how to do this, mostly Linux
> oriented and kind of anti-Windows in focus with jokes
> like "if you have a Windows server and cannot fix that
> ..." and then little information on getting things
> working from a Windows box. I wish I'd worked with
> Linux for the past 10 years, but I didn't, and well, I
> just want things to work ... reams of technical data
> on UNDI and ISC DHCP 3.0 do not make this easy (I
> *obviously* don't know about UNDI and ISC, I just want
> to be able to get something working that I can learn
> from, and do something practical and useful).

You don't have to know that much of linux to use syslinux or etherboot, you
just have to understand the process.
  
> Please, I would be so grateful if someone could send
> to my private email address or point me to premade
> images for DOS or Linux and the configuration files
> that go along with them all to run from a Windows box
> with tftpd32 so that PXELINUX can boot ? Then I can
> start to play with the settings described on the
> PXELINUX page and really learn something.
> 
> I've spent some hours trying to decipher these pages
> but it's not easy with the cross-referencing between
> SYSLINUX and PXELINUX "PXELINUX operates in many ways
> like SYSLINUX. If you are not familiar with SYSLINUX,
> read the SYSLINUX FAQ first, since this documentation
> only explains the differences" etc. so it's very hard
> to get anywhere FAST.

OK, let's start by makeing some light. Syslinux started as a boot loader, used
mainly for starting linux from a floppy. It is configured from a
syslinux.cfg file located on the floppy and there you can specify what
kernel image to load and various parameters passed to the kernel. Syslinux
can be used also for makeing bootable USB media, HDD partitions (only ext2/ext3
and FAT/VFAT). For making bootable CDs you can use isolinux that functions
on the same principle, but it's configuration file is called isolinux.cfg. 
Pxelinux functions after the same principle for netbooting a PXE enabled
PC: the PC loads pxelinux.0, which takes over the boot process and tries to
read a configuration file (located in /pxelinux.cfg/default) that resides
on the tftpd server, the same location as pxelinux.0. 
 So for instance I have :
  /tftpboot/pxelinux.0 
  /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
 The configuration file (pxelinux.cfg/default) has the same syntax as
syslinux.cfg and practically pxelinux operates the same as syslinux in
regard to booting, except it takes any files it needs from the network (via
tftp). 


> All I really need are some pre-made config scripts and
> some premade images for this. I'm feeling very much
> like this is a secret club that to gain admittance to
> I have to subject myself to 10 hours of reading Linux
> documentation. Please help, if someone actually has a
> working PXELINUX, please let me know the image and the
> config script, then I can be up and running in 10
> minutes instead of 10 hours, and then I can mod and
> tweak and actually LEARN. Sometimes, to learn, it's
> important to see working examples that you can learn
> from, but I'm just as clueless as I was when I started
> looked at the PXELINUX pages, as I've got no way of
> building the image and config script to go with it at
> the moment.

 Ok, let me gave you and example: I boot a DOS image disk based on FreeDos
from the network, and I offer the user to choose from DOS and LTSP
(www.ltsp.org) with a menu (recent versions of Syslinux enable you to show
a nice menu with options of booting, please get a recent version and read
README.menu for how to use it).

Files layout (on the tftp server, serves files from /tftpboot, stripping
the directory prefix) :
 /tftpboot/pxelinux.0
 /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
 /tftpboot/menu.c32
 /tftpboot/freedos/odinBig.img

The pxelinux.cfg/default file contents: 
<file>
default menu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 0

menu title pxelinux boot menu

label rip 
        menu label RIP 
        kernel ::/rip/vmlinuz 
        append initrd ::/rip/initrd.gz root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc rw

label LTSP4
        menu label LTSP 4
        kernel ::/lts/2.4.26-ltsp-2/bzImage-2.4.26-ltsp-2
        append initrd=::/lts/2.4.26-ltsp-2/initrd-2.4.26-ltsp-2.gz root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc rw hda=noprobe hdc=
noprobe

label FreeDOS 
        menu label DOS
        kernel ::/memdisk 
        append initrd=::/freedos/odinBig.img
</file>

the freedos/odinBigimg is a 2.88 floppy image with FreeDos (but memdisk can
boot hdd images also) and menu.c32 is from Syslinux (please read the
README.menu file to see how you can use it).

 When booting and Pxelinux is loaded, I get to this menu:
  http://img355.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pxelinux6cu.png
from where I cand choose between LTSP, a rescue linux image or DOS.

For configuring tftp32 please follow Marty's link, I have not worked with
it. 

 I know the lack of precise documentation can be sometimes disconcerting,
but you'll get there :). 

hth,

mitu

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Marty C. <md...@et...>]

On Sep 24, 2005, at 5:32 PM, Roy Wiseman wrote:
> Please, I would be so grateful if someone could send
> to my private email address or point me to premade
> images for DOS or Linux and the configuration files
> that go along with them all to run from a Windows box
> with tftpd32 so that PXELINUX can boot ? Then I can
> start to play with the settings described on the
> PXELINUX page and really learn something.

Hi Roy,

Here is a link for using tftpd32 on a Windows box:

     http://pxes.sourceforge.net/howtos/ms_only_environment/

I hope you find it enlightening.

If I might also offer a suggestion:

I have been reading your messages, and I must ask, what is it that  
you are trying to accomplish?
You have described difficulties getting this component or that to  
work, but never really explained what your larger goal is.  If you  
could describe it, perhaps we could be of more help to you.

Etherboot has a lot of capabilities and options.  It can load  
operating systems in a lot of ways.  Our documentation is currently  
rather out of date and not particularly coherent.  We do, however,  
have a lot of dedicated people who really want to help people succeed  
with Etherboot and network booting in general, and who would enjoy  
helping you.  We are working to improve our documentation as well.

So, please take a deep breath and tell us what you're really trying  
to do, and we'll suggest how you might use Etherboot to help you do  
it. (or not, if there's an easier way).

Thanks for taking the time to write, and we look forward to hearing  
from you.

Marty

-- 
     Try: http://rom-o-matic.net/ to make Etherboot images instantly.

    Name: Marty Connor
US Mail: Entity Cyber, Inc.; P.O. Box 391827;
          Cambridge, MA 02139; USA
   Voice: (617) 491-6935; Fax: (617) 491-7046
   Email: md...@et...
     Web: http://www.etherboot.org/

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Roy W. <roy...@ya...>]

Hello,

Thanks for this Cristian. I have been looking at the
PXELINUX and SYSLINUX sites for hours. Unfortunately
although I have considerable knowledge on TCP/IP and
other sysadmin work, I cannot make sense of this. This
is written confusingly. Maybe if I was a Linux user
for many years, I would get this, but it's been a very
frustrating few hours I must admit.

Here's the easy bit : I got the PXELINUX.0 file to
boot the PXELINUX.

Here's the hard bit : I have not got a kernel image or
the configuration script that would make something
boot, and there are no examples as such. There are
some descriptions of how to do this, mostly Linux
oriented and kind of anti-Windows in focus with jokes
like "if you have a Windows server and cannot fix that
..." and then little information on getting things
working from a Windows box. I wish I'd worked with
Linux for the past 10 years, but I didn't, and well, I
just want things to work ... reams of technical data
on UNDI and ISC DHCP 3.0 do not make this easy (I
*obviously* don't know about UNDI and ISC, I just want
to be able to get something working that I can learn
from, and do something practical and useful).

Please, I would be so grateful if someone could send
to my private email address or point me to premade
images for DOS or Linux and the configuration files
that go along with them all to run from a Windows box
with tftpd32 so that PXELINUX can boot ? Then I can
start to play with the settings described on the
PXELINUX page and really learn something.

I've spent some hours trying to decipher these pages
but it's not easy with the cross-referencing between
SYSLINUX and PXELINUX "PXELINUX operates in many ways
like SYSLINUX. If you are not familiar with SYSLINUX,
read the SYSLINUX FAQ first, since this documentation
only explains the differences" etc. so it's very hard
to get anywhere FAST.

All I really need are some pre-made config scripts and
some premade images for this. I'm feeling very much
like this is a secret club that to gain admittance to
I have to subject myself to 10 hours of reading Linux
documentation. Please help, if someone actually has a
working PXELINUX, please let me know the image and the
config script, then I can be up and running in 10
minutes instead of 10 hours, and then I can mod and
tweak and actually LEARN. Sometimes, to learn, it's
important to see working examples that you can learn
from, but I'm just as clueless as I was when I started
looked at the PXELINUX pages, as I've got no way of
building the image and config script to go with it at
the moment.

Thanks,

Roy.


--- Cristian Mitrana <cri...@on...>
wrote:

> * Roy Wiseman <roy...@ya...> [24-09-05
> 18:19]:
>  
> > Hi,
> > 
> > This is a little more tricky than I was hoping !!
> > 
> > First of all PXE or Etherboot, I don't get the
> > difference. Ok, Etherboot maybe offers more
> options
> > and piggy-backs off the PXE standard, if that's
> all
> > then that makes sense ?
> 
>  Etherboot was born from the same reason as PXE,
> netbooting a computer,
> but PXE requires a second stage program due to the
> size constrains of the
> implementation. Etherboot, more versatile grace to
> it's open source
> nature, can directly load the OS from the network,
> but the file downloaded
> must be produced by the mknbi program (mknbi-linux,
> mknbi-dos).
> It can function also as a PXE boot stack for NICs
> that don't have that,
> which is great for people that want a unified setup
> based on PXE.
> > Second, Rom-o-matic offers the below eepro100
> options.
> > I'm stumped, 20 or so options, but which matches
> my
> > card !?!? does anyone know how to find this out ??
> I
> 
> The multiple choices are for generating a .rom file
> to be written on the
> card's EEPROM (or directly in the on-board BIOS of
> the PC). You should pick
> one based on the PCI ID's of the card, but for
> generating an image that is
> not going to the NIC's EEPROM this is not necessary,
> you can pick any of
> them, the result will be the same.
> > took the first in the list, and got a zpxe as said
> on
> > an EtherBoot site. ok, great it seemed to work,
> > EtherBoot came up from PXE boot after DHCP picked
> up
> > an IP, so it correctly took the Etherboot image
> and
> > ran it, so I get the option boot from NIC or Quit.
> ok,
> > great, I want to boot NIC, but there is no option
> > either here or in the extended options on
> rom-o-matic
> > to give a network image file. ie. in a really
> simple
> > case, say I have a DOS boot image .ima file and I
> want
> > EtherBoot to grab that and boot it. I mean this
> sounds
> > incredibly simple, but it's not obvious, how can I
> > tell EtherBoot where to go for it's second stage
> image
> > ??? I've been reading the docs and finding nothing
> on
> > this.
> 
>  To boot a DOS image (let's say a floppy image) you
> can get away with PXE
> booting and pxelinux from Syslinux
> (syslinux.zytor.com). PXE booting loads
> pxelinux.0 that cand boot, via memdisk, a DOS
> floppy.
>  If you want more a more elaborate setup, than
> etherboot and mknbi-dos can
> be the answer, you just need to learn to use
> mknbi-dos and instruct
> etherboot to load it after the steps that you have
> taken so far.
> 
>  Please look in the Etherboot wiki for details of
> this solution, a good
> page is at:
> 
>
http://wiki.etherboot.org/pmwiki.php/Main/BootingMemdisk,
> the whole wiki will explain a lot of the inner
> workings of net-booting.
> 
> hth,
> 
> mitu
> 



		
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Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Cristian M. <cri...@on...>]

* Roy Wiseman <roy...@ya...> [24-09-05 18:19]:
 
> Hi,
> 
> This is a little more tricky than I was hoping !!
> 
> First of all PXE or Etherboot, I don't get the
> difference. Ok, Etherboot maybe offers more options
> and piggy-backs off the PXE standard, if that's all
> then that makes sense ?

 Etherboot was born from the same reason as PXE, netbooting a computer,
but PXE requires a second stage program due to the size constrains of the
implementation. Etherboot, more versatile grace to it's open source
nature, can directly load the OS from the network, but the file downloaded
must be produced by the mknbi program (mknbi-linux, mknbi-dos).
It can function also as a PXE boot stack for NICs that don't have that,
which is great for people that want a unified setup based on PXE.
> Second, Rom-o-matic offers the below eepro100 options.
> I'm stumped, 20 or so options, but which matches my
> card !?!? does anyone know how to find this out ?? I

The multiple choices are for generating a .rom file to be written on the
card's EEPROM (or directly in the on-board BIOS of the PC). You should pick
one based on the PCI ID's of the card, but for generating an image that is
not going to the NIC's EEPROM this is not necessary, you can pick any of
them, the result will be the same.
> took the first in the list, and got a zpxe as said on
> an EtherBoot site. ok, great it seemed to work,
> EtherBoot came up from PXE boot after DHCP picked up
> an IP, so it correctly took the Etherboot image and
> ran it, so I get the option boot from NIC or Quit. ok,
> great, I want to boot NIC, but there is no option
> either here or in the extended options on rom-o-matic
> to give a network image file. ie. in a really simple
> case, say I have a DOS boot image .ima file and I want
> EtherBoot to grab that and boot it. I mean this sounds
> incredibly simple, but it's not obvious, how can I
> tell EtherBoot where to go for it's second stage image
> ??? I've been reading the docs and finding nothing on
> this.

 To boot a DOS image (let's say a floppy image) you can get away with PXE
booting and pxelinux from Syslinux (syslinux.zytor.com). PXE booting loads
pxelinux.0 that cand boot, via memdisk, a DOS floppy.
 If you want more a more elaborate setup, than etherboot and mknbi-dos can
be the answer, you just need to learn to use mknbi-dos and instruct
etherboot to load it after the steps that you have taken so far.

 Please look in the Etherboot wiki for details of this solution, a good
page is at:
 http://wiki.etherboot.org/pmwiki.php/Main/BootingMemdisk,
the whole wiki will explain a lot of the inner workings of net-booting.

hth,

mitu

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Roy W. <roy...@ya...>]

Hi,

This is a little more tricky than I was hoping !!

First of all PXE or Etherboot, I don't get the
difference. Ok, Etherboot maybe offers more options
and piggy-backs off the PXE standard, if that's all
then that makes sense ?

Second, Rom-o-matic offers the below eepro100 options.
I'm stumped, 20 or so options, but which matches my
card !?!? does anyone know how to find this out ?? I
took the first in the list, and got a zpxe as said on
an EtherBoot site. ok, great it seemed to work,
EtherBoot came up from PXE boot after DHCP picked up
an IP, so it correctly took the Etherboot image and
ran it, so I get the option boot from NIC or Quit. ok,
great, I want to boot NIC, but there is no option
either here or in the extended options on rom-o-matic
to give a network image file. ie. in a really simple
case, say I have a DOS boot image .ima file and I want
EtherBoot to grab that and boot it. I mean this sounds
incredibly simple, but it's not obvious, how can I
tell EtherBoot where to go for it's second stage image
??? I've been reading the docs and finding nothing on
this.

it seems that this could be a lot simpler. ie.
- PXE sees the DHCP and gets IP and boot zpxe file
- zpxe file runs and then goes and fetches the second
stage loader (linux or dos or whatever)
- second stage loader runs and you get a dos prompt or
linux login.

it's so much harder than this though ! please help, I
feel that I'm 66% of the way there, but getting DOS to
boot has really stumped me here.

Thanks and best regards,

Roy.

[0x8086,0x1075]</option><option>eepro100:82551qm --
[0x8086,0x1059]</option><option>eepro100:82556 --
[0x8086,0x1228]</option><option>eepro100:82559er --
[0x8086,0x1209]</option><option>eepro100:82562-1 --
[0x8086,0x2459]</option><option>eepro100:82562-2 --
[0x8086,0x245d]</option><option>eepro100:82562em --
[0x8086,0x2449]</option><option>eepro100:82562et --
[0x8086,0x1039]</option><option>eepro100:82562etb --
[0x8086,0x103b]</option><option>eepro100:82562ez --
[0x8086,0x1050]</option><option>eepro100:82801cam --
[0x8086,0x1031]</option><option>eepro100:82865 --
[0x8086,0x1227]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100 --
[0x8086,0x1229]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-1032
--
[0x8086,0x1032]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-1033
--
[0x8086,0x1033]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-1034
--
[0x8086,0x1034]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-1035
--
[0x8086,0x1035]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-1036
--
[0x8086,0x1036]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-1037
--
[0x8086,0x1037]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-103c
--
[0x8086,0x103c]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-103d
--
[0x8086,0x103d]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-103e
--
[0x8086,0x103e]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-1051
--
[0x8086,0x1051]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-5200
--
[0x8086,0x5200]</option><option>eepro100:eepro100-5201
-- [0x8086,0x5201]</option><option>eepro100:id1029 --
[0x8086,0x1029]</option><option>eepro100:id1030 --
[0x8086,0x1030]</option><option>eepro100:id1038 --
[0x8086,0x1038]</option><option>eepro100:id103a --
[0x8086,0x103a]</option><option>eepro100:prove --
[0x8086,0x1051]</option><option>eepro:eepro</option><option>epic100:epic100
-- 

--- Per Dalgas Jakobsen <pd...@kn...> wrote:

> Hi Roy,
> 
> If I understood you correctly, you have a harddrive
> on your systems.
> You might want to get a ROM-O-MATIC etherboot image
> with harddrive 
> support (loading etherboot from the harddrive).
> 
> http://rom-o-matic.net/5.4.1/
> 
> And copy the image directly on one of the primary
> partitions (must be 
> made active of course).
> 
> ~Knaldgas
> 
> 
> Roy Wiseman wrote:
> > Hi, i'm new to this list after hunting the
> internet
> > for months and trying to get something working
> with
> > BootP / PXE that is very frustrating. I'm hoping
> > someone can help me here ?
> > 
> > I have a Fujitsu Stylistic LT tablet PC. these are
> old
> > tablet's, not new WinXP tablet edition stuff, just
> a
> > Pentium 233, with 64 MB of RAM and a 4 GB drive,
> but
> > they are great little units. I have no operating
> > system on one, and no floppy drive (none built
> in),
> > and cannot buy a floppy disc as these are
> unsupported,
> > but they *DO* have PXE boot as an option in the
> BIOS.
> > 
> > So, I have turned on PXE boot, and a DHCP TFTP
> server
> > on my main system using tftpd32 which works
> perfectly.
> > My Fujitsu is correctly picking up an IP address
> which
> > is great. However, on trying to send a package
> over, I
> > got constant errors saying "to many packages",
> with an
> > error code that I looked up on google that
> indicated
> > that PXE will not accept boot images larger than
> 512KB
> > ! this is an old machine with no possibility of
> > getting the PXE upgraded to allow larger images.
> So i
> > took a 500KB file and pointed that at the machine,
> and
> > indeed the error was no longer there. So, now it
> seems
> > that I need either a DOS or Linux boot disc that
> can
> > boot the system over PXE, but it must be less than
> > 512KB in size ! this is the really tough bit, as I
> > cannot make a DOS boot disk image smaller than
> ~650KB
> > and I'm a bit clueless about making Linux boot
> discs
> > ...
> > 
> > Please help, as this would help in so many ways,
> > having a simple system to boot any system on my
> > network to a command prompt without a floppy or cd
> > boot can be used for so many useful tasks. I've
> > actually been trying to get this stuff working on
> and
> > off for about 2 years now, and I've never got
> anywhere
> > with it. PXE seems to be a real "black art" and
> useful
> > information on the internet on this has been very
> > difficult to find ... so I'm very much hoping that
> > someone on this list can help me with this.
> > 
> > Thanks / Best Regards,
> > 
> > Roy.
> > 
> > 
> > 		
> >
>
___________________________________________________________
> 
> > How much free photo storage do you get? Store your
> holiday 
> > snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos
> http://uk.photos.yahoo.com
> > 
> > 
> >
>
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Re: [Etherboot-users] UNDIS3C driver

[Michael B. <mb...@fe...>]

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005, Carl Karsten wrote:
> Well, the "OS" doesn't have any drivers, but the initrd does.  Those 2
> things are used to bring up an NFS connection to the rest of the system
> (like the modules dir.)  Currently you have to build a "custom" initrd
> based on what NIC's you want to support.  my idea is use the pxe stack
> untill you can get the NFS mount, then y ou have access to the full
> array of drivers and can figure out what is best.

That actually sounds like a fairly good idea.  You'd have an initrd 
containing an UNDI net driver, providing an interface "pxe0" (avoiding 
"eth0" to eliminate confusion), which would work (albeit slowly) to give 
you access to the normal module loading mechanisms.

To switch drivers, you'd probably have to copy the driver module to a
local tmpfs filesystem, store the interface configuration, ifconfig down
and rmmod the UNDI driver, insmod the new driver module and ifconfig eth0
with the stored interface configuration, then restart dhcpd.  (You can't
rely on dhcp to obtain the initial address for eth0, because the dhcpd
program itself would be inaccessible until eth0 was up).

I don't have the free time to do it myself, but I'd be interested to see 
the results if anyone else does.  The Etherboot UNDI driver and the 
Linux ndiswrapper would be good places to start investigating.

If anyone is really desperate for this functionality, feel free to make me 
an offer to get it written.

Michael

Re: [Etherboot-users] UNDIS3C driver

[Carl K. <ca...@pe...>]

Timothy Legge wrote:
>>Where can I get some clear info on what the UNDIS3C is?  
>>Knoppix has a TS option, which first makes you pic out what 
>>NICs should be added to the kernel that is PXE loaded.  It 
>>seems like if the kernel can be pxe loaded, it should just 
>>use the existing connection.
>>
>>What am I missing?
> 
> 
> I think what you're missing is the fact that you are simply loading a OS
> via the network and that OS will need the drivers for the network card
> that you are using.  I have not used Knoppix for this but I suspect that
> the option is only important if the kernel that is loaded cannot
> recognize the NIC that is in the box.  This happens with ISA cards and
> very new cards.  

Well, the "OS" doesn't have any drivers, but the initrd does.  Those 2 things are 
used to bring up an NFS connection to the rest of the system (like the modules 
dir.)  Currently you have to build a "custom" initrd based on what NIC's you want 
to support.  my idea is use the pxe stack untill you can get the NFS mount, then y 
ou have access to the full array of drivers and can figure out what is best.

I can see a problem with switching drivers after the NFS connection is setup, but 
I think that may be better than the current "build a custom floppy" way.


> 
> By passing an option to the kernel, it will use that particular driver
> ?without? probing for a card.
> 
> As Michael said, PXE and indeed Etherboot do not have high performance
> network drivers.  So even though you had a network connection via PXE,
> you need to have the downloaded OS configure and use the NIC for its
> driver.

I am surprised noone has done it.  Ethernet via a paralell port isn't the fastest 
thing either, and yet Zircom sold a lot of that hardware, along wiht a few other 
companies that made cheap versions.

Carl

RE: [Etherboot-users] UNDIS3C driver

[Timothy L. <tim...@al...>]

> Where can I get some clear info on what the UNDIS3C is? =20
> Knoppix has a TS option, which first makes you pic out what=20
> NICs should be added to the kernel that is PXE loaded.  It=20
> seems like if the kernel can be pxe loaded, it should just=20
> use the existing connection.
>=20
> What am I missing?

I think what you're missing is the fact that you are simply loading a OS
via the network and that OS will need the drivers for the network card
that you are using.  I have not used Knoppix for this but I suspect that
the option is only important if the kernel that is loaded cannot
recognize the NIC that is in the box.  This happens with ISA cards and
very new cards. =20

By passing an option to the kernel, it will use that particular driver
?without? probing for a card.

As Michael said, PXE and indeed Etherboot do not have high performance
network drivers.  So even though you had a network connection via PXE,
you need to have the downloaded OS configure and use the NIC for its
driver.

Tim

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Re: [Etherboot-users] UNDIS3C driver

[Michael B. <mb...@fe...>]

On Tue, 20 Sep 2005, Carl Karsten wrote:
> Where can I get some clear info on what the UNDIS3C is?  Knoppix has a
> TS option, which first makes you pic out what NICs should be added to
> the kernel that is PXE loaded.  It seems like if the kernel can be pxe
> loaded, it should just use the existing connection.
> 
> What am I missing?

PXE stacks are very low performance compared to a normal kernel network
driver.  While it would be perfectly feasible to write a "pxe" kernel
driver that used an underlying PXE stack, it's not a good idea.

Michael

[etherboot-users] etherboot package selection

[uday m. <uda...@re...>]

 =A0Sir,=0A=0AI want to install etherboot package on Fedora Core 3 having g=
cc-3.4.2-6=0APlease suggest the right etherboot package version and mknbi v=
ersion.=0A=0AThanks in advance.=0A=0Aregards,=0A=0A=0Auday=0A=0A=0A

[Etherboot-users] RE: UNDIS3C driver

[Steve M. <sma...@em...>]

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[Etherboot-users] UNDIS3C driver

[Carl K. <ca...@pe...>]

Where can I get some clear info on what the UNDIS3C is?  Knoppix has a TS option, 
which first makes you pic out what NICs should be added to the kernel that is PXE 
loaded.  It seems like if the kernel can be pxe loaded, it should just use the 
existing connection.

What am I missing?

^Carl Karsten

[Etherboot-users] Kernel crash after multiple reboots (no crash using Intel PXE)

[gb.pub1 <gb...@br...>]

=20

Hello,

=20

I=92m considering to use Etherboot to replace Intel PXE stack in BIOS =
for
Commell LV-667 mini-itx motherboard (based on Via C3 processor and CN400
graphic chipset).

=20

We still boot using PXE environment.

=20

Everything goes pretty well, except that at some times the system =
crashed
when starting to boot the kernel (mostly at the very beginning, =
sometimes a
little later when starting network or X).

=20

At first we thought of a problem with our OS, and also of an hardware
problem, until we noticed that when using Intel PXE, we had no more =
crash
!!!

=20

I=92ve tried different BIOS versions, but as soon as I use Etherboot, I =
manage
to crash the system after some reboots, and if I put back Intel PXE, no =
more
crash even after hundreds of reboots !

=20

The system crash with a message like that:

=20

RAMDISK: compressed image found at block 0

Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address =
00000007

Printing eip:

C012f494

*pde =3D 00000000

Oops: 0000

CPU: 0

EIP : 0010:[<c012f494>] Not tainted

EFLAGS: 00010286

Eax: cdd25744 ebx: ffffffff ecx: ffffffff edx: 0000117b

Esi: cdd25744 edi: 0000117b ebp: ffffffff esp: cbdb98e4

Ds: 0018 es: 0018 ss: 0018

Process swapper (pid: 1, stackpage=3Dcbdb9000)

Stack:=20

( Following a lot of hex codes)

Call Trace:

(hex codes again)

Code: 39 73 08 74 07 8b 5b 10 eb f2 89 f6 39 7b 0c 75 f4 f0 ff 43

<0>Kernel panic: Attempted to kill init!

=20

We are using kernel 2.4.28.

=20

Another strange thing (may be not related to this crash): In the BIOS
configuration, when choosing boot device priority, we have a choice with
=93Legacy LAN=94 which correspond to the INTEL PXE. But when I replace =
the INTEL
PXE with Etherboot in BIOS (using CBROM), this entry remains but does =
not
work anymore, but there=92s also a new choice labelled =
=93via-rhine.zrom=94 which
obviously correspond to Etherboot.

=20

What it=92s strange, it=92s that most of the time the system boots and =
works
well, but when rebooting, it sometimes suddenly crash=85 and only when =
using
Etherboot.

=20

I don=92t know if it is useful, but this is the BIOS content:

=20

              ********    66712.BIN BIOS component ********

=20

 No. Item-Name         Original-Size   Compressed-Size =
Original-File-Name

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D
=3D=3D=3D=3D

  0. System BIOS       20000h(128.00K)1522Bh(84.54K)66711.BIN

  1. XGROUP CODE       0C4E0h(49.22K)086E8h(33.73K)awardext.rom

  2. CPU micro code    0C000h(48.00K)0683Dh(26.06K)CPUCODE.BIN

  3. ACPI table        056DDh(21.72K)01D58h(7.34K)ACPITBL.BIN

  4. EPA pattern       0168Ch(5.64K)002AAh(0.67K)AwardBmp.bmp

  5. YGROUP ROM        0B860h(46.09K)048CDh(18.20K)awardeyt.rom

  6. Other(4029:0000)  05060h(20.09K)02519h(9.27K)_EN_CODE.BIN

  7. Other(40B5:0000)  01DA0h(7.41K)00D6Bh(3.35K)_ITEM.BIN

  8. LOGO BitMap       4B30Ch(300.76K)019CCh(6.45K)Logo.bmp

  9. VGA ROM[1]        0F800h(62.00K)0A034h(40.05K)pn1625.rom

10. PCI driver[A]     08000h(32.00K)05B47h(22.82K)C:\COMMBASE\test.rom

=20

  Total compress code space  =3D 5B000h(364.00K)

  Total compressed code size =3D 45892h(278.14K)

  Remain compress code space =3D 1576Eh(85.86K)

=20

                      ** Micro Code Information **

Update ID  CPUID  |  Update ID  CPUID  |  Update ID  CPUID  |  Update ID
CPUID

------------------+--------------------+--------------------+------------=
---
----

PPGA   11   0681|  PPGA   14   0683|  PPGA   08   0686|  PPGA   01   =
068A

PPGA   04   06B0|  PPGA   1C   06B1|  PPGA   01   06B4|  PPGA   03   =
0665

SLOT1  20   0632|  SLOT1  34   0633|  SLOT1  35   0634|  SLOT1  40   =
0650

SLOT1  40   0651|  SLOT1  2A   0652|  SLOT1  10   0653|  SLOT1  0A   =
0660

SLOT1  06   0670|  SLOT1  03   0671|  SLOT1  10   0672|  SLOT1  0E   =
0673

SLOT1  14   0680|  SLOT1  0D   0681|  SLOT1  13   0683|  SLOT1  07   =
0686

SLOT1  13   0630|

=20

Does anybody know what can going wrong ?

=20

Thanks in advance for your help.

=20

Best regards,

=20

Gerald.

[Etherboot-users] Kernel crash after multiple reboots (no crash using Intel PXE)

[<g.b...@br...>]

Hello,

=20

I=92m considering to use Etherboot to replace Intel PXE stack in BIOS =
for
Commell LV-667 mini-itx motherboard (based on Via C3 processor and CN400
graphic chipset).

=20

We still boot using PXE environment.

=20

Everything goes pretty well, except that at some times the system =
crashed
when starting to boot the kernel (mostly at the very beginning, =
sometimes a
little later when starting network or X).

=20

At first we thought of a problem with our OS, and also of an hardware
problem, until we noticed that when using Intel PXE, we had no more =
crash
!!!

=20

I=92ve tried different BIOS versions, but as soon as I use Etherboot, I =
manage
to crash the system after some reboots, and if I put back Intel PXE, no =
more
crash even after hundreds of reboots !

=20

The system crash with a message like that:

=20

RAMDISK: compressed image found at block 0

Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address =
00000007

Printing eip:

C012f494

*pde =3D 00000000

Oops: 0000

CPU: 0

EIP : 0010:[<c012f494>] Not tainted

EFLAGS: 00010286

Eax: cdd25744 ebx: ffffffff ecx: ffffffff edx: 0000117b

Esi: cdd25744 edi: 0000117b ebp: ffffffff esp: cbdb98e4

Ds: 0018 es: 0018 ss: 0018

Process swapper (pid: 1, stackpage=3Dcbdb9000)

Stack:=20

( Following a lot of hex codes)

Call Trace:

(hex codes again)

Code: 39 73 08 74 07 8b 5b 10 eb f2 89 f6 39 7b 0c 75 f4 f0 ff 43

<0>Kernel panic: Attempted to kill init!

=20

We are using kernel 2.4.28.

=20

Another strange thing (may be not related to this crash): In the BIOS
configuration, when choosing boot device priority, we have a choice with
=93Legacy LAN=94 which correspond to the INTEL PXE. But when I replace =
the INTEL
PXE with Etherboot in BIOS (using CBROM), this entry remains but does =
not
work anymore, but there=92s also a new choice labelled =
=93via-rhine.zrom=94 which
obviously correspond to Etherboot.

=20

What it=92s strange, it=92s that most of the time the system boots and =
works
well, but when rebooting, it sometimes suddenly crash=85 and only when =
using
Etherboot.

=20

I don=92t know if it is useful, but this is the BIOS content:

=20

              ********    66712.BIN BIOS component ********

=20

 No. Item-Name         Original-Size   Compressed-Size =
Original-File-Name

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D
=3D=3D=3D=3D

  0. System BIOS       20000h(128.00K)1522Bh(84.54K)66711.BIN

  1. XGROUP CODE       0C4E0h(49.22K)086E8h(33.73K)awardext.rom

  2. CPU micro code    0C000h(48.00K)0683Dh(26.06K)CPUCODE.BIN

  3. ACPI table        056DDh(21.72K)01D58h(7.34K)ACPITBL.BIN

  4. EPA pattern       0168Ch(5.64K)002AAh(0.67K)AwardBmp.bmp

  5. YGROUP ROM        0B860h(46.09K)048CDh(18.20K)awardeyt.rom

  6. Other(4029:0000)  05060h(20.09K)02519h(9.27K)_EN_CODE.BIN

  7. Other(40B5:0000)  01DA0h(7.41K)00D6Bh(3.35K)_ITEM.BIN

  8. LOGO BitMap       4B30Ch(300.76K)019CCh(6.45K)Logo.bmp

  9. VGA ROM[1]        0F800h(62.00K)0A034h(40.05K)pn1625.rom

10. PCI driver[A]     08000h(32.00K)05B47h(22.82K)C:\COMMBASE\test.rom

=20

  Total compress code space  =3D 5B000h(364.00K)

  Total compressed code size =3D 45892h(278.14K)

  Remain compress code space =3D 1576Eh(85.86K)

=20

                      ** Micro Code Information **

Update ID  CPUID  |  Update ID  CPUID  |  Update ID  CPUID  |  Update ID
CPUID

------------------+--------------------+--------------------+------------=
---
----

PPGA   11   0681|  PPGA   14   0683|  PPGA   08   0686|  PPGA   01   =
068A

PPGA   04   06B0|  PPGA   1C   06B1|  PPGA   01   06B4|  PPGA   03   =
0665

SLOT1  20   0632|  SLOT1  34   0633|  SLOT1  35   0634|  SLOT1  40   =
0650

SLOT1  40   0651|  SLOT1  2A   0652|  SLOT1  10   0653|  SLOT1  0A   =
0660

SLOT1  06   0670|  SLOT1  03   0671|  SLOT1  10   0672|  SLOT1  0E   =
0673

SLOT1  14   0680|  SLOT1  0D   0681|  SLOT1  13   0683|  SLOT1  07   =
0686

SLOT1  13   0630|

=20

Does anybody know what can going wrong ?

=20

Thanks in advance for your help.

=20

Best regards,

=20

Gerald.

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Per D. J. <pd...@kn...>]

Hi Roy,

If I understood you correctly, you have a harddrive on your systems.
You might want to get a ROM-O-MATIC etherboot image with harddrive 
support (loading etherboot from the harddrive).

http://rom-o-matic.net/5.4.1/

And copy the image directly on one of the primary partitions (must be 
made active of course).

~Knaldgas


Roy Wiseman wrote:
> Hi, i'm new to this list after hunting the internet
> for months and trying to get something working with
> BootP / PXE that is very frustrating. I'm hoping
> someone can help me here ?
> 
> I have a Fujitsu Stylistic LT tablet PC. these are old
> tablet's, not new WinXP tablet edition stuff, just a
> Pentium 233, with 64 MB of RAM and a 4 GB drive, but
> they are great little units. I have no operating
> system on one, and no floppy drive (none built in),
> and cannot buy a floppy disc as these are unsupported,
> but they *DO* have PXE boot as an option in the BIOS.
> 
> So, I have turned on PXE boot, and a DHCP TFTP server
> on my main system using tftpd32 which works perfectly.
> My Fujitsu is correctly picking up an IP address which
> is great. However, on trying to send a package over, I
> got constant errors saying "to many packages", with an
> error code that I looked up on google that indicated
> that PXE will not accept boot images larger than 512KB
> ! this is an old machine with no possibility of
> getting the PXE upgraded to allow larger images. So i
> took a 500KB file and pointed that at the machine, and
> indeed the error was no longer there. So, now it seems
> that I need either a DOS or Linux boot disc that can
> boot the system over PXE, but it must be less than
> 512KB in size ! this is the really tough bit, as I
> cannot make a DOS boot disk image smaller than ~650KB
> and I'm a bit clueless about making Linux boot discs
> ...
> 
> Please help, as this would help in so many ways,
> having a simple system to boot any system on my
> network to a command prompt without a floppy or cd
> boot can be used for so many useful tasks. I've
> actually been trying to get this stuff working on and
> off for about 2 years now, and I've never got anywhere
> with it. PXE seems to be a real "black art" and useful
> information on the internet on this has been very
> difficult to find ... so I'm very much hoping that
> someone on this list can help me with this.
> 
> Thanks / Best Regards,
> 
> Roy.
> 
> 
> 		
> ___________________________________________________________ 
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> snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------
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Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[<di...@ma...>]

On Mon, Sep 19, 2005 at 02:24:01PM +0100, Roy Wiseman wrote:
> 
> Hi Didi,
> 
> That pxegrub stuff sounds fascinating. From your
> description, I'm thinking you boot the hard disk and
> then pxegrub offers a pxegrub or hard disk boot as
> options or is that wrong ?
> 
> But this is something I'm very in the dark about.
> Could you maybe send me your method for doing the
> following :
> 
> - installing pxegrub onto my system ?
> - configuring it for my Intel EEPRO100+ ?
> - what I need at the server side (i.e. don't you still
> need lzpxe / nbi files to send to the client ??).
> 
> Maybe you have a simple method that you could describe
> to me in a few lines and an image file that you always
> use ?

OK. CCing the list as it might help others too, although the individual
pieces are well-known.

First, you need to compile grub.
Get the sources (probably the latest). grub uses the etherboot drivers,
so if you need support for new NICs, get also one of the relevant
patches from <http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=grub>.
Then configure. Last time, I did (inside grub-0.xx):
mkdir allcards
cd allcards
../configure --enable-diskless --enable-eepro100 --enable-3c90x \
--enable-lance --enable-3c509 --enable-rtl8139 --enable-tg3 \
--enable-e1000 --enable-pci-direct
You might want to read and play with these options. Then 'make' and
you get stage2/nbgrub and stage2/pxegrub. Copy both to your tftp server
root.

Some of my clients have PXE in ROM/Flash, some have etherboot on disk
(with lilo). I also have in /tftp a kernel (few of them) and an initrd
image.

In dhcpd.conf, I have, among others, these lines:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
option etherboot-magic-number           code 128 = string;
option etherboot-options                code 160 = string;
option etherboot-first-image-options    code 192 = string;
option etherboot-second-image-options   code 193 = string;
# etc. if you need more. I use only the first
option grub-config-file                 code 150 = string;
option guid-based-client-identifier     code  97 = string;
option pxe-magic-number                 code 128 = string;
# I do not really know what's this guid - found by sniffing. Google if
# you want - there is some info on the net.

group {
  option grub-config-file       "/grub.conf";
  if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "PXEClient" {
    filename    "pxegrub";
    option guid-based-client-identifier 3c:09:50:58:45:43:6c:69:65:6e:74;
    option pxe-magic-number     63:82:53:63;
  } else if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) = "Etherboot" {
    option etherboot-magic-number       E4:45:74:68:00:00;
    option etherboot-options    "timeout=0:default=192:";
    option etherboot-first-image-options        "nbgrub:::nbgrub::::";
  }
  # Some host entries, some more options, etc.
}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
And in /tftpboot/grub.conf I have:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
default 0
timeout 45

title Debian 3.1 Linux 2.6.11.7
dhcp
root (nd)
kernel /linux-2.6.11.7-net1 root=/dev/ram ip=off nousb init=/preinit taubm=net taubp=vol/vol0/linux-
root tauver=deb31
initrd=/root.gz
boot

title RedHat 7.3 Linux 2.4.26
dhcp
root (nd)
kernel /linux-2.4.26-net1 root=/dev/ram ip=off panic=120 nousb init=/preinit taubm=net
initrd=/root.gz
boot

title Windows XP
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course, my initrd (/tftpboot/root.gz) looks at the various variables
set in grub.conf and does things (e.g. mount of real root over nfs)
accordingly. I suggest you first try to boot ltsp, which also have some
good docs on their site, then maybe play with your own kernels/initrd.

Good luck,
-- 
Didi

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Roy W. <roy...@ya...>]

wow !

Didi, Alex, Tim thanks so much !!! this looks
incredibly easy, hard to think i wasted so much time
pulling my hair out over the tech and it seems so easy
with the nbi / lzpxe stuff / pxegrub stuff
I will get stuck into this tonight or tomorrow.

I suspect I will be back with more questions when it
doesn't work ... but hopefully it will all work first
time and be very easy as it looks on those websites.

i never found *any* of thsoe websites in my pxe
related google searches ... let down by google !!!

Thanks again,

Roy.



--- Yedidyah Bar-David <di...@ta...> wrote:

> On Mon, Sep 19, 2005 at 01:25:08PM +0100, Roy
> Wiseman wrote:
> > 
> > Hi, i'm new to this list after hunting the
> internet
> > for months and trying to get something working
> with
> > BootP / PXE that is very frustrating. I'm hoping
> > someone can help me here ?
> 
> Do read the other replies - they are informative and
> useful.
> I personally use pxegrub - that's grub compiled with
> PXE support.
> I use it as my nbp. From it you load normal
> kernels/initrds. For
> me that's somewhat more convenient than nbi stuff.
> -- 
> Didi
> 
> 



	
	
		
___________________________________________________________ 
Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[<di...@ta...>]

On Mon, Sep 19, 2005 at 01:25:08PM +0100, Roy Wiseman wrote:
> 
> Hi, i'm new to this list after hunting the internet
> for months and trying to get something working with
> BootP / PXE that is very frustrating. I'm hoping
> someone can help me here ?

Do read the other replies - they are informative and useful.
I personally use pxegrub - that's grub compiled with PXE support.
I use it as my nbp. From it you load normal kernels/initrds. For
me that's somewhat more convenient than nbi stuff.
-- 
Didi

Re: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Alexander H. <mai...@gm...>]

> So, I have turned on PXE boot, and a DHCP TFTP server
> on my main system using tftpd32 which works perfectly.
> My Fujitsu is correctly picking up an IP address which
> is great. However, on trying to send a package over, I
> got constant errors saying "to many packages", with an
> error code that I looked up on google that indicated
> that PXE will not accept boot images larger than 512KB
> ! this is an old machine with no possibility of
> getting the PXE upgraded to allow larger images. So i
> took a 500KB file and pointed that at the machine, and
> indeed the error was no longer there. So, now it seems
> that I need either a DOS or Linux boot disc that can
> boot the system over PXE, but it must be less than
> 512KB in size ! this is the really tough bit, as I
> cannot make a DOS boot disk image smaller than ~650KB
> and I'm a bit clueless about making Linux boot discs
> ...

Use PXELinux and memdisk from the syslinux package (read its 
documentation for details!).

http://syslinux.zytor.com/pxe.php

Alex

RE: [Etherboot-users] pxe boot ?

[Timothy L. <tim...@al...>]

> that I looked up on google that indicated that PXE will not=20
> accept boot images larger than 512KB ! this is an old machine=20
> with no possibility of getting the PXE upgraded to allow=20
> larger images. So i took a 500KB file and pointed that at the=20

As far as I know, no PXE implementation (maybe Etherboot's) allows you
to go over a certain max size.  You need to read:

http://wiki.etherboot.org/pmwiki.php/Main/UsingPXE

There is a link there to Marty's doc that he wrote some time ago on the
subject that is required reading for anyone trying to figure out  how to
PXE boot.

Tim

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