Re: [Etherboot-developers] pxe

[<prl...@sy...>]

> 	From the docs it's not clear, and from the sources, im still trying
> to compile under FreeBSD, I have some way to go :-), so before I loose
> myself, the short Q:
> 	can/could etherboot be used to boot pxeboot? 
> the long way:
> 	I have this Matchbox PC that someone dropped on my table, and
> it runs Linux, and im trying to make it boot over the network, but
> the NIC (Network Interface Chip :-), does not have PXE boot, it'a a CS89x0.
> 	I see some emulate pxe for freebsd stuff but there seems to be
> some parts missing.

I don't know pxeboot (do you mean pxelinux?)

The direct answer for almost any PXE Network Boostrap Program (NBP) on
top of Etherboot is "not yet".  Someone contributed code for a specific
FreeBSD case, so don't waste your time unless you are also using
FreeBSD.  There is considerable motivation for completing enough PXE
support for common NBPs (NTLOADER, pxelinux, bpbatch), so it seems
likely to happen soon. If you'd like to help, that would be great.

Note that Etherboot-on-PXE is being completed just now - don't confuse
this with PXE-on-Etherboot.

But you don't need to bother with PXE if the only OS you need is Linux.
Etherboot is designed to boot Linux directly; PXE is NOT required as
long as you have something to boot Etherboot from, such as a NIC ROM, a
modular BIOS, a disk (or disk like entity). So, if you plan to getting
this PC to network boot at all (PXE or not) you need some way to get
Etherboot on it; get an image with the cs89x0.o driver from rom-o-matic
in whatever form suits you.