Until now I've used flyakite's method for creating my multi-boot DVD Flyakite's multiboot DVD.

But I've seen several posts that suggest building the boot folder via some method other than running winnt32.exe.

This one http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=58446 (which was pointed out to me in the PM that prompted this post) for example does it. But it seems to be a bare .exe file, and I'd prefer to know what is going on under the hood, so to speak.

I've begun to put together a simple ruby script that parses DOTNET.INF and decides what to copy across and where to copy it to based on what it finds in any [FloppyFiles.*] and [RootBootFiles] sections that it sees. I was also parsing TXTSETUP.INF to determine whether these files are expected to be found compressed in I386 or not, but it seems simpler to just look for the compressed version first and then the uncompressed if the compressed one was not found.

That leaves slightly modifying the copied TXTSETUP.SIF (the SetupSourcePath line needs to be rewritten) and patching SETUPLDR.BIN (it looks like XVI32 will do what I want from a script without human intervention).

Finally, I should also produce a patched boot sector (e.g. PRO1.DAT in flyakite's tutorial iirc) but if XVI32 can patch SETUPLDR.BIN, patching a boot sector should be the same.

So am I missing anything?

Has anyone already done this (especially in an "open" way) and am I missing anything? (I guess I'll know in the next few days when I get some circular tuits ...).

My overall aim (of which this is just one part) is to be able to download an updated RyanVM pack or IE7 pack or DriverPacks (or whatever) and have a simple GUI-driven process that can update my existing MB DVD with the downloaded updates. I can do it all now with just a few clicks, but I need to wait 30-40 minutes between clicks. I would prefer to just take what I did last time (in a .ini file), point it at the new component(s) and have it update the MB DVD in place.

Again, if this is already done, please speak up now. (I expect to have to update it to account for my quirky AIO structure but that's OK as long as it's open enough for me to do that).

The link to flyakite guide it's not working, it's this one:
http://flyakite.msfn.org/

If I were you, I would use a bootmanager, like grub4dos, on the AIO and leave bootsectors alone.

Also, you should check the "Install XP from USB" section, there are a few things that may be of help for what you plan:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=157
It may take some time to go through it...

Out of curiosity, any particualr reason for choosing Ruby?

jaclaz

Thanks!



Why? I had a brief look at GRUB4DOS (after being slightly distracted by GNU GRUB!) and I don't see how it avoids bootsectors? It seems to chainload them so they'll still need to exist.

The current AIO can (for example) boot Windows 2000 SP4 for a regular install, boot Windows 2000 SP4 for an unattended install, boot Windows 2000 SP4 for an unattended install and silently install a "few" apps. It can do the same for Windows XP Pro SP3. That's six boot sectors and six boot folders.

I boot the DVD, start the boot menu, pick the OS, choose partitions and it does the rest, taking however long it takes.

Short of not offering so many options (and actually I offer more ...) I don't see how I can cut down on the number of boot sectors and associated boot folders. In fact, having recently integrated DriverPacks, I now find that the initial text mode boot slows down (by a number of minutes) so I want to make that an option too. (I still want DriverPacks so that if I install on an unfamiliar machine it installs as much as possible, but on my machines I want a slimmed down version so I'm not waiting so long).

That's part of the reason I started on this odyssey. If I put together a "build" tool that does what I want but takes out the bulk of the tedium, I can investigate speeding up the process while at the same time integrating the drivers I know I need (and perhaps decompressing them too).

GRUB4DOS looks interesting, and I'm tempted to go and play with it and see if I can get an AIO DVD built that boots with it. But it looks like another tool that does pretty much the same job as ISOLINUX.



The immediate plan is just to build a boot folder manually. I already have a working exemplar on my existing AIO-DVD, so I'll definitely know when I've managed to build an adequate one. I'd just like to know whether my approach is sound or whether it'll just be a fluke if I get there. It would also be nice to have some confidence that it will work correctly when Windows XP SP4 comes out :-)

The XP USB stuff might help somewhat (I'll poke through it in the next few days - you never know when some seemingly irrelevant snippet will suddenly prove to be crucial) and I might even want to build an AIO-USB at some point (especially since 8GB ones are now cheap). But I expect that that's really an entirely new project, filled with its own kinds of fun!



Well it's a good deal more powerful than a BAT file :-)

Actually, I was initially going to use AutoIt for this too, but I know Ruby better so I thought it would be quicker to do this part in Ruby. I nearly went with wxRuby for the rest but (as it took too long for me to get "into" it) I now expect to do the rest of the heavy lifting (with or without a GUI) in AutoIt. If it turns out that AutoIt can't cut it, then I suppose I'll be looking to build a GUI using MS tools (always assuming the freebie Visual dev stuff can cut the mustard).

-- deadbug