29-Apr-07: See the bottom of this post for updated links to jump directly to milestones and novel customizations.

I've been collecting ISOs for a while and want to see what all of the diff
parts look like w/o giving up a bunch of CDs for a one-shot tryout. In
doing this, you can see how one person assembles a multi-boot disc (CD/DVD)
using ISOLINUX. If you want to follow along, you'll need a bunch of sware
to do this project:



The Virtual CD Driver is needed only for the initial phase of the project.
I'm using UltraISO, bec I have it and bec it permits dismantling the indiv
ISOs, but it isn't free, while the Virtual CD driver from Microsoft, *is*
free. If you already have something else, like Daemon Tools, MagicISO, ISO
Buster, whatever, free free to use that instead. If it isn't obvious, the
VCD Driver permits an ISO be mounted as a CD drive w/ its own drive letter,
so folders and files can be extracted to disc for the bild. Since it took a
while for me to find it (and *I* already know that it exists) here's the URL
for that:



You'd also do well to get VMWare or Virtual PC (free from Microsoft), QEMU
(free, OSS code) or some other virtual machine software, to test ISO images
before burning them to disc. You won't need it right now, bec *if* you follow
my instructions CAREFULLY, your finished ISO *will* be work. However, it
wouldn't hurt to get it now, just in case....

This is a HOWTO, not a TUTORIAL. It's assumed that the reader knows how to
use the different tools or can figure them out on his/her own. To make this
a full-blown tutorial (with step-by-step explanations of everything) would
require many hours of work that I don't have to give. I've never read a
single tutorial or HOWTO on using ZIP/WINZIP/whatever. I've never read a
HOWTO or tutorial on making sub-directories. Everything I've learned on
these subjects has come through trial-and-error. This HOWTO offers a
structure for a single project that works, which you'll be able to apply
onwards and outwards for your own efforts. But it's your responsibility to
grasp the concepts behind this structure and experiment, experiment,
experiment. In fact, there were other parts that I'd hoped to include like
the Ultimate Boot CD and Trinity Rescue Kit. Unfortunately, for several
reasons, I had to abandon these elements as they would make things too
complicated (UBCD) or simply didn't lend themselves a different disc
structure (TRK.) These discoveries were the result of hours of experiments
which you didn't see.

1) Alright, let's get this party started. Make a sub-dir called
\Super-Disc. Next, extract the SYSLINUX kit into \syslinux (be sure to keep
the original directory structure.) The idea here is to put Super-Disc in
the root of your hdrive. Actually, you can put it anywhere you like, but
if you really need this HOWTO, do it my way the 1st time through.

2) Underneath \Super-Disc\, create boot\isolinux\, boot\dsl\, boot\zenlive\,
boot\sysresccd\, dsl\, and sysresccd\.

3) From \syslinux, *COPY* (don't *MOVE*) vesamenu.c32, chain.c32,
isolinux.bin, memdisk to boot\isolinux\.

4) Open the System Rescue ISO and copy vmlinuz1 and vmlinuz.igz to
boot\sysdresccd\. Copy sysrescd.dat to sysresccd\. Copy memtest86 to
boot\isolinux\.

Making the System Rescue CD "cooperate" was accomplished by changing the
KERNEL and APPEND stmts, to point to the new location of the kernel
(boot/sysresccd) and initial ramdisk or initrd (also in boot/sysresccd).
Better designed live CD distros permit the compressed file system archive
(where the bulk of the system files are contained) to be relocated. In this
case using the loop= and subdir= clauses in the APPEND stmt. Some distros
also call these "cheat codes."

5) Open the DSL ISO and copy the KNOPPIX *file* (*NOT* the entire KNOPPIX
sub-dir) to dsl\, linux24, and minirt24.gz to boot\dsl\.

The key cheat code for relocating DSL is knoppix_dir=dsl, since DSL is
derived from Knoppix.

6) Open the ZenWalk ISO and copy vmlinuz and initrd.gz to boot\zenlive\ and
the entire zenlive\ directory tree to \Super-Disc.

At the end of this process, one should have a directory tree structure that
looks something like this:



&) Almost forgot, you'll need an ISOLINUX.CFG to make this work. Copy
the bracketed text block below and put isolinux.cfg into boot/isolinux/.



Any 640x480 PNG will sufice for the initial splash screen, but try this
one, making sure to rename it to splash.png and place it in boot/isolinux/.



8) To create an ISO for the project using MKISOFS, try the following:



Of course, you can use any util you have available, like CDIMAGE, ULTRAISO,
etc. The only significant issue is that the util *MUST* support the
"boot-info-table" option. This eliminates from consideration my own
favorite CD burning app, NERO and probably another popular burning app, Easy
CD Creator. If you have a working Linux disc, you can use K3B, which does
support boot-info-table patching and is an excellent CD/DVD burning app, so
you could burn the project directly to disc.

Well that's it. If you've run the batch scriptlet above, you should have a
multi-boot ISO you can burn to CD. Hope this helps. Good luck....Jet

28-Apr-07:
This thing has grown beyond my initial expectations, which is good. So, I've changed the name of the topic to 'Super-Disc: Multi-Boot Project CD/DVD Using ISOLINUX', which is what it has become. Onwards and outwards, I (and others) will continue adding new elements to the project and talking about it. Periodically, I'll add links to the different milestones/additions.

1) Adding BartPE
2) Adding a XP Installer
3) More BartPE/XP Customization Links from Kof94

Fleshing out these 1st few milestones will take the rest of the weekend, since this idea is a middle-of-the-nite inspiration. So use your imaginations in the meantime....

30-Apr-07:

4) A Q-n-D Mini-HOWTO on WiFi under Linux Using NDISWrapper

This post has been edited by jetman: Apr 30 2007, 09:04 PM

I knew that would get you going .

I've used many, many different ways to run an unattened/Modded XP setup and now finally after nearly two years of p***ing around I've settled on the simplest setup going.

At present my setup consists of:

RyanVM's Update Pack, WMP10 addon and DirectX 9c addon.
Bâshrat's DriverPacks (all of them except MassStorage).
Windows Post-Install Wizard to install all my apps.

To bind all this together I have my own custom addon to use with the RyanVM Integrator. It consists of files to add/update unattened setup and integrate the MediaCentre Royale theme. Included in this package is an inf I made to update reg settings at specific stages of install and to finally run RunOnceEx to finish the DriverPacks setup and execute WPI. It's clean and (even if I do say it myself) professional.

Most of this is easy to do i.e adding Ryan's updates/addons and the DriverPacks. The fun really starts when your learning how to build your own addons, write inf's and configure WPI. They're a bit more time consuming.

All-in-all the $OEM$ folders, and a batch file could do the small things I've done with my little addon, I'm just being a know-it-all (let the flaming commence).

The only real benefit with integration is you don't have to use oemprecopy, or what ever it's called, that messes up F6 driver installation during txtmode. You can also run an upgrade install with the /makelocalsource switch and everything works as it should ($OEM$ folders only work on a full OEM install!). Not that I ever do but you can.

If you want some help I'll be more than heppy to barrage you with links .

Later.

Fascinating. They (MSOFT) make this stuf amazingly complicated. To date, I've avoided the add-on utils, partly for pride's sake and also to get the job done w/o the overhead of XML config files, hokey script langs, etc. However, it sounds that some of the external stuf could be worth looking at. One thing that definitely piques is the driver pack. Now, if that could be somehow coaxed into BartPE as well, it would be well worth the effort.

If you don't do a full OEM install, what's a partial OEM install ?

One other thing that's still outstanding (for a looong time) is scripting an unattended (or std) install from the hdrive via BartPE.

You've given yet more homework :sigh: But it's all good stuf. Later....Jet

I only use Ryan's updates/addons (M$ updates/addons) and of course my little config addon.



I'm lost?



What I meant was, a full install booting from disc!



UBCD4Win already does this and I believe there is a pack based on Bâshrat's DriverPacks that you can add to your own BartPE on that site. The DriverPacks Base at some point will support this as well. One word of advice if your considering using said DriverPacks, don't bother with MassStorage. It's still not compatible enough to rely on!



You can do this simply with the little util that comes with UBCD4Win (I'm starting to become an advert here )

Later.

Actually there's a pretty simple reason for that: Very few manufacturers make their drivers so they can be read easily or compatible, often times building their driver trees (all the files and infs) in such a nonstandard way that sometimes they NEED their own installer apps to get them to work. What fun, eh?



Which tool is that?

This post has been edited by Gedrean: Mar 22 2007, 03:37 PM

I forget the names, but there were a couple of utils for unattended Windows configuring and scripting I looked at and dismissed a long time ago, prob here on MSFN. But they went the XML route for simple config files (as opposed to INI files) or cooked their own wimpy scripting lang.



No thanx. I've already got Python in BartPE. I just need to spend a weekend and write the code !

Will look into the UBCD4WIN forum for that driver pack. BTW, have you looked into WinBuilder at all ? Jet

Back in the light .



Txtmode to GUI mode is the main issue. Windows recognise the correct Silicon Image drivers for formating and copying files in txtmode but it all goes tits up after the first reboot. Windows decides it doesn't actually like the drivers anymore and tries to install some other random driver instead then BSOD. It's a known issue with the MassStorage DP. I'm happy to live without them so-long-as a have a floppy drive.



No, I've only ever used ERD and UBCD4Win. What's Python about?



I'll try to find a link for you.

Edit: search for "XPSetupLauncher" on this page There isn't a download or link so it must be a member contribution.

This post has been edited by kof94: Mar 22 2007, 06:12 PM

I'm surprised you haven't already heard of it. It's one of the Ps in the LAMP (ie. Perl, PHP, or Python) stack. Totally free, avail on all major platforms, used for big and small programming. GOOGLE and Yahoo even use it as part of the internal infrastructure of their web app systems. Named for the UK comedy tropue....

Hi, jetman how can I change position of the menus ? I want to use a custom position, it is possible ? Thank you.

You need to mess about with the margins and the size of the display area. It's a bit of a pain really because each setting effects the other.

I did manage to align everything to the left so that I could have a pic running down the right hand side but that's about as creative as you can get. It isn't exactly inspiring but is the "simple menu system" after all.

Can you give me a short example ? Thank you.

This post has been edited by google44: Apr 20 2007, 12:40 AM

To be honest your better off reading the README.menu file. It's a text file from the syslinux package and it explains it all quite well!

You can download it here (you want syslinux-3.36.zip) and you can read some of it here.

The main values you are interested in are MENU width and MENU margin and possibly MENU rows .

If you get stuck post back.

This post has been edited by kof94: Apr 20 2007, 03:51 AM

Sir Kof: I gave up after a while. Change one thing, then it moves in an unexpected direction or amount. Bah ! Let it be a little off-center ! Real men don't need centered menus anyway !

@google44: Seriously, I think the positioning code is a bit buggy. I'd get a later version of SYSLINUX than the one my buddy Kof94 mentioned. I'm using 3.50-pre4. He's (ie. SYSLINUX' author) is a wee slow in releasing code. The Freshmeat page for the proj hasn't been updated in months, but the latest-greatest module is available at the Kernel.org link found on the SYSLINUX Downloads page....Jet

I can set height and margin of the menu from the left or right but what about top margin ?

Edit: I just found out why is so difficult to center the menu. I don't think menu positioning code is buggy, the problem is with the MENU MARGIN setting which is working a bit ankward, at least.
MENU MARGIN and MENU WIDTH depends on each other for menu's to be in center of the screen. That is because when you set margin , the entire menu is not moved from left to right preserving menu width, only the left margin of the menu is moved to the right. So when you set MENU MARGIN 10, the right margin of the menu remains at the same position, only the left margin moves 10 points from left margin of the screen. So, of course, this affects width of the menu and because of that is very confusing.

This post has been edited by google44: Apr 21 2007, 04:15 AM

This is driving me crazy I just couldn't boot anything. All my files and images are in ISOLINUX folder. I try it to boot like that:

LABEL sysresccd2
MENU LABEL ^2 Docmem
KERNEL /isolinux/memdisk
APPEND initrd=/isolinux/docmem.img


If i don't use graphical user interface, just text, is working fine but when I add vesamenu.c32 and chain.c32 to have a graphical interface it's just not working anymore, nothing happen when I want to run it.
What i'm doing wrong here because it's clear that all the files are in the right place ?

Hate to tell you "I told you so" but...



And as always the right honorable gentleman jetman continues to be a bastion for common sense.



Next topic:



First up you don't need to add the isolinux folder location because you're already in it and you don't move from it. So if all your boot files are in the isolinux folder including all modules i.e. memdisk then your command should look like this:



Incidentally, Docmem plainly won't work via memdisk and I haven't found a viable solution that works properly yet. IMO memtest86+ does a good enough job, even if it is slow.

As for vesamenu not working, could you post your complete config files.

-kof94

This post has been edited by kof94: Apr 21 2007, 09:12 AM

Below is the complete isolinux folder used as a pebuilder plugin. From the archive is missing setup98.img and splash.png image. With mkisofs4isolinux.cmd I make the iso image after i build it with pebuilder. Everything is working fine, isolinux graphical interface is booting, but when i select "Test" and press "enter" nothing happen
 isolinux.rar ( 77.91K ) Number of downloads: 106

Here is what's inside pebuilder.iso after iso creation:


So I don't understand why setup98.img is not launching because everything seems to be ok.

Sorry buddy I'm lost. When I boot my AIO DVD I boot straight to isolinux, I'm not quite sure what your trying to do here!

Are you trying to boot isolinux from a PE environment or am I missing something?

Could you also provide a link the full size image of your folder setup as well.

There is nothing really special here, I just create an isolinux plugin for pebuilder. I boot also straight to isolinux there is absolutely no difference, except the two other folders which don't mater.

Ok, fair enough.

I take it "Test" is a label for an app you want to boot, are you completely sure your commands are correct.

For example:

- You don't have two identical labels in your config file
- All your files conform to 8.3 standard
- You have the correct locations set e.g. /menus/main.cfg looks for a folder in the root or the disc called menus menus/main.cfg looks for the menus folder in the isolinux dir.

I know I might be asking silly questions here but simple things can really mess things up.

If your really not sure post your isolinux.cfg and any other config files your having troubles with and I'll take a look.

This is isolinux.cfg file:


This is iso file:


This is the isolinux folder:


and this is the cmd file for building the iso:


I don't understand why it's not working, everything is booting fine but when I try to run "test" item , nothing.


There are no other configuration files that could interfere so..

This post has been edited by google44: Apr 21 2007, 03:35 PM