[tjcinnamon]

Is it possible to use this for other applications such as:

XP install
7 install
UBCD
Memtest x86
ect...

It would be nice to have a number of images on a USB stick and then pick them from grub.


Also, it would be easy to upgrade the versions of the ISO's because all you would have to do is replace the ISO with the most recent version (and maybe modify the bootloader, if the image name changed).


Not sure if this is capable of this but if it was that would be awesome.

[jaclaz]

tjcinnamon, on Nov 5 2009, 08:19 PM, said:

Is it possible to use this for other applications such as:

XP install
7 install
UBCD
Memtest x86
ect...

You are reading "this" and "this" is the XP install one, nothing less, nothing more.

If the question is "is it possible to multiboot from USB choosing among several .iso images?":
The UBCD is possible and documented.
The Memtest also.
Start reading here:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=5041
BUT read here also:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=8944

There is not a definite "windows 7" report/tutorial/howto:
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...=5041&st=26
http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...ic=9038&hl=
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=9076

If you are "windows 7" oriented you may want to try the workarounds and contribute to the solution, or experiment with "this" porting the method to Windows 7.

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 05 November 2009 - 01:55 PM

[travis_san]

I'm getting errors in the text setup that say these files can't be found:

advpack.dll.mui
icardie.dll.mui
iedkcs32.dll.mui
ieframe.dll.mui
iepeers.dll.mui
iernonce.dll.mui
iesetup.dll.mui
ieui.dll.mui
ieunatt.exe.mui
inetcpl.cpl.mui
inseng.dll.mui
msfeedsbs.dll
mshta.exe
mshtml.dll.mui
mshtmled.dll
mshtmler.dll.mui
urlmon.dll.mui
winfxdocobj.exe.mui
wininet.dll.mui

If I skip each of these files, the setup continues ok until the GUI setup where I receive the error "The file 'asms' is needed" and I cannot proceed further.

The source I used to create XP_RAM.iso was an nlited XPSP3 with IE7 slipstreamed and an $OEM$ folder just containing a cmdlines, a batch script and reg files. I have no issues with this source when mounting it as a CD. Testing done in Virtual Box and the ISO was loaded via a usb flash drive. I feel like I'm missing something obvious...

[ilko_t]

Please post/compress&attach \I386\txtsetip.sif and the grub4dos' menu.lst used.
Do you have the SP tag files in root of the CD/ISO?

[cdob]

travis_san, on Nov 9 2009, 06:47 PM, said:

I'm getting errors in the text setup that say these files can't be found:

Use clean source files. Don't integrate IE7.

As ilko_t requested already: which txtsetup.sif and menu.lst do you use?

Quote

until the GUI setup where I receive the error "The file 'asms' is needed" and I cannot proceed further.

Which hardware do you use?

Try fixBoot.USB, compare first message and http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=&...st&p=888710

Quote

Testing done in Virtual Box and the ISO was loaded via a usb flash drive.

Did you try RAM load that way?
How do you integrate the usb flash drive? A virtual physicaldrive isn't a USB drive anymore.

[jaclaz]

@cdob

please be aware that the board "linking to post" does not work properly.

Your link gives "a suffusion of yellow" and just points to the thread.

Use this style of links:
http://www.msfn.org/...ic=137714&st=71
hxxp://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=137714&st=71

jaclaz

This post has been edited by jaclaz: 09 November 2010 - 07:55 AM

[kDn]

cdob
Sorry for the late answer, I was too busy last days...

Russian forums hard to translate becouse all forum posts filled with technical jargon.

Quote

Recovery Console:

Sort some files at mkISO_RAMload_sort.cmd
...

I don't test running recovery console from sorted iso yet, becouse I use isolated iso (~15Mb) with integrated mass storage drivers.

title cmdcons.iso
map --floppies=1
map --mem /boot/_ima/firadisk.gz (fd0)
map --mem /boot/_iso/cmdcons.iso (0xFF)
map --hook
ls (fd0)/firadisk.sys
chainloader (0xFF)

Quote

There was a question about mkisofs -input-charset utf-8 and -duplicates-once.
http://forum.ru-boar...mp;start=1680#3
http://forum.ru-boar...p;start=1720#19
I don't understand clearly: does this refer to windows or another operating system?

This posts in forum not about using XP_Inst method, only general talk about making bootable CD whith grub4dos as boot loader.

[travis_san]

Thanks ilko_t and cdob for helping me out.

Quote

until the GUI setup where I receive the error "The file 'asms' is needed" and I cannot proceed further.

Oops, this is not a problem. I had been resetting the vm between text and gui setup.

Quote

Do you have the SP tag files in root of the CD/ISO?

There is a 'WIN51IP.SP3' file in the root if that is what you mean.

Quote

Did you try RAM load that way?
How do you integrate the usb flash drive? A virtual physicaldrive isn't a USB drive anymore.

Yes, I did RAM load this way by linking the usb drive as a virtual drive. Between the text and gui setup I could not change the boot order of physical drives without resetting the vm, so I tried adding this to menu.lst:

title find and load NTLDR of Windows NT/2K/XP
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /ntldr
chainloader /ntldr

This does not work ("File not found" in VirtualBox, instantaneous reset in Qemu). However, this entry does work if booted from a mounted ISO (I'm puzzled as to why) instead of a linked usb drive. This was the method I used to create a successful install. Is this how you tested it in a vm or did you use a different method?

Quote

Use clean source files. Don't integrate IE7.

I tried this as you said and the install works perfectly. What can I do to slipstream IE7 without generating missing file errors in text setup? Can you help me understand why these errors exist with the RAM loaded version and not when mounted as a CD?

I've attached txtsetup.sif from my IE7 slipstreamed source. Here is my menu.lst (it's just the same as in cdob's first post):

title Loading XP RAM install - /Inst/XP_RAM.ISO
ls /Inst/XP_RAM.ISO || find --set-root /Inst/XP_RAM.ISO
map --mem /Inst/XP_INST.IMA (fd0)
#(fd1) optional, required at some BIOS
#map --mem /Inst/XP_INST.IMA (fd1)
map --mem /Inst/XP_RAM.ISO (0xFF)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map --hook
chainloader (0xFF)/I386/SETUPLDR.BIN

Attached File(s)

•  TXTSETUP.7z (55.7K)
  Number of downloads: 36

This post has been edited by travis_san: 10 November 2009 - 03:25 PM

[ilko_t]

travis_san, on Nov 10 2009, 12:21 PM, said:

...Between the text and gui setup I could not change the boot order of physical drives without resetting the vm, so I tried adding this to menu.lst:

title find and load NTLDR of Windows NT/2K/XP
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /ntldr
chainloader /ntldr

This does not work ("File not found" in VirtualBox, instantaneous reset in Qemu). However, this entry does work if booted from a mounted ISO (I'm puzzled as to why) instead of a linked usb drive. This was the method I used to create a successful install. Is this how you tested it in a vm or did you use a different method?

To start the second phase (GUI mode) from the same drive, you'd need to "swap" hard drives order using grub4dos:

title Start GUI mode
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map --hook
find --set-root /ntldr
chainloader /ntldr

Or boot MBR on HD0 (hd0 after mapping/swapping) directly, not chainloading ntldr:

title Start GUI mode
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map --hook
rootnoverify (hd0)
chainloader +1

NTLDR expects NTDETECT.COM in the active partition of the first disk, not on the second, as would be if no swapping is made, hence the need of swapping.

travis_san, on Nov 10 2009, 12:21 PM, said:

Quote

Use clean source files. Don't integrate IE7.

I tried this as you said and the install works perfectly. What can I do to slipstream IE7 without generating missing file errors in text setup? Can you help me understand why these errors exist with the RAM loaded version and not when mounted as a CD?

There are several reports that nLited sources do NOT work well when booted not from a CD, search this board with few of the file names reported as missing, here is one hit:
http://www.msfn.org/board/integration-ie7-...icardie.dll.mui
http://www.msfn.org/board/error-winxp-winn...;hl=icardie.dll

Here were several similar reports, somewhere in the last pages:
http://www.msfn.org/...32-t120444.html

No idea why RAM loaded ISO would differ from a regular CD, seems Setup is picky when detecting source media used and makes additional checks, or the double dotted files matter, or the long file names...

Can you attach \I386\layout.inf as well, from the modified source?

[doveman]

Well I'm not sure exactly what I did, but I've made some progress.

I use a dual-boot and I've made a third (primary) partition to store the ISO and IMA on, so that I can format the other two partitions if I feel like it. TXT-mode setup goes OK but after rebooting, it says:
"Couldn't open drive multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)
NTLDR: Couldn't open drive multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)"

This is after trying to install to the first partition, so those parameters seem correct. Any idea what's going on there?

I'm also trying to test this in Vmware. Again I've made a third (primary) partition to store the ISO and IMA on but trying to install either "Vanilla" XPSP3 (558MB) or nlited-XPSP3 (381MB) to either the first or second partition in VMware, after selecting Quick Format I get:
"Setup cannot format the partition
Your computer may not have enough memory to perform this operation or your Windows XP CD-ROM may contain some corrupted files."

I've given the VMachine 1GB RAM, so lack of memory shouldn't be a problem. Installing with either of the ISO's mounted to the V-CD-ROM works fine.

If I format the partition manually and select "Leave the current file system intact (no changes)" in XP setup, I get:
"Setup was unable to verify drive C:
Your computer may not have enough memory to examine the drives or your Windows XP CD-ROM may contain some corrupted files.
To continue, press ENTER"

and pressing Enter gets me:
"Setup cannot access the CD containing the Windows XP installation files"

Has anyone had any success testing this in a Virtual machine?

[kDn]

doveman, on Nov 11 2009, 09:44 AM, said:

Has anyone had any success testing this in a Virtual machine?

Yes, I tested this method of install on VMWare many times.

[doveman]

Oh well, at least now I know it's something I'm doing wrong!

I've been doing some testing with XP install files on the HD and it seems the errors I'm getting in Vmware are caused by an incorrect "SetupSourceDevice = " line in TXTSETUP.sif.

So, what should I set this to before making the ISO?

This post has been edited by doveman: 11 November 2009 - 05:12 AM

[cdob]

travis_san, on Nov 10 2009, 02:21 PM, said:

Yes, I did RAM load this way by linking the usb drive as a virtual drive.

Is this how you tested it in a vm or did you use a different method?

As far as I know VirtualBox mount the USB stick to a virtual internal hard disk.
There are no USB drivers used. This does not test USB boot.
Installation way work anyway, but test internal hard disk behaviour.

I'm using VMWare Player, mount the USB drive, boot a PLoP Boot Manager floppy image and continue USB boot.
Windows setup use USB drivers for the USB drive. This does test USB boot.

travis_san said:

What can I do to slipstream IE7 without generating missing file errors in text setup?

Try file names used by a default XP CD: that's 8.3 names.
Long names are renamed at installation.

txtsetup.sif said:

aaclient.mui = 100,,,,,,,,3,3,aaclient.dll.mui

The CD does contain file name aaclient.mui, not aaclient.dll.mui.

nLlite breaks XP defaults

txtsetup.sif said:

icardie.dll.mui = 1,,,,,,,1974,0,0

A long name is used at CD. Try a 8.3 file name at ISO image.

travis_san said:

I've been doing some testing with XP install files on the HD and it seems the errors I'm getting in Vmware are caused by an incorrect "SetupSourceDevice = " line in TXTSETUP.sif.

A XP default CD dosn't contain SetupSourceDevice, delete this line.
And if you use one hard disk, dosn't use grub4dos hd swap.

[doveman]

Actually neither of the ISOs I'm using contain the SetupSourceDevice line either. I just noticed that when I had the wrong settings in that line, whilst trying to do an install from the XPCD files copied to HD, that I got the same errors that I'm seeing with the ISO install.

I'm not using the HD swap when installing from the same HD either.

I had another problem in that the XP install was assigning C: to the third partion, but that turned out to just be because that partition was active. Setting the first partition active fixed that.

This post has been edited by doveman: 11 November 2009 - 10:58 AM

[travis_san]

Quote

NTLDR expects NTDETECT.COM in the active partition of the first disk, not on the second, as would be if no swapping is made, hence the need of swapping.

Thanks ilko_t, this works now.

Quote

There are several reports that nLited sources do NOT work well when booted not from a CD

To clarify, the nlited source installed via RAM load works fine. However, nlited source + IE7 slipstreamed creates errors in text mode.
I was considering cdob's post on how nlite breaks the naming convention in txtsetup.sif and yet this is functional if the source is an ISO created by nlite. I noticed these ISOs are Joliet, whereas XP_RAM.ISO was not. I simply added

set mkisofs_option=-R -J

to mkISO_RAMload_sort.cmd to enable Joliet. This works; no missing file errors in text mode.

Thank you for your help guys. I will test this on real hardware soon.

[doveman]

After reading travis_san's message, I thought "maybe I shouldn't be building my ISOs with Nero" (although it seems to make ISOs that work in the VCD-ROM) and recalled what I'd learnt about mkisofs only last week (and mostly forgotten already ).

Anyway, I rebuilt my "Vanilla" XP ISO with the below command, but it didn't help

mkisofs -v -volid XPPSP3 -R -l -iso-level 4 -J -joliet-long -duplicates-once -b boot.ima -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-load-seg 0x07C0 -o XPPROSP3Un.iso "XPProSP3-Vanilla-Unattend"

[doveman]

To try and troubleshoot, I thought I'd just make an ISO, containing only XP_RAM.iso, XP_INST.IMA, grldr and menu.lst, to boot in VMware's VCD-ROM. It seems to be working OK, but I can't get it to respect my unattended settings in winnt.sif.

I've tried putting it in the root and in setup\I386\ of the IMA, but I still get the EULA every time. Where exactly am I meant to put this file?

[kDn]

doveman, on Nov 12 2009, 03:10 AM, said:

To try and troubleshoot, I thought I'd just make an ISO, containing only XP_RAM.iso, XP_INST.IMA, grldr and menu.lst, to boot in VMware's VCD-ROM. It seems to be working OK, but I can't get it to respect my unattended settings in winnt.sif.

I've tried putting it in the root and in setup\I386\ of the IMA, but I still get the EULA every time. Where exactly am I meant to put this file?

Try to reread Post #73

This post has been edited by kDn: 12 November 2009 - 07:01 AM

[doveman]

Thanks, but I'm not trying to do a multiple unattended-mode installation, so all that tells me is that it goes in the root of the IMA, which I've already tried.

I tested by copying the XP_RAM.iso and XP_INST.IMA to a usb stick and booting from that, starting the RAM install with drive mapping, and that worked fine.

It turns out that it's just a problem with my test CD ISO, to do with case. I don't even have to put WINNT.SIF in the IMA, it works fine from the XP_RAM.ISO once the problem's fixed.

After a lot of testing, it turns out that XP_RAM.iso needs to be XP_RAM.ISO for the WINNT.SIF to work from a CD ISO in Vmware. I've got no idea why it should work with a lower-case extension from a USB stick but not a CD ISO but there you are.

[cdob]

travis_san, on Nov 11 2009, 04:01 PM, said:

this is functional if the source is an ISO created by nlite. I noticed these ISOs are Joliet, whereas XP_RAM.ISO was not.

Sorry I didn't understand there are different ISO files. I understood you used the nLite ISO image always.

To allow multiple dots at ISO 9660: mkisofs -allow-multidot
Yes, or add Joliet file system: mkISO_RAMload_sort.cmd -joliet-long
Rock Ridge extension won't matter in that case. Anyay use -r instead of -R at windows in future.

doveman, on Nov 12 2009, 09:43 AM, said:

It turns out that it's just a problem with my test CD ISO, to do with case. I don't even have to put WINNT.SIF in the IMA, it works fine from the XP_RAM.ISO once the problem's fixed.

Yes, winnt.sif is not WINNT.SIF.

Quote

After a lot of testing, it turns out that XP_RAM.iso needs to be XP_RAM.ISO for the WINNT.SIF to work from a CD ISO in Vmware. I've got no idea why it should work with a lower-case extension from a USB stick but not a CD ISO but there you are.

Grub4dos ignore case at (floppy, hard) disk file system, your USB stick.
Grub4dos is case sensitive at ISO 9660 file system, your CD.