batcher .script set: MicroPE, a set of .scripts for a itsy bitsy PE (well duh!) Options

[Draugen]

Well, the original thread is VERY long now. So here's a new topic.

OK. First, the base:
micrope_base.7z
This creates a VERY basic BartPE build. It, ummm, boots. From IDE/ATAPI cdrom drives (only). And cmd.exe is the shell. And hard drives work. You CAN change the resolution though (through the VgaSave registry keys). Default resolution is 640x480. Limited to PS2 input devices ONLY: no USB or serial mice. Updated! (Hopefully) fixed a show-stopping bug when building from Server 2003. final ISO size: ~32 MiB.
Updated again 25.04.06 - should play along better on real, non-emulated hardware now. Many thanks to mr. Bundt, who found the bug, and the fix.
micrope_base_compressed.7z New! as of 07.04.06
the same as micrope_base, except that some files (38 so far) are either UPXed or MAKECABed. Results in a ~20MB iso. Much credit to zitu for finding out which files could be UPXd, and cdob for a list of files to MAKECAB. UPDATE: apparently, one or more DLL was UPXd that shouldn't be. This script will cause Small CD Writer to not work. A fix is on my TODO list 25.04.06: updated. testers needed though - don't know if Small CD Writer works yet.

Second: Drivers:
micrope_driver_ramdisk.7z
Adds the RAMDISK.SYS ScsiClass driver to the micrope, allowing it to boot into RAM. Thus, the CD can be removed after boot. Useful for backing up to/restoring from CDs/DVDs. Further discussion here.
micrope_driver_usbhid.7z
Adds USB input device support to MicroPE. BETA! I hope it works - please test and give feedback!
micrope_driver_net-tcpip.7z
New!Adds TCP/IP and DHCP networking support to MicroPE. Note: You still have to include drivers for your hardware! .inf files in \i386\inf and .sys files in \i386\system32\drivers. (25.04.06)
micrope_driver_net-msclient.7z
New!Adds Client for Microsoft networks to MicroPE. (25.04.06)
micrope_driver_net-msserver.7z
New!Adds Client for Microsoft networks to MicroPE. Many thanks to mr. Bundt! (25.04.06)

coming up: micrope_driver_floppy, micrope_driver_usbstor, micrope_driver_ramdrive

Third: Shells
micrope_shell_a43.7z
Adds B.G Miller's A43 filemanager, and sets it as the shell. Allows you to copy files around and stuff. ~40 MiB ISO.
Updated! should now work when building from Windows 2003 (5.04.06)
micrope_shell_bblean.7z
Updated! Added a menu bar and restructured the menu (25.04.06) Later, 25.04.06, updated again. fixed the menu generation.
stripped-down version of bbLean, customized by me. This will be the shell I base further application add-on scripts on. Run by itself, ~35 MiB ISO.
micrope_shell_scdwriter.7z
Updated! should now work when building from Windows 2003 (5.04.06)
I made this script for hoovahh. Basically, a BartPE that can burn CDs, and not much else. ~35 MiB ISO.

Fourth: Apps
micrope_app_a43.7z
Adds A43 to MicroPE.
micrope_app_regedit.7z
Adds the windows registry editor to MicroPE.
micrope_app_scdwriter.7z
Adds Small CD Writer to MicroPE.

base, shell_bblean and the above results in a ~43 MiB ISO.

All the app scripts are updated (5.04.06) should now work when building from Windows 2003

All micrope_app_$PROGRAM scripts copy over the files they require, get put in \system32 or %PROGRAMFILES%\$PROGRAM depending, and writes an entry in the bblean menu if applicable.

So, how to get in on the MicroPE goodness?
First, go get Batcher here or here. The last site is updated first.

then, unpack (any good multiarchiver can handle .7z. i reccomend 7-zip) and copy to \Batcher\Scripts micrope_base. also unpack any micrope_driver_* scripts you need here. Select a shell. If you want to add more than one program, use bblean. Extract this in \batcher\scripts too. Then, add any apps you want in the same place.

I also recommend getting at least mkisofs.zip from batcher's homepage.

Fire up batcher. The scripts should all have nice yellow checkmarks. Press the [paths] button. Select a Bart's Pebuilder output folder as the source directory. I strongly recommend you disable all plugins when building BartPE for MicroPE! Select any directory you like for the target dir - but be warned! micrope_base WILL DELETE THE CONTENTS OF THE TARGET DIRECTORY! Also, find a place for the ISO file if you got the mkisofs script.

Press [Start]. Voila! You now have an ISO file with a teensy weensy BartPE on it (or atleast, a output folder thats so small it's sexy ).

finally, some screenshots:

1: MicroPE (meant to call it miniPE, but that's taken) with bbLean as the shell - and not much else.
2: bbLean with the above mentioned app scripts. showing off the menu.

PS: Dates are in european format (dd.mm.yy) in case anyone got confused

[TheHive]

Good stuff! Thanks for creating a new thread.

How about a future script for Network support.
I like the new name of the new scripts that create "MicroPE"

Looking forward to the future scripts.

in my 49MB script ISO with the Xoblite shell im getting a do you want to search for an update for xoblite because it has been 30 plus days since it checked for and update. Will your version do that also.
This is what i mean:

Slap me silly your using bblean as a shell and not xoblite. lol! Ill post this on the other thread.

Can you add version numbers to your scripts just in case you update in the future.

The micrope_drivers_ramdisk.7z link is not working.

The micrope_app_regedit.7z link points to A43 file.
The micrope_app_scdwriter.7z link points to A43 file also.

Does Batcher recognize 7zip compressed scripts?
Edit: Forget this question just reread your post.

[TheHive]

EDIT: I forgot something and the ISO was an old one I had. A new one was not being created. Forgot to add the following script. lol!

I also recommend getting at least mkisofs.script from batcher's homepage.

Testing 3 scripts. BUG!

micrope_base.script
micrope_shell_bblean.script
micrope_app_a43.script

Everthing goes well and the ISO is built and boots, except that the bblean shell doesnt come up. The a43 program comes up as the shell for some reason and the SCDWRITER.EXE is include in the apps even when I dont have the script to add it there. I dont see the A43 in the Apps folder where it should be. Its in the system32 folder.



Using Batcher v1.16.
Here are the scripts im running.

Reran the same scripts and adding the mkisofs.script and im getting the following error:
List index out of bounds (4)



I used my old batch file to create the ISO and Everthing is working. Something is wrong with mkisofs.script.
Can you make a MicroPE_mkisofs.script

Here is a pic of the result.


Very clean!

Any script to add your own wallpaper. If it can be a PNG Or JPG wallpaper that would be great.

Does bblean have something like the following script to display this type of info.


Hopefully Ill get a chance to test the Run From RAM script.

I have this old shutdown com program. Can you add it to the right click menu.

shutdown option only works on ATX systems with Advanced Power Management

ShutDown v1.2 written by BlackLight 2001
http://www.mytempdir.com/550103

Its real small. 1KB

[Draugen]

fixed the link for ramdisk. also updated mkisofs.script to work with batcher 1.16. also fixed the *app* script links... it was late, i was tired

as for adding bbsysinfo - i'm thinkin of adding tinyresmeter instead

a wallpaper .script is definitively possible- will look into it

EDIT: minipe_driver_ramdisk was broken - fixed now.

[Draugen]

New script: micrope_driver_usbhid. See first post for details.

[neue]

Great work draugen!

I really liked your screenshot..

I think it may be possible to speed up the booting process, txtsetup.sif has been reduced to the minimum, but I guess the registry is being loaded before txtsetup, and this is still uncovered ground..



@TheHive - I've considered using 7zip as the default compression algorithm I really like the results of it, but haven't managed to find a way to sucessfully integrate 7zip32.dll into the main application..

[TheHive]

adding tinyresmeter would be ok.
Thanks for the new links.

updated mkisofs.script - Can you add a link to where it cab be downloaded.

neue good luck in addin 7zip support.
From their FAQ
THis might be help im not sure

How can I add support for 7z archives to my application?
One way is to use the 7za.dll (available from sf.net for download). The 7za.dll works via COM interfaces. It, however, doesn't use standard COM interfaces for creating objects. You can find a small example in the source code. A full example is 7-Zip itself, since 7-Zip works via this dll also. There are other applications that use 7za.dll such as WinRAR, PowerArchiver and others.

The other way is to call the command line version: 7za.exe.

[Draugen]

the d/l link for mkisofs is where is should be -> at batcher's homepage.

[TheHive]

the d/l link for mkisofs is where is should be -> at batcher's homepage.

Can you make your Mention of it clickable. It will bring it more attention and people wont miss it. Like I did the first time. And I have been testing this thing for awhile. lol!

Can you add more info tou your RAmDIsk Info.

NOTE: Remember to add the RAMDISK.SYS from WINDOWS SERVER 2003! the script adds ramdisk.sys from a BartPE output, expecting it to be correct. You are warned!

if you use my script, it copies ramdisk.sys from a pebuilder output. if you build from XP SP2, dump server2k3's ramdisk.sys in %targetdir%\i386\system32\drivers

you can also get ramdisk.sys from server2k3's SP1 i believe... and that is freely available afaik

Is the above still true?


Can you make it to where we can just copy those two files to the Programs Ramdisk Folder. Is this possible or do they need to be in the System32 folder.

Do we also need these 2 files SETUPLDR.BIN, RAMDISK.SYS in the System32 folder. Or do we just need RAMDISK.sys.

If Ramdisk is Added it should be recommended not to run the MakeISO script. It should be run after you add the files to the system32 or wherever they belong in order for it to work.

Once you add those files to the Output of Batcher then a person should run the Make ISO script. And if they are using Qemu then they can run both scripts.

[TheHive]

Testing.

MkISOfs.zip. Doesnt work. Im still getting the same error.
Downloaded from http://batcher.pt.vu/

Getting these messages. I renamed the RAMDISK.SY_ to RAMDISK.SYS and SETUPLDR.BIN and copied to the system32. But the image is still being run from the CD not RAM.







Ran my old BAtch to create ISO and I get this.

[Draugen]

Can you make your Mention of it clickable. It will bring it more attention and people wont miss it. Like I did the first time. And I have been testing this thing for awhile. lol!

Can you add more info tou your RAmDIsk Info.

...

Is the above still true?
Can you make it to where we can just copy those two files to the Programs Ramdisk Folder. Is this possible or do they need to be in the System32 folder.

Do we also need these 2 files SETUPLDR.BIN, RAMDISK.SYS in the System32 folder. Or do we just need RAMDISK.sys.

If Ramdisk is Added it should be recommended not to run the MakeISO script. It should be run after you add the files to the system32 or wherever they belong in order for it to work.

Once you add those files to the Output of Batcher then a person should run the Make ISO script. And if they are using Qemu then they can run both scripts.

follow the link in my first post. yes, you only need 2K3 RAMDISK.SYS in the system32/drivers folder.

you DO, however, need to create a second ISO, containing:

- the first ISO
- SETUPLDR.BIN from w2k3
- a special WINNT.SIF (details on contents in the previously mentioned thread)

windows server 2003 SP1 can be downloaded here.

no Windows Genuine Annoyance even!

[TheHive]

I ll test your script for RAM a bit later. Its not very clear to the steps on what to do.

Can you give more info on what this is. What I should be looking for that it is working.
micrope_driver_usbhid.7z
Adds USB input device support to MicroPE.

During my previous testing I ran into a problem. When you minimize a43 there is no way to maximize it.

[Draugen]

thehive:

my ramdisk driver only PREPARES Micrope to boot into RAM. You still need to read and follow the instructions i've linked to in the first post.

as for testing the driver_usbhid script, boot into real hardware with usb mouse and/or keyboard and see if it works.. (I recommend CD-RW disks)

to get a minimized app back in my slimmed down bbLean, middle-click the desktop. From here you can also change workspaces.

[TheHive]

Can you rename all your scripts with Micrope at the beginning. It would make them all stand out from the other scripts. MiniPE Base to Micrope MiniBase and Micrope MkISOfs.

Can you base your micrope_driver_ramdisk on the one included with neue script. That seems to work out.
Can i use scripts that are not created by you on your version of Micrope.

So far I havent been able to get past the ISO creation without an error coming up when using the MkISOfs script.
I tried following the link you posted but Sorry I havent had success following it. I had success with neues script way of doing it.

Should the source be BartPE or the WIndows 2003 Server CD. At this time im doing it like earlier pointing to the BartPE output.

Can you please create your own version as Micrope MkISOfs and Micrope run ISO in Qemu. Thanks!

Should I use WIndows XP Source. Im getting this message when Use the Windows 2003 as the source and output.
Trying it without running RAM script. Got some errors when trying to create the ouput. And I then I use my batch file to create ISO. When I run it reports the following.



Cant seem to use Windows 2003 server to create a working Live CD. Let me test it again on Windows XP.

It creates a working output with Windows XP sp2 and using the Windows XP BArPE as the source. I have to use my batch file to create the ISO. If I use the MkISOfs it still gives me the 4 error I reported earlier. Im not running the RAM script. This seem to work out and the the live CD runs.

Ill test the micrope_driver_usbhid on a CDRW soon. Need to find a CDRW. Why cant it be tested on a virtual machine. VMware supports USB stuff.

[Draugen]

@thehive: weird about mkisofs not working.. it works for me

and the scripts have proper names as far as i'm concerned - i don't really understand what you're asking for here. all scripts start with micrope_, and there is a separate project called minipe.

as for creating separate micrope_mkisofs and qemu_ scripts: why? no need in reinventing the wheel, figuratively speaking. Neue's scrits work just fine.

yes, the source has to be a bartpe directory at the moment - built from server 2003. it is possible to use a bartpe built from XP sp2 as well, but then you would need to manually replace RAMDISK.SYS with the one from server 2003 before building the ISO.

[TheHive]

Im still getting this when I use BARPE XP as the source.

as for testing the driver_usbhid script, boot into real hardware with usb mouse and/or keyboard and see if it works.. (I recommend CD-RW disks)

Ill make sure to try USB mouse and keyboard when trying to test on real hardware. Might be tomorrow or next day.

to get a minimized app back in my slimmed down bbLean, middle-click the desktop. From here you can also change workspaces.

Middle click. I see. Is that Alpha Beta thing virtual work spaces. At first i was wondering what that was about. Thats very cool.

separate project called minipe.

ok!

I double checked the inside of the [paths] for my ISo maker. It seems I had too files with the same name on different folder for Scripts. Let me see if it works now.


Isnt that a bleep. That was the problem with not being able to create and ISO and runing Qemu.

Still getting the




I Just press the yes to all. You have any idea whats creating that.

[Draugen]

those messages are because i use dircopy to save typing. all app scripts are designed to work independently, and some programs need the same files from the i386/WinSxS directory. Neue uses the win32 copy API i believe, and that one croaks if files in the directory being copied have the same name.

I could work around these by using filecopy commands instead, but that's messier. plus a lot of work. and i'm lazy

in short, it's a feature, not a bug

@neue, if you read this, is i possible to add a "force" option to copy/move commands, so these messages don't pop up?

Ill test the micrope_driver_usbhid on a CDRW soon. Need to find a CDRW. Why cant it be tested on a virtual machine. VMware supports USB stuff.

ok, I did not know vmware supported USB in that case, vmware testing _should_ be enough (to get a general idea at least). what ireally need is a wide range of testers with varying HW - need to know if i got all the controller drivers sorted out (EHCI/OHCI/UHCi)

qemu actually has LIMITED usb support as well, but only in Linux :/

[TheHive]

You think batcher can use both the BARPE and the WIndows 2003 as sources at the same time to make creating your version of the RAM ISO easier. Or those that feature need to be added to Batcher.

OK! so its not a bug that it wants to copy over another file. Hopefully those popups can be made to go away in a future build of batcher, since they dont really create an error in the final ISO.

[neue]

@TheHive - As draugen guessed correctly, I'm using only windows api functions, this is usefull to handle errors such as disk full, or when a removable drive is not valid. It is only used to handle those common errors, earlier batcher versions didn't used api, and there were always problems appearing due to hardware issues - and api is the right way to handle them..

You can use any build you wish, and you can even mix them.. but the available .script files at the moment are only prepared to use one of them (preferably win2003..)




@Draugen - Everything is possible, only imagination limits our horizonts..

Probably there is a way to bypass all dialog boxes, but is it really a priority at the moment?
Don't worry I'll google around to see I find out how to do it as soon as some other issues are solved (like regwritebinary... )

[Draugen]

You think batcher can use both the BARPE and the WIndows 2003 as sources at the same time to make creating your version of the RAM ISO easier. Or those that feature need to be added to Batcher.

see the post i made some time ago in batcher's main thread - this is possible, but to make it easier, i want another global variable - %pebldrdir% or something.

well, it's reatively easy to automate the ram boot thingy in batcher. i could even make a script including the neccesary files (making it moot what version of windows is source). but then there are murky legal waters....