PXE Ramdisk Boot With Win2003 SP1, ISO Ramdisk virtual CD Options

[Macfox]

NET BOOT WINPE Via PXE and TFTP

Hi,

I've been playing around with getting WinPE to boot via a RAMDisk for a while (aka WinPE 2005 or 1.6) and thought I'd share a few details with others that might be interested in doing the same.

Now that MS has released the Win2003 SP1 RC1 the "required" files are "officially" available for download via Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate (32-bit)

Here's a quick guide for those that want to do the same.

Basics setup:

• Setup the DHCP server custom options as per this guide. MS TFTP and DHCP Setup Make sure the DHCP option 067 is set to startrom.com instead
• Build WinPE ISO image from Win2003 SP1 using Bartpe or the Official MS method.
• In the TFTP server root dir make sure you have the following files. (startrom.com,ntdetect.com,ntldr,the iso image,winnt.sif) from win2003 sp1
  ntldr is a renamed setupldr.exe
• You'll need to create the winnt.sif
  [SetupData]
  BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)"
  BootPath = "\i386\System32\"
  OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=<image>.iso"
  
• And that's basically it. Just boot your PC via PXE. You should see a progress bar as the ISO is loaded in to the Ram Disk, and then the familiar |||||| progress bar (Very Fast), then the desktop.

Pros
Better than RIS/PXE as the network services are fully functional. DNS and WINS/NetBIOS are possible now.
It's also possible to load the ISO images from CD/HD/USB also with the right winnt.sif and ARC path options.

Cons:
You can't use Win XP to build these RAMDisk images, it must be Win2003 SP1 RC1.
This only works under 32 bit systems at the moment.
Requires atleast 256MB RAM.

Go your hardest. Leave some feedback on your results.

Mac.

Edit: Spelling/Updates

[Bernd Blaauw]

Interesting. If this is possible with different TFTP server, and with a trial version of Win2003 (convert to BartPE), then I'll try it.

it will probably make RIS installations also a bit faster.

Bernd

[Macfox]

Interesting. If this is possible with different TFTP server, and with a trial version of Win2003 (convert to BartPE), then I'll try it.

Yes I built a Bart PE with Win2003(Eval) SP1(RC1). 145MB ISO.

TFTP server can vary. I've used the tftp server under linux with success and also a 3com one. ( Very Slow)

The MS one seems to be very fast.

it will probably make RIS installations also a bit faster.

Well the best thing is, you don't even need RIS or AD for that fact. Excellent for sites that aren't using MS backend, like Novell sites or Linux sites running Samba etc.

I don't think people realise how good this ram boot is.

Rob

[Former_jefius_post]

does this work also with win2000 ?

[Macfox]

does this work also with win2000 ?

No. Only works with Win2003 SP1 RC1.

You could probably build an XP SP2 Image, but you still need the NTLDR and NTDETECT startrom.com components from Win2003 SP1 to get the TFTP part working.

Rob

[dicht]

Hi Guys,
please remember if you use this switch with winnt.sif you need the same size of ram + minimum 64MB installed as your ISO is.So if you do a ISO file thats about 250 MB you need about 320 MB Ram installed.And remember that cause you load the ISO into RAM that there might be BSODs by installing a Ramdisk (I use a modified MS Ramdisk driver and it did not work).For using this trick from HDD its really fast, on CD it slows down (but you can swap CDs), from PXE I prefer the RIS method cause its really fast (why should I slow load the ISO to RAM and the start it as fast as over a good Network, maybe its just interesting if you dont have a RIS MS Server).

But its absolutely nice to see that MS is doing much work on WinPE and believe me its getting better, there were some developers of MS in our company and they did stuff with WinPE great (have you ever debugged a winpe with another winpe over firewire?).


dicht

[Macfox]

Hi Guys,
from PXE I prefer the RIS method cause its really fast (why should I slow load the ISO to RAM and the start it as fast as over a good Network, maybe its just interesting if you dont have a RIS MS Server).

Because the Networking is broken under RIS. No DNS or WINS etc.

Now this is out. RIS is basically dead IMHO. MS is moving the Image based deployment and it difficult to get RIS to image in a large enviroments due to the crippled networking.

If you have the full WinPE 2005 you can remove "listed" unneeded files and cut the ISO down to 86MB. You then can Map drives and load other stuff of File shares.

Rob

[dicht]

Because the Networking is broken under RIS. No DNS or WINS etc.

we use it at the moment and Network is not broken maybe you dont have a names resolution than you have to use IP addresses , but an ipconfig /registerdns will do this for you.

MS is moving the Image based deployment and it difficult to get RIS to image in a large enviroments due to the crippled networking.

you only need a good configured RIS Server to load WinPE and then some other servers to get your Image or Preload.Its the same for the tftp or Ris server to give an ISO of 86MB or give an WinPE over RIS except that you can cut the connection when the ISO is in Memory and with RIS boot you have to stay connected.

If you have the full WinPE 2005 you can remove "listed" unneeded files and cut the ISO down to 86MB

not ALL apps will run than, cause then there are missing some files, the remove list was in every version of PE.


But as I said everyone can do it the way he/she likes , and its great to have the Ram Feature thats for sure.

dicht

[Metzen]

Are the loaded ISO images Read/Write or Read Only?

[dicht]

@Metzen

Read Only


dicht

[Metzen]

@Metzen

Read Only


dicht

Does this load the ISO (ie, can I have isolinux on the ISO) as it would a normal CD or must it be MS?

[Macfox]

Does this load the ISO (ie, can I have isolinux on the ISO) as it would a normal CD or must it be MS?

Has to be PE ISO most probably. Don't think the NTLDR will load any other OSs via this method. Give it a try though. It might work.

[dicht]

@Metzen

as i think it should work, cause with the special kernel you put the complete ISO into memory and start it from there as it would be a CD and so it should do with e.g. cdshell.The only think that can happen is that you got problems with memory spaces like adress conflicts.Just try it

dicht

[alpay]

So I've read whatever I could find and I'm not exactly getting it. is winnt.sif the boot loader?

I made a bartpe (pebuilder) iso with server2003. I got Tftp32 working on my win2000 based fileserver. my linux firewall is also my Dhcp server (www.smoothwall.org), it offers bootp so I popped in the settings to point to Tftp.

my client successfully gets it's network settings, and connects to tftp, but then fails. when I check the Tftp interface, it shows that it tried sending winnt.sif and failed 3 times. i tried setting startrom.com as the boot loader and it complained that it cannot find ntloader (which was renamed setupldr.exe). I added ntloader to the folder also. no dice.

I guess I'm trying to put together all the peices I have without a basic understanding of each files purpose. seems like my network is setup properly, I just don't know how to initiate a bootstrap.

Can you guys (Macfox?) tell me what I'd need for my situation? I see other tutes on the net showing filenames like pxe.0 and syslinux.0, is my naming convention simply wrong?

Thanks for the help.
Alpay

[dicht]

@alplay,

hi ,

1.you have to do a iso File of an Winpe (BartPE CD).
2.the initial boot program has to be startrom.com

then you have to create a winnt.sif file with the following entrys in the directory where startrom.com resists.

[SetupData]
BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)"
BootPath = "\i386\System32\"
OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=winpe.iso"

where winpe.iso is your image file.
then in the same directory where winnt.sif resists you have to put ntdetect.com and ntldr (renamed from setupldr.exe).

That shoul do it
dicht

[alpay]

That's sounds like my setup...





with the images above you can see my error in the tftp server, and I include the bootp settings just for good measure. That part seems to work since the pxe client is reaching tftp.

my iso is called winpe.iso & "winnit.sif" file contains
[SetupData]
BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)"
BootPath = "\i386\System32\"
OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=winpe.iso"

Any suggestions? everything is looking logical to me. I do have a theory though, I don't have server2003 installed on any machines here, so I grabbed the needed files from inside the ISO or the source cd itself. startrom.com only existed as STARTROM.CO_ so I did an expand, looks good to me. could this step be my problem though? Would it be illegal for you to send me a zip of the tftp root folder contents? if it's not, then could ya please? the files seem to be:
startrom.com, ntdetect.com, ntloader (renamed to setupldr.exe), winpe.iso (my ~145mb bartpe build), and winnt.sif as detailed above.

Thanks,
Alpay

[bigman2u]

This is what I have been looking for in our environment!

Tried setting this up last night and I have our Windows 2003 DHCP server setup with all the settings that were listed, along with tftpd32 installed and running. When I start one of my clients in PXE mode it finds the tftp and starts to connect -- then I receive the following output on my DHCP/TFTP server:

Connection received from 192.168.1.113 on port 2070
Read request for file <startcom.com>. Mode octet
OACK: <tsize=24482,>
Peer returns ERROR <TFTP Aborted -> aborting transfer
Read request for file <startcom.com>. Mode octet
OACK: <blksize=1456,>
Ack block 2 ignored (received twice)
TIMEOUT waiting for Ack block #2

Any thoughts on why this is occuring and how to work around this? Big thanks to MacFox and dicht for providing input on this.

[dicht]

@alpay

did you rename setupldr.exe to ntldr or ntldr to setupldr.exe.

you must rename setupldr.exe to ntldr thats the way.

and as i see your boot filename is \winnt.sif you should change it to startrom.com in your settings, cause startrom.com reads winnt.sif file and transmits the osloadoptions to the ntldr.

at the moment i cant try the tftpd way cause we use RIS for installing WinPE (but also on RIS i can do a Ram load with an WinPE ISO).

maybe when i got some time i will try it just by tftpd.But as i know only for the reason that some companys dont have a win ris server they did the Ram feature to be compatibel with other tftpd servers , so it should work.

dicht

[alpay]

@dicht

OK! I'm getting much further, Thanks SO much for solving my filenaming and bootfile mistakes. and so quickly too. now I get to the point where it says "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration...", expecting the ol' |||| at the bottom, then I get a "NTDETECT failed". I checked tftp server and it reported that it cannot find "BOOTFONT.BIN" which I cannot seem to find anywhere. I checked the original cd, the bartpe built iso, even my regular xp-pro box. It looks like this puppy wants to boot now, happy about that... got any insight on what I'm doing wrong at this point?

Thanks Dicht!
Alpay

[dicht]

@alpay

does it say bootfont.bin or bootfix.bin

dicht