{"id":1540,"date":"2015-07-31T14:39:34","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T13:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevepedwards.today\/DebianAdmin\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2023-10-28T20:54:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T19:54:49","slug":"pxe-menu-issues-and-iso-boot-file-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevepedwards.today\/DebianAdmin\/pxe-menu-issues-and-iso-boot-file-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"PXE Menu Issues and ISO Boot File Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I'm still struggling at this point to get correct info to make some of these menus work.
\nThose in bold work.
\n--<\/p>\n

default menu.c32
\nprompt 0
\ntimeout 300
\nONTIMEOUT local<\/strong><\/p>\n

menu title # PXE Boot Menu #<\/strong><\/p>\n

label 1<\/strong>
\n menu label (^1) Install pmagic32<\/strong>
\n kernel pmagic\/bzImage<\/strong>
\n INITRD pmagic\/initrd.img,pmagic\/fu.img,pmagic\/m32.img,pmagic\/files.cgz<\/strong>
\n APPEND edd=on vga=normal<\/strong><\/p>\n

label 2<\/strong>
\n menu label (^2) Install pmagic64<\/strong>
\n kernel pmagic\/bzImage64<\/strong>
\n INITRD pmagic\/initrd.img,pmagic\/fu.img,pmagic\/m64.img,pmagic\/files.cgz<\/strong>
\n APPEND edd=on vga=normal<\/strong><\/p>\n

label 3
\nmenu label (^3) Install mint32
\nkernel mint\/casper\/vmlinuz
\nappend initrd=mint\/casper\/initrd.lz
\nfetch mint\/casper\/filesystem.squashfs,<\/p>\n

mint\/casper\/filesystem.size,mint\/casper\/filesystem.manifest,mint\/casper\/filesystem.manifest-remove,mint\/preseed\/cli.seed,mint\/preseed\/linuxmint.seed,mint\/isolinux\/vesamenu.c32<\/p>\n

label 4
\nmenu label (^4) WinPE_x86
\nkernel memdisk
\ninitrd WinPE_x86\/winpe.wim,WinPE_x86\/etfsboot.com,WinPE_x86\/ISO\/bootmgr,<\/p>\n

WinPE_x86\/ISO\/EFI\/microsoft\/boot\/bcd,WinPE_x86\/ISO\/boot\/boot.sdi,WinPE_x86\/ISO\/boot\/bootfix.bin
\nAPPEND WinPE_x86\/winpe_x86.iso raw
\nAPPEND load_ramdisk=1 root=\/dev\/ram ramdisk=20000<\/p>\n

label 5
\nmenu label (^5) WinPE_amd64
\nkernel memdisk
\ninitrd WinPE_amd64\/winpe.wim,WinPE_amd64\/efisys.bin,WinPE_amd64\/ISO\/bootmgr,<\/p>\n

WinPE_amd64\/etfsboot.com,WinPE_amd64\/ISO\/EFI\/boot\/bootx64.efi,WinPE_amd64\/ISO\/boot\/bootfix.bin
\nAPPEND WinPE_amd\/winpe_amd64.iso raw
\nAPPEND load_ramdisk=1 root=\/dev\/ram ramdisk=20000<\/p>\n

label 6
\nmenu label (^6) Install ubuntu i386<\/strong><\/p>\n

kernel ubuntu-installer\/i386\/linux<\/strong>
\n append initrd=ubuntu-installer\/i386\/initrd.gz<\/strong>
\n include ubuntu-installer\/i386\/boot-screens\/menu.cfg,ubuntu-installer\/i386\/boot-screens\/vesamenu.c32<\/strong><\/p>\n

label local<\/strong>
\n menu label (^local) Boot from local drive<\/strong>
\n localboot 0<\/strong><\/p>\n

------<\/p>\n

\"WinPEStuck.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Loading boot sector...booting...not really....just pissing you off...<\/p>\n

It turns out that these two WinPE.ISOs (x86 and amd64) which were created according to the commands in the Win AIK, which are the same as the techmint page, create the ISO, which works as a bootable CD, but won't work using Mint's boot to USB, unlike PartedMagic's ISO which did the opposite!<\/p>\n

With a mentality of \"if in doubt, load everything possible\" I got WinPE as far as copying and loading if not booting, as ramdrive parameters were what the screen complained was missing previously. The next possible problem that has arisen is that images may not be the correct format!<\/p>\n

I discovered these tools somewhere, that check image info, and change non hard disk images to suit a boot environ - if the image is suitable in the first place, to create an \"isohybrid\", which places extra data in the image to make it work - if possible. Before changing the current ISO state with isohybrid, you can check it's current state with isovfy:<\/p>\n

DellMint stevee # isovfy \/tftpboot\/WinPE_amd64\/winpe_amd64.iso<\/span>
\nRoot at extent 16, 310 bytes<\/span>
\n[0 0]<\/span>
\n********Directory has unusual size<\/span>
\nDellMint stevee # isovfy \/tftpboot\/WinPE_x86\/winpe_x86.iso<\/span>
\nRoot at extent 16, 266 bytes<\/span>
\n[0 0]<\/span>
\n********Directory has unusual size<\/span><\/p>\n

So, that won't help the booting situation probably! However, it could mean that the menu structure is actually correct, it's just a condition of the ISOs that is the problem.<\/p>\n

Can it be fixed with these tools? Seems not...<\/p>\n

DellMint stevee # isohybrid \/tftpboot\/WinPE_x86\/winpe_x86.iso<\/span>
\nisohybrid: \/tftpboot\/WinPE_x86\/winpe_x86.iso: unexpected boot catalogue parameters<\/span><\/p>\n

isohybrid \/tftpboot\/WinPE_amd64\/winpe_amd64.iso<\/span><\/p>\n

isohybrid: \/tftpboot\/WinPE_amd64\/winpe_amd64.iso: unexpected boot catalogue parameters<\/span><\/p>\n

man isohybrid<\/span><\/p>\n

DESCRIPTION<\/span>
\n Starting in version 3.72, ISOLINUX supports a \"hybrid mode\" which can<\/span>
\n be booted from either CD-ROM or from a device which BIOS considers a<\/span>
\n hard disk or ZIP disk, e.g. a USB key or similar.<\/span><\/p>\n

To enable this mode, the .iso image needs to be postprecessed with this<\/span>
\n utility.<\/span><\/p>\n

OPTIONS<\/span>
\n -h HEADS<\/span>
\n Number of default geometry heads.<\/span><\/p>\n

-s SECTORS<\/span>
\n Number of default geometry sectors....<\/span><\/p>\n

If PXE was not bad enough before, it's worse, as this implies you may have to structure the ram drive as well as the image to suit the conditions you are trying to boot from?!<\/p>\n

\u00a0man isovfy<\/span><\/p>\n

NAME
\ndevdump, isoinfo, isovfy, isodump - Utility programs for dumping and verifying iso9660 images.<\/p>\n

SYNOPSIS<\/span>
\n devdump isoimage<\/span><\/p>\n

isodump isoimage<\/span><\/p>\n

isoinfo [ -d ] [ -h ] [ -R ] [ -J ] [ -j charset ] [ -f ] [ -l ] [ -p ] [ -T sector ] [ -N sector ] [ -i<\/span>
\n isoimage ] [ -x path ]<\/span><\/p>\n

isovfy isoimage<\/span><\/p>\n

DESCRIPTION<\/span>
\n devdump is a crude utility to interactively display the contents of device or filesystem images. The ini\u00c3:<\/span>
\n tial screen is a display of the first 256 bytes of the first 2048 byte sector. The commands are the same as<\/span>
\n with isodump.<\/span><\/p>\n

isodump is a crude utility to interactively display the contents of iso9660 images in order to verify direc\u00c3:<\/span>
\n tory integrity. The initial screen is a display of the first part of the root directory, and the prompt<\/span>
\n shows you the extent number and offset in the extent....<\/span><\/p>\n

So what does that say about what is going on with a \"special\" image, say, created by MS or PartedMagic - which inversely boot\/not boot from CD and USB but DO work in some fashion, and how are you to know what the issues are let alone how to fix it?<\/p>\n

The same WinPE images boot from CD to the WinPE prompt, which allows you to net use the Mint share, then CD to it, and run a Win7 setup.exe, for example no problem:<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0028.jpg\"<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0031.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Note a password was not required as samba has<\/p>\n

guest ok = yes<\/span><\/p>\n

for this \\Quadra share.<\/p>\n

The Win command is:<\/p>\n

net use S: \\\\dellmint\\Quadra \/user:stevee@dellmint<\/span><\/p>\n

Now CD to the mapped drive S: that contains your Win7 setup files, and run setup.exe<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0034.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ok, that proves the WinPE image is fine from a CD, and the network is available, so why won't it work when pulled across by PXE?<\/p>\n

First what exactly is WinPE?<\/p>\n

Windows\u00ae Preinstallation Environment (Windows\u00a0PE) 3.0 is a bootable tool that provides a minimal set of operating system features for installation, troubleshooting, and recovery. Windows\u00a0PE is not a general-purpose operating system. Instead, it is designed for three specific tasks:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n