| 00:21.54 | Xarann | nirkus it doesnt have to be the image |
| 00:21.57 | Xarann | just the files in it |
| 00:22.17 | Xarann | the image is mounted on my desktop |
| 00:22.17 | Xarann | as a virtual drive |
| 00:24.58 | ScytheBlade1 | And how would it get to those files? |
| 00:26.20 | Xarann | > so i can boot this laptop and install xp on the hdd |
| 00:26.20 | Xarann | [18:02] <frb-work> Xarann: not too bad if you have linux experience |
| 00:26.20 | Xarann | [18:02] <Xarann> i dont have much |
| 00:26.20 | Xarann | [18:02] * Ramosa has quit IRC ("wikiproverbs.org") |
| 00:26.25 | Xarann | uh |
| 00:26.29 | Xarann | pxe? |
| 00:27.00 | ScytheBlade1 | PXE isn't a network filesystem |
| 00:27.17 | ScytheBlade1 | It loads a single file into RAM and executes it |
| 00:27.51 | Xarann | im thinking of doing something like this http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu_pxe_install_server |
| 00:28.39 | ScytheBlade1 | That's also a 9 page tutorial |
| 00:28.50 | ScytheBlade1 | That won't help you at all for windows |
| 00:29.52 | Xarann | are you usefull at all? |
| 00:30.42 | ScytheBlade1 | http://oss.netfarm.it/guides/pxe.php |
| 00:31.36 | ScytheBlade1 | That's the only resource for PXE installing windows that I've *ever* found on the internet |
| 00:31.40 | ScytheBlade1 | That doesn't involve Windows Server |
| 00:33.18 | Xarann | well you still need a linux box |
| 00:33.44 | ScytheBlade1 | Yup |
| 00:34.00 | ScytheBlade1 | Either that or a windows based DHCP server and a working windows perl install |
| 00:35.22 | Xarann | painful |
| 00:35.58 | ScytheBlade1 | And it requires modifying NTLDR |
| 00:37.09 | ScytheBlade1 | Err, I lied, ntdetect.com, not NTLDR |
| 00:37.23 | ScytheBlade1 | But you'll rename it to NTLDR anyways, so eh |
| 00:38.28 | Xarann | i just cant believe nobody ever thought of making an easy allinone solution to install operating systems over a network |
| 00:38.56 | ScytheBlade1 | It's not easy :) |
| 00:39.21 | ScytheBlade1 | How would it be done? You can either load, for example, an entire ISO of a CD into RAM |
| 00:41.02 | ScytheBlade1 | Or you have to include a network filesystem |
| 00:41.02 | Xarann | how hard can it be to load a 700mb iso in ram |
| 00:41.02 | ScytheBlade1 | No matter which you pick, under the assumption of an ISO, you have to emulate a CD-ROM drive effectively enough to fool the computer into thinking it has another drive |
| 00:41.02 | ScytheBlade1 | And that doesn't solve the problem afterwards, or post windows initial reboot, of getting the data to it |
| 00:41.02 | ScytheBlade1 | It's incredibly easy to load 700MB into RAM |
| 00:41.03 | ScytheBlade1 | Getting it to do anything is another story |
| 00:41.03 | Xarann | to install windows |
| 00:41.03 | Xarann | you dont need to mount an image |
| 00:41.03 | Xarann | you just need the files |
| 00:41.03 | Xarann | in a dir |
| 00:41.03 | Xarann | and to run the install.exe |
| 00:41.14 | ScytheBlade1 | "in a dir" |
| 00:41.23 | ScytheBlade1 | Where is that dir stored? How is it accessed? Is it emulated? |
| 00:41.48 | Xarann | its in the ram |
| 00:42.10 | ScytheBlade1 | So for windows, when you reboot after the initial text based installer |
| 00:42.16 | ScytheBlade1 | How do you access all of the needed installer data? |
| 00:42.22 | ScytheBlade1 | The RAM is toast after that reboot |
| 00:43.17 | Xarann | windows installer doesnt require any cold reboots |
| 00:43.44 | ScytheBlade1 | You're right, it doesn't |
| 00:44.02 | ScytheBlade1 | But you can bet money that without the proper init routines running, the computer isn't going to see that RAM-based ISO as an actual drive |
| 00:44.12 | ScytheBlade1 | That bit isn't going to persist, that emulation |
| 00:44.56 | Xarann | why doesnt it just get the files from the network then |
| 00:45.46 | ScytheBlade1 | So now we're adding NIC drivers, network filesystems, a hand-written config file telling windows where the files are, and TCP/IP configuration to the mix |
| 00:53.54 | Xarann | im gonna do tthis |
| 00:53.55 | Xarann | http://home.allegiance.tv/~joem298/ |
| 00:54.35 | ScytheBlade1 | That's using norton ghost |
| 01:02.48 | Xarann | im almost done |
| 02:40.46 | *** join/##pxe muh2000 (n=muh2000@p57A59632.dip0.t-ipconnect.de) |
| 08:40.36 | *** join/##pxe Norky (n=dan@milton.ocsl.co.uk) |
| 09:13.30 | Nirkus | <PROTECTED> |
| 09:14.01 | Nirkus | <PROTECTED> |
| 09:57.53 | qdk_ | omfg, what a huge moron him xarann. |
| 12:51.16 | ScytheBlade1 | Hehe |
| 12:51.17 | ScytheBlade1 | I try |
| 13:20.23 | *** join/##pxe SirFunk (n=Sir@admin-147-222.potsdam.edu) |
| 14:40.23 | *** join/##pxe muh2000_ (n=muh2000@p57a59fc1.dip0.t-ipconnect.de) |
| 15:14.19 | *** join/##pxe Xarann2 (n=wut@modemcable081.226-80-70.mc.videotron.ca) |
| 15:14.28 | Xarann2 | morning |
| 15:20.10 | Nirkus | Xarann2 == Xarann? Windows installes? : mronging. |
| 15:21.18 | Nirkus | *lol* s/mronging/morning/ |
| 15:21.22 | *** join/##pxe Xarann (n=wut@modemcable081.226-80-70.mc.videotron.ca) |
| 15:21.49 | Xarann | re |
| 15:22.04 | Xarann | i rethought it in my sleep |
| 15:22.17 | Xarann | and ijust managed to boot a floppy image |
| 15:22.23 | Xarann | across the network |
| 15:28.42 | *** join/##pxe cm01 (n=cm@p5B227654.dip.t-dialin.net) |
| 15:31.10 | cm01 | hi |
| 15:32.57 | cm01 | i have a question about usb ethernet apdater |
| 15:37.21 | cm01 | are there any usb devices who supported pxe by r-o-m? i found only the argon solution, but the listed devices are pretty old |
| 15:46.54 | Nirkus | cm01: i cant say for sure, but if your BIOS supports USB devices loading a BIOS extension ROM, it should work |
| 15:47.13 | Nirkus | but i have no idea whether that is specified anywhere |
| 16:15.22 | *** join/##pxe jbot (i=ibot@pdpc/supporter/active/TimRiker/bot/apt) |
| 16:15.22 | *** topic/##pxe is PXE HOWTO at: http://dev.brantleyonline.com/wiki/index.php/PXE_Booting_Index | Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment (also at de.wiki) | Need help? Stick around (for about 8 hours, we're probably sleeping or at school)! | Want logs? Try typing ~logs |
| 16:15.31 | cm01 | Nirkus: ok, thanks for response! |