FiraDisk (latest = 0.0.1.30)

I'm about to import registry tweaks into ISO via RT Lite, Should I do the following? I have no way of knowing if Firadisk driver will read it's area from setup... but, for the least leaving it all "compatible" looks good

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\services\pciide]

"Start"=dword:00000001



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci]

"Start"=dword:00000001



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\services\intelide]

"Start"=dword:00000001



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\viaide]

"Start"=dword:00000001



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FiraDisk]

"DetectGrub4dos"=dword:00000001

"DetectMemdisk"=dword:00000001



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\firadisk\Parameters]

"StartOptions"="disk,vmem=find:\\w7.img"



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]

"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

"NonPagedPoolQuota"=dword:00000000

"NonPagedPoolSize"=dword:00000000

"PagedPoolQuota"=dword:00000000

"PagedPoolSize"=dword:00000000

"SessionPoolSize"=dword:00000004

"SessionViewSize"=dword:00000030

"SystemPages"=dword:00183000

"PagingFiles"=hex(7):00,00,00,00

edit: no response, ok... i'll take that as yes another integration started...

Hey, it can run in Windows 7 setup, too.

Install Windows 7 32-bit from ISO into normal hard disk
Requirement

• An IDE disk or SATA disk or USB disk or UFD that Windows setup can read its content.
• devcon.exe
• Firadisk 0.0.1.26 (or higher)
• GRUB4DOS
• Windows 7 Setup ISO

Steps

• Prepare
  • Copy ISO into setup drive. Make sure it is not fragmented.
  • Copy devcon.exe into setup drive.
  • Extract Firadisk driver package in folder firadisk in setup drive.
  • Install GRUB4DOS in setup drive.
  • menu.lst
    

    default 0
    
    timeout 30
    
    
    
    title Boot from hard disk.
    
    map (hd1) (hd0)
    
    map (hd0) (hd1)
    
    map --hook
    
    rootnoverify (hd0)
    
    chainloader +1
    
    
    
    title Start Windows 7 Setup from ISO
    
    map /win7.iso (222)
    
    map (hd1) (hd0)
    
    map (hd0) (hd1)
    
    map --hook
    
    root (222)
    
    chainloader
    
    
    
    

• Boot from setup drive.
  In GRUB4DOS menu, select Start Windows 7 Setup from ISO.
  When message "Press any key to boot from CD-ROM ..." appear, press a key.
  "Install Windows" window appears.
• Press Shift+F10 to open cmd.exe.
• Find driver letter of setup drive.
  

  dir c:
  
  dir d:
  
  dir e:
  
  dir f:
  
  dir g:
  
  

  Suppose setup drive is now D:.
  ISO is D:\win7.iso, devcon is D:\devcon.exe, and FiraDisk driver package is in D:\firadisk.
• Write FiraDisk configuration then install FiraDisk.
  "file=find:\xxx" does not work, use drive letter.
  

  reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FiraDisk /v StartOptions /t REG_SZ /d "cdrom,file=D:\win7.iso"
  
  d:
  
  cd firadisk
  
  

  Install using devcon.
  

  devcon install firadisk.inf root\firadisk

  Alternatively, you may be able to install without using devcon. (FiraDisk 0.0.1.26, It does not work with 0.0.1.30 probably due to new bug)
  

  rundll32 setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 128 D:\firadisk\firadisk.inf
  
  

  Click Restart Later when prompted.
  

  net start firadisk

• Is ISO content visible ?
  

  dir e:
  
  dir f:
  
  dir g:
  
  

  If you can see content of Windows 7 setup ISO, it is successful.
• If you want to manually create a new active primary partition on target disk, you can use diskpart at this time.
• Close cmd and continue the setup process.

EDIT: 2001-02-07 Add install method using InstallHinfSection + net start.

[*]Allow disabling detection of GRUB4DOS and Memdisk by settings in registry. (not tested yet)

Sorry about my low knowledge about these themes. Can you explain to a fool, what it means practically for me?

Thanks.

Peter

...Press Shift+F10 to open cmd.exe...

This will save me lots of time; thanks!

@Karyonix: I'll check your text in few...

Results: Integrating driver works, but setup does not show mounted w7.img with Firadisk






HOWEVER, with WinVBlock and grub4dos settings, I've success seeing mounted w7.img


For now, i'm assuming following steps will work with WinVBlock only for now (for win7):

01. Install + mount WinVBlock's filedisk in win7 (partition)

02. Run NT 6.x fast installer and install on FileDisk

03. Grub4Dos will boot and continue rest of the installation...

@pscEx
Users may install both FiraDisk and WinVBlock and let only one driver see RAM drives.

@pscEx
Users may install both FiraDisk and WinVBlock and let only one driver see RAM drives.

Thanks!

Peter

Trying to install in file-backed disk results in BSOD 0x00000050 The PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA while setup is copying/expanding files.

EDIT: This only happens in "file=..." mode.
"vmem=..." mode does not have this problem. It still have BSOD 0x7B after reboot.

Edited by karyonix, 07 February 2011 - 08:53 PM.

reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FiraDisk /v StartOptions /t REG_SZ /d "cdrom,file=D:\win7.iso"

This setting makes *.ISO visible in Win7 setup thus avoiding the following error?



Is there such setting in WinVBlock???




If YES then, Its a very strange thing i see during fully automated Win7 setup...

(FiraDisk can see *.ISO but not *.IMG) while (WinVBlock can see *.IMG but not the *.ISO)

Trying to install in file-backed disk results in BSOD 0x00000050 The PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA while setup is copying/expanding files.

So then, setup won't do it, then this falls to 'NT 6.x fast installer'? From within Windows (xp for exmp) installing this modded Win7 will see it all right... and fast?

Hi All,

Can someone explain me with g4d direct boot (from USB Flash), not memory mapping, please?
I've made Win7.img and Win7.vhd, each image has 2gb. Of course, fara driver installed.
It can SUCCESSFULLY be run Win7.vhd internal HDD/partitions but failed when run from USB Flash.
Error: can't map image file.
my menu.lst as like
map /Win7.vhd (fd0)
map --hook
chainloader (fd0)+1
rootnoverify (fd0)
map --floppies=1
--------------------
map /Win7.img (fd0)
map --hook
chainloader (fd0)+1
rootnoverify (fd0)
map --floppies=1

I can't map mem, because only has 2gb ram installed.

Thanks in advance.

ah

..Is there such setting in WinVBlock???..

To auto-attach a file-backed virtual disk at boot-time? No. It should be done from GRUB4DOS or done manually (for now).

...
Error: can't map image file.
my menu.lst as like
map /Win7.vhd (fd0)
map --hook
chainloader (fd0)+1
rootnoverify (fd0)
map --floppies=1
--------------------
map /Win7.img (fd0)
map --hook
chainloader (fd0)+1
rootnoverify (fd0)
map --floppies=1

I can't map mem, because only has 2gb ram installed.
...

At what point do you see the error message "can't map image file"? Within GRUB4DOS? Is your image file contiguous (such as contig.exe helps to make)?

You can type "code" sections in posts, by the way, between [XXX] and [/XXX] markers, where XXX is code.

[code]

# Map a .VHD as an HDD

map /Win7.vhd (hd0)

# Commit the mapping

map --hook

# Set the root device

rootnoverify (hd0)

# Load and run the MBR

chainloader (hd0)+1

[/code]

Was your Win7.VHD a floppy image or an HDD image or neither? You shouldn't map an HDD image to (fd0), since that's a floppy disk drive.

To auto-attach a file-backed virtual disk at boot-time? No. It should be done from GRUB4DOS or done manually (for now).

ok, But... i did use your Grub4dos instructions (below) but ended up with this prompt (below) SO, here is what i did next... I plainly mounted w7.img (winvblk.exe -cmd attach -m h -u c:\w7.img) and used NT 6.x Fast installer however install hanged at 8%. After that, I inspected "my computer" (all got frozen). So, not only plain grub4dos instructions to mount w.img freezes but also this winvblk.exe method. At some point i thought windows 7 blocks constant IOs usage to this drive. I'm trying to do all this from windows 7 so that i see there won't be a problem once files are set in drive (by whichever install method original setup or imagex) BUT now, I think, if I can get stable file disk even from XP, get files inside drive (nt 6.x fast installer aka imageX method) there maybe 50% chance it can work (if WinVBlock + grub4dos doesn't fail again with freezes). If WinVBlock doesn't freeze... i would say 90% chances . If FiraDisk on the other hand, starts accepting filedisk+path from somewhere else, I'm quite confident for a chance.... (since i already tried it very well)...

title Sector-map 7.iso and W7.img, boot 7.iso

find --set-root /7.iso

#map --mem-min=4G

# Sector-mapped disc

map /7.iso (0xff)

find --set-root /w7.img

# Sector-mapped disk

map /w7.img (0x80)

# Dummy WinVBlock "parameter" disk

map --rd-size=2048

map --mem (rd)+4 (0x55)

map --hook

# Tell WinVBlock to switch the sector-mapped disks to become file-backed disks

write (0x55) #GRUB4DOS\x00v=1\x00w7.img\x00\x807.iso\x00\xFF\x00

# Boot the .ISO

 chainloader (0xff)

Oops! I don't wish to hijack the FiraDisk thread with any extended WinVBlock discussion. I was just trying to very briefly answer your question.

Where there are scenarios (especially regarding GRUB4DOS) that these two drivers have in common, I hope it's appropriate to help out in this thread.

L: I think what you are saying is that you enjoy FiraDisk's Registry feature which auto-attaches a file at driver startup. I'm not 100% sure why you'd be able to attach an .ISO but not an HDD image file. In your Registry snippet, I only see one filename (for the .ISO)... Is there a one-filename limitation with FiraDisk?

FiraDisk can create more than 1 drives from registry setting.
Use semicolon to separate drives.

floppy,vmem=find:\aaaa.img;cdrom,vmem=find:\aaaa.iso;disk,vmem=find:\cccc.img;

The next version will accept parameters from GRUB4DOS RAM drive.

,,,,file contiguous ,,,,,,,

Thank you for your help.
Yes, my vhd is hdd image and tried with your menu.lst.
Got file is not contiguous bla bla...
How to use contig.exe to repair it, if you know?

I'm not interested in XP becasue it can't catch Server's DNS/DHCP scope auto but Win7 it would.

Thanks again to Karyonix.

ah

Contig
http://technet.micro...ernals/bb897428

Thanks Karyonix.
I don't think mine is related to this point. Because it is a fresh installed win7.
Only a doubt is that the free space. It only has 156mb free space.

Regards,

ah

@Aye Htay

defraggler too (from piriform) is a very good defrag tool.
I always use it.
analyze the partition you want to defrag and select fragmented file\s to defrag.
It works fine and fast.

- Added: Read options from GRUB4DOS RAM drive.

@Karyonix: Above means below item will work firadisk now?

map --rd-size=2048

map --mem (rd)+4 (0x55)

map --hook

write (0x55) #GRUB4DOS\x00v=1\x00w7.img\x00\x807.iso\x00\xFF\x00

but... how floppy/hdd img will be identified? In registry, you have that though. I'm assuming img should not have fragments.

floppy,vmem=find:\aaaa.img;cdrom,vmem=find:\aaaa.iso;disk,vmem=find:\cccc.img;




edit: Just tested on virtualBox... installs with right click firadisk.INF+install. Tried above command in g4d and firadisk mounted it as Floppy Disk plus it shows "format" needed (fragments?)

@L #419
No. Don't use WinVBlock parameter format with FiraDisk.

Here is example of FiraDisk parameter in GRUB4DOS mem drive.

Setup Windows XP from ISO to hard disk
Assume (hd0) is GRUB4DOS bootable disk, (hd1) is target disk.
These files are in (hd0,0)/ : grldr, menu.lst, winsetup.iso, firadisk.img .

In this example both (hd0) and (hd1) are IDE disks.
If you use USB/SATA, you have to add USB/SATA drivers to floppy image and merge txtsetup.oem.

menu.lst

title Boot from hard disk (hd1)

map (hd1) (hd0)

map (hd0) (hd1)

map --hook

rootnoverify (hd0)

chainloader +1

pause --wait=0 Booting.



title Setup Windows from ISO Step 1 : Boot from ISO, with virtual CD+Floppy

map /winsetup.iso (222)

map /firadisk.img (fd0)

map /firadisk.img (fd1)

map --mem (md)0x800+4 (99)

map (hd1) (hd0)

map (hd0) (hd1)

# map --harddrives=1

map --hook

write (99) [FiraDisk]\nStartOptions=cdrom,vmem=find:/winsetup.iso;floppy,vmem=find:/firadisk.img;\n\0

rootnoverify (222)

chainloader 

map --status

pause Press any key twice . . .



title Setup Windows from ISO Step 2 : Boot from hard disk, with virtual CD

map --mem (md)0x800+4 (99)

map (hd1) (hd0)

map (hd0) (hd1)

map --hook

write (99) [FIRADISK]\nStartOptions=cdrom,vmem=find:/winsetup.iso;\n\0

rootnoverify (hd0)

chainloader +1

pause Press any key . . .

EDIT: replace "map --harddrives=1" with "map (hd0) (hd1)" in Step 1.

Cool will test and post results here... (will edit this)

I'm curious, what windows does to itself in registry/files etc etc with following ....

C:\>diskpart

DISKPART> create vdisk file="c:\data\vw7.vhd" maximum=9000

 DISKPART> attach vdisk

 DISKPART> detach vdisk

obviously something is happening which prevents PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA for them... (will capture with thinapp)

Hi, first of all many many thanks to karyonix and Sha0 for their jobs.

the point:

I use to boot ubcd4win 3.60 through grub4dos mapping the iso on my usb-hdd. I've updated both firadisk and winvblock to the newest releases and this is my menu.lst referring to ubcd4win:

title UBCD4WIN 3.60 - WinVBlock 0.0.1.8 ISO-DIRECT

root (hd0,0)

map /ubcd.iso (0xff)

map --hook

map (hd0) (hd1) && map (hd1) (hd0)

root (0xff)

chainloader (0xff)



title UBCD4WIN 3.60 - FiradDisk 1.28 ISO-DIRECT

map /ubcd.iso (222) 

map /firadisk.img (fd0) 

map /firadisk.img (fd1) 

map --mem (md)0x800+4 (99) 

map (hd1) (hd0) 

map --harddrives=1 

map --hook 

write (99) [FiraDisk]\nStartOptions=cdrom,vmem=find:/ubcd.iso;floppy,vmem=find:/firadisk.img;\n\0 

rootnoverify (222) 

chainloader  

map --status 

pause Premere un tasto . . . 

as you can see I'm using the same ubcd.iso in which winvblock is injected by putting the driver's folder into the drivers\SCSI folder of the ubcd build.
works fine.
I have 3 questions:

1.I've noticed that firadisk is faster but vanified by needing F6, whilst winvblock is slower but doesn't need pressing any key.
obviously firadisk cannot be integrated into the iso the same way as winvblock, so I'm asking if there's some kind of workaround to avoid the F6.

2. Is the "remapping":

map (hd1) (hd0) 

map --harddrives=1

really needed?
I've noticed that in firadisk version, commenting the above lines nothing changes when booting the iso onto a internal HD, with g4d on the same HD.
whereas when mapping iso on usb-hd the map (hd1) (hd0) sometime is needed, i.e. when the bios has the 128 gb usb limit and one is not using plop (thanks to Icecube for suggesting)

3. when and why the following is usefull\needed??

map --harddrives=1

...
1.I've noticed that firadisk is faster but vanified by needing F6, whilst winvblock is slower but doesn't need pressing any key.
obviously firadisk cannot be integrated into the iso the same way as winvblock, so I'm asking if there's some kind of workaround to avoid the F6.

Why can't FiraDisk be incorporated into the .ISO in the same way?

2. Is the "remapping":

map (hd1) (hd0) 

map --harddrives=1

really needed?

When Windows is booted from an HDD, it likes to boot from (hd0,XX) (INT 0x13 drive number 0x80). But if you are booting the .ISO, I don't think it matters.

Why can't FiraDisk be incorporated into the .ISO in the same way?

I've made an attempt but gives me a "firadisk64 corrupted" when loading drivers.
so I've put the firadisk drivers into a folder with the same structure of floppy img, and used this folder into drivers\SCSI.
It boots without stop but after the windows loadin' screen it gave me a 7b bsod.
cant'be more accurate cause don't remember exactly, I' will try again and report a feedback.
Thanks.

here is what i tried, attached w7.img and booted from HDD. Everything loaded all right, but when I tried to format, image got corrupted (won't even allow formating again after reboots, diskmgmt.msc crashes too). Guess it will take some time...


@Karyonix & Sha0: that link for device drive properties page? on that same page (on the right) "The NT Insider" has more... (can get distracting for your TO-Do list)



EDIT: what? This doesn't look right, 85 users watching this topic??? now 20x

EDIT2: Karyonix You didn't miss this link did you???