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SDI file format specification


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#1 kolk

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Posted 17 March 2008 - 03:55 PM

Hello!

I posted SDI file format specification in my blog
http://skolk.livejournal.com/
It's reverse engineered by feeding sdimgr.wsf with different arguments and looking at the result.

Feel free to review.

Thank you,
Sergii
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#2 Brito

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Posted 17 March 2008 - 04:16 PM

Very cool research, thank you for this clear explanation about their raw format.

--

SDI seems to fall into disuse when compared to the WIM format shipped with NT6 - I've read how you call it a squash file-system alike.

Have ever wondered to find out how they work?

:thumbsup:

#3 kolk

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Posted 17 March 2008 - 04:49 PM

Very cool research, thank you for this clear explanation about their raw format.

--

SDI seems to fall into disuse when compared to the WIM format shipped with NT6 - I've read how you call it a squash file-system alike.

Have ever wondered to find out how they work?

:thumbsup:


Yes, I have read WIM spec's.
I disagree - WIM is a compressed non-bootable filesystem - it doesn't contain a BOOT BLOB (placeholder for uncompressed executable with firmware-invocable entry point), same NT6 (PE 2.0) uses SDI for storing boot NTFS partition. And more, the following WIM is linked into this SDI.
I think bootmgr cat's them in-RAM and writes WIM BLOB size to its TOC field.
You can see WIM as replacement for NTFS and BKF/MTF (http://www.fpns.net/...kup.htm#BKF-FMT), but SDI is still 'an MBR for RAMboot' - like ISO containing isolinux, the kernel and squashfs.

As there is no bootloader which can extract Linux kernel from squashfs :tabletalk:

#4 Brito

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Posted 17 March 2008 - 05:01 PM

My experience regarding this matter is slim to none so I'm happy to learn more about the differences between these two file formats.

Thank you for the mentioned links - very elucidative.

:thumbsup:

#5 overhere

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Posted 07 May 2008 - 05:05 PM

Hello!

I posted SDI file format specification in my blog
http://skolk.livejournal.com/
It's reverse engineered by feeding sdimgr.wsf with different arguments and looking at the result.

Feel free to review.

Thank you,
Sergii


I need to recover some SDI encrypted files, I don't need to crack the encryption just recover the files. Is there any common signature to these files that can be used to find in a raw data image?

#6 kolk

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Posted 08 May 2008 - 09:09 AM

I need to recover some SDI encrypted files, I don't need to crack the encryption just recover the files. Is there any common signature to these files that can be used to find in a raw data image?

Which of SDI formats do you mean?
If you mean the one discussed here (Microsoft's System Deployment Image), it doesn't support any form of encryption by itself. (but any of payloads [say, NTFS] really does, i'm unsure for WIM)
The signature of SDI is $SDI0001 at offset 0 (see my sdi.h).
The signature of disk partition is something at offset 3 (usually MSDOS for FAT16, etc), please look at your favorite magic file.
Signature of WIM is MSWIM at offset 0 http://download.micr.....le Format.rtf

#7 overhere

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Posted 08 May 2008 - 06:09 PM

Which of SDI formats do you mean?
If you mean the one discussed here (Microsoft's System Deployment Image), it doesn't support any form of encryption by itself. (but any of payloads [say, NTFS] really does, i'm unsure for WIM)
The signature of SDI is $SDI0001 at offset 0 (see my sdi.h).
The signature of disk partition is something at offset 3 (usually MSDOS for FAT16, etc), please look at your favorite magic file.
Signature of WIM is MSWIM at offset 0 http://download.micr.....le Format.rtf

Actually it is the SDI (Secure Digital Image) as in the gatso cameras http://www.gatsomete...et.php?id=62056

the file extension is .dci

#8 kolk

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Posted 09 May 2008 - 07:08 PM

Actually it is the SDI (Secure Digital Image) as in the gatso cameras http://www.gatsomete...et.php?id=62056

the file extension is .dci


So, we are speaking about different SDI-s.
MS SDI has an extension of .sdi
I'm sorry :lol:

#9 386

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Posted 18 December 2021 - 03:35 PM

Hi! Is there any simple way to create bootable SDI image?

Some portable version of sdimgr.wsf or another tool...

 

I spent half a day reading different articles, downloading and unpacking Windows Embedded, but still haven't found sdimgr.wsf.



#10 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 18 December 2021 - 04:17 PM

Joakim at the time made a teeny-tiny boot.sdi:

 

https://msfn.org/boa...ize-of-bootsdi/

 

The official info is here:

https://docs.microso...rectedfrom=MSDN

 

sdimgr should be available in "Windows embedded studio":

https://wiki.syslinu...p?title=Doc/sdi

 

You need to install "Windows Embedded Studio" and to run the "Remote Boot Service Setup".

 

 

This should be the actual manual:

https://kompy.info/m...esource-ki.html

 

I can have a look if I can find it (sdimgr.wsf) in some old copies, but no guarantees.

 

EDIT:

found it inside file:

 

"WINDOWS XP EMBEDDED TOOLS SP1.MSI"
in \DISK1\TOOLS\

 

I believe this is the set of instructions to download and create the whole thing

 

https://www.betaarch...pic.php?t=36246

 

BUT the needed .MSI is inside the "tools.cab" file, see SECOND post in the above thread.

 

:duff:

Wonko



#11 386

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Posted 18 December 2021 - 04:41 PM

Thanks, Wonko! I've already learned almost everything about this topic, but I haven't found "Windows Embedded Studio", nor sdimgr.wsf sad.png

 

Here's some useful links that I've found:

 

Where is the sdimgr.exe?

 

SDIMGR

 

SDI Manager | Microsoft Docs

 

Syslinux SDI support

 

Doc/sdi - Syslinux Wiki

 

Building and Deploying XP Embedded Images

 

RAM Boot Using SDI in Windows XP Embedded with Service Pack 1 | Microsoft Docs

 

syslinux/sdi.txt at master · joyent/syslinux · GitHub

 

Download Windows Embedded Standard 2009

 

Download Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 2009 Resource Kit from Official Microsoft Download Center

 

Howto Boot A Pebuilder Iso From Ram - The CD Forum

 

How To Boot A Readwrite Pe System From Ram - The CD Forum

 

Booting Xp From Ramdisk - The CD Forum

 

Device Recovery CD Using Windows PE and SDI MGR

 

Что такое Windows Embedded Studio? | Windows IT Pro/RE | Издательство «Открытые системы»

 

SDI file format specification - Сергій Колісник — LiveJournal

 

SDI checksum - Сергій Колісник — LiveJournal


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#12 Wonko the Sane

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Posted 18 December 2021 - 04:45 PM

I just edited my previous post, adding (hopefully) the info you needed.

 

:duff:

Wonko



#13 386

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Posted 20 December 2021 - 12:43 AM

celebrate14.gifMany thanks, Wonko! You are a genius! This is what I need! sporty89.gif






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