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Installing Server 2003 into an .img file with Firadisk or Winvblock


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#51 karyonix

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Posted 24 January 2011 - 04:29 PM

When GRUB4DOS starts, it calls BIOS int15 ax=e820 and saves data in its variables.
The modified code is in GRUB4DOS int15 e820 handler that is installed together with int13 handler upon map --hook.
displaymem shows memory ranges from saved data, it does not show memory range returned by int15 e820 handler.
The code gets executed when ntldr or ntdetect calls int15 ax=e820 to get list of available memory ranges.

You can check available memory range in Windows by using regedit.
Key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\RESOURCEMAP\System Resources\Physical Memory
Value .Translated
Before this patch, there is physical memory address 0x1000 length 0x9e000 in the list.
After this patch, there is physical memory address 0x1000 length 0x9b000 in the list.
It seems Windows round end of range down to multiples of 4096 (0x1000).

#52 Vortex

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Posted 24 January 2011 - 07:59 PM

Here is the report of my second attempt with karyonix's grub4dos release. The Server 2003 installation went fine without any problems. Booting the OS on the .img file, I got another BSOD displaying the 6B message :

PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED

sha0, memdisk displays the exception error after the boot command.

#53 Sha0

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Posted 24 January 2011 - 09:40 PM

When GRUB4DOS starts, it calls BIOS int15 ax=e820 and saves data in its variables...
displaymem shows memory ranges from saved data...

I thought that that might be the case; thanks for confirming. :thumbsup: I do not know why Windows still wiped the hook out. I guess your patch addresses the map built by G4D and doesn't change 0x40E (EBDA bottom), right?

Here is the report of my second attempt with karyonix's grub4dos release. The Server 2003 installation went fine without any problems. Booting the OS on the .img file, I got another BSOD displaying the 6B message :

PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED

sha0, memdisk displays the exception error after the boot command.

I can use MEMDISK 3.85 (which is the version included in the WinVBlock 0.0.1.8 release, if I recall correctly. to boot the Windows Server 2003 installation disc like this:

qemu -hda garbage.hdd -fda wvf6.vfd -kernel memdisk -appent "iso pause" -initrd srv2003.iso -m 900

And that appears to work. Windows doesn't wipe the MEMDISK hook, unlike what it does to GRUB4DOS' hook. I think that I have seen the exception you referred to in an earlier post while using newer MEMDISK versions. Maybe you could try the WinVBlock 0.0.1.8 MEMDISK and be sure to include "iso pause" as its kernel options? If you see the exception before the pause, that's terrible. If you see it after, then it could be Windows' earliest booting stages having a problem with MEMDISK.

Anyway, PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED means that SMSS.EXE cannot be loaded, if I recall correctly. I find that this can happen if Windows decides to use the wrong disk as the boot disk. This might be due to two disks having the same MBR disk signature or might be due to something else. I think I've also seen it when I manually used the wrong HAL for the hardware.

What changed between your first attempt and your second attempt?

#54 Vortex

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Posted 24 January 2011 - 09:49 PM

Hi Sha0,

The succeeding test was performed at work on a Biostar motherboard. The second failing test is my Intel D865 board at home.

I will try to test memdisk 3.85

#55 Vortex

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Posted 24 January 2011 - 10:01 PM

Hi Sha0,

Could you please post an example menu.lst file for the configuration with memdisk? Also, what should contain the virtual floppy image additionaly beside winvblock files?

#56 Vortex

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Posted 24 January 2011 - 10:17 PM

Hi Sha0,

No any luck. Again the same exception with memdisk 3.85 I could not hit any key so I guess the exception occured before the pause command.


title 2003 setup



root (hd0,0)

map /Srv2003.img (hd0)

map --mem /winvblock.ima (fd0)

kernel /memdisk iso

initrd /server2003.iso

map --hook

append pause


If you have the opportunity, could you please try to test your grub4dos with memdisk configuration to install Server 2003?

Edited by Vortex, 24 January 2011 - 10:20 PM.


#57 Sha0

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Posted 24 January 2011 - 11:36 PM

...The succeeding test was performed at work on a Biostar motherboard. The second failing test is my Intel D865 board at home...

Ah, ok. Thanks.

...Could you please post an example menu.lst file for the configuration with memdisk? Also, what should contain the virtual floppy image additionaly beside winvblock files?

Real disk:
  • Srv2003.iso
  • Srv2003.hdd
  • WVF6.vfd
  • Menu.lst
  • memdisk
WVF6.vfd:
  • WVBlk32.sys
  • TxtSetup.oem
  • WinVBlk.inf
Menu.lst:

timeout 3

title InstallSrv2003

  root (hd0,0)

  map /wvf6.vfd (fd0)

  map --hook

  # No such thing as APPEND

  kernel /memdisk iso pause

  initrd /Srv2003.iso

This worked for me in the same QEmu that I have been investigating the hook-wiping problem with. I don't know how you are booting GRUB4DOS, but it doesn't really matter. It should find the Menu.lst and do stuff. In this example, there are two hooks. First, GRUB4DOS' hook. Then once MEMDISK is booted, it installs its own hook. WinVBlock can find the MEMDISK hook, and also find the GRUB4DOS hook (unless they are wiped for some odd reason).

No any luck. Again the same exception with memdisk 3.85 I could not hit any key so I guess the exception occured before the pause command.


title 2003 setup



root (hd0,0)

map /Srv2003.img (hd0)

map --mem /winvblock.ima (fd0)

kernel /memdisk iso

initrd /server2003.iso

map --hook

append pause

"append pause"? Nope. Please try "pause" beside "iso". Those are where the kernel arguments belong, as far as I know.

If you have the opportunity, could you please try to test your grub4dos with memdisk configuration to install Server 2003?

Well, I haven't tried installing, but I just tried booting... It did boot Windows Setup text-mode properly. My problem right now is limited resources. I don't have huge RAM and I don't have lots of HDD space, so testing is a bit difficult. Sorry.

#58 Sha0

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Posted 25 January 2011 - 01:17 AM

...Before this patch, there is physical memory address 0x1000 length 0x9e000 in the list.
After this patch, there is physical memory address 0x1000 length 0x9b000 in the list...

Strangely, with this patch (GRUB4DOS 0.4.5b):

map /foo.vfd (fd0)

map /bar.iso (0xff)

map --hook

kernel /memdisk pause

boot

MEMDISK detects and shows that the E820 map is still the same as before. It does detect that *((uint16_t)0x413) == xxx >> 10, where xxx is the base that your patch appears to set. But does this really change the map? I'm confused.

#59 Vortex

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Posted 25 January 2011 - 06:50 AM

Hi Sha0,

Testing memdisk 3.85 with the following two configurations failed. The Biostar board restarted itself in the two cases :


title Install Server 2003



map --mem /winvblock.ima (fd0)

map /srv2003.img (hd1)

map --hook 

kernel /memdisk iso pause

initrd /Server2003.iso


title Install Server 2003


map --mem /winvblock.ima (fd0)

map --hook 

kernel /memdisk iso pause

initrd /Server2003.iso


The exception does not occur.

#60 L A M A

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Posted 25 January 2011 - 08:07 AM

:happy_dance: i've to admit whatever is happening here, is very interesting.




Where can i find Latest development release of karyonix? like sha0?? for the moment i'm keeping eye on chenall's google page.



#61 sambul61

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Posted 25 January 2011 - 12:41 PM

My problem right now is limited resources. I don't have huge RAM and I don't have lots of HDD space, so testing is a bit difficult.

How many slots, and what's your MoBo max RAM capacity? Do you use it entirely? May be I can help you... What HD capacity and size your PC uses - 2.5 or 3.5"? Can you add a second HD to it?

#62 Vortex

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Posted 25 January 2011 - 06:31 PM

Hi Sha0,

Testing the configuration below on my Intel D865GSA board at home ended up with the exception 06 :

title Install Server 2003



map --mem /winvblock.ima (fd0)

map /srv2003.img (hd1)

map --hook 

kernel /memdisk iso pause

initrd /Server2003.iso


The exception occurred after hitting a key after the pause command.

#63 Sha0

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Posted 25 January 2011 - 10:48 PM

How many slots, and what's your MoBo max RAM capacity? Do you use it entirely? May be I can help you... What HD capacity and size your PC uses - 2.5 or 3.5"? Can you add a second HD to it?

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not really interested in spending the time investigating these details or a slight hardware upgrade option... Maybe will mess around with some of the other Windows 7 options you've noted. Maybe not. :)

Testing the configuration below on my Intel D865GSA board at home ended up with the exception 06...
...The exception occurred after hitting a key after the pause command.

Aha. Thank you! By the way, a very slightly newer memdisk

The MEMDISK issue is a different bug, I'm pretty sure. At least we know that it happens after booting (after MEMDISK pauses you and prompts you to press a key).

#64 Vortex

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Posted 26 January 2011 - 08:22 AM

Hi Sha0,

Thanks for your memdisk release. This time, I tested in on a newer board, an Intel DP35DP. The .iso boots OK. The text mode of the setup goes allmost OK :


title Install Server 2003



map (hd0) (hd1)

map --mem /winvblock.ima (fd0)

map /Srv2003.img (hd0)

map --hook 

kernel (hd1,0)/memdisk iso pause

initrd (hd1,0)/Server2003.iso


At the of this phase,the installer displays the normally expected message Restarting Windows but the installer does not restart itself. I had to do a manual restart here.

The GUI phase of the installation starts but after a few seconds it ends up the with the BSOD displaying PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED and error code 6B. It displays also Winvblock: Alive


title Continue Server 2003 installation



map --mem /winvblock.ima (fd0)

map /Server2003.iso (0xff)

map /srv2003.img (hd0)

map --hook

chainloader (hd0)+1



#65 sambul61

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Posted 26 January 2011 - 12:58 PM

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not really interested in spending the time investigating these details or a slight hardware upgrade option...

It might be your MoBo would allow significant RAM upgrade, which is also obvious for HD. I doubled RAM in an old laptop for $5 on EBay from factory config when I still used it. It may be all you it need for now. Its very easy to do as well via a special RAM access slot. If you're talking about Intel® ICH8 Host Controller, they were supplied on MoBos with G35-family Intel chipset, capable of handling 8GB RAM. If its a company PC, you can always run Win7 on it from a USB 2.5" drive that are also shockingly cheap used on EBay with a USB/SATA or USB/IDE Enclosure, thus ensuring boot support on any MoBo. :cheers:

#66 Vortex

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Posted 26 January 2011 - 06:10 PM

Hi Sha0,

Testing my Intel D865GSA board with your memdisk release displayed the exception 00000006 after hitting a key. The menu.lst file is the same as the above one.

#67 agni

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Posted 27 January 2011 - 10:30 AM

@Vortex

Can you please try passing the filename from Grub4dos to Winvblock as mentioned here http://reboot.pro/81...891#entry101891 ?

Since you are getting Winvblock Alive in the BSOD,it looks like Winvblock does not know which img file to load.Passing the the location and filename from Grub4dos may help.

#68 Vortex

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Posted 27 January 2011 - 11:44 AM

@Vortex

Can you please try passing the filename from Grub4dos to Winvblock as mentioned here http://reboot.pro/81...891#entry101891 ?

Since you are getting Winvblock Alive in the BSOD,it looks like Winvblock does not know which img file to load.Passing the the location and filename from Grub4dos may help.


Hi agni,

I will try that method, thanks. The windows installer is able to detect the real and the virtual partitions so how it happens that Winvblock does not know which .img file to load?

Edited by Vortex, 27 January 2011 - 11:47 AM.


#69 Vortex

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Posted 27 January 2011 - 01:38 PM

Hi agni,

I tried your suggestion. Again at the GUI phase of the installation I got a BSOD : The 7B error and winvblock: alive

#70 Sha0

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Posted 27 January 2011 - 03:43 PM

...I tried your suggestion. Again at the GUI phase of the installation I got a BSOD : The 7B error and winvblock: alive

It seems to me that progress cannot be made at this point, I'm afraid. The problem seems to be that the INT 0x13 hook is being wiped out. If it's wiped out, that's the end-of-story. All information from G4D is erased. Only MEMDISK RAM disks will work on these hardware platforms where Windows is wiping out GRUB4DOS' INT 0x13 hook. We need to solve this problem, and it might have to do with the HAL being used or the way in which G4D protects/doesn't protect its hook.

#71 Vortex

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Posted 27 January 2011 - 07:40 PM

Hi Sha0,

Thanks for the info. Is there another technique to protect the hook of grub4dos? You mentioned about HAL. Do we have options at this field? This can be be problematic as I guess.

Edited by Vortex, 27 January 2011 - 07:42 PM.


#72 Sha0

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Posted 27 January 2011 - 07:55 PM

Well Vortex, as I mentioned to karyonix a few posts back (in #58), the patched GRUB4DOS still didn't change the E820 map when MEMDISK displays it. It might be that karyonix' ideas for the E820 map will work, but I'm not sure that this initial patch for GRUB4DOS implements that. I could be mistaken.

#73 agni

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Posted 28 January 2011 - 12:27 PM

@Vortex and @Sha0

Which version of Server 2003 are you using?

I just realized that my DreamSpark account allows me to download Windows Server 2003 r2 Standard with SP2.
However there are two disc images.How do I merge or join both the installation disks to a single iso?

The filename of the first disc is en_win_srv_2003_r2_standard_with_sp2_cd1_X13-04790.iso

#74 Vortex

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Posted 28 January 2011 - 12:49 PM

@Vortex and @Sha0

Which version of Server 2003 are you using?

I just realized that my DreamSpark account allows me to download Windows Server 2003 r2 Standard with SP2.
However there are two disc images.How do I merge or join both the installation disks to a single iso?

The filename of the first disc is en_win_srv_2003_r2_standard_with_sp2_cd1_X13-04790.iso


Hi agni,

The version I use is Server 2003 R2 SP2. Probably, you don't have to merge the two discs as the second one contains the software to upgrade from 2003 to 2003 R2.

#75 karyonix

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Posted 28 January 2011 - 01:35 PM

@Sha0
Does MEMDISK survive wiping ?




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