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Boot Mini Windows VHD from Network via iPXE

vhd ipxe network mini-xp mini-7 mini-8

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    Link submitted by wimb

    Submitted Oct 12 2013 08:04 AM

Boot Mini Windows VHD from Network via iPXE

http://reboot.pro/topic/19015-boot-mini-windows-vhd-from-network-via-ipxe/

Recently I have been using Tiny PXE Server for booting Mini Windows VHD from Network via iPXE

http://reboot.pro/to...iny-pxe-server/
http://reboot.pro/to...iny-pxe-server/

Thanks to erwan.l for making Tiny PXE Server and for help in using ipxe :)

Info on iPXE - http://ipxe.org/start

The Mini Windows VHD's of 1.2 - 2 GB are loaded from Network into RAMDISK and were made according to
http://reboot.pro/to...tall-xp-in-vhd/
http://reboot.pro/to...t-make-mini-xp/
http://reboot.pro/to...ct-make-mini-7/
http://reboot.pro/to...ct-make-mini-8/

After booting via iPXE with the server then in iPXE Menu we can select grub4dos option and make use of these working entries in menu.lst
Loading ISO or VHD into RAMDISK is going with a speed of about 500 MB/min which corresponds to about 65 Mbps

#Use grldr as the ipxe boot file, and you can map an ISO to memory and boot from it:

title 7PE RAMDISK - 7pe_x86_E.iso - 263 MB
map --mem (pd)/images/7pe_x86_E.iso (0xff)
map --hook
chainloader (0xff)

title BartPE RAMDISK - LiveXP_WIM.ISO - 168 MB
map --mem (pd)/images/LiveXP_WIM.ISO (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
chainloader (0xff)

title Linux Parted Magic V6.2 - RAMDISK - 168 MB
kernel (pd)/memdisk iso
initrd (pd)/images/pmagic/pmagic-6.2.iso

# load Mini Windows VHD via ipxe from Network into RAMDISK and boot from it

title Portable XP-1-P.vhd - WinVBlock RAMDISK - 1232 MB
map --mem (pd)/XP-1-P.vhd (hd0)
map --hook
root (hd0,0)
chainloader /ntldr


title Portable Win7-1.vhd - FiraDisk RAMDISK - 2000 MB
map --mem (pd)/Win7-1.vhd (hd0)
map --hook
root (hd0,0)
chainloader /bootmgr

title Mini Win8-1.vhd - FiraDisk RAMDISK - 2000 MB
map --mem (pd)/Win8-1.vhd (hd0)
map --hook
root (hd0,0)
chainloader /bootmgr


1. Portable XP VHD 1.2 GB loaded via IPXE from Network into WinVBlock RAMDISK on Client PC
2. Portable Win7 VHD 2 GB loaded via IPXE from Network into FiraDisk RAMDISK on Client PC - WinNTSetup3 running from Server PC
3. Mini Win 8 VHD 2 GB loaded via IPXE from Network into FiraDisk RAMDISK on Client PC

[attachment=14622:XP-VHD-NET-IPXE.png] == [attachment=14620:Win7-VHD-NET-IPXE.png] == [attachment=14621:W8-VHD-NET_IPXE.png]

It would be interesting if we can boot these Mini Windows VHD's direcly via Network from server without loading into RAMDISK.
For this purpose I am trying to use ipxe sanboot with the following entries in menu.ipxe

# use grub4dos menu.lst options to boot ISO or VHD from RAMDISK loaded via Network

:grub4dos
dhcp net0
chain ${210:string}grldr || goto failed
goto start


# ipxe sanboot options for booting 7PE ISO from Network - working OK

:7pe_x86_E
sanboot --no-describe ${boot-url}/images/7pe_x86_E.iso || goto failed
goto start

# ipxe sanboot options for booting Mini Windows VHD from Network - Not working yet

:vhd_xp
sanboot --no-describe ${boot-url}/XP-1-P.vhd || goto failed
goto start

:vhd_w7
sanboot --no-describe ${boot-url}/Win7-1.vhd || goto failed
goto start

:vhd_w8
sanboot --no-describe ${boot-url}/Win8-1.vhd || goto failed
goto start


The Tiny PXE Server has to run in Win7 or 8 OS since sanboot does not work when the server runs in XP OS.

Now using Win7 or 8 OS I got the following results for ipxe sanboot
- 7pe_x86_E.iso is booting OK :) but easy since booting is from RAMDISK
- Portable XP VHD is recognised but booting does not start
- Portable Win7-1 VHD - booting starts but after loading drivers then BSOD 7B
- Mini Win8-1 VHD - booting starts but after loading drivers then Win8 BlueScreen driver issue

Will it be possible to boot Mini Windows VHD's direcly via Network from server without loading into RAMDISK ?

:cheers: