16 replies to this topic

[ktp]

Curiously the Acronis Disk Director suite CD (or iso file, about 14MB) does not contain anything (no files seen from file manager), but it boots OK on real hardware or under vmware.
Apparently it is a no-emulation mode bootable CD.
Does anyone has an idea how it works? Could it be a kind of copy-protection ?

[NightMan]

ktp
create bootable USB flash disk and you will be see all files

[ktp]

Finally I found out. Acronis uses kernel/ramdisk so it is easy to boot it either with syslinux, bcdw or grub4dos.

[ctv99]

i boot it with bcdw in iso form

[ktp]

i boot it with bcdw in iso form

Right, but with USB key bcdw of course is not applicable, so you have to use either syslinux or grub4dos, and use the kernel/initrd syntax. The kernel and ramdisk could be found on the installation directory.

[Spacesurfer]

so what is the syntax for grub4dos's menu.lst to boot the iso?

I also have been trying to figure this one out.

[docinthebox]

so what is the syntax for grub4dos's menu.lst to boot the iso?

I also have been trying to figure this one out.

title Acronis Disk Director 10.2160 (Enter "product" at busybox prompt)
root (hd0,7)
kernel /kernel.dat vga=791 ramdisk_size=32768 mbrcrcs=on
initrd /ramdisk.dat /s

Be aware that the linux will boot to a busybox prompt. Enter "product" at the prompt to run the app.

[Spacesurfer]

@docinthebox

My kernel.dat and ramdisk.dat are within a folder called Recovery Manager.

I tried changing /kernel.dat to /Recovery Manager/kernel.dat and same for ramdisk.dat but I'm still getting a Error 17: File not found error.

I'm assuming it's trying to locate kernel.dat and ramdisk.dat.

Is there a way around this?

BTW, My acronis.iso has both disk director suite and true image.

[docinthebox]

@docinthebox

My kernel.dat and ramdisk.dat are within a folder called Recovery Manager.

I tried changing /kernel.dat to /Recovery Manager/kernel.dat and same for ramdisk.dat but I'm still getting a Error 17: File not found error.

I'm assuming it's trying to locate kernel.dat and ramdisk.dat.

Is there a way around this?

BTW, My acronis.iso has both disk director suite and true image.

Can you show me your grub4dos entry so I can have a look?

I also have both Disk Director and True Image in the same partition on my USB disk. I took an easier approach. I just renamed the kernel for DD as acronis_dd_kernel.dat and the ramdisk for DD as acronis_dd_ramdisk.dat. Ditto for TI. This way I run everything from the root directory:

title Acronis True Image 10.4942 (Enter "product" at busybox prompt)
kernel /acronis_ti_kernel.dat vga=791 ramdisk_size=32768 mbrcrcs=on
initrd /acronis_ti_ramdisk.dat /s

title Acronis Disk Director 10.2160 (Enter "product" at busybox prompt)
kernel /acronis_dd_kernel.dat vga=791 ramdisk_size=32768 mbrcrcs=on
initrd /acronis_dd_ramdisk.dat /s

[was_jaclaz]

@spacesurfer
I may be wrong , mind you, but, in a nutshell,
DO NOT use path/filenames with spaces in them.

jaclaz

[Spacesurfer]

I got it working.

I simply moved the files from the Recovery Manager folder to the root folder and it works fine.

I wonder why it asks you to enter product?

My CD has both TI and DD (it's the Acronis Media CD which as both) but it only loads TI when I type product.

Edit: sorry, I missed the first post. I will make a bootable USB and figure it out.

Thanks.

[docinthebox]

My CD has both TI and DD (it's the Acronis Media CD which as both) but it only loads TI when I type product.

I don't know if the kernel.dat for TI and DD are the same or interchangeable, but the ramdisk.dat is definitely different for the two. So depending on which one you load in the initrd parameter in your grub4dos entry, you'll bring up that app when you enter "product" at the busybox prompt.

[Spacesurfer]

There's only one kernel.dat and ramdisk.dat. They aren't separate on the CD for the two products.

When I created the UFD, these files did not exist. However, there were two files called dat2.dat and dat3.dat. One's size is close to ramdisk.dat and the other's size is close to kernel.dat. I'm thinking maybe they are the same files but renamed as dat2.dat and dat3.dat??

I'll try it this way.

Also, I'm using DD10. I wonder if that makes a difference.

Edit: Yes, that works. dat3.dat = kernel.dat and dat2.dat = ramdisk.dat. I also moved all the DD files to a folder called Acronis and was able to load DD from this folder as well.

I don't know much about linux but I'm assuming the busybox is part of Linux?? Why do you have to enter "product" there? Is there no way to get rid of that prompt?

[rimfrost]

title Acronis Disk Director 10.2160 (Enter "product" at busybox prompt)
root (hd0,7)
kernel /kernel.dat vga=791 ramdisk_size=32768 mbrcrcs=on
initrd /ramdisk.dat /s

Be aware that the linux will boot to a busybox prompt. Enter "product" at the prompt to run the app.

Add "quiet" to avoid the busybox:

kernel /kernel.dat quiet vga=791 ramdisk_size=32768 mbrcrcs=on


I know it's been a long time since the thread was active, but it might be useful for someone who stumbles across it with Google like I did :-)

[ktp]

A simpler way is to use latest grub4dos ability to boot directly from iso file. It works for Acronis iso.
Take for example the 2007-12-01 version here:
http://grub4dos.jot.com/WikiHome

title boot Acronis Disk Director Suite 10

map  (hd0,0)/images/AcronisDiskDirectorSuite10.iso  (hd32)

map  --hook

chainloader  (hd32)

boot

[Spacesurfer]

Hummm, I will have to see, if bootng from ISO does really work, then if you can kick start XP install from ISO.

Edit: HOT DIGGIDY DOGG! Acronis does boot from ISO but so does WINDOWS XP INSTALL. Only one problem.... the installation started, then it said starting Windows Setup, then crashed with blue screen.

Just got to figure out why it crashed. I was trying this on a virtual machine. The ISO was stored on a second virtual hdd.

[ktp]

@spacesurfer
For the BSOD, you can look at post #53 from jaclaz in this thread, explaining the reasons why the iso/hard disk emulation
by grub4dos could be bypassed/ignored by protected mode boot loader :
http://www.boot-land...amp;#entry25821