29 replies to this topic

[basnet2]

Hello everyone,

This past week I have been working on a project for myself to turn my 8GB Sandisk Cruzer into a multitool. I wanted capacity to carry all my files around and then have sections partitioned off for a couple tools; namely Backtrack 3, Knoppix, and Ultimate Boot CD.

So this is how I've started. I partitioned my flash drive into a large 5.5GB primary partition for all my data. The remaining space I divided up into a 25MB Grub Primary partition and then the remaining in an extended partition broken up into smaller logical partitions for each tool (total 5 partitions). Just this morning I got Backtrack and Knoppix up and running booting from GRUB when my flash drive is inserted, however I cannot figure out how to write the menu.lst to properly boot UBCD. Here is my menu.lst so far:

title		Ultimate Boot CD

root		(hd0,4)

kernel		/boot/baslinux root=/dev/ram0 

initrd		/boot/baslinux.gz

boot



title		Knoppix

root		(hd0,5)

kernel 		/boot/isolinux/linux ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=pt apm=power-off 			vga=791 initrd=minirt.gz nomce quiet pci=nommconf BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix

initrd 		/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz

boot





title		Backtrack 3

root		(hd0,6)

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz vga=791 root=/dev/ram0 rw initrd=/boot/initrd.gz init=linuxrc

initrd 		/boot/initrd.gz

I completely made up the bit about UBCD hoping that magically it would work lol. Any guidance on this issue would be much aprreciated! Thanks.

[ilko]

Have a look here:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=4486

In post #12 (the attachment) and bellow you will find most of what you need.
What version of UBCD ?

[basnet2]

Have a look here:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=4486

In post #12 (the attachment) and bellow you will find most of what you need.
What version of UBCD ?

UBCD 4.11

That information I believe is for a different bootloader. I have already gotten so far with Grub and I feel like I am right there. I am not booting from the .iso I have extracted the contents onto one of the partitions. It must be possible to direct grub to the right directory to run UBCD if you can do it from an iso, when you burn a disc it is in its uncompressed format so to me it only makes sense.

Thanks

[ilko]

Hmm, I think you overlooked the posts.
There is a menu.lst with the submenus, which you can use, and it's for grub4dos, exactly what you need. Ignore the first part of post #12, the ISO part, just open the attachment.
Look at the posts bellow as well, ktp has modified some of the entries.

[basnet2]

I seem to be confused.. Is Grub (http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/) the same as Grub4Dos (https://gna.org/projects/grub4dos/)? I installed Grub onto my flash drive using the guide here (http://www.justlinux...ad.php?t=150643). I chose this because it seemed easy to configure the menu.lst for my needs (or so I thought).

So do I need to remove Grub and replace it with Grub4Dos? Or can I simply somehow integrate the code in that attachment into my Grub installation?

Thanks

[ilko]

It's me who overlooked

Grub4dos is similar to GNU GRUB, but has many handy options, especially for multiboot, plus the fact that is actively developed.
In PM reply posted a link with some information about both.

I guess many of the menus will still work with GNU GRUB, not tried though.

[basnet2]

Alright well sounds like Grub4Dos is the way to go. I went ahead and removed all of the old grub but now I need help installing Grub4Dos. I searched but I am new to this stuff and am having trouble. I copied everything from the Grubinst into my flash drive but now when it boots all I get is something that says grub over and over again, seemingly indefinately. Also if I use this method how do I code in the menu.lst for running iso from different partitions? And do I have to do this for my Backtrack 3 and Knoppix as well as the UBCD or can I leave those as is?

Thanks

[ilko]

You need to install grub4dos either in MBR or in the bootsector of the active partition if there is such. In both cases what you already got on the stick remains untouched. You may use grubinst_GUI or the command line grubinst.exe. Next you have to have menu.lst in root with your entries and copy the distributions you want to use to the USB stick, ensuring you don't overwrite existing folders/files.

Grub4dos guide, simple and step-by-step with screenshots etc. etc.:

http://diddy.boot-la...os/Grub4dos.htm

Easiest way to get UBCD working, without playing too much with grub4dos is to make a file with syslinux bootsector, and invoke it if possible from GRUB or if not- from grub4dos:

title Start SysLinux bootsector from partition 0

root (hd0,0)

chainloader (hd0,0)/syslin.dat

To make syslinux bootsector from windows, where J: is the desired partition letter:
Get syslinux.exe from SysLinux package and do:

syslinux.exe -f j: j:\syslin.dat

Next is to copy contents of the UBCD ISO in J:.

Sorry about the scattered pieces of information. If you give detailed picture what you already got, I can help you what exactly has to be done. Are you preparing all that from Windows OS?

[basnet2]

Hmm well after doing some looking Grub4Dos doesn't seem to fit for me just right because I'm doing all this from a Ubuntu machine. I did it this way because windows cannot (easily) partition a flash drive, and I wanted all the OSes on a seperate partition, just to keep it organized.

Here is exactly what I have:

8GB Flash Drive Paritioned as follows:
Primary - (hd0,0) - Data, not bootable 5.5GB
Primary - (hd0,1) - Boot Grub 25MB
Logical - (hd0,4) - UBCD extracted from ISO 140MB
Logical - (hd0,5) - Knoppix extracted from ISO 830MB
Logical - (hd0,6) - Backtrack 3 extracted from ISO 900MB

on the primary boot partition I have only one directory (/boot/grub) and it contains menu.lst stage1 and stage2
here is my complete menu,lst

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)

#			grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),

#			grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub

#			and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.



## default num

# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and

# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.

#

# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry

# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.

# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your

# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.

default		-1



## timeout sec

# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry

# (normally the first entry defined).

timeout		10



## hiddenmenu

# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)

#hiddenmenu



# Pretty colours

#color cyan/blue white/blue



## password ['--md5'] passwd

# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing

# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the

# command 'lock'

# e.g. password topsecret

#	  password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/

# password topsecret



#

# examples

#

# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000

# root		(hd0,0)

# makeactive

# chainloader	+1

#

# title		Linux

# root		(hd0,1)

# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro

#



#

# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST



### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified

## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below



## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs



## ## Start Default Options ##

## default kernel options

## default kernel options for automagic boot options

## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z

## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.

## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro

##	  kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro

##	  kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro

# kopt=root=UUID=219bcb05-ad23-4a7b-9409-596f1e993a2f ro



## Setup crashdump menu entries

## e.g. crashdump=1

# crashdump=0



## default grub root device

## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)

# groot=(hd0,0)



## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options

## e.g. alternative=true

##	  alternative=false

# alternative=true



## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options

## e.g. lockalternative=true

##	  lockalternative=false

# lockalternative=false



## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the

## alternatives

## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5

# defoptions=quiet splash



## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options

## e.g. lockold=false

##	  lockold=true

# lockold=false



## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option

# xenhopt=



## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option

# xenkopt=console=tty0



## altoption boot targets option

## multiple altoptions lines are allowed

## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options

##	  altoptions=(recovery) single

# altoptions=(recovery mode) single



## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst

## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the

## alternative kernel options

## e.g. howmany=all

##	  howmany=7

# howmany=3



## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option

## e.g. memtest86=true

##	  memtest86=false

# memtest86=true



## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system

## can be true or false

# updatedefaultentry=false



## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options

## can be true or false

# savedefault=false



## ## End Default Options ##



title		Ultimate Boot CD

root		(hd0,4)

kernel		/boot/baslinux root=/dev/ram0 init=baslinux

initrd		/boot/baslinux.gz

boot



title		Knoppix

root		(hd0,5)

kernel 		/boot/isolinux/linux ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=pt apm=power-off 			vga=791 initrd=minirt.gz nomce quiet pci=nommconf BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix

initrd 		/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz

boot





title		Backtrack 3

root		(hd0,6)

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz vga=791 root=/dev/ram0 rw initrd=/boot/initrd.gz init=linuxrc

initrd 		/boot/initrd.gz		

 





 

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

Thats all the information on what I am doing. From your previous post I gather I need to install syslinux somewhere and have that booted from grub, and from there I can run UBCD? Or is this wrong, is there someway I can directly boot UBCD from GNU Grub.

Also I want to add a boot to disk option, that when selected would boot to the primary hard disk if possible
Thank you so much for all your help so far!

[ilko]

A few options:

I. (Safest)
1. Make primary partition for UBCD, format it FAT16 or 32, extract UBCD there and install syslinux on it. Command from linux should be like "syslinux /dev/sdaX". Change sdaX accordingly.
2. Add do grub's menu.lst

title  Start UBCD

rootnoverify (hd0,2)

chainloader +1

Assuming you installed syslinux on 3rd partition. Change (hd0,2) accordingly.

II. (Experimental)
Same as I. but try to install syslinux on the logical partition. Not sure at all will it install and whether GRUB can chainload it:
http://bugs.gentoo.o...g.cgi?id=230905
Change (hd0,2) in menu.lst accordingly.

III. (Most flexible 1, not tested)
1. Extract grub.exe from the latest package to your boot partition.
2. Add this entry to /boot/grub/menu.lst

title Start Grub4Dos

kernel /grub.exe --config-file="root (hd0,4); configfile /menus/main.cfg"

3. Extract the attachment from this post into the UBCD partition root.
You may need to edit some of the menus in /menus. Tested many of them, but not all. Look at ktp's edits later in that thread.

IV. (Most flexible 2, clean start)
1. Install Grub4Dos bootsector in (hd0,1) using bootlace.com. You will find example syntax in readme_grub4dos.txt.
2. Copy grldr from grub4dos package to hd0,1
3. Create menu.lst in root of hd0,1 and copy what you have in /boot/grub/menu.lst in it.
4. You should already know how to boot UBCD, we just replace GRUB with GRUB4Dos avoiding the extra step in III.

The reason behind IV- grub4dos can mount and read from NTFS, FAT16/32 and EXT2/3 partitions.
For example you can do direct chainloading of files, residing on such partitions, rather than the limited chainloading of a partition.

GNU GRUB:

title Load Windows XP from NTFS partition 

rootnoverify (hd0,0)

chainloader +1

You are limited to whatever the bootsector at hd0,0 loads.

Grub4Dos- you can either chainload the partition as above or much more flexible:

title chainload NTLDR

root (hd0,0)

chainloader /ntldr



title Start Vista

root (hd0,0)

chainloader /bootmgr

See the first advantages we came across?

Note- you don't have to use "boot" in menu.lst entries.

title Ultimate Boot CD
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/baslinux root=/dev/ram0 init=baslinux
initrd /boot/baslinux.gz
boot

Let us know how it went

[basnet2]

Ok, so going with your advice I have decided to install Grub4Dos. However I am having trouble doing just that. I try to run bootlace.com from a terminal opened in the directory its it, heres what I type

sudo ./bootlace.com /dev/sdc2

(SDC2 being the adress of the partition where I want to boot from) but when I do that I get this

"Error: invalid partition table.  Must specify --floppy explictily for floppy."

So guessing that my option is incorrect I type the following

sudo ./bootlace.com [--floppy] /dev/sdc2

but then I get

"Error: more than one files specified"

I have tried searching for installing Grub4dos onto flash drive but most of it is using grubinst on a windows machine, tried that and due to my partition setup didn't give me what I was looking for.

Also a couple notes: I have decided to drop Knoppix as BT3 can do what I need as far as a linux distro goes and include bartpe and vistape, once I get this grub4dos situation figured out I will repost on how I did it all!

Thanks again!
-basnet2

[was_jaclaz]

Why are you using square brackets around the --floppy parameter?

Anyway, does this exerpt from the grub4dos_readme.txt ring any bell?

Usage:

bootlace.com [OPTIONS] DEVICE_OR_FILE
....
....
--floppy=N if DEVICE_OR_FILE is a partition on a hard
drive, use this option. N is used to specify
the partition number: 0,1,2 and 3 for the
primary partitions, and 4,5,6,... for the
logical partitions.

jaclaz

[ilko]

What's the output of

sudo fdisk -l

[basnet2]

What's the output of

sudo fdisk -l

root@MattUBUNTU:/media/disk# sudo fdisk -l



Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x00096e39



   Device Boot	  Start		 End	  Blocks   Id  System

/dev/sda1   *		   1		9352	75119908+  83  Linux

/dev/sda2			9353		9729	 3028252+   5  Extended

/dev/sda5			9353		9729	 3028221   82  Linux swap / Solaris



Disk /dev/sdb: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x00000000



Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table



Disk /dev/sdc: 8036 MB, 8036285952 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 977 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x00018429



   Device Boot	  Start		 End	  Blocks   Id  System

/dev/sdc1			   1		 750	 6024343+   b  W95 FAT32

/dev/sdc2			 751		 753	   24097+   6  FAT16

/dev/sdc3			 754		 977	 1799280	5  Extended

/dev/sdc5			 754		 771	  144553+  83  Linux

/dev/sdc6			 772		 822	  409626	6  FAT16

/dev/sdc7			 823		 873	  409626	6  FAT16

/dev/sdc8			 874		 977	  835348+  83  Linux

When I use following

./bootlace.com --floppy[=2] --fat16 /dev/sdc2

I get "Error: Invaid option. (all the usage notes of bootlace.com) Fatal! Close file failed. Please backup your disk in case it becomes unusable"

Sorry for being such a linux noob

[was_jaclaz]

But are you wanting to install it to the MBR or to a partition bootsector?

Try the following:

bootlace.com --read-only --force-backup-mbr --mbr-disable-floppy /dev/sdc

The above will simulate the install to the MBR.

Report if you get errors, or if everything is allright, remove the "--read-only" and go on installing it.

If you want to install to a partition try:

bootlace.com --read-only --floppy=1  /dev/sdc

If you want to install it to sdc2, the 2nd partition is actually partition 1 in grub/grub4dos numbering:

--floppy=N if DEVICE_OR_FILE is a partition on a hard
drive, use this option. N is used to specify
the partition number: 0,1,2 and 3 for the
primary partitions, and 4,5,6,... for the
logical partitions.

jaclaz

[ilko]

./bootlace.com --floppy=1 /dev/sdc2

should install grub4dos bootsector. Next you need to use fdisk to mark that pertition as active.

If you still have GNU GRUB installed in MBR of this disk, you'd better install just grub4dos MBR:

./bootlace.com /dev/sdc

If you use this, you don't have to install bootsector and mark active partition. MBR seeks for grldr on all available partitions and loads it.
Make sure you have grldr and menu.lst in root of /dev/sdc2, they could be on other partition as well, but putting it there not to add additional confusion.

If you feel better in Windows, why aren't you working from there? All this can be done easily from Windows, partitioning too.

edit: board went offline, crossposting

[basnet2]

Ok, apparently my error was in the /dev/sdc2 part. When I just wrote

./bootlace.com /dev/sdc

it fixed the error and installed Grub4Dos onto MBR.

All the other suggestions either returned an error:invalid option or a cannot open or read/write access.

Now to work on the menus

Thanks for everyones help so far!!

[basnet2]

Hey guys,

I need more menu help.

Alright, incase I didn't say this before I decided to 86 Knoppix and instead include bartpe as well as vistape. So now I will have UBCD, Bartpe, Vistape, and Backtrack 3.

Here is my menu.lst using this the only thing that boots properly is BT3.

color black/cyan yellow/cyan



title		Ultimate Boot CD

rootnoverify	(hd0,4)

configfile 					/menus/main.cfg

chainloader	(hd0,4)/isolinux/isolinux.bin



title		BartPE

find		--set-root /I386/SETUPLDR.BIN

root		(hd0,5)

chainloader	(hd0,5)/I386/SETUPLDR.BIN



title		VistaPE

root		(hd0,6)

chainloader	(hd0,6)/Boot/BCD



title		Backtrack 3

root		(hd0,7)

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz vga=791 root=/dev/ram0 rw initrd=/boot/initrd.gz init=linuxrc

initrd 		/boot/initrd.gz

UBCD just brings me to a grub prompt. If i try typing in the chainloader command manually (chainload (hd0,4)/isolinux/isolinux.bin) I get this: "Cannot chainload ISOLINUX from a non-CDROM device. Error 13: Invalid or unsupported executable format"

Bartpe flashes a couple screens so fast I can't read em and then restarts the computer.

Vistape gives me an error message "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem... File:\Boot\BCD Status:0xc0000225 Info: An error occured while attempting to read the boot configuration data." Note: I've also tried setting chainloader to /boot/grldr and that didn't work neither.

[ilko]

UBCD:
You can NOT chainload isolinux/syslinux in such way. Since you have

configfile /menus/main.cfg

why are you chainloading isolinux at all, since the idea is to use grub4dos as boot loader? Remove that line, make sure in /menus you have what I posted in that attachment and try again.

title		Ultimate Boot CD

root	(hd0,4)

configfile /menus/main.cfg

BartPE:
You need to rename I386 to minint and place winbom.ini in root, or use winnt.sif in /minint:

winbom.ini:

[Factory]

WinBOMType=WinPE

Reseal=No

[WinPE]

Restart=No

[PnPDriverUpdate]

[PnPDrivers]

[NetCards]

[UpdateInis]

[FactoryRunOnce]

[Branding]

[AppPreInstall]

Not sure if the empty sections matter at all.

winnt.sif:

[data]

msdosinitiated="1"

floppyless="1"

title		BartPE

find		--set-root /minint/SETUPLDR.BIN

root		(hd0,5)

chainloader	(hd0,5)/minint/SETUPLDR.BIN

VistaPE:
You need to chainload bootmgr.

title		VistaPE

root		(hd0,6)

chainloader	(hd0,6)/bootmgr

For the last 2 I don't remember if they would boot from extended partitions, a report back would be nice for refreshing memory

[basnet2]

Making every one of those changes didn't change a thing.

UBCD with the modifications still brings up a GRUB prompt, BartPE flashes a couple screens then reboots, VistaPE produces the same error.

Does that mean that BartPE/VistaPE cannot be loaded from extended partitions?

UBCD however is stumping me. While at the prompt if I type in

configfile /menus/main.cfg

it refreshes as if it acknowledges the command but no menus appear.

[ilko]

Did you replace directory "menus" with the grub4dos variant I posted? Can you post here contents of main.cfg?

As for VistaPE and BartPE- copy them in a primary partition. Copy ntdetect.com from /minint to root of the same primary partition. Adjust menu.lst accordingly reflecting the new path. Try again.

[was_jaclaz]

basnet2,
don't take it the wrong way , but you are committing the same error that most people do when they approach multibooting for the first time, introducing all together, a number of complexities, partly unneeded that simply intertwine between them and get you stuck.

The advice is always the same.

FORGET (for the moment ) about multibooting.

Choose one, and only one "something", have a single primary partition on the stick, get to boot that particular item.
Then choose another one, start againg from a blank stick, get to boot that other particular item.
Once you have succeeded in each single item, approach the task of combining them.

It is possible to boot a PE from a logical volume inside extended, but the loader should be on the active primary partition, on the other hand if you want to keep the \I386 or \minint directory "monolithic" you have to fix the partition bootsector or use some advanced grub4dos techniques:
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=17144
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=4508
http://www.boot-land...amp;#entry25696

It is highly desirable for XP/2003 based PE builds to have a SETUPLDR.BIN modified as to work out of \I386 on every kind of media:
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=17504


jaclaz

[basnet2]

Sorry for the long delay, been busy. But I have been working on her, learning along the way .

Thanks for those links jaclaz, they were tremendously helpful! I was doing it all wrong before...

I have been primarily working to fix BartPE. I created a new PE using the Server 2003 SP2 files and loaded that onto my drive according to this:
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=10806

I have hidden all the sectors prior to the boot partition table as refrenced here:
http://www.goodells....boot/ptedit.htm

Also I have done all stated in post #6 of this forum:
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=17144

I am having trouble right now with getting past an error while booting BartPE. The computer hangs with the message: “Setup is inspecting you computer’s hardware configuration…” doing a google search it appears that this is caused by windows being confused by other partitions on the harddrive (in this case the flash drive). How do I get around this? I thought hiding the sectors that appear before this partition would fix that.

UBCD is still booting to a GRUB prompt after posted fixes, per request here is what is in main.cfg

MENU INCLUDE /menus/defaults.cfg

LABEL mainboard

		MENU LABEL Mainboard Tools

		KERNEL menu.c32

		APPEND /menus/mboard.cfg

LABEL harddisk

		MENU LABEL Hard Disk Tools

		KERNEL menu.c32

		APPEND /menus/hdd.cfg

LABEL filesys

		MENU LABEL Filesystem Tools

		KERNEL menu.c32

		APPEND /menus/filesys.cfg

LABEL others

		MENU LABEL Other Tools

		KERNEL menu.c32

		APPEND /menus/others.cfg

LABEL custom

		MENU LABEL User-defined Tools

		KERNEL menu.c32

		APPEND /custom/custom.cfg

LABEL bootdisks

		MENU LABEL DOS/Linux Boot Disks

		KERNEL menu.c32

		APPEND /menus/bootdsk.cfg

LABEL boothdd0

	MENU LABEL *Boot First Hard Disk

	KERNEL chain.c32

	APPEND hd0

LABEL boothdd1

	MENU LABEL *Boot Second Hard Disk

	KERNEL chain.c32

	APPEND hd2

VistaPE, I haven’t toyed with this much, mostly been playing with BartPE, but anyways, after changing to the correct chainloader shows “Windows is loading files...” the a Vista splash screen comes up then a Windows Boot Manager error appears here is a screenshot.

Also here is my menu.lst

color black/cyan yellow/cyan



title		Ultimate Boot CD

root		(hd0,4)

configfile 	/menus/main.cfg



title		BartPE

root		(hd0,5)

chainloader	(hd0,5)/NTLDR



title		VistaPE

root		(hd0,6)

chainloader	(hd0,6)/BOOTMGR



title		Backtrack 3

root		(hd0,7)

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz vga=791 root=/dev/ram0 rw initrd=/boot/initrd.gz init=linuxrc

initrd 		/boot/initrd.gz

[was_jaclaz]

Well, you missed some key points:
1):

I have been primarily working to fix BartPE. I created a new PE using the Server 2003 SP2 files and loaded that onto my drive according to this:
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=10806

Well, NO.

That thread says to use SP1 files NOT SP2!

Read here:
http://www.boot-land...topic=4952&st=2

Then forget about the thread you cited, more than three years old, and read this:
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=19333

2):

UBCD is still booting to a GRUB prompt after posted fixes, per request here is what is in main.cfg

RE-read, this time attentively, this:

Did you replace directory "menus" with the grub4dos variant I posted? Can you post here contents of main.cfg?

and this:
http://www.boot-land...?...=4486&st=11

in a nutshell, if you are using grub4dos you need grub4dos menu/settings files NOT syslinux ones.

3):

I have hidden all the sectors prior to the boot partition table as refrenced here:
http://www.goodells....boot/ptedit.htm

Actually not needed.
If you installed grub4dos it's easier to use it's PARTNEW feature if you are trying to boot from a Logical Volume inside Extended partition:
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=21395
http://www.boot-land...opic=3287&st=50
And of course your BartPE will NEED to have cfadisk.sys or dummydisk.sys enabled IF the stick has not the "Removable bit" flipped, check this:
http://www.boot-land...?...ic=5397&hl=
http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=21113


But, AGAIN, you should first do one "simple" thing, succeed with it, then do another "simple" one, and so on, and only later try to "assemble" the several working-on-their-own "pieces" together.

What I am giving you is an "absurd" amount of info all together that will need to take your time to digest before attempting complex setups....

jaclaz

[basnet2]

Alright, sorry again for being away for so long, last month of school got hectic

Thanks jaclaz for your recommendation for using the partnew command, however that ended up messing my partition table up and the flash drive was no longer recongnized . That pointed me to the --in-situ command which I have now put in place of partnew and it works just as great, I got Bartpe and Vistape booting just fine!

I re-read ilko's post about rebuilding the ubcd.iso with the grub4dos components, replaced menus and removed isolinux & syslinux and what not and fixed my menu.lst exactly to ilko's post.

Now when I boot into UBCD I get this screen where it hangs


I can't figure it out as I deleted the isolinux folder, is there anything I need to change in the boot folder on the root of the iso?

Thanks again for all the help so far, once I get it all finished I'll write up step by step how I did it.

-basnet2