[syslinux] Updating BIOS with pxe syslinux memdisk & DOS problems

[H. Peter Anvin]

Alex Ninaber wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> 
> We are hoping to update our BIOSes remotely with pxelinux and memdisk (it is
> for a 600 node Beowulf cluster with no floppy access). The DOS floppy loads
> and starts, however somehow the flash utility 'phlash.exe' or 'phlash16.exe'
> are both unable to load the provided rom image and just stop doing nothing.
> It looks like it can't access the rom image somehow, which is strange as it
> does acknowledge the fact it can find the image on the drive. Apparently
> some people have got this working with some motherboards (with I assume
> different flash utilities).
> 
> So the question is: Is this a problem with phlash.exe that is trying to read
> from a floppy that isn't there or is it a problem with memdisk?
> 
> If we can get this working it would be pretty good; far better than walking
> around with usb sticks or usb floppies.
> 

I don't know.  I have had this problem reported with memdisk and phlash* 
before; it seems to only happen on some platforms which is why I have 
not been able to reproduce it.

My guess is that phlash does something weird, but it could also be a 
memdisk bug.

	-hpa