[syslinux] booting w98 bootdisk via memdisk

[Helmut Hullen]

Hallo,

I wrote am 30.08.08:

> I try to boot the windows 98 bootdisk via memdisk. It doesn't work
> completely.

> Booting a freedos FD image works, booting the windows 98 image works
> too.

> But the windows 98 boot disk then should extract the file "ebd.cab"
> with the file "extract.com", and that step fails.

I've solved the W98 bootdisk problem (a friend told me the reason for  
the above problem): pxelinux uses a ramdisk, and the w98 bootdisk will  
also use a ramdisk.

a) modified w98 bootdisk

- make an image of the w98 bootdisk (p.e. with dd)
- convert this 1.44MB image to a 2.88MB image (I used the Windows  
program "winimage")
- mount the image
- extract "ebd.cab" (I used "rar") into this (mounted) image
- delete "ebd.cab" (and perhaps some other files)
- change all "ramdisk" entries in "autoexec.bat" to "\xyz.ext"
- delete the "extract" line in "autoexec.bat" (and some other lines)

unmount the image - now it should work under pxelinux.

b) modify /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/default (or your special configuration  
file)

timeout 600
display menu
prompt  1

ontimeout   local
onerror     local

KBDMAP  german.kbd
F1      menu
F2      f2
F3      f3

default dos

label memtest
    kernel memtest

label dos
    kernel memdisk
    append initrd=balder.img

label w98
    kernel memdisk
    append initrd=w98-288.img

label linux
    kernel knoppix/vmlinuz
    append initrd=knoppix/miniroot.gz

label local
    localboot 0

# ---------------------------------------------------

I have copied "balder.img" (FreeDOS), the knoppix files and the kbd map  
from a Knoppix CD.

I copied the "label linux" paragraph from the Knoppix CD too and  
modified the path; that's the way to put some other boot options (p.e.  
LTSP or udpcast) into the menu too. Most times modifying the special  
"default" file does the job.

The menu file is (still) quite simple:

linux      Knoppix
memtest    Speichertest (abbrechen: Hauptschalter oder Esc-Taste)
dos        freeDOS-Diskette
local      bootet von lokaler Festplatte
udp        udpcast
ltsp       Terminalserver
w98        Windows-98-Bootdiskette

# --------------------------------------------

There are some other boot options I hadn't mentioned above - same  
procedure as the Knoppix option.

Directory structure of "/tftpboot" (or werever "inetd"/"xinetd" searches  
the files):

|-- knoppix
|   |-- boot.msg
|   |-- default
|   |-- logo.16
|   |-- miniroot.gz
|   `-- vmlinuz
|-- ltsp
|   |-- initrd.ks
|   |-- initrd.lts
|   |-- vmlinuz-2.4.19-ltsp-1
|   `-- vmlinuz-2.4.9-13-k12ltsp
|-- pxelinux.cfg
|   |-- C0A8
|   |-- C0A800
|   `-- default
|-- udp
|   |-- initrd
|   |-- linux
|   `-- udpetherbt.img
|-- balder.img
|-- chain.c32
|-- german.kbd
|-- linux.c32
|-- memdisk
|-- memtest
|-- menu
|-- menu.c32
|-- pxelinux.0
|-- vesamenu.c32
`-- w98-288.img

Viele Gruesse!
Helmut