ChrisBaksa
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Success....
We have succcessfully booted PE 2005 from a Linux PXE server.
I had to share my joy!
Chris
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Since I have different WINS locations, I am trying to use the LMHOST file in Windows PE 1.2. When I ping the full name, I get "unknown host", IP ping works.
Any suggestions?
What are you trying to ping?
I have an issue where PE will not resolve the IP address of the netbios names of NetApp Files in WINS. I have to use the IP Address.
Chris
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The guy on these forums with the nick likuidkewl seems pretty knowledgeable about WinPE, so you might try PMing him. I think WSH and VBS are build options with WinPE, but i'm not sure about IPX. As for other places to try, you can also check out the Windows PE board at the CD Forum.
Cheers
The MS OPK PE Docs step you thru the process. Based on that, you can script it to build in a single command.
Barts is nice in the sense that Plug ins do the work. But in MS OPK.. you have to. You simply need to understand the basics and the order in which things have to happen.
Task List...
Collect you NIC, and Mass storage drivers that you need in your envirenment.
Obtain the RAM disk Driver - A MUST if you need temp write space.
Build the optional components (needed for vbscript...)
Write your scripts for automation
Collect any tools that you will need to put on the CD.
I have found it best to actually create a dir structure that matches the PE cd dir scructure and to place all thes files into it. use XCOPY to pump them into the real PE structure before writing the CD.
Chris
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Thanks Chris, any help you could send my way would really be appreciated!!
When you booted it off a Windows server, where did you get your setup information?
The link below looks like what you might use if you're pxe-booting off Windows:
I got my data form the PE Docs.
It was fairy straight forward.
Copy the files, rename one, and edit the sif file.
Boot!
Worked like a champ.
Chris
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Here's my problem, however. I want to be able to pxe-boot WinPE from a Linux-based server.
I am working on the same thing. But I'm not a linux guy so my Linux team is doing the work.
I'm told it's not hard.. But I'll let you know what I find.
It works off a Windows PXE server no problem.
Chris
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DOH!
This was posted recently. I missed it. Here is how.
copy winbom.ini from i386 to the root folder where i386 is present. this will solve the problem
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Could someone send me the ImageCenter32 front end for PQADeploy? I can't find it anywhere now that Symantec has taken over...
Ahhh.. The coveted Imagecenter32.
I have it. Symantec ripped it off the web page once they took the reigns.
It's not supported in anay way. It never went past version 1.0.
Give me an address to send it to.
You can't use it without PQI deploy and it's not a product that was "sold" so I see no harm in sending it.
Chris
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Nevmind all, I've figured it out.
Use the startnet.cmd file in
RemoteInstallPath\Setup\English\Images\WINPEIMAGE\i386\system32
to launch whatever you want, anyone ever figure out a way to turn off the popup box that asks if you want to shutdown/quit/restart etc?
The solution for that is in a post here somewhere.
Has to do with copying a file somewhere if I recall.
Do a search on this forum.
Chris
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Where are you getting PE 2005 RC1 from? I only have 2004 in my volume licensing cue.
Thanks
It is not released yet.
I am part of an OEM Beta.
I was talking to a MS PE developer yesterday and he mentioned that it will most likely go into RC2 and then RTM.
Chris
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while the time Bart gets busted
PEBuilder will surely have 10,000 times more working plugin than windows PE and as for support and hotfixes Bart alone is lot faster to fix his things than M$ (while i never found a bug in PEbuilder except the ones that i have created on my own) it's really a question of personnal choice i prefer PEBuilder because it's available to everyone when i browse WinPE forums all i see is "cannot do this, cannot do that, how can i fix this and that" when i browse PEBuilder i find "Try this new plugin, heres a new Mass storage pack, look what we can run in Bart's PE" and the gang at the 911cd.net forum worth 100 time the M$ support you'll get on Microsoft Windows PE i'm in the business since the beguinning of computer industry and i deal with microsoft on day to day basis and their supports does simply not worth the price they ask for....It comes down to a couple of things:
1) Do you want support from MS?
2) How much do you want to develope on your own?
3) What are you using it for?
Large Corporate users tend to lean to MS OPK PE.
Adding Hotfixes to PE is easy. It's a file replacement and a re-compile.
Chris
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Exqueeze me?
Are you done?
I am very happy for you and your PE Build Based on BartsPE.
My comment was informational to the person who wrote the topic requesting Barts Plugs ins and had a whopping 2 responses.
If you want Barts plug ins... Yes... 911cd is the place to go. They have tons of them (I have an ID there too by the way). Not to say you will get thrown out of here since the folks here are generally knowledgeable and helpfull when they can be.
If you want to leverage Pure MS OPK PE. You are in the right place. I have not yet found a better or more complete forum for the MS OPK PE. There is a clearcut diffrerence between the two as you already know.
I personally get VERY offended when someone throws BartsPE in my face.
Nuff said.
My applologies to the Forum Administrator. Didn't want to get rude but I felt it had to be said.
Chris
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You will not find much in these forums on Barts. This forum deal mostly in pure MS OPK PE.
Chris
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If I put them in there it doesnt work - If I add them to the oc2.bat file they do... strange
Are you getting the startnet.cmd file that you want?
Make sure that your edited startnet.cmd file is actually making it to the ISO image. I have seen some forget to copy the new startnet file to the WINPE directory before compiliing the CD.
Chris
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Adding languages while compiling from the WINPE OPK is easy. But you mentioned Barts.
Can't help you there.
Chris
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Seems that DNS/WINS are only supported with DHCP. .
Not True. I deal mostly in teh static IP world. Only my testing segment is DHCP so I can test faster.
Basically, my PE cd runs a script that attempts the Gateway of the DHCP address it gets. If it fails, I toss up the configurator ( API call tothe standard Windows IP config Screens) which allows the User to set a IP Address.
ALL rules apply. IP, Gateway, Subnetmask and at least one DNS and oneWINS setting. All works fine.
PE NETCONFIG is also a Good tool to use. Does the job and then some.
Chris
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Unattend setup is a art all it's own.
You need to create a structure off your I386 directory Called $OEM$ in there will be a dir called TEXTMODE (there are a few directoried under this.)
This is fully explained in the OS setup docs.
You will also need to modify your Unattend.txt to add the additional driver support.
Basically... the setup pulls the drives from this DIR and uses it during setup.
Here is an example for an HP DL360G3 with a 5i controller.
Don't forget the IDE line. You need it when adding adding mass controller drivers manually.
[MassStorageDrivers]
"Smart Array 5300 Controller"=OEM
"Smart Array 5i, 532, 5312 Controllers"=OEM
"Smart Array 6i, 641, 642, 6400 EM, 6400 Controllers"=OEM
"IDE CD-ROM (ATAPI 1.2)/PCI IDE Controller"=RETAIL
[OEMBootFiles]
CPQCISSM.SYS
TXTSETUP.OEM
The tricky part is Multiple drivers.
You can only have one txtsetup.oem file in that dir. So if you need more than one driver, you myst manually "mung" the settings into a single txtsetup.oem file. It's a b***h.
Chris
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You are on the right track.. but you are missing some key points
Let me throw out some questions that I had to deal with.
What Scripting Language are you going to use. Don't use Batch. Use VBScript or Perl.
INI files are your friend! Read and write values to INI files. It's the easiest to mannage and it leave a trail for rebuilds and troubeshooting.
Disk Partitioning:
New install of OS or Rebuild? Delete all volumes? or save existing?
(my build can re-install a new OS intot he existing OS Volume without touching any other data)
FAT32 is the easiest to work with. Create a FAT32 volume and let the Install of Windows convert it to NTFS. This way it is 100% supported by MS. And other apps do not create NTFS volumes in teh same manner as MS. Ran into that with PQI Deploy.
Automated Install:
Where are your going to get your answers to the Unattend.txt (or sysprep) file?
There are a few apps floating around that folks have written that can help. We wrote our own for our own needs. It's INI file driven which makes adding valuse so much easier.
Regional settings? Do you have more than one time zone? Country?
I store my resional settings in INI files. The build reads the propper settings form these files and plugs them into the Unattend.txt
Run once lets you break off and personalize the OS. Most people work in this manner. If you do imaging, becarefull with what you install. cleaning it up for imaging can be a b***h. Somethimes it not worth the trouble down the road. It you are thinking misison critical servers.... Never rollback. always install fresh.
It may take a few extra minutes...but that saves alot of time and money later.
Chris
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I am now trying to script the Array Configuration to autocreate OS mirrors.
I am trying to put together a bare-metal build, without ghostlike images.
I'd be happy to share info
rismoney,
I'd love to see what you have done. My build is fully automated and imaged based.... Except for the Raid Controller. I'm working on Flashing the Components under PE.. But right now it will not work because of the flash tools and the their hard coded "temp" locations.
Now that I got PE to PXE boot... I'm doing a front end that is web based and SQL backed. Build and rebuild at the touch of a button!
Chris
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I've made a custom WinPE CD using the documentation provided with HP Scripting Toolkit. Everything goes fine, but i cannot change the TCP/IP settings. We use VLAN's and the "Server VLAN" where i'm trying to install Windows 2000 Server does not support DHCP. So when i use WinPE i get APIPA assigned ip address on both NIC's. How can i change it to an static IP address and can i use WINS or DNS?
Can i configure both NIC's with different settings?
You can but why would you want to?
Trust me.. Only deal with one adapter. I build servers with anywhere from 1 to 6 Nics. It's not fun. If i recall in the unattend settings, you can only assign one nic a static address. Maybe that has changed with 2003. But if this is an HP machine, most likely you will be teaming the nics for redundancy?
Let the second nic fall to DCHP. it does not matter. Set it properly in the OS after it's installed.
Chris
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WinPE 1.2 --> Only compatible with XP SP1 ?
WinPE 2004 --> Only compatible with XP SP2 ?
WinPE 2004 --> Only compatible with 2003 SP1 ?
WinPE 1.2 --> Only compatible with XP SP1 and Win2k3 (no SP)
WinPE 2004 --> Only compatible with XP SP2 ? - Correct
WinPE 2004 --> Only compatible with 2003 SP1 ? - I think you mean WinPE 2005.
Chris
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Where did you hear/read that 2004 or 2005 would support WIM images, etc? I never saw any documentation that suggested that was planned.
Microsoft gave me PPT doc about 6 months ago that had the development tack of PE 2004 and 2005 (called PE 1.5 and 1.6 at that time).
Chris
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The same image is quicker to restore in dos rather than winpe
Don't have an answer for ya there.
Thats not typically what people see.
WinPE is a 32 bit OS. Are you using the 32 bit version of PQIDEPLOY (win version)?
You don't want to be using the 16 bit ver in PE.
The latest Ghost suite can restore PQI files.
Chris
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hi, guys, i encounter a problem when trying to test [updatesystem] section in winbom.ini.
As we know, we can copy a files using copyfiles, sourcedisksfile, sourcedisksname and destinationdirs entries, but how can we copy a direcory?what's the correct format of [updatesystem] section?
I really appreciate your help!
xcopy or ROBOCOPY from the resource kit.
If this is a scripted process... xcopy your files either before or after you run the setup. If after.. Make sure you add the NO REBOOT switch.
Chris
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but can't effect disk to disk speed though!
Coul be the re-size option.
If the partitoin you are restoring to is not exactly the same size.. It will re-size. That increases the time.
Here are 2 of my scripts...
// NON Destructive Mode - Unattend Build
// RE-INSTALLS OS WITHOUT TOUCHING DATA ON OTHER DRIVES
select drive 1
select Partition %ActivePartition% + 1
delete
select freespace first
create /fS=FAT32 /LABEL="SYSTEM"
select partition "SYSTEM"
Set Active
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// NON Destructive Mode - IMAGE Build
// RE-INSTALLS OS WITHOUT TOUCHING DATA ON OTHER DRIVES
select drive 1
select Partition %ActivePartition% + 1
delete
select freespace first
// Restore Options
SET IMAGE FILENAME %Image%
SELECT IMAGE ALL
RESIZE IMAGE MAX
RESTORE
Chris
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PEBuilder will surely have 10,000 times more working plugin than windows PE and as for support and hotfixes Bart alone is lot faster to fix his things than M$ (while i never found a bug in PEbuilder except the ones that i have created on my own) it's really a question of personnal choice i prefer PEBuilder because it's available to everyone when i browse WinPE forums all i see is "cannot do this, cannot do that, how can i fix this and that" when i browse PEBuilder i find "Try this new plugin, heres a new Mass storage pack, look what we can run in Bart's PE" 
and the gang at the 911cd.net forum worth 100 time the M$ support you'll get on Microsoft Windows PE i'm in the business since the beguinning of computer industry and i deal with microsoft on day to day basis and their supports does simply not worth the price they ask for....
PE Networking not working
in Windows PE
Posted
What are the NICS you are using?
VMware uses AMD. it is a default driver in XP, 200 and 2003.
You may not have the necessary NIC or video drivers.
Chris