Booting XP via freeldr from NTFS

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

missing storahci.sys at the beginning of txt-mode

[Dietmar]

@Andalu

No need to compress those files or to put into sp3.cab,

because XP knows nothing about them.

After opening folder for Nlite, just use integrate driver and then choose Textmode driver, showing to Nlite the TXTSETUP.OEM from Kai Schtrom

Dietmar

 

PS: The message "missing storahci.sys at the beginning of txt-mode"

can also mean, that you forget to mention storport.sys at all its places as @daniel_k told.

And you have to copy by hand storport.sys into i386 folder for Nlite.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Dietmar

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

I'm restarting from scratch to prepare the ISO.

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

again missing storahci.sys.

I checked dosnet.inf and txtsetup.sif and all storport.sys entries are at correct place.

Since I had already installed XP on my MSI-Z590 with the sata driver from Kai-Schtrom by using the script from Ramsey, the problem is nLite.

Tomorrow, I will modify the script to verify what happens.

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by Andalu

[Dietmar]

@Andalu

Do you have an original XP CD, this Italian one?

You can upload the *.iso of this CD and I try

Dietmar

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

before to upload the XP CD I would try to use the patch script for the sata driver integration.

[Dietmar]

@Andalu

This will not work, because freeldr checks much more than ntldr in XP

Dietmar

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

Uploading takes too long, my connection is not so fast.
Try searching for "it_windows_xp_professional_with_service_pack_3_x86_cd_vl_x14-73994"
 

Meanwhile, third failed attempt with missing storahci.sys, also using an older Italian XP ISO.

 

Edit: See you tomorrow. Have a good night.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Andalu

[Dietmar]

@Andalu

Crazy Nlite,

needs some doing by hands,

but now it works. I integrated acpi.sys 7777 also in SP3.cab

and the Kai Schtrom Sata driver with storport.sys 4173.

Just now I am installing

Dietmar

PS: 40 years ago I learned Italian language ..

https://ufile.io/1eq4gdr7

 

EDIT: Booting this XP SP3 via ntldr and freeldr both work.

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Dietmar

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

I did this test, instead:

starting from the ISO "it_windows_xp_professional_with_service_pack_3_x86_cd_vl_x14-73994" with manually added acpi.sys v7777, I prepared two ISOs with the sata driver v11.2.0.1006 integrated in one using Nlite and in the other using the modified Patch Integrator script from Ramsey. Both XP installations were done on the MSI Z590-A board.

For the first ISO prepared via nLite, I received bsod 7B on the first reboot after completing GUI mode. Most likely this problem is due to Ramsey's iaAHCI.inf file not containing the DEV_43D2 related to the ahci controller of the Z590. As such, by using the sata driver from the @George King package with updated txtsetup.oem file, the problem is bypassed and XP installs and boots correctly via ntldr.

 

For the second ISO prepared via the Patch script, XP installs smoothly on the first try, nice!

But now there is the strange thing:
to install XP with the sata 1006 driver from @George King, I formatted the first SSD drive via RMPrepUSB v2.1.739, so that only one partition was present. After the XP installation completed smoothly, I removed the MountedDevices key from the registry, then installed grub4Dos and rebooted via ntldr to verify that the MountedDevices key had been recreated correctly (only "\??\Volume..." and "\DosDevices\C:" was present). Now, rebooting via freeldr, here is the Hive error once again.

The 2nd SSD drive I used to install the XP ISO prepared via the Patch script has two partitions and one of them already has a non-working XP installation. I formatted this partition during the setup in TXT mode. The installation ends without any problems. At this point, I repeated the same procedure as for the 1st SSD: on the first boot, MountedDevices removed, installed grub4Dos, rebooted first in ntldr to re-create the MounedDevices key (two "\??\Volume..." was present other than "\DosDevices\C:" and "\DosDevices\D:"), rebooted in freeldr, and surprise: XP boots this way as well

Let me know if I have to upload some images or other.

[Dietmar]

@Andalu

Please write exact, what you did for the success in the last try "The 2nd SSD drive I used to install the XP ISO.."

Dietmar

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

Not much to add, I simply used an SSD with two already existing partitions. During TXT mode, once I selected the partition where to install XP, I chose to format it in NTFS (quick mode).

TXT and GUI modes were completed without any problems. On the first boot, I removed the MountedDevices key from the registry and installed grub. Rebooting XP again via ntldr, I verified that the MountedDevices key had been recreated correctly (it now had two \DosDevices\ entries). Rebooting the system via freeldr, XP also booted correctly in this way.

 

Edited to correct numerous spelling errors, sorry.

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Andalu

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

I cloned the 128GB SSD partition containing XP which boots via freeldr on a 256GB SSD also having two existing partitions, not the entire disk, just the system partition, leaving the size of the target partition unchanged (although the difference between the 2 partitions is minimal, less than 1GB).

After removing the MountedDevices key and re-installing grub, XP boots smoothly via freeldr even in this case.

Later I will post some images.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Andalu

[Dietmar]

@Andalu

Now I think, that the problem is at another place.

It seems, that the bootfiles for freeldr need to be at the very first bytes of the harddisk.

I come to this idea, because I succeed to boot an XP from Ramsey, which showed before the "Hive" error.

The only thing I changed is, that I copy those files again by hand on the with Winhex to 00 00 00 everywhere wiped out harddisk.

From XP SP1 I know this behavior, that it does not boot, when the bootfiles are too far away from the MBR

Dietmar

 

PS: In this case, the only thing what the original XP CD is doing better, is to put the bootfiles nearer to MBR.

 

EDIT: I just test my idea. Fresh installed XP, via freeldr booted XP shows install "Hive" error,

I copy all the files and folder of the installation to an extra Folder under another XP.

Then I copy the files in this order from that XP folder after deleting all files on the harddisk with faulty XP.

freeldr.sys

freeldr.ini

ntldr

ntdetect.com

menu.lst

grldr

The folder with whole Windows

then Documents and Settings

then programs

then all the rest together.

Pagefile I do not copy.

And voila, now this XP boots via freeldr and ntldr

Dietmar

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Dietmar

[Andalu]

@Dietmar

I just tried your method on a not-working XP via freeldr and it now works!!