writeable ramdisk for winpe2005

[williwerkl]

hi there,

does anybody has a working solution for a writeable ramdisk using winpe2005?

following the guide at http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm, the systems dies with a bluescreen 0xc000021a status 0xc0000034.

can the build in ramdisk.sys can be used to build up a writeable ramdisk. or is the ramdisk only for loading any diskimages (<100mb) into a ram-cdrom-drive.

thanks for help

[mbouchard]

I believe that the ramdrive instructions above was for older versions of WinPE and will not work with WinPE2005. But, it really isn't needed as WinPE2005 when built using Windows 2003 SP1 has RamDrive functionality. Check the WinPE.chm, there are instructions there on how to do this.

[williwerkl]

i only found some information about booting winpe from a ramdisk. but this ram disk is read only - it's a virtual cdrom drive.

[Schra]

Hi,

the ramdrive in the guide works for me with WinPE2005.

But when I try to boot WinPE2005 into it's new ramdisk the writeable ramdisk won't work anymore.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Schra

[mats]

The instructions at http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm actually do work with a little tweaking.

I followed the instructions with some exeptions:

You dont need ramdrv.inf at all so forget that file

make sure that the ramdrv.sys is at least verison 5.2.10.2 (i got mine from an existing bart cd).

This gave me a working ramdriva at Z: with pe booted in ramdisk mode

[purejamie]

The instructions at http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm actually do work with a little tweaking.

I followed the instructions with some exeptions:

You dont need ramdrv.inf at all so forget that file

make sure that the ramdrv.sys is at least verison 5.2.10.2 (i got mine from an existing bart cd).

This gave me a working ramdriva at Z: with pe booted in ramdisk mode

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I did similar to this with the latest Microsoft ramdrv.sys file... works ok for me.

[mats]

Yes the MS ramdrv.sys works if it has been recompiled for XP.

THe sample on the ms web in kb257405 see http://support.microsoft.com/?id=257405 isn't recompiled and i think you need the ddk to recompile it. The bad thing is that you need a msdn subscription to get the ddk.

I also got a recompiled one directly from MS and that one works really nice.

I originally wrote about that one but since i found a way to get the qsoft driver to work i changed my post so it reflected that driver since everyone can get it.

[williwerkl]

hi there,

finally i got my system to boot with the ramdisk. but trying to access it i get the message; insufficient system resources exists to complete the requested service.

ramdrv.sys 5.3.1.2 enterprise light

would anybody be so nice sending my a recompiled version from ms.

well what about the ramdisk.sys included in winpe. could the driver only be used for the cdrom-rom disk booting winpe?

thanks in advanced

[getwired]

Correct.

[mats]

I would like to send it to you but I cant since I belive it would break the licensing rules.

[williwerkl]

are you sure about the licence rules - is the recompling of free code not allowed from ms?

well has anybody an idea about the error message, trying to access the ramdrive:

insufficient system resources exists to complete the requested service.

i don't know whats wrong about my system, but how can i get a ramdisk working????

[Schra]

First of all - if I use the guide http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm everything is fine (when not booting directly into the PE2005-ramdisk)

If I use the same image for booting into the ramdisk the ramdrive wont work anymore. I tried as mentioned in a few postings above:

- deleted the ramdrv.inf

- replaced the ramdrv.sys with the one from BartPE 3.14 (V. 5.2.10.2)

This settings do not work even without using the ramdisk mode

Any ideas? Can someone describe please in detail every setting not covered by the guide http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm ?

Thanks

[mats]

The problem is that you need to use files from the ddk to compile and the ddk isn't free. Therefore I would be using licensed files in what I am giving away and I don't think we got the right licensing for that.

[ChrisBaksa]

are you sure about the licence rules - is the recompling of free code not allowed from ms?

well has anybody an idea about the error message, trying to access the ramdrive:

insufficient system resources exists to complete the requested service.

i don't know whats wrong about my system, but how can i get a ramdisk working????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I ran into this in the very beginning.

Scrap everything you have from previous PE versions.

You will need to re-copile all optional components form the SP1 ver of 2003 Server.

Start new. They only files you will be saving are the drivers you add in yourself.

Chris

[mats]

Disclamer: I have tested this with the SA verison of PE2005, all testing has been done with virtual pc on my laptop.

Step by step to get a working PE CD with ramdrive

1. create the test folder under c:\

2. Copy the WINPE folder from the Windows PE CDROM to C:\

3. Create a textfile named WINPE_RAMDISK.INF in the C:\test\WINPE folder using step 3 in http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm

4. edit config.inf in the C:\test\Winpe folder using step 4 in http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm

5. copy the i386 folder from a 2003Sp1 CD to c:\test. I used the Enterprise Edition

6. Create a target folder under c:\test

7. Create an Iso folder under c:\test

8. Start a cmd shell and go to the c:\test\winpe folder

9. run MKIMG.CMD ..\srv2003entsp1 ..\target

10. get the ramdrive.sys file from bartpe version 3.13 www.nu2.nu (version should be 5.2.10.2) and rename it ramdrv.sys.

11. Put ramdrv.sys in C:\test\target\I386\system32\drivers

12. start a command prompt and go into c:\test\winpe

13. run oscdimg -h -n -betfsboot.com c:\test\target c:\test\iso\test1.iso

14. Create c:\test\iso\winnt.sif with the following contents

[setupData]

BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)"

BootPath = "\i386\System32\"

OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=test1.iso"

Architecture = "i386"

15. Create the c:\test\iso\i386 directory

16. copy c:\test\target\i386\bootfix.bin c:\test\iso\i386\bootfix.bin

17. copy c:\test\target\i386\ntdetect.com c:\test\iso\i386\ntdetect.com

18. copy c:\test\target\i386\Setupldr.bin c:\test\iso\i386\Setupldr.bin

19. start a command prompt and go into c:\test\winpe

20. run oscdimg -h -n -betfsboot.com c:\test\iso c:\test\PEramdrv.iso