Nlite cd to a network share

[clivebuckwheat]

ok a got the bootdisk mapping to the share with where the contents of my nlite cd is. If i start the install with winnt.exe can you guys forsee any issues that could come up

[Djé]

No. But start the install with winnt.exe and tell us if any issue comes up

[clivebuckwheat]

well i mapped to my share with the contents of my nlite cd. I went in the I386 folder and ran winnt.exe and I get the following error message

Could not find a place for a swap file.

Setup cannot continue.

[Djé]

I went in the I386 folder and ran winnt.exe

Did you run a command like:

Z:\I386\WINNT.EXE /unattend:Z:\I386\winnt.sif /syspart:C: /tempdrive:C:

where Z: is your mapped drive and C: the local drive to which you're installing.

Look at the doc but I think some of the arguments are mandatory for a network install...

[clivebuckwheat]

I think those commands only work for winnt32.exe and not winnt.exe?

I still get "cannot find a place for the swap file"

[clivebuckwheat]

I have decided to use this method.

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=17144

i start the install from the network with

Winnt.exe /s:U:\i386 /t:C /u:Winnt.sif

it starts the install but it seems to hang for a long time on the blue screen " Please wait while copying files", but it eventually starts the install and finishes it.

does anyone know why it is so slow?, takes 45 minutes before the yellow bar even appears

any suggestions would be appreciated.

Edited April 2, 2006 by clivebuckwheat

[donb]

it starts the install but it seems to hang for a long time on the blue screen " Please wait while copying files", but it eventually starts the install and finishes it.

does anyone know why it is so slow?, takes 45 minutes before the yellow bar even appears

When I had this problem, we solved it by running smartdrv (from the OS that you created the boot disk from) before entering the winnt command.

There is still a pause, but it is only about 45-60 seconds (maybe a little more)

Never found out what the cause is or why smartdrv helps.

Don

[clivebuckwheat]

see my other thread.

[clivebuckwheat]

Ok

I got windows to install from the network drive. Just plain windows, but none of my apps installed?. I integrated them into my nlite cd, and they work fine from the cd. But now that I tried to put my nlite cd on a network share no apps install. What do I have to do to make it happen?.

[Djé]

But now that I tried to put my nlite cd on a network share no apps install. What do I have to do to make it happen?.

HeHeHe too busy since then so you forgot about the $OEM$ stuff in my post and tridgely's addition.

BTW, how did you solved your problems? You'll have to make a full tutorial for others when done.

Edited April 6, 2006 by Djé

[clivebuckwheat]

yeah man the struggle continues

i'll do a full tutorial when I am done

Edited April 6, 2006 by clivebuckwheat

[theUtmost]

@clivebuckwheat

I've replied to your other post about problem installing apps from $OEM$.

It seems you have gone through exactly the same process as I have done recently.

Like you, I wanted a simple and elegant way of booting from a DOS boot disk, loading NIC drivers, mapping a drive and then running setup from source files on the distribution share.

I quickly found there are dozens of different ways of doing an install from a distribution share.

Because everyone does things slightly differently, different peoples advice and help may not always get you what you want.

Also, all of the higher-level useful guides and tutes (which are very well written and helped me lots, so cheers to all! ) seem to focus almost exclusively on cd/dvd-based installs.

Only by lurking for a long time (we are talking months here) on these forums and others was I finally able to get my network based installs (mostly) working. I need to post a few questions of my own to get the bugs ironed out.

Anyway, there are a couple of points I should raise here:

* Installing from DOS is harder, simply because DOS doesn't natively know anything about NTFS format partitions. So you need to use 3rd party tools like the "eXtended FDISK" or AEFDISK to manage that part of the process. Also, you need to work a reboot into your setup somehow, so that DOS can find your newly partitioned and (FAT32) formatted drive.

* Also with DOS, you have slightly more work involved with your network boot disk. As you're well aware, you'll need to add drivers for any new NIC to your boot disk, which can be a bit tedious. If you are installing from a Win32 Bit environment, like WinPE or BartPE, then you can use something like the DriverPack for network cards put together by "Bashrat the Sneaky" et al. This is a great way of getting drivers for pretty much any peice of hardware you're ever likely to come across.

* Another problem with DOS is that the Winnt.exe setup program is more restrictive than Winnt32.exe. A number of switches are available ONLY if you run the 32-bit version. Search MS KB for a comparison. You may or may not require some of the extra switches and that could be the MAJOR deciding factor for you and whether or not you choose to initiate install from DOS.

* Don't forget about Linux! There is an excellent open source alternative here:

http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

I tried to use this myself and it seemed quite well done - you don't need a linux server to host the source files either

Unfortunately for me, I know absolutely nothing about linux, nor abour Perl scripting.

I wanted to make a few reasonably significant mods and didn't think it would be worth my while, but your mileage may vary.

* The most helpful site I've found for doing a network-based install of windows is here:

http://diegostart.dijuremo.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

Basically, the "Diegostart" system is a plugin for a BartPE bootcd which is designed around using source files located on a network share. Using this system to troubleshoot/test my network-based install, I was able to (mostly) get my unattended install to a Promise FastTrack SATA-150 RAID controller working.

However, despite the fact that the DiegoStart system was very helpful to me for troubleshooting (I used the BartPE cd it creates to boot so I can view the Win install files at various stages on the destination HDD), and despite the fact that I bagged DOS installs to start with, I have gone back to booting from DOS - at least for now.

Why?

It is faster.

A BartPE disk even on a newish fastish system takes a few minutes to load the environment, load the network drivers, map a drive etc and is slower compared to a DOS boot disk on the same machine.

To get your DOS boot disk working quickly, of course you MUST load "smartdrv" before running Winnt.exe setup.

What may be slightly less common is that in my DOS boot disk, I use NetBEUI.

Boo hiss! ! I hear people say.

Just try it - DOS NetBEUI is faster than DOS TCP/IP.

If any forum mods happen across this post, question for ya:

Given that conditions/requirements and aims are quite different for network-based unattended installs compared to cd/dvd-based unattended installs, would it be a good idea to have a subforum for Network-based installs? I note there is already one for RIS. A separate one for Network-based would likely have saved me a bit of confusion.

[Djé]

@theUtmost: Thanks for this good summary.

While trying to help clivebuckwheat (hi man, how is it going on?) I wanted to make my own dos boot cd with network support, but so far it doesn't work.

I'm using bartPE on a regular basis for re-installing windows (both through network and from a partition) but I am interested in solving clivebuckwheat's problemS and in giving network dos install a try.

Anyway, so far my 'best' result (with bart's dos network boot disk) is being able to ping the 'server' !

But I still cannot connect to the share.

I've tried other dos network boot disks, including clivebuckwheat's (ghost boot disk?) but couldn't have the network working properly with any of those.

All systems are using NETBEUI. And I also tried using TCP.

Now the thing is: my setup might be too specific. I connect directly both PCs (server -running xp home- and client) using a crossed cable and give them fixed IPs (10.0.0.254 and 10.0.0.1 respectively). Also workgroup is the same for both PCs.

So no proper network, no dhcp, no real server (and of course no domain), just one link.

This setup works very fine using BartPE (so windows) but not at all using dos.

And now the questions (@theUtmost or anyone else, of course): do you know what I am missing? Did you run into such problems during your testings and/or do you have any opinion about my problem?

Does someone have a good documentation source for protman?

@Admins & mods, please add me to the supporters of a subforum for Network-based installs.

[03GrandAmGT]

To Djé and everyone following this topic.

I had MANY problems using "Ghost's" network boot and Bart's NetBoot Disk and others. While I am in the procecess of starting a project related to this thread. I have found Universal Network Boot Disk at http://www.netbootdisk.com/ to RELIABLY connect all the time. Don't know if this helps anyone, but I am having NO problems connecting.

John

[Djé]

I have found Universal Network Boot Disk at http://www.netbootdisk.com/ to RELIABLY connect all the time.

Ok, I'll give it a try.

I just need to find a floppy drive!

edit:That one is a zip. How could I've missed it last night.

Thank's for puting me back on my feet.

Edited April 10, 2006 by Djé