Possible bad link on the Multiboot DVD site

[Ryan_R]

Hi guys. I'm working through my Multiboot DVD currently. I have one of those WinBeta DVDs that have all versions of Vista (x86 and x64). Since this totals over 8gigs in itself, I'm only interested in the 32bit version.

I've copied DVD-ROM:\sources\x86\sources to my AIO-DVD folder. I'm assuming that the instructions here (http://flyakite.msfn.org/longhorn.htm) are relevant to Vista. I've noticed, however, that when the article says to download 4051.zip file, it actually links to the PRO1.zip file for Windows XP Professional. Can someone (presumably flyakite) fix this?

Otherwise please let me know how I can add Vista to my DVD. Thanks all.

Ryan R

[kof94]

You could just use UltraISO or a similar app to get the boot sector from your own media. The file your referring to is way out of date anyway.

[batson0974]

kof94 is right you will extract the boot sector with UltraIso or whatever program you wish, and rename it to (Vista.DAT) or whatever you wish. Now you must follow the Longhorn guide by renaming your BOOT folder to CDSH etc. One more thing once the VISTA (all in one disc) is Optimized it will fit on a 4.7GB DVD if both Install.wim files contain x86 & x64 of Vista. SO there for you fit all versions of Windows on one 8.5 DVD, as I have succeeded in this. My disc contains both x86 and x64 Vista, 4 versions of XP, 4 versions of 2003, 4 versions of 2000, 4 versions of NT, and all of the Windows 9x.

Now the MSDN version of Vista contains the RTM versions of Vista which supposedly contains less drivers than the Retail Version of Vista. So if you own a retail version of Vista you can use Chon’s method of modifying both of the x86 & x64 install.wim files to contain HOME BASIC x86 & x64, HOME PREMIUM x86 & x64, Business x86 & x64, and Ultimate x86 & x64 then replacing each install.wim file in your sources folders. This enables both versions to load x86 & x64, and furthermore enables you to optimize the Vista portion of the image even smaller. Like I said before in another post you need both x86 & x64 boot.wim if you ever need to make a recovery. You cannot recover or fix an x64 system with an x86 loader or vice versa.

Edited May 11, 2007 by batson0974

[Ryan_R]

Thanks for the responses.

Where exactly do I find the .wim files to see If I can use both architectures of vista?

Please see the attached screenshot of the layout of my Vista DVD. Notice there are 3 'sources' folders and also 3 'boot' folders.

More info on this would be great

[batson0974]

In the Sources folder of your Vista DVD, and if you have the Winbeta ALL IN ONE Vista X86 & x64 it will be in sources\x86\sources or sources\x64\sources.

And you want to modify the Install.wim not the Boot.wim.

[Ryan_R]

I think I might have added Vista properly, but when I extract the boot image with ISObuster there is no 'Date Modified' tag on the files which could be a problem later on.

Onto my next problem

I've created my final ISO and when booting in VPC I get the error that 'cls' is not a valid command. I initially thought that maybe it should be 'clear; as the eholw script looks like it's in Linux BASH syntax, but that didn't work either. When dumpred to the CD Shells command prompt - I noticed that none of the commands I entered worked - even 'print "Hello \n"'

Am I missing a file that contains the code library?

Edit:

I've now booted into XP (all previous work done in Vista Ultimate 32bit). In Vista I couldn't run the cdshw.com program. In XP it works with no problems. It works regardless if I have used the 'clear' or 'cls' statement. However, when I create the iso using CDIMAGE.exe and then boot up a Virtual PC with it - I get the error that it doesn't recognise the command 'cls' or 'clear' (depending on which one i used). I've also noticed that the files don't get optimised (the iso remains over 8GB).

What needs to be done to fix this?

Thanks in advance

Edited May 13, 2007 by Ryan_R

[jetman]

Not sure, but it sounds that you mite be having script probs, particularly WRT to 'cls' in a Windows batch script. Typically, these can be caused by faulty line-endings, which can be confirmed w/ NOTEPAD. If a file doesn't format correctly w/ NOTEPAD, you know you need to run them thru something else, like WORDPAD and save them in 'MSDOS format'. HTH....Jet

[Ryan_R]

Whe I get home I'll upload the script for you to look at.

I've written it in notepad, and have ensured that there are no spaces after the cls command on the 2nd line (which is giving the error)

[kof94]

Do yourself a favor and grab yourself a copy of Notepad++, makes life a lot easier!

Post your script and we'll try to debug it for you. CDShell is right pain when you can't find a bug in your script and it only takes one typo to screw the whole thing up.

[Ryan_R]

-------------------------

boot:

cls

print "\n"

print "Press Enter to boot from DVD... \n"

getkey 10 boot 0x80

if $lastKey == key[enter]; then goto time

# When no key found...

goto boot

# Function to display time of day

time:

set hour = $timeHour

set ampm = "am"

if $timeHour > 12; then set hour = $timeHour - 12

if $timeHour > 12; then set ampm = "pm"

set time = "$hour:$timeMinute$ampm"

# Function to display date

date:

set month = "n/a"

if $dateMonth == 1; then set month = "Jan."

if $dateMonth == 2; then set month = "Feb."

if $dateMonth == 3; then set month = "Mar."

if $dateMonth == 4; then set month = "Apr."

if $dateMonth == 5; then set month = "May."

if $dateMonth == 6; then set month = "Jun."

if $dateMonth == 7; then set month = "Jul."

if $dateMonth == 8; then set month = "Aug."

if $dateMonth == 9; then set month = "Sep."

if $dateMonth == 10; then set month = "Oct."

if $dateMonth == 11; then set month = "Nov."

if $dateMonth == 12; then set month = "Dec."

set date = "$month$dateDay,$dateYear"

# Printing the Interface

menu:

set textColor= color[cyan on black]

set boldColor= color[brightcyan on black]

cls

print c "\n\cXXÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ<\c0B$time $date\cXX>ÄÄ \n\n"

print c "\cXXAdvanced Multi-Boot DVD v1.7\n\n"

print l "\cXXPress \c0BF1 \cXXfor Help"

print c "\cXXÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ \n\n"

print "1) Windows Vista Setup \n"

print "2) Windows XP Professional SP2 RTM \n"

print "3) Windows XP Fundamentals for Legacy PCs \n"

print "4) Windows 2000 Professional \n"

print "5) Windows 2000 Server \n"

print "6) Windows ME \n"

print "7) Windows 98 SE \n"

print "8) Windows 95 Boot Disk \n"

print "9) Windows Ultimate Boot CD [bartPE] \n"

print "0) Windows Ultimate Boot CD [bartPE] - Load in RAM \n"

print "\n"

print "A) Acronis True Image Boot CD \n"

print "G) Load Ghost Boot Disk \n"

print "\n"

print "S) View Serial Numbers... \n"

#print "\n"

#print "X) More Options... \n\n"

print "Q) Quit to Command Prompt \n"

print "R) Reboot \n"

print "ESC) Boot 1st Harddisk \n"

print c "\n"

getkey

MainKey:

if $lastKey == key[1]; then chain /BOOT.DAT

if $lastKey == key[2]; then chain /PRO1.DAT

if $lastKey == key[3]; then chain /FLP1.DAT

if $lastKey == key[4]; then chain /2PRO.DAT

if $lastKey == key[5]; then chain /2SRV.DAT

if $lastKey == key[6]; then memdisk /ME.IMA

if $lastKey == key[7]; then memdisk /98SE.IMA

if $lastKey == key[8]; then memdisk /WIN95.IMA

if $lastKey == key[9]; then chain /BPE1.DAT

if $lastKey == key[0]; then chain /BPE2.DAT

if $lastKey == key[q]; then end

if $lastKey == key[r]; then reboot

if $lastKey == key; then goto SerialNumbers

if $lastKey == key[a]; then memdisk /ACR1.IMG

if $lastkey == key[g]; then memdisk /GHOST.IMA

#if $lastKey == key[F1]; then goto Help

if $lastKey == key[esc]; then boot 0x80

#MoreOptions:

#cls

#print r "\n\cXXPress \c0BF1 \cXXfor Help \n"

#print c "\n\cXXMore Options \n"

#print c "\cXXÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ \n"

#print "1) Read/Copy Files From NTFS Volumes To FAT32/16 Drives \n"

#print "2) Partition Magic 8.0 \n"

#print "3) Norton Ghost \n"

#print "4) View Serial Numbers \n"

#print c "\n\n"

#print "Press any key to return to main menu... \n"

#MoreOptions_Key:

#getkey 20 goto menu

#if $lastKey == key[1]; then memdisk /NTFS.IMA

#if $lastKey == key[2]; then memdisk /PM8.IMG

#if $lastKey == key[3]; then memdisk /GHOST.IMA

#if $lastKey == key[4]; then goto SerialNumbers

#goto time

SerialNumbers:

cls

#print r "\n\cXXPress \c0BF1 \cXXfor Help \n"

print c "\n\cXXSerial Numbers\n"

print c "\cXXÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ"

#type /SERIALS.txt

print c "\n\n"

print "Windows Vista: #################### \n"

print "Windows XP SP2 RTM: ####################### \n"

print "Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs: ####################### \n"

print "Windows 2000 Professional: ########################### \n"

print "Windows 2000 Server: ########################### \n"

print "Windows Mellenium Edition: ########################### \n"

print "Windows 98 Second Edition: ########################### \n"

print "Windows 95: ######################## \n"

print c "\n\n"

print c "\n\n"

print "Press any key to return to main menu... \n"

getkey

goto time

#Help:

#cls

#print c "\n\cXXMulti-Boot DVD Help \n"

#print c "\cXXÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ \n"

#print "\n"

#print "Hit the key of your choice in the main menu -> \n"

#print "\n"

#print "\n"

#print "Install Types \n"

#print "ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ \n"

#print "Regular - Install will prompt you for all information during setup. \n"

#print "Unattended - Install with no user prompts. \n"

#print "OEMPreinstall - Install Windows and additional programs with no user prompts. \n"

#print "\n"

#print "\n"

#print "Press any key to return to main menu... \n"

#getkey

#goto time

end

-------------------------

[kof94]

Ok, so you have a carbon copy of Flyakite's cdshell.ini.

1. First thing you need to is to break it down a little. Make yourself a simple menu with some sample options. Debug that menu until you've got it right, then use it to create sub-menus.

This a mod from one of my previous incarnations:

cls
print "\n"
print "Press any key to boot from DVD...\n"
getkey 5 boot 0x80

main:
set textColor = color[cyan on black]
cls
print l "\n"
print l "				   ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»\n"
print l "				   º		  System Recovery DVD		 º\n"
print l "				   º			  Version n/a			 º\n"
print l "				   ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ\n"
print l "\n"
print l "\n"
print l "								   Main Menu\n"
print l "\n"
set textColor = color[brightgrey on black]
print l "\n"
print l "						  [F1]  Windows XP SP2\n"
print l "						  [F2]  UBCD4Win 3.03\n"
print l "						  [F3]  Ubuntu 6.10\n"
print l "						  [F4]  Knoppix 5.1.1\n"
print l "						  [F5]  Ultimate Boot CD 3.4\n"
print l "\n"
print l "						  [F6]  Utilities\n"
print l "\n"
print l "						  [ESC] Exit\n"
getkey
if $lastKey == key[f1];
if $lastKey == key[f2];
if $lastKey == key[f3];
if $lastKey == key[f4];
if $lastKey == key[f5];
if $lastKey == key[f6];
if $lastKey == key[esc]; then reboot
if $lastKey == key[end]; then goto prompt
goto main

prompt:
cd /
cls
end

It's simple but should aid you a little since there's no functions or variables in it.

2. Re-download the CDShell package since your problems could be due to corruption or missing files (it's worth ago!).

3. Get yourself a copy of CDImage GUI. It comes pre-set with the most reliable settings but here are mine anyway:

cdimage.exe" -l"AIO" -h -j1 -b"E:\Disc\isolinux\isolinux.bin" -x -o -m "E:\Disc" "E:\Disc.iso"

This way you should be able to rule out any misuse of CDImage (been there, done that!).

4. cdshw.com is buggy as hell, don't trust it explicitly. Examples are: It doesn't like you having Caps-Lock on and you cannot exceed 10kb (or somthing like that I can't remember) on any config file e.g chshell.ini. There are other things that will randomly crash it as well. You just can't beat a real test (this is also true of VPC)!

5. I never tried booting Vista from CDShell although I cannot see it being significantly different from other NT family OS's to not work. The main issue here is CDImage. As far as I know Vista installation files come packed in a single archive similar to a Linux squashfs file (correct me if I'm wrong). I cannot see CDImage optimising two of these archives if their make up is significantly different.

The reason it works for XP/2K/NT etc is because each individual installation file is bare to see on your disc. So, the files for say, XP Home and Pro will be optimised to a certain extent because most of their files are identical! With Vista, if my assumptions are correct, this just isn't going to happen!

Last of all, there's always isolinux. Just a thought .

Good luck.

Edited May 14, 2007 by kof94

[batson0974]

This is true the Install.wim file is the largest portion of the Vista installation, with an approximate size of around 2.3GB. That is why I said before to modify the install.wim to load both (x86 & x64) versions of Vista. Then place a copy of the install.wim in both x86 sources and x64 sources. That way when the Image is optimized it will only have one copy of the file on the ISO image, therefore it will save some space. This may even add as much as one more GB to the file but if you have two install.wim files that are different it will consume over 4GB of the ISO image.

Edited May 15, 2007 by batson0974

[kof94]

This is true the Install.wim file is the largest portion of the Vista installation, with an approximate size of around 2.3GB. That is why I said before to modify the install.wim to load both (x86 & x64) versions of Vista. Then place a copy of the install.wim in both x86 sources and x64 sources. That way when the Image is optimized it will only have one copy of the file on the ISO image, therefore it will save some space. This may even add as much as one more GB to the file but if you have two install.wim files that are different it will consume over 4GB of the ISO image.

Thanks, I wasn't 100% sure about this. It's also nice to know there's a workaround, although I personally wont be using Vista for some time.

Edit: It probably would have helped if I'd read the third post in the thread as well .

Edited May 15, 2007 by kof94

[Ryan_R]

Getting a few errors when building the iso file using the gui - undoubtedly i've done something wrong.

what's meant by the \\?\F:\AIO-DVD\... errors/warnings

[kof94]

Thats normal ignore it unless you get hundreds of them. It usually happens to files like setupldr.bin after you've hexed it.