sdk sample - boot image problems
Using the sdk sample app:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v1.0\samples\winbase\storage\optical\imapi2sample"
I tried taking the image from a boot cd (known to work). Then extracting the boot image. Then burning the data from the disc (temporarily copied to the hard drive) along with the boot image to create a new boot cdr.
It does burn the disc (in separate attempts, I used both bbie and ultraiso to create the boot images) - but the disc will not boot a computer :-|
The computer complains with:
"CDBOOT: Couldn't find NTloader"
Shouldn't this work?
[627 byte] By [
foobarX] at [2008-1-25]
The answer depends on what are you disc contents. Just dropping some files on the CD and adding a boot sector is not enough. E.g. the easiest way to produce a bootable CD is taking a bootable floppy image and using to burn your CD while setting the emulation type to Emulation144MFloppy (or whatever your floppy type is)
I started with a known working bootable cd.
I extracted the boot image.
I then used the files from that bootable cd together with the boot image.
i.e. (after copying the files from the cd into c:\temp\datafiles\ )
imapi2sample.exe -write c:\temp\datafiles -drive 1 -boot c:\temp\bootimage.bif
(I'm trying to use this within an existing process - the floppy step does not fit very well...)
I understand this part, but what kind of bootable image is it? What OS?
It is win pe (preinstall env)
If I take the entire ISO of the working bootable cd, imapi2sample can burn that fine and the copy is still bootable.
But, I want to alter the file set (without altering the "bootable parts") - that is the motivation for trying to remerge the data files and the boot image.
Do you mean to say that when you explode that ISO and then burn it as a set of files with the boot record it is still bootable?
That is what I *want* to happen (3rd sentence)
Currently, the only way to get a bootable cd from another bootable cd is an exact copy (making an iso file first) - (2nd sentence)
I already know the boot image is fine. (I can use it in other ways to make boot CDs and I have also used various verified means to create the boot image.)
It seems like it is the handling of it by IMAPI2 that is the problem... (The sample code seems pretty straightforward.)
Hi. I'll get our team to take a look.
Hi FoobarX,
This issue is currently being investigated. As you know, Microsoft has never supported the creation of WinPE images with any tool other than the OSCDIMG.EXE tool that is shipped as part of the OPK. The ETFSBOOT.COM boot sector has a number of limitations in its implementation (to keep it to 2k size) that may be affecting the resulting boot capability.
We are aware of this issue, but may not have finished the analysis. If this is an issue with IMAPIv2 (and not the boot sector code's limitations), we will of course be looking to get this fixed.
Sincerely,
Henry Gabryjelski
Ok, thanks TonyMan and Henry.
At least you can repro the problem (right?)
It seems surprising that etfsboot.com limitations would be exposed, essentially using the same files - I guess oscdimg.exe might be packing everything together very carefully and inserting the boot sector in some nonstandard way...?
I'll look forward to your results!
Yes, we do repro the problem.
The same files are used but the generation of the file system structures is done by a different file system engine. The resulting images are quite different. We are currently trying to narrow which delta in the way the said structures are written is causing the issue (assuming that our initial guilt assumptions are correct).
We are still actively looking into this issue, this is not forgotten.
We have found the root cause of the issue. Unfortunately it appears to be in Windows XP boot strap code. We will contact the person who initialy reported the issue to attempt to escalate it to the Windows XP WinSE team.
