How to boot an HP laptop from an iso in a VAIO via lan?

[greengeek]

Also, I have found some notes I made about using the mknetboot.sh script and the netboot server programme. I will be adding these to my other post about booting isos, but for now here are my notes:

PXE booting - extra notes:

mknetboot.sh script:

Before running the mknetboot.sh routine it is best practice to place the donor iso into the /root folder. Anywhere else might give mount errors.

The mknetboot.sh routine needs a lot of space to do its job and will create a large file as a result, so it will be necessary to ensure that there is plenty of space available in the Personal Storage File before you start. (check the icon in the system tray - the one that says “325M free

[benny7440]

Thanks greengeek for the info & link! Let me put some chronological order here (see my last post, specially the 2 Edit entries at the end, please).

I d/l the Tiny iso & ran the script again (sorry, didn't read your last post before that, so I didn't stop the Server before running the script) & it failed again but I let it reset & rerun/retry again & it went far past the point under the Ok 1 or 2 lines before the line saying Loading initrd.gz; but it failed, again. I'm now letting it try for the 3rd time in a row without me doing nothing. Noticed, however, that the machine reboots itself after a failure for trying again.

Now, if it reboots or say failed again I'm shutting it down, stop the Netboot - Server, run the script again, start the Netboot - Server & power up the HP again.

Edit: The 1st trial failed again. I'm now waiting for it to restart the process automatically, to see up to what point it gets. After the fail message it start printing a series of dots until it has to continue in the next line & it's then, at some point, that the machine reboots.

Second Edit: This last trial also failed...

[benny7440]

Somewhere I've read that there was an issue with certain puppies but it wasn't clear if this was related with the puppy the server was running or the iso the client is intended to boot up.

The PDEV1=rootfs issue was something intended to solve an issue with some relative new releases at level PL 5**. Think it appears at the google docs file of reference.

Edit: BTW, the file for the Tiny iso you gave above didn't show the md5sum, so I don't have a way of ascertaining its integrity.

[greengeek]

Edit: BTW, the file for the Tiny iso you gave above didn't show the md5sum, so I don't have a way of ascertaining its integrity.

Sorry, the original forum entry for Wary Tiny (showing md5) is here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=68284

After the fail message it start printing a series of dots until it has to continue in the next line & it's then, at some point, that the machine reboots.

Can you clarify this a little please? Was there a specific error message? or did the machine just reboot? It's totally normal for the machine to appear to "reboot" at the end of loading the initrd.gz. At that point the screen often goes completely black while the control is passing away from the PXE loader to the actual operating system itself. It is important to look at the whole screen carefully, as you can get the situation where the initrd loading message (and subsequent dots) are down the bottom of the screen, but then a new error message appears at the top of the screen later (because the op system is starting it's messages at the top of the screen instead of down where the PXE bootloader was putting it's messages).

It's possible that the PXE bootloader is working fine, but we are using a version of Puppy that does not suit your HP and won't boot it. (or even possible that the HP has a memory fault or similar...)

Also, you said earlier that the mknetboot.sh gave you errors. Is that still the case or are you confident that the process is completing successfully now?

[benny7440]

Thanks for responding, greengeek!

I did found, later, the md5sum & checked it & all is OK.

The exact error message line says: "Boot failed: press a key to retry, or wait for reset..."; it's under the line that says: "Loading initrd.gz..." (there're at least 24 such dots but, this time, they didn't reach the area under the ok that appears at the far right of the line that start with "Trying to load: default -.-.-.- ok".

Note: While I was writing the previous paragraph the machine rebooted & now I'm looking at a copy of the previous screen, but new (without any error message, yet).

Note: While I was writing the note above it went printing dots up to the point below the 'o' of the said ok but still failed with the same message. I'll let it go for a third trial without touching it. The first time I tried this today I was hearing at the same time a web radio station but afterward I've closed the tab to avoid using excessively the modem.

I'm completely sure that when I say it rebooted it rebooted because there's no way other than this that I get to see the HP logo splash screen. Is the iso you suggested a 32 bits or 64 bits iso.

I think it might have been due to the fact that the Netboot - Server was running before starting the script that it gave me, the first time, an error or two. That's no longer the case.

Addendum: I've connected the VAIO to the modem with a lan cable & have done the same thing with the HP: am I wrong with this setting? I mention it because I'm recalling a troubleshooting procedure at the google doc that called for this setting at a certain point. I might try that, later.

[greengeek]

The exact error message line says: "Boot failed: press a key to retry, or wait for reset..."

I would interpret this as meaning that either this iso is not capable of booting this HP, or else there is some issue with the HP that is preventing correct execution of the operating system. You might have bad memory or something similar. I think you need to put a good CD drive into the laptop temporarily and try a variety of live Puppy CDs just to confirm if you get the same results.

At the very least I think you need to try the PXE process with a variety of different puppies, and see if the behaviour is always the same. I think maybe trying 4.3.1 would be a good idea as I have had a couple of HP laptops that didnt like anything else.
4.3.1 (and md5) is available here:
http://ftp.nluug.nl/ftp/pub/os/Linux/di ... ppy-4.3.1/

Is the iso you suggested a 32 bits or 64 bits iso.

It is 32 bits. (So is 4.3.1)

I've connected the VAIO to the modem with a lan cable & have done the same thing with the HP: am I wrong with this setting?

That is the correct way to set up the connection. (although I am presuming you are meaning an ADSL modem/router??)

[benny7440]

I would count off the bad memory possibility because I've run DSL in it, recently.

I d/l PL431 & tried it & left the machine alone for more than 30 mins but it failed continuously at the same step.

I'm connected to the internet via such modem as you say.

After reading the google doc again I realize that, since gcmartin hasn't responded to a PM I sent him yesterday, the only step to take now is connecting the two machines directly as it appears in that document. The only thing with this's that I've to configure the communication settings with 3 different variable values & don't know how to get the data or where to put it (addrs, MAC addrs &/or such things).

I hope you know about it & help me with it.

EXTRA DATA: I don't remember if in this post I've mentioned that, at the present time, I'm not able to enter into the BIOS setup because a not known pwd is blocking the access into it &, even though I've asked at the HP forum as directed somewhere, nobody have entered any tip.

Edit: I tried to boot PL431 in this VAIO (frugally) but it wasn't possible for me to answer any of the questions it requires at first boot because this VAIO's screen isn't working & the external screen doesn't show anything until the OS is up. So, if you know what it asks & what are the alternatives I might get lucky to run it &, in this way, prove that it's a good iso.

[greengeek]

I would count off the bad memory possibility because I've run DSL in it, recently.

Did you use PXE or CD to boot DSL?

the only step to take now is connecting the two machines directly as it appears in that document. The only thing with this's that I've to configure the communication settings with 3 different variable values & don't know how to get the data or where to put it (addrs, MAC addrs &/or such things).

I don't think this will work because you will not be able to change the settings in the HP. It sounds to me as if the HP is set to "DHCP" which means it allows the modem/router to tell it what address to use. We can see that the two machines have been able to communicate through the router (as you have been able to see the vmlinuz and initrd.gz loading) so I don't think a direct connection between PCs will do any good at all. (maybe wait for gcmartin to offer his opinion...)

I'm not able to enter into the BIOS setup because a not known pwd is blocking the access into it

This might be stopping the boot, but I see no reason why DSL would boot, but Puppy not boot, if you are using the same method. If the DSL boot was via CD, and the failing boot is via PXE, then I would suggest only use the CD boot.

I tried to boot PL431 in this VAIO (frugally) but it wasn't possible for me to answer any of the questions it requires at first boot because this VAIO's screen isn't working & the external screen doesn't show anything until the OS is up. So, if you know what it asks & what are the alternatives I might get lucky to run it &, in this way, prove that it's a good iso.

Try accepting all of the questions by just hitting "enter". The timezone etc will be wrong, but it should boot correctly and take you to the desktop. (If you can't tell what the questions are just press enter, then wait 5 seconds, then press enter again, wait 5 seconds, etc etc until the disk light flashes a lot and the desktop shows up.

[benny7440]

I can boot & have booted this HP using a DamnSmallLinux (also known as DSL) OS inside a MuVo MP3 player (64 MB capacity) reformatted as a VFAT16 file system from an old (now dead) VAIO running XP HE by plugging it in the usb port of the HP laptop.

At boot time, the HP offers me an option to make some configurations by pressing Ctl+Shift+B. I've entered that new screen before (just to see what alternatives are there), so I don't think it's done within the BIOS setup routine itself. It looks as if there's a subroutine which I can enter without ever going into the BIS setup routine itself.

I found a long lost cdrom containing a hopefully good PL431 live cd. If I could boot it with the VAIO for making sure it's ok I wouldn't have problems trying it in the HP. This's the one I've talked before in this thread. It's inception is closer in time to the date the HP was bought.

Are the questions made by PL431 at boot time the same at any machine? If so, is it possible to have screenshots of those? If it is, is there a site containing them?

Thanks for your kind help. greengeek!

[greengeek]

Are the questions made by PL431 at boot time the same at any machine? If so, is it possible to have screenshots of those?

Yes, those questions will be the same in any machine (as long as there is no available pupsave file from a previous installation. You will not have a pupsave, so the CD will ask you the default questions). However, they will not necessarily be the same as the questions asked by other versions of puppy. (there are different versions of the "first run" setup, depending on the age of the puppy version).

The questions relate to the keyboard layout (default is USA international - ie: a keyboard that has a $ sign on the "4" key), the default language (en_US) and timezone (doesn't really matter what you choose here, but I think the default is Perth, western Australia). Then it will make a guess at the appropriate screen resolution for your hardware, This process is usually trouble free but some hardware does cause problems so if it doesnt work just turn off and there is no harm done.

You will be safe to try the CD, using the enter key to accept each default entry. I am sorry that I do not have screenshots available at the moment but I will try to get some for you. There will probably be a puppy tutorial on this forum somewhere that will show those screens, and I will have a look later.

[Minnesota]

Just my 2 cents.. but why not create a memory stick, get it to run on the Vaio or a desktop, then try on the HP... at least you will know if the HP works as you expect.

Booting over the network is fun, but for testing the machine seems a lot easier from a live CD... many you can download and cut. Or load and run from a stick.

As to PW.. if you have a screwdriver, you probably can open the case and remove the battery for a while, and it will start the BIOS at fresh. It is possible if you have locked the BIOS or it became corrupted for some reason, it may be blocking the disk drive as well. You also might look on the web to see if there are posts on how to find the shorting pins to clear the BIOS.. not sure on laptops, but on motherboards there are clearing pins. As said easiest is remove the battery. Not a hard job. It is also possible the battery is not quite dead..... the batteries last from three to five years. If battery is dead you usually have to reset your setting every time.. but if only half dead... well funny things at time. I had a desktop that did not recognize the CD rom correctly... turned out part of the problem was dead battery. Also a dead CD rom... can cause weird problems. BIOS takes forever trying to get the Rom to work.. then finally times out and goes on.


Read most of the above posts... can you boot a CD? Again from a testing standpoint. Lots and lots of flavors of Puppies, some more suited to laptops that others. My suggestion get one to work from a CD or stick then..... Progress.

[benny7440]

Thanks, Minnesota, for responding!

With respect to crreating a stick containing a linux OS I must say I've a 128 MB CF Card &, once over an year ago, I managed to put one (guess it was PL431) distro in there & booted up but performed at an incredibly slow pace, so I discarded the project. Don't remember on what computer I tested it, sorry.

In relation to the above I also must say I've a usb Motorola adapter for the card, can I put another distro there, put the card in the adapter & then stick it to the HP as if it were a usb pen drive? The point is that the HP don't have a CF Card port.

With respect to the PW issue I must say that when the disk was inserted in it made, at some points, a high pitch noise which alerted me at a faulty disk so I removed it from the unit. That HP has no HDD. I've booted up from a reformatted MuVo MP3 player (64 MB) DSL. The problem with that OS is it might save my life but it's very limited; it works different in many areas compared to puppy. Also, the support team for it is extremely limited if it exists at all.

I've a rw cd (not empty) which I, a few weeks ago identified as good to put PL528 in it, but have never created an iso for a non-empty cd before. What are the steps & api for doing that?

Thanks for any help! Running out of alternatives with this...

To greengeek: I did put the cd in the VAIO, hit Enter many times in a row waiting about 5-10 secs between keypress but nothing happened; at one point decided to hit the down arrow about 5 times suspecting it was asking for a screen resolution & it booted up: PL511 instead?@!/ That too failed for me.

[greengeek]

Do you have access to a machine that could burn a new CD copy of 4.3.1?

[Minnesota]

Bit confused on what you have as hardware. HP computer... with Compact Disk reader?

Do you have CD rom reader? I thought you said HDD did not read right, last post said NO Hard disk?

YOU have USB? USB 1 or USB 2?

Anyway. I have never tried CD-RW as source. Especially if more than one OS is on it. It is possible I think but you need to set up a boot manager.

As greengeek suggest and I add.

Try finding a machine and creating a CD-R... one shot CD using a program that will write the ISO. Do not copy the files... create a bootable CD...assuming you have a working CR ROM on the HP. I did not understand if the CD on the HP works or not.

If all the above is not working....and you trying to get the HP to boot without a working CD or USB port? I suspect you are very correct that a Compact Disk will run very slow. A Stick - flash drive in the USB port runs fast. I think you said you have 256 Meg, which should be enough to run most of the older Puppies... in memory.. Once the stick is read, you should run at HP speed.

Other flavors of Puppy might work to get things started... even back to 2.17, not new software.. but at this point, I think you need to get something running to see what works.

Hope this is of some help.

[benny7440]

To greengeek: I think I've 1 or 2 possibilities for doing that already. In my last post I identified my intention of burning to a cd a new puppy. Now, I know & am willing to try MultiPup with various distros in there &, in this way, try to kill 2 birds with the same rock.

My stated or implied question was that I don't know from my already installed apis for burning cds in 528.005 which is good for wiping the cd prior to burning it. Can you tell me what I should use? Any site for having a look to the steps involved?

To I think I've 1 or 2 possibilities for doing that already. In my last post I identified my intention of burning to a cd a new puppy. Now, I know & am willing to try MultiPup with various distros in there &, in this way, try to kill 2 birds with the same rock.

My stated or implied question was that I don't know from my already installed apis for burning cds in 528.005 which is good for wiping the cd prior to burning it. Can you tell me what I should use? Any site for having a look to the steps involved?
To I think I've 1 or 2 possibilities for doing that already. In my last post I identified my intention of burning to a cd a new puppy. Now, I know & am willing to try MultiPup with various distros in there &, in this way, try to kill 2 birds with the same rock.

My stated or implied question was that I don't know from my already installed apis for burning cds in 528.005 which is good for wiping the cd prior to burning it. Can you tell me what I should use? Any site for having a look to the steps involved?

To Minnesota: The HP laptop has a cdrom reader/writer, no hdd & 3 usb ports, but no CF Card port.

I removed the hdd because it's too noisy. No substitute in there, yet. In a previous post I've said that this laptop refused to boot anything in the hdd but I was able to read & write into it. As reported back then by an Ubuntu 8.04 live cd used to boot it up the disk had serious problems that prevented Ubuntu to be installed in there as well as it happened with PL431. My nephew told me about the rough handling or possible impact of the laptop while it was been used & I suspected that the heads impacted the disk's region where global information is kept & is absolutely vital for OS to boot or, at least, for the disk controller itself.

Think the usb ports are usb 2.

At a previous post I've said that the problems with the BIOS PWD arrived due to the fact that I was using the machine with a puppy live cd & I always had to go to setup the boot order to put, for the moment, the cd as the boot source... So, I suspect that the cd drive is still working, but the PL431 cd itself might be scratched or damaged in any way that prevents it to boot because I've not been able to boot with it from the VAIO.

Now I'm the one confused here, Minnesotta; what you want to mean by "Compact Disk will run very slow" in your 7th paragraph? A regular cd? If this paragraph is dealing with something I said before about a puppy running too slow I was referring to a Compact Flash Card installation...

The fact that I've said that Ubuntu 8.04 as well as PL 431 have been running in this machine (DamnSmallLinux from the flash drive, too) from the cd drive should give a rough idea of what might be good for this one. As an extra on the subject, this was acquired about 2004-5.

If nothing positive happens soon I'll give DSL another chance & try with it to understand more how it works for finding some system info &, hopefully, to configure it as the OS of choice for the laptop.

PS. Have gained knowledge of an utility for fixing the PWD for the BIOS but, apparently, it runs under a microsoft OS & maybe under WINE. The problem is that to run WINE (if at all possible) while running DSL I would need another memory source, which I don't have: just CFCards. Any suggestions on this? The name of the api is unlock6.zip.
Thanks for your help!

[Minnesota]

I am still confused on boot source that did work... or was it a different machine and different story "Compact Flash Card installation"... that implies a compact flash memory card...and they are very slow.

If you can get a regular flash drive- STICK.. you might be able to have fast use of the machine. Since you no longer have a hard drive in the machine. You should be able to set the BIOS once and for all to boot from the CD-R . again not a CDRW.... as to it not working on the Vaio.. did it ever? Often if a CD is written and not finalized it will only work on the machine it was written from.

To clarify again DSL will work.. what medium is it on? Does it have CD-ISO writing software?

One other suggestion. Many machines have a key you can press for boot selection. OFTEN F12, sometimes esc, sometimes F1. Press at power up time repeatedly. If you can get to the boot menu, it might make it easier to boot the CD-ROM.

Do you have access to a Desktop PC with Nero or can boot a good Puppy on it? Puppy depending on the version has very good ISO to CD software.

[greengeek]

My stated or implied question was that I don't know from my already installed apis for burning cds in 528.005 which is good for wiping the cd prior to burning it. Can you tell me what I should use?

I am sorry, I have never used a CDRW with puppy yet, so I do not know when/how to erase them. My guess is that "PBurn" will be able to do what you require. (Menu, multimedia, Pburn)

I may have misunderstood one of your previous replies - do you have access to a PC that could burn a new copy of 4.3.1? Maybe a neighbour or friend?

[benny7440]

Hi, Minnesota! In this post I'm going to refer to the HP, only.

The Compact Flash Card referred above is 128MB, was used almost 2 years ago to experiment with CFCard Puppy installation: worked but too slow.

Ultimately, I've booted up the HP by using a very old installation of DamnSmallLinux in a reformatted (VFAT16) MuVo MP3 Player (64MB) in a usb port of the HP. This too is a little slow but if used in a desktop with more RAM is faster (other motherboard, BIOS, etc.). This's the boot instance that confuses you: haven't been able to boot the HP with any Puppy, yet.

I think you missed some details in my previous posts:

• 1) I can't enter my BIOS setup routine for the reasons given somewhere above;
  2) the cdrom-r with the PL431 used to boot many machines &, AFAIK, it still should be bootable (looks good to the naked eye);
  3) the MultiPup strategy doesn't imply leaving the cdrom open AFAIK;
  4) the problem for entering the BIOS setp is not that I don't know the PF key to bring on that alternative, it is that I don't know what the password is.

Don't know much about the BIOS topic but, what relation exists between being able to boot from a cdrom and been able to enter the BIOS setup? AFAIK entering the BIOS setup routine is something that should happen before any OS is even loaded to RAM or the process is even started. About the said PL431 cd I'm almost sure is not open because at the moment I created it in the tips/instructions was stated that "this is highly experimental", something, at the moment, wasn't going to risk with my only empty disk.

I think DSL has a burning tool in there & the HP has a burning drive. When I made my first puppy installation (think it was PL411) I was using an XP VAIO laptop & the method of installation I used was the "LinNWin... something" & I was able to boot either ok. The 2nd trial was to upgrade to PL421. The third trial involved burning a cdrom & I used the tools in linux to do it. The 4th & probably the last cd burning trial was with PL431, which happened almost 3 years ago.

Hi greengeek! If I can boot PL431 from this VAIO I could burn it right from here. I also have a desktop capable of cd burning (if just could be able to boot it with anything at all). The HP also has a burner drive.

If in the next 2-3 days I can't solve this with my own resources I will ask someone to give me a hand with this. But before that, can't I burn a cd of any iso that I've, not just the one I'm running at the moment, from this VAIO running now PL528.005? My already d/l iso files are:
1) PL 431; 2) PL 511; 3) WARY Puppy 512; 4) Puppy Studio; 5) PL 525; 6) PL528; 7) PL528.005 & probably (don't remember) DSL.

[greengeek]

I also have a desktop capable of cd burning (if just could be able to boot it with anything at all).

Is that desktop machine capable of booting from a CD? Could you try the PL431 CD in it?

It would be very helpful to prove if the PL431 CD can still boot a machine. If you cannot get the PL431 CD to boot the desktop machine, could you get access to someone else's machine to prove that the PL431 CD is good?

Also, once you have watched the PL431 CD booting on another machine you will be able to write down the configuration questions that it asks you.

Once you have that information you will be able to try booting the HP from that CD and that will be useful information.

[benny7440]

After re-reading some info about the HP PWD issue & having d/l the file for 'cracking' the said PWD I came up to a point where I think I need to d/l another thing: DosBox for running the unlock6.zip file... Does any of you have come across these tools/apis? Not sure what the next step should be.

What you're suggesting with the 431 cd is something I'll try next. I'll keep you informed.

PS. Please see my signature for another non-related issue!