Suggestion please
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Hello guys,
I love this project.
I have Linx/Exspect tablets to re-image.
I can register the hosts using the client (win service) and a separate wi-fi network.
I am not be able to capture or deploy any image, because the tablet reboot, but there is no PXE in the BIOS.
Have you got any suggestion on the above?
Have you got any working workflow on tablet without cabled network adapter?Thank you for your time.
Lucio -
@ziolucione Usually people use docks or USB network adapters. But there is no workflow that you can follow because every tablet is a little different and what works for one is not likely to work on other models just as well.
Probably best you start by telling us which tablet exactly you have and as well wich version of FOG you have installed.
Are the tables legacy BIOS or UEFI platforms?
Beside PXE booting there is a way to use USB boot but it’s not officially supported and I’ve only ever heard of one person using it to image over WIFI. Guess @george1421 is the only one who can tell you more about it.
Web GUI issue? Please check apache error (debian/ubuntu: /var/log/apache2/error.log, centos/fedora/rhel: /var/log/httpd/error_log) and php-fpm log (/var/log/php*-fpm.log)
Please support FOG if you like it: https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php/Support_FOG
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@Sebastian-Roth Yes we were able to create a custom FOS Linux kernel to boot this device and image over wifi. In this specific use case there was no ethernet available in the area for this dedicated embedded device so we had no choice but to develop a wifi solution which we booted FOS Linux (the engine that captures and deploys fog images) via usb and then contacted the FOG server using wifi.
I can tell you for this tablet, I would start with a USB hub and get a cheap usb 2.0 or 3.0 ethernet dongle and then boot FOS Linux using a usb flash drive. Plug both devices into the usb hub and then the usb hub into the tablet and image that way.
But I would also echo what Sebastain said, we would need to know more about the tablet and the version of FOG you are using. What type of processor does it have? Does the system have standard storage media that mirrors an IA32 style computer? There are many more questions that need to be answered before we can say if it will work or not.
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Hi @Sebastian-Roth , thanks for your reply.
The tablets are Linx/Exspect 1020N and they use UEFI platforms.@george1421 can you help me with the USB stick creation and to image the tablets over the WIFI?
Thank you for your time.
Best regards.
L. -
@george1421
I didn’t get your reply, sorry.The CPU is an ATOM x5-28300 4 cores (x86)
BIOS Mode: UEFI
Secure Boot State: Off(I am following the guide to build a FOS image)
I have got the USB hub so I will try.I will keep you posted.
Thank you for your info.Regards.
L. -
@ziolucione I have a fos linux image already built if you want it.
For wifi to work it will take some work on your part because each wifi adapter is different so the kernel needs to be made custom each time for each wireless adapter. As I said its much easier to use a usb ethernet adapter if you have one. That way you can use the stock (FOG Project supported) kernel and inits. We built the custom kernel for that project because there was no other choice.
If you have no other choice then we can go down this path, but understand it may take several attempts to get it right because we found that the wifi adapter needs specific firmware to make it work.
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@ziolucione said in Suggestion please:
The CPU is an ATOM x5-28300 4 cores (x86)
This is what I wanted to see, to see if the processor was IA32 compatible or ARM based. The FOG Project kernel will run on this without issue.
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@george1421 said in Suggestion please:
This is what I wanted to see, to see if the processor was IA32 compatible or ARM based. The FOG Project kernel will run on this without issue.
We do have ARM kernels/inits as well… But sure you are right, it should run on the ATOM CPU.
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@george1421 I have followed this guide: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/6532/usb-boot-target-device-into-fog-os-live-fosl-for-debugging/22
but it’s not working. I have a linux CLI at the end. I think I am running into network configuration /dhcp /issues. -
@ziolucione Possibly you didn’t notice the link I posted earlier: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7727/building-usb-booting-fos-image
We are more than happy to help you find the issue. The best way we can do this is if you take a picture of the screen and post here.
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@ziolucione Here is the image that I built in October. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QFAqbNTD6lbOJjtFW6AehJ3DZShffTCo
Download that and “burn” it to a usb drive using RUFUS on a windows computer or
ddon a linux box. You will need to edit the grub.cfg file like listed in the tutorial that Sebastian linked to. Also read and understand the caveats.And just so we are clear, this image file does not work with wifi. It uses the FOG standard kernels and inits, but will boot an uefi system from the flash drive you create.
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@george1421 Hi guys,
after a DHCP installation and configuration, I was able to capture my first image from one of these tablet.
I have therefore notified that when I register a new one using the same usb stick with FOS (provided by george), Fog tells me the host is already registered…I tried anyway to re-image the device an it worked, but I have 3 different images to capture.
What’s gonna happen?
Another question is, the snapin stuff…how is this supposed to work? Still with FOS or I can use the FOG Client in the Windows environment?Thank you for your support guys.
Best regards.
L. -
@ziolucione said in Suggestion please:
I have therefore notified that when I register a new one using the same usb stick with FOS (provided by george), Fog tells me the host is already registered…I tried anyway to re-image the device an it worked, but I have 3 different images to capture.
The issue is that the usb network adapter has the same mac address for each computer that is why its says its already registered. I know people do use FOG and image successfully using a single network adapter, I can’t tell you the process because I don’t image that way. I know its possible to do. For now you can just update the mac address on previously imaged computers so you can keep capturing images until someone responds who uses this method.
Another question is, the snapin stuff…how is this supposed to work? Still with FOS or I can use the FOG Client in the Windows environment?
FOS Linux is only used to capture and deploy images, snapins are managed by the FOG Client installed on the target computer. You can install the FOG Client software in your reference image or after deployment. The FOG Client will then check into the FOG server to see if there are any pending jobs, like deploy a snapin.
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Hi george,
Thanks for your reply.
Damn, that was not my aim. I usually need to re/image 10 tablets at the same time, so I cannot rely on the below workflow.What if I go back to the wifi process?
Is the FOS gonna to work with the wifi adapter instead?Thank you for your reply.
Lucio -
@ziolucione said in Suggestion please:
I usually need to re/image 10 tablets at the same time, so I cannot rely on the below workflow.
What if I go back to the wifi process?
I would question the logic of attempting to image 10 systems at a time over wifi. Remember its a shared resource (wifi bandwidth). While I don’t have any basis for this opinion, but I think imaging 5 systems over wifi at the same time would be slower than imaging 10 systems sequentially over a wired connection. I can say I can push out a 25GB image over wired in about 3 minutes, that’s on a well managed 1GbE network. Wifi is still in the 100Mb/s range (shared).
So let me ask you this. Once the systems are imaged, will you managed them with FOG or are you working as a VAR system reseller? Because FOG has a process (that i call load and go), in that you can deploy images to a target system that FOG will forget about once the image has been deployed. You won’t be able to manage them after the OS is deployed with FOG and you don’t have to register the target computer with FOG. You basically load the OS and take the target computer somewhere else (go).
If you wan to go down the wifi route we can, its not easy but its not really that hard either. It will take some technical skills on your end because we (I) will have to create a custom FOS Linux kernel for your deployment. This will be a hardware specific build so it will help if all of the tablets are alike, or at least have the same wifi adapter. I still think having multiple usb ethernet adapters is the way to go none the less.
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@george1421 Hi george,
Exactly, I do not need to manage the tablets once I have imaged or re-imaged them.
Can I have more more info about this ‘load & go’ project?
And also, our image should be very thin (approx 5~7 GB) so using the wifi shouldn’t be an issue - also, the tablets have all the same HW specs - this can change like in 2/3 years time, so probably I will need to upgrade the process in the future.Thank you for your support guys.
Regards.
L. -
@ziolucione To go with the wireless kernel, I need to know the hardware ID of your wireless network adapter. From the windows side go into the device manager and get the vendor and hardware ID of the wireless adapter and post it here.
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Network adapter:
Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 3165Hardware Id:
PCI\VEND_8086&DEV_3165&SUBSYS_80108086&REV_91Thank you.
L. -
@ziolucione You don’t have to register the devices if you just want to deploy an image.
If you boot into PXE you can then select Deploy image from the FOG menu, select the correct image and it will deploy the image.
Probably easier to integrate in your workflow than a wifi setup.
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Hi @Quazz
I don’t have any PXE boot feature on these tablets, that’s why I am using the FOS built by george. And the issue is related to the MAC address attached to the USB network adapter I am using. So each terminal will be recognized as the previous one and I cannot choose what image to deploy (because it has been registered to use that image the first time I have used the adapter).
That’s why I’d prefer to explore the wifi workflow instead.Thank you for the support.
Regards.
L.
