PXE Without Ethernet Ports?
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Hello all,
Got a new issue that has come up and wanted to get some input from others.
Issue:
School purchased about 300+ new laptops that no longer have Ethernet Ports -_-
I’ve been trying to research what my options are now.
Previously I have been using FOG to deploy my images and would still like to do so with these.
Is USB to Ethernet Plausible option? I have found that drivers or Bios support still required so what about a Pre-boot environment like windows PE or a linux boot.?
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I believe, for those systems that don’t have LAN built in, there’s usually an option (extra accessory to purchase of course) that can be used to provide LAN and PXE booting capabilities.
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[quote=“Tom Elliott, post: 44055, member: 7271”]I believe, for those systems that don’t have LAN built in, there’s usually an option (extra accessory to purchase of course) that can be used to provide LAN and PXE booting capabilities.[/quote]
Correct, Was thinking some sort of USB to Ethernet Adapter…We bought the Eeebook x205T’s from asus and they sell their own brand adapter. Was thinking this would work.
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There are a lot of different USB to Ethernet adapters out there. But I am pretty sure that not all of them will work.
There is a thing called ECM (Ethernet Control Model) which is one of several different protocols used by those adapters (see here for more information: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_over_USB[/url]).
Check out this post: [url]http://www.johnwillis.com/2014/03/pxe-booting-using-usb-to-ethernet-dongle.html[/url]
Are we talking about this ASUS brand adapter?? [url]https://www.asus.com/Tablet_Mobile_Accessories/USB_Ethernet_Cable/[/url]
I found it very hard to find information about this!! Not sure if I’d buy it. I still don’t know which ethernet chip is used and if linux in gernal is happy with it… And it’s not gigabit ethernet, right? I highly recommend looking for other adapters.We’ve had several people here in the forums. Some got their USB thingys working. Maybe it’s time to add those to this list here too: [url]http://fogproject.org/wiki/index.php/WorkingDevices[/url]
EDIT: There is a long (still reading) and interesting thread about USB ethernet adapters in the ipxe forums. Seems a lot more complicated then I thought at first. As far as I could find out the chip used in the ASUS adapter is ASIX (maybe AX88772B). Start reading here: [url]http://forum.ipxe.org/showthread.php?tid=6151&pid=10612#pid10612[/url]
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[quote=“Uncle Frank, post: 44107, member: 28116”]There are a lot of different USB to Ethernet adapters out there. But I am pretty sure that not all of them will work.
There is a thing called ECM (Ethernet Control Model) which is one of several different protocols used by those adapters (see here for more information: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_over_USB[/url]).
Check out this post: [url]http://www.johnwillis.com/2014/03/pxe-booting-using-usb-to-ethernet-dongle.html[/url]
Are we talking about this ASUS brand adapter?? [url]https://www.asus.com/Tablet_Mobile_Accessories/USB_Ethernet_Cable/[/url]
I found it very hard to find information about this!! Not sure if I’d buy it. I still don’t know which ethernet chip is used and if linux in gernal is happy with it… And it’s not gigabit ethernet, right? I highly recommend looking for other adapters.We’ve had several people here in the forums. Some got their USB thingys working. Maybe it’s time to add those to this list here too: [url]http://fogproject.org/wiki/index.php/WorkingDevices[/url]
EDIT: There is a long (still reading) and interesting thread about USB ethernet adapters in the ipxe forums. Seems a lot more complicated then I thought at first. As far as I could find out the chip used in the ASUS adapter is ASIX (maybe AX88772B). Start reading here: [url]http://forum.ipxe.org/showthread.php?tid=6151&pid=10612#pid10612[/url][/quote]
Thank You for the reply. This definitely seems to be new area for IT now hehe
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[quote=“Uncle Frank, post: 44107, member: 28116”]
We’ve had several people here in the forums. Some got their USB thingys working. Maybe it’s time to add those to this list here too: [url]http://fogproject.org/wiki/index.php/WorkingDevices[/url]
[/quote]There’s absolutely every reason to do that.
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We are working on it… ASIX AX88772B should be able to work with iPXE when using undionly.kkpxe instead of undionly.kpxe… For more information see here: [url]http://fogproject.org/forum/threads/hp-stream-11-pro.12330[/url]
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And here: [url]http://fogproject.org/forum/threads/fog-pxe-boot-with-usb-to-ethernet-adapter.10352/page-3#post-40799[/url]
Please confirm if you can get it up and running… thanks!
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Funny you mentioned that, just had my first dell laptop come across without Ethernet… Talk about cheap…
Anyway, I have a few HP 3005pr USB 3.0 Port Replicators that use Ethernet over USB.
Not sure if it will work, but I will give it a go and see if it’s an option ?
.
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Does WDS work over WiFi ?
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There are definitely challenges on the horizon for FOG.
