IPXE Advanced Menu or Memdisk Problem

Danny Santiago · May 20, 2014, 4:29 PM

I am not sure if I have my advanced menu written poorly or if I have a problem with my memdisk file. I tried another memdisk file provided in another post

[url]http://fogproject.org/forum/threads/pxe-boot-goldmemory.12/[/url]

This had no change. Below is my Advanced menu script and below that I will include my error message.

#/ Begin Boot Menu. the Pound and slash are not part of the menu script
set fog-server IP-ADDRESS
set boot-url [url]http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/[/url]

:start-http
menu City of Lewiston - Imaging and Diagnostics

item VMware VMware - Live
item DellDiag Dell Diagnostics
item hostinfo Host Informaton (Your Machine Info)

#item foginfo FOG system info

choose fog-opt && goto ${fog-opt}

:VMware
initrd [url]http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/service/ipxe/VMware/TinyCORE.iso[/url] raw
kernel [url]http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/service/ipxe/memdisk[/url]
boot

:DellDiag
initrd [url]http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/service/ipxe/DellDiagnostics/DellDiag-7.iso[/url]
kernel [url]http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/service/ipxe/memdisk[/url] iso raw ||
boot

:hostinfo
echo This computer : ||
echo MAC address…${net0/mac} ||
echo IP address…${ip} ||
echo Netmask…${netmask} ||
echo Serial…${serial} ||
echo Asset number…${asset} ||
echo Manufacturer…${manufacturer} ||
echo Product…${product} ||
echo BIOS platform…${platform} ||
echo ||
echo press any key to return to Menu ||
prompt

goto MENU

/#end menu

MEMDISK: Image has fraction end sector
MEMDISK: Image seems to have fractional end cylinder
Disk is hd0, 37038 k, C/H/S = 36/64/32 (guess/guess), EDD on, rw
Using safe INT 15h access to high memory
Total size needed = 2381 bytes, allocating 3K
Old dos memory at 0x8e400 (map says 0e8400), loading at 0x8d800
1588: 0xffff 15E801: 0x3c00 0x7b17
INT 13 08: Success, count = 2, BPT = 0000:0000
old: int13 = 8e40000a int15 = 8e40037f int1e = f000efc7
new: int13 = 8d40000a int15 = 8d80037f int1e = f000efc7
Loading boot sector… booting… <------ This is where the machine will hang forever.

I can’t seem to make it past this part.

any help would be appreciated and an education would be even more appreciated!

Note to the Developers:

Awesome Product and Service you provide. Just plain incredible.

Tom Elliott · May 20, 2014, 5:02 PM

In the advanced.php file we already have a setting that gets your systems ip and webroot.
The start of the file is:
[code]print “#!ipxe\n”;
print “console\n”;
print “set fog-ip “.$FOGCore->getSetting(‘FOG_WEB_HOST’).”\n”;
print “set fog-webroot “.basename($FOGCore->getSetting(‘FOG_WEB_ROOT’)).”\n”;[/code]

What does this mean? You don’t need to set the same fields unless you’re trying to point it another server. The only exception would be the boot url with:
[code]set boot-url http://${fog-ip}/${fog-webroot}[/code]

So your code as below:
[code]
set fog-server IP-ADDRESS
set boot-url http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/

:start-http
menu City of Lewiston - Imaging and Diagnostics

item VMware VMware - Live
item DellDiag Dell Diagnostics
item hostinfo Host Informaton (Your Machine Info)

#item foginfo FOG system info

choose fog-opt && goto ${fog-opt}

:VMware
initrd http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/service/ipxe/VMware/TinyCORE.iso raw
kernel http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/service/ipxe/memdisk
boot

:DellDiag
initrd http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/service/ipxe/DellDiagnostics/DellDiag-7.iso
kernel http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/service/ipxe/memdisk iso raw ||
boot

:hostinfo
echo This computer : ||
echo MAC address…${net0/mac} ||
echo IP address…${ip} ||
echo Netmask…${netmask} ||
echo Serial…${serial} ||
echo Asset number…${asset} ||
echo Manufacturer…${manufacturer} ||
echo Product…${product} ||
echo BIOS platform…${platform} ||
echo ||
echo press any key to return to Menu ||
prompt

goto MENU[/code] Should “work” but I don’t know where it’s failing specifically. The nice part is you probably are calling the wrong method: Memdisk should always call the type of file and method (e.g. iso raw) So I’d try this:
[code]set boot-url http://IP-ADDRESS/fog/
:MENU
menu
item --gap – City of Lewiston - Imaging and Diagnostics
item VMware VMware - Live
item DellDiag Dell Diagnostics
item hostinfo Host Informaton (Your Machine Info)
choose fog-opt target && goto ${target}
:VMware
initrd ${boot-url}/service/ipxe/VMware/TinyCORE.iso
chain ${boot-url}/service/ipxe/memdisk raw iso
boot
:DellDiag
initrd ${boot-url}/service/ipxe/DellDiagnostics/DellDiag-7.iso
chain ${boot-url}/service/ipxe/memdisk iso raw
boot
:hostinfo
echo This computer :
echo MAC address…${net0/mac}
echo IP address…${ip}
echo Netmask…${netmask}
echo Serial…${serial}
echo Asset number…${asset}
echo Manufacturer…${manufacturer}
echo Product…${product}
echo BIOS platform…${platform}
echo
echo press any key to return to Menu
prompt && goto MENU[/code]

Hopefully this helps. Remember that the || means OR that. So your hostinfo would only print This computer: MAC Address…${net0/mac} OR IP Address OR Netmask OR Serial only as things failed.

Junkhacker · May 20, 2014, 5:09 PM

minor correction for tom: each line of the ipxe file is seen as a new command, so the || at the end of a line only meand ‘do this’ “or” ‘nothing’
if ‘do this’ fails, this is a failure to execute a command, if there is a “or” ‘nothing’ then the line is a success, because it successfully does nothing.
each line after a ||
will be executed

Danny Santiago · May 20, 2014, 5:29 PM

Thank you to both of you. Good education. Although using the code copied from Tom with the IP-ADDRESS filled in I have a new problem. the advanced menu doesn’t appear any more. the screen flashes and returns to the standard menu. Is there a walk through or instructional guide available for the current release on how to set an ISO as a boot-able option? I am guessing not or you would have sent me that way already.

Danny Santiago · May 20, 2014, 5:32 PM

Side note I was playing around with the iso and raw options as you can see where the DellDiag option had it and the VMware one didn’t I was hoping to find the magic combination but was unsuccessful.

Junkhacker · May 20, 2014, 5:34 PM

just this one [url]http://fogproject.org/forum/threads/fog-0-33b-edit-pxe-menu.10403/#post-26420[/url]

Junkhacker · May 20, 2014, 5:42 PM

let’s try this again
[CODE]
set boot-url http://${fog-ip}/${fog-webroot}
:MENU
menu
item --gap – City of Lewiston - Imaging and Diagnostics
item VMware VMware - Live
item DellDiag Dell Diagnostics
item hostinfo Host Informaton (Your Machine Info)
choose target && goto ${target}

:VMware
initrd ${boot-url}/service/ipxe/VMware/TinyCORE.iso
chain memdisk iso raw ||
echo failed to boot
prompt
goto MENU

:DellDiag
initrd ${boot-url}/service/ipxe/DellDiagnostics/DellDiag-7.iso
chain memdisk iso raw ||
echo failed to boot
prompt
goto MENU

:hostinfo
echo This computer : ||
echo MAC address…${net0/mac} ||
echo IP address…${ip} ||
echo Netmask…${netmask} ||
echo Serial…${serial} ||
echo Asset number…${asset} ||
echo Manufacturer…${manufacturer} ||
echo Product…${product} ||
echo BIOS platform…${platform} ||
echo ||
echo press any key to return to Menu ||
prompt
goto MENU
[/CODE]

Danny Santiago · May 20, 2014, 7:00 PM

It Worked! Your Awesome.

[CODE]set boot-url http://${fog-ip}/${fog-webroot}
:start-http
menu City of Lewiston - Imaging and Diagnostics

item VMware VMware - Live
item DellDiag Dell Diagnostics
item hostinfo Host Informaton (Your Machine Info)
choose target && goto ${target}

:VMware
initrd ${boot-url}/ISO/VMware/TinyCORE.iso
chain memdisk iso raw ||
echo failed to boot
prompt
goto MENU

:DellDiag
initrd ${boot-url}/ISO/DellDiagnostics/DellDiag-7.iso
chain memdisk iso raw ||
echo failed to boot
prompt
goto MENU

:hostinfo
echo This computer : ||
echo MAC address…${net0/mac} ||
echo IP address…${ip} ||
echo Netmask…${netmask} ||
echo Serial…${serial} ||
echo Asset number…${asset} ||
echo Manufacturer…${manufacturer} ||
echo Product…${product} ||
echo BIOS platform…${platform} ||
echo
echo press any key to return to Menu
prompt
MENU[/CODE]

This worked nicely! I had to change the last MENU prompt from your code. For some reason it would through up a bunch of “stuff” (for lack of my current knowledge or caring as to what it was talking about) and would restart. Once I changed it the screen would refresh after the prompt to the menu. Before after the prompt it would do the restart thing.

I also changed the main folder for the ISO images to one I noticed you used from your other posts. Made more sense and was easier. I wonder what memdisk file it is pulling up with the chain command compared to the original one where I specified the path.

Danny Santiago · May 22, 2014, 3:37 PM

Well I spoke to soon-ish. I can get TinyCore to boot but the GUI for it never loads it just boots into a terminal. on the same note the other items I have set to boot which all have the same settings just flash the menu screen back up. They don’t want to actually boot. bummer.

Junkhacker · May 22, 2014, 3:47 PM

well, now that you have a basic idea how the ipxe menu system works, i suggest going over to ipxe.org to get more information about your specific boot needs

Andy Morris · Jun 5, 2014, 12:58 PM

I have the same issue with the Advanced Menu. If i choose the Advanced Menu it just flashes, the screen turns blue and has the default menu back on the screen. I had this working in version 1.0.1 and had to update to the latest 1.1.0 trunk to get my snapins to work. Not sure where to go from here. Any ideas?

Andy Morris · Jun 5, 2014, 1:29 PM

here is my code…

:MENU
menu
item --gap – ---------------- iPXE boot menu ----------------
item WIN7PE64BIT Win7 64bit Recovery Console
item WIN7PE32BIT Win7 32bit Recovery Console
item BOOTCD Hirens BootCD
item shell ipxe shell
item return return to previous menu
choose --default WIN7PE64BIT --timeout 5000 target && goto ${target}

:WIN7PE64BIT
initrd [url]http://${boot-url}/MenuItems/Win7-64bit/7rd64.iso[/url]
chain [url]http://${boot-url}/MenuItems/Win7-64bit/memdisk[/url] iso raw
goto MENU

:WIN7PE32BIT
initrd [url]http://${boot-url}/MenuItems/Win7-32bit/7rd32.iso[/url]
chain memdisk iso raw ||
goto MENU

:BOOTCD
initrd [url]http://${boot-url}/MenuItems/bootcd/bootcd14.iso[/url]
chain memdisk iso raw ||
goto MENU

:ipxedemo
chain [url]http://boot.ipxe.org/demo/boot.php[/url] ||
goto MENU

:shell
shell ||
goto MENU

:return
chain [url]http://${fog-ip}/${fog-webroot}/service/ipxe/boot.php?mac=${net0/mac}[/url] ||
prompt
goto MENU

autoboot

Tom Elliott · Jun 5, 2014, 1:33 PM

the ${boot-url} parameter already sets the http part of the url. So try this below:

menu
item --gap – ---------------- iPXE boot menu ----------------
item WIN7PE64BIT Win7 64bit Recovery Console
item WIN7PE32BIT Win7 32bit Recovery Console
item BOOTCD Hirens BootCD
item shell ipxe shell
item return return to previous menu
choose --default WIN7PE64BIT --timeout 5000 target && goto ${target}

:WIN7PE64BIT
initrd ${boot-url}/MenuItems/Win7-64bit/7rd64.iso
chain ${boot-url}/MenuItems/Win7-64bit/memdisk iso raw
goto MENU

:WIN7PE32BIT
initrd ${boot-url}/MenuItems/Win7-32bit/7rd32.iso
chain memdisk iso raw ||
goto MENU

:BOOTCD
initrd ${boot-url}/MenuItems/bootcd/bootcd14.iso
chain memdisk iso raw ||
goto MENU

:ipxedemo
chain http://boot.ipxe.org/demo/boot.php ||
goto MENU

:shell
shell ||
goto MENU

:return
chain http://${fog-ip}/${fog-webroot}/service/ipxe/boot.php?mac=${net0/mac} ||
prompt
goto MENU

autoboot[/code]

Tom Elliott · Jun 5, 2014, 1:36 PM

Ahhhh,

Yeah, it fails loading the console picture.

This is now fixed in SVN. Please update and sorry about that.

Andy Morris · Jun 5, 2014, 1:49 PM

That worked!!! Thanks a ton!

Andy

Andy Morris · Jun 5, 2014, 2:20 PM

Is there anyway to add the password option to these advanced items like in version .32?

Thanks,
Andy Morris

Tom Elliott · Jun 5, 2014, 2:24 PM

Yes, and no.

The password “options” are no longer using md5pass as they once where.

The easiest method would be to add login prompts.

I don’t know much more about all the details you’d need though.

Andy Morris · Jun 5, 2014, 2:29 PM

Just wanted to protect the items like it did in .32. I will take a look.
Thanks,

Andy

Andy Morris · Jun 5, 2014, 2:33 PM

That works!! Thanks again.

Eli Kelly · Jun 10, 2014, 8:41 PM

I’m still experiencing Advanced Menu selection issue mentioned by Danny and Andy. Screen flickers and default menu appears with blue background.

Tested with svn 1783 and 1799

I will update the subversion again now to see if there is any difference.

I’ve been using Junkhackers sample code from [URL=‘http://fogproject.org/forum/threads/fog-0-33b-edit-pxe-menu.10403/#post-26419’]this post[/URL]

menu
item --gap – ---------------- iPXE boot menu ----------------
item ipxedemo ipxe online boot demo
item shell ipxe shell
item return return to previous menu
choose --default return --timeout 5000 target && goto ${target}

:ipxedemo
chain [url]http://boot.ipxe.org/demo/boot.php[/url] ||
goto MENU

:shell
shell ||
goto MENU

:return
chain [url]http://${fog-ip}/${fog-webroot}/service/ipxe/boot.php?mac=${net0/mac}[/url] ||
prompt
goto MENU

autoboot[/FONT]

IPXE Advanced Menu or Memdisk Problem

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