On 2012.01.05 20:06, Bernd Blaauw wrote: > Op 5-1-2012 19:54, Pete Batard schreef: >> Yeah. That's why I tried to stay as close as possible to the HP utility >> as it seems to have the best rate of success. I'm also currently >> overriding the partition table to create a single one, but at least the >> Windows formatting utility allows preservation of existing partitions so >> that's something I have some plan to look into. > > Ah I thought you handled a raw device, discarding any metadata, geometry > and files anyway due to repartitioning and formatting.
Probably used a poor choice of words there. Currently Rufus does repartition the device, to create a single partition, and does away with anything that existed previously. As a matter of fact, one of the first things we do is zero out the MBR, to avoid issues with the Microsoft partitioning API. > I'd prefer keeping things as clean (and intact) as possible, Same here. > which might > actually sound difficult. Basicly the ISO file is mounted and contents > accessed. But if we duplicate the ISO fs content exactly on FAT32 USB, wouldn't the same be achieved, with the added bonus of a rw fs rather than ro? I guess what I'm saying is, if you use the same KERNEL.SYS and COMMAND.COM as the ISO, and the same config as well as other files, why would you still want to mount an ISO? The only difference will be that you are using rw FAT32 instead of ro ISO9660 and how the handover to KERNEL.SYS was initiated. So as far as running the FreeDOS installation media goes, or using it for live, I don't see how USB or optical should make a difference. >> Obviously, since Rufus is a Windows application, I want the bootable ISO >> -> bootable USB feature to support recent Windows installation ISO >> media, so I don't think ISOHybrid will help there. > > Not sure what you mean by Windows installation media. Guess you ment > Windows-compatible filesystems. I mean a Windows 7 installation disk for instance, such as the ones one gets from MSDN. These are downloadable as ISO, leaving you with the choice to either burn them, or find a way to convert them to USB bootable if you want USB. > Most USB drives, if only containing DOS on them, will boot as drive C:. > I guess our purposes differ here, as my goal is to allow USB as an > installation source (anything but drive C: thus..), not necessarily an > installation target or platform to run from. Your goal is getting DOS to > run on USB at all. Installation or driveletter assignment stuff not > relevant :) Ah, now I understand better, although I don't exactly see how the USB drive being C: would impair FreeDOS installation on (a temporary) D: Once you have copied the files over and setup boot on the target disk, which I expect the FreeDOS installer to do regardless of the drive letter, wouldn't FreeDOS boot that disk with the USB removed? Or is the FreeDOS installation process tied to the target drive being C:? > I'm curious how you plan to add iPXE without > relying on bootloaders such as Syslinux and Grub. Haven't looked into it yet, but I'll probably need syslinux for ISO support anyway, so requiring it for iPXE wouldn't be an issue. > My own USB disk also contains a Win32 port of QEMU 0.13 as used by > ReactOS official releases. I've not found a decent-working(!) win32 > version of QEMU 1.0 unfortunately, only a buggy one at > [ http://virtuallyfun.superglobalmegacorp.com/?p=1627 ]. > Why put QEMU on USB? The FreeDOS ISO is present, thus allowing to boot > FreeDOS in some kind of Live Environment mode on Windows. > > Same could be done for the FreeDOS CD : put QEMU and an ISO there and > you can run a FreeDOS Live Environment from CD. QEMU isn't entirely > compatible with DOS filesystem limitations and ISO9660 strict > specifications though. Interesting. Of course, virtualization is another matter altogether. Regards, /Pete ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ridiculously easy VDI. With Citrix VDI-in-a-Box, you don't need a complex infrastructure or vast IT resources to deliver seamless, secure access to virtual desktops. With this all-in-one solution, easily deploy virtual desktops for less than the cost of PCs and save 60% on VDI infrastructure costs. Try it free! http://p.sf.net/sfu/Citrix-VDIinabox _______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
