Re: [ros-dev] [ros-general] ReactOS ISO support has been added in Rufus

[Bernd Blaauw]

Pete Batard schreef op 3-1-2014 3:59:

>   If you want to test, you can pick the latest ALPHA
> from:
>  http://rufus.akeo.ie/downloads/ 
Awesome, will test using USB2 ports.

>   Currently, the way this works is through installing
> Syslinux (v4.07) and
>  mboot.c32 so that setupldr.sys can then be invoked (see the
>  /syslinux.cfg created by Rufus on the drive).
>
>  Also, for the time being, only setupldr.sys will be referenced (no
>  freeldr.sys) on account that: 
FreeLDR as multiboot-kernel only looks at freeldr.ini at C:\ , no idea 
if your created USB stick counts as C: or A:.
Also ReactOS might write freeldr.ini in some special way on FAT drives, 
I've never been able to open/modify it using a DOS text editor.

>   1. The Syslinux's menu.c32 file is rather large,
> and I want to keep
>  Rufus small, so I don't want to embed it in the application (which is
>  also the mais reason why Rufus doesn't include native GRUB support). But
>  this means that user selection from a menu is not available.
>
>  2. When testing, I couldn't get freeldr.sys to do much when booted from
>  USB... though that was most likely because I hadn't actually installed
>  ReactOS anywhere. 
Smallest I've gotten FreeLDR is through using
SYSLINUX -> MEMDISK -> FLOPPY.GZ where floppy.gz is a compressed ReactOS 
startup diskette image. SYSLINUX -> MBOOT.C32 -> FREELDR.GZ might also 
work instead.

>   Still, I'm hoping that making the creation of a
> bootable UFD easier for
>  ReactOS will help encourage more people to test it and help the project. 
I've always hoped for Syslinux -> Memdisk/GRUB -> ReactOS.ISO/IMG simply 
to overcome lack of mass storage controllers drivers by running from RAM.

>   Of course, I'm also open to suggestions to try to
> improve support for
>  ReactOS in Rufus, if you want something specific. For instance, I should
>  point out that the syslinux.cfg created by Rufus is written before any
>  of the ISO files are copied over. Thus, if the ReactOS ISOs were to
>  include their own syslinux.cfg & menu.c32/vesamenu.c32, it would be very
>  easy to provide menu selection for the user when booting from USB, even
>  as the ISOs are not Syslinux/Isolinux based. 
So right now the installer ISO works but not the LiveCD/USB?
[ https://www.reactos.org/getbuilds ] with rev 61493

Thanks for having implemented the support Pete! :)
Have fun with HaikuOS :)

best wishes for 2014,

Bernd

[Pete Batard]

Hi Александр,

On 2014.01.03 12:34, Александр wrote:
>     Why it is not mentioned in changelog? 
Because it's very new, and there is no new official release of Rufus 
yet. This announcement is basically just a call for testing - it's not a 
release announcement.

For what is worth, I tend to only update the Rufus Changelog when I go 
to BETA (which should happen very soon now), as it avoids users latching 
on a feature that isn't entirely ready for prime time, and still needs 
some finalizing.

For instance, I just realized that I forgot to add automatic switching 
of the filesystem to FAT32, when picking a ReactOS ISO. This means that 
if you plug an UFD that uses NTFS, and then select a RactOS ISO, you 
might be surprised to see an error message telling you that it's not 
supported (but you just need to switch to FAT32, and it will work). So 
that's one thing I'll need to fix before ReactOS support can be 
considered officially available.

But if you are really interested, you can always check the git log [1], 
which gives a blow by blow account of what's coming next. Just bear in 
mind that ALPHAs are not automated and only updated when I feel like it, 
so there may not yet be a build that includes the latest changes.

Regards,

/Pete

[1] https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/commits/master

[Pete Batard]

On 2014.01.03 18:55, Александр wrote:
>   Is it possible to implement direct iso boot like the
> way grub2
>  does  with linux? 
Do you mean memdisk-like, by copying the ISO wholesale and then having 
an emulation later that pretends it's booting from optical (which is 
what Bernd was suggesting)?

If so, yeah. That's what memdisk does. And memdisk is both fairly small 
and can be invoked from Syslinux, so that could easily be added to Rufus.

I actually experimented with that when I (unsuccessfully) tried to 
support FreeNAS/FreeBSD [1]. But as long as the ISO is cooperative, this 
should work OK.

The tricky part of course is, with Rufus being mostly targeted at 
regular users, I'd like to be able to figure out the ISOs that will 
actually be cooperative beforehand, to avoid being flooded by support 
request for "Help! The USB created by Rufus doesn't boot!".


Now, there's also Hybrid ISO mode, or straight img support, where a 
dd-like method can be used, and which I'm also planning to add when I 
get a chance (but with the same caveat as above) [2].

Regards,

/Pete

[1] https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/issues/244
[2] https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/issues/268

[Pete Batard]

Hi Bernd.

First of all, a very Happy 2014 to you too, and everyone on this list!

On 2014.01.03 11:07, Bernd Blaauw wrote:
>   FreeLDR as multiboot-kernel only looks at freeldr.ini
> at C:\ , no idea
>  if your created USB stick counts as C: or A:. 
Should count as C:. Rufus has no provisions to fake an A: drive for USB 
at the moment.

>   Also ReactOS might write freeldr.ini in some special
> way on FAT drives,
>  I've never been able to open/modify it using a DOS text editor. 
My testing showed that freeldr.ini was read when referencing the 
freeldr.sys on the bootcd, as I got the "Setup" selection menu.
But then pressing Enter on Setup didn't do much, though the F8 options 
did seem to work. As I said, I haven't really pressed it further with 
freeldr.sys yet, especially as the current implementation only allows 
one boot entry.

>   Smallest I've gotten FreeLDR is through using
>  SYSLINUX -> MEMDISK -> FLOPPY.GZ where floppy.gz is a compressed ReactOS
>  startup diskette image. SYSLINUX -> MBOOT.C32 -> FREELDR.GZ might also
>  work instead. 
memdisk is very small, so I'll probably add support for it in Rufus 
eventually. The part about using compressed images past memdisk or 
mboot.c32 doesn't really concern me, as these files don't need to be 
provided by Rufus, so they can be as large as they want. It's really 
only the parts needed for SYSLINUX -> MEMDISK or SYSLINUX -> MBOOT.C32 
that I'm trying to keep small in terms of space.

>   I've always hoped for Syslinux -> Memdisk/GRUB
> -> ReactOS.ISO/IMG simply
>  to overcome lack of mass storage controllers drivers by running from RAM. 
But then it means less RAM for the system, and losing the ability to 
edit startup scripts, which can come really handy when testing...

But as I said, I'll probably add memdisk support to Rufus at one stage, 
for all the "reluctant" ISOs that are still out there.

There might also be some way to use the sta

>   So right now the installer ISO works but not the
> LiveCD/USB?
>  [ https://www.reactos.org/getbuilds ] with rev 61493 
No, all the ISOs will boot (through setupldr.sys), including the LiveCD 
ones. They just seem to run into an USB issue later on, at least on the 
system I tested, during the ReactOS system init.
For what is worth, the LiveCD ISOs only have setupldr.sys and no 
freeldr.sys, which was one more reason I didn't bother too much with 
freeldr.sys for now.

>   Have fun with HaikuOS :) 
There's always one more OS to support, isn't there... ;)

Regards,

/Pete