XP-installer for Puppy 1.0.6

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MU
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XP-installer for Puppy 1.0.6

#1 Post by MU »

Image

The previous version was downloaded 627 times.
The very first version had several bugs.
After their correction, I got feedback in 2-3 cases, that Windows XP could not be started any more (hal.dll missing, although that file still exists).
It was not clear, if that was caused by the installer (by wingrub) or not.

However, take that as a warning to backup your Windows XP before using this installer !

Download (10 MB):
http://noforum.de/dotpups/puppy-106-ins ... Psetup.exe

Install it. Then you have a new icon on your Desktop.
If you run it, you can install Puppy inside WindowsXP.
It will use the dutch mirror to download Puppy.
There are 3 "Help"-Buttons explaining how it works.

A special version of "Wingrub" is used, so that existing Linux-Grubs should not be disturbed.
You also can install a patched "image.gz".
You will need that, if Puppy starts, but bugs you with the message "usr_cram.fs not found".
This patch only works, if WindowsXP is installed to C:\ on the first partition on the first Harddrive with the NTFS-Filesystem (typical OEM-Setup).

The patch also includes a small change in the "resize2fs"-program: it is run without the "F"-Parameter. (see here: http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic.php?t=3350 ).

Mark
Last edited by MU on Tue 08 Nov 2005, 04:28, edited 1 time in total.

GuestToo
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#2 Post by GuestToo »

a corrupted boot.ini can cause a missing hal.dll error message ... maybe changing a crlf (carriage return/linefeed) to lf (linefeed) might do it

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MU
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#3 Post by MU »

Ok, I changed that.
It had a unix-lf, now I changed that to windows-lf.
But strange anyway, that just 0.5% of the people that downloaded it, reported a hal.dll -error.
One wrote, he uninstalled it later.
Maybe there he made an error somehow.
Thanks, Mark

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MU
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#4 Post by MU »

I was asked by pm, how I got rid of the 60second-"nag".
Here is the answer:

I replaced the existing image.gz

First, I unzipped a copy of image.gz, so I had "image".
gunzip /mnt/hda8/root/_puppy106/image.gz

Then I mounted it:
mkdir /mnt/loop2
losetup /dev/loop2 /mnt/hda8/root/_puppy106/image
mount -r /dev/loop2 /mnt/loop2

Now edit it in beaver:
beaver /mnt/loop2/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit

There I replaced all
resize2fs -pfF
with
resize2fs -pf

Save and exit, then unmount:
umount /mnt/loop2

Finally zip it again:
gzip /mnt/hda8/root/_puppy106/image

Mark

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J_Rey
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RFE

#5 Post by J_Rey »

Request For Enhancement:
Could you also have this installer create a swap file for Puppy? Would be very useful. See http://puppylinux.org/wikka/SwapFile for more info.

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MU
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#6 Post by MU »

J_Rey, thanks for that tip, did not know that.

I don't know, when I have time to add that.
Basically, I just want to enable people to easily get a running puppy without using a CD.
Any optimizing they may do themselves with help of forum/Wiki.

Though I already thought of adding a grafical Windows-tool to resize pup001.

Can't promise if and when I will do it.

Mark

Pup1.0.3user

#7 Post by Pup1.0.3user »

Is there a way to use this program to install on a USB drive?

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#8 Post by MU »

No. At least not directly.

But you can install the files manually there from c:\

First click on "install".
Now copy
c:\usr_cram.fs
c:\pup001
c:\puppylinux1.0.6\vmlinuz
c:\puppylinux1.0.6\image.gz
to the USB-Drive.

Then edit c:\Program files\Puppy-Linux-1.0.6 Installer for Windows XP\resource\puppyboot\menu.lst
to use the usb-drive instead of C:\
Finally click on "install wingrub".
But I don't know, if WinGrub supports USB-Drives.
If not, you need the wake-USB-Floppy from Peter Sieg (See http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic.php?t=3352 )

Mark

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#9 Post by sas_3k »

Hello MU,

Your program you made works great, but I must point out that:
" default=multi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS " likes to take over first, making XP not even read " C:\boot\stage1="Puppy Linux1.0.6 ". So by adding " timeout=30 " to C:\BOOT.INI you can correct the problem.

A sample of my BOOT.INI that works great:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
[operating systems]
C:\boot\stage1="Puppy Linux1.0.6"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /FASTDETECT

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#10 Post by MU »

A former first testversion was able to modify boot.ini more detailed, but lead to an error where lost my whole XP. So that is no longer available.

The current version is less dangerous, it simply adds the puppy-entry in the end, nothing more.

On my XP, the
timeout=30
entry is set by default, and it boots nice like that.

Important for anybody reading this:
Do not simply copy the content of the former message to your boot.ini.
if
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
does not meet your systems configuration, you will not be able to start XP any more!

Be aware that modifications to boot.ini are highly critical!

OEM-Versions of XP don't even enable you to correct erratic entries with the rescue-CD.
You would have to build your own rescue-disk or CD to correct things.

Mark

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aahhaaa
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#11 Post by aahhaaa »

Mark- just to be clear for newbies... this only installs Puppy, it doesn't run Puppy inside Windows later on, right? A one-time thing?

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#12 Post by MU »

aahhaaa,
correct. It just simplifies the installation of Puppy without using a CD.

To run Puppy inside Windows, you will need QEmu: http://www.erikveen.dds.nl/qemupuppy/index.html

But that is slow, I don't recommend it.

Mark

yoron
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#13 Post by yoron »

___Hal.dll___= a Win_XP specific problem often with dual_boot .

----------------------------------------------------------------
"This situation occurs when setting up a dual boot situation with Windows 2000 and Windows XP (it may occur with other setups). After Windows XP's install routine has finished copying files, and is ready to boot to the GUI portion of SETUP, you may receive the 'Hal.dll missing' error. This has been traced to an incorrect BOOT.INI file

HAL is Microsoft's abbreviation for the Hardware Abstraction Layer, the technology and drivers that let the Windows NT, 2000, and XP operating systems communicate with your PC's hardware.

( really? it's just sooo much bull..t :evil:

HAL prevents applications from directly accessing your PC's system memory, CPU, or hardware devices (f ex video/sound cards). a method that can prevent many device conflicts and crashes. ufortunately, HAL sometimes also slows or stops DOS games and programs, which need to load their own memory managers or control hardware directly for better performance.

With HAL in the way, developers must rewrite or even abandon their older software in favor of newer, HAL-compatible versions. Microsoft has pressured hardware makers to provide or support technologies such as MMX, DirectX, and 3D technologies. XP also offers some new compatibility-mode features that let you run programs meant to run under earlier operating systems, but, frankly, most DOS-based and even some Windows-based games simply won't work with the new OS.

Tip: To see which HAL is currently installed, open Device Manager, and expand the Computer branch. The entry that appears in this branch corresponds to the currently installed HAL.

------------------------------

It's a common problem in dualbooting Linux/XP to.
Here's some suggestions when dual_booting goes amok

1. if you had W98 first, then installed linux and used it's (grub/lilo) multiboot option and now want to get back to only W98. use your W98 install_cd. Just install it as usual with whatever defaults you used last time you installed it. F ex the place you installed windows to, default is c:\windwows, if you changed that last time you installed to f ex c:\w98 , then just make your new installation to the same drectory. That will give you back your original installation with all your software in place.

Or make a boot floppy, then 'cd c:' then use 'cd windows' ( if that was your former placement/default ), then 'cd command' to got to your C:\windows\command.

Finish by writing ' fdisk /mbr ' while being in C:\windows\command.
Reboot, hopefully you will now have your W98 back.

You will lose access to your linux though it will still exist on your linuxpartition.
--------------------------------------------------

2. if you had xp first and then installed linux with its (grub/lilo) bootmanager. Then you shold be able to see/boot into XP whereafter it hangs. And the problem is this hal.dll...
Press 'f8' directly after chosing to boot into your XP to test.

Chose 'safe mode'. If it's hal.dll you could try the options furth down with Cd and Recovery Console. Just remember that the problem isn't really hal.dll but the incorrect BOOT.INI file, so it wont help to just put in a new hal.dll.

You should first try to make a correct BOOT.INI file, if that doesn't help you continue with installing a new hal.dll.

(XP_1)

----------------------------------------------------

1. Configure the computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For information about how to do this, see your computer documentation, or contact your computer manufacturer.
2. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
3. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
4. When you receive the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R to start the Recovery Console.
5. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you have to use from the Recovery Console.
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER.
7. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen.
8. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER.

This command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT installations, and then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file. For example, follow these steps to add a Windows XP installation to the Boot.ini file:

a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message, press Y: Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)

b. You receive a message that is similar to the following message: Enter Load Identifier
This is the name of the operating system. When you receive this message, type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. This is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

c. You receive a message that is similar to the following: Enter OS Load options When you receive this message, type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER. Note: The instructions that appear on your screen may be different, depending on the configuration of your computer.

9. Type exit, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts, and the updated boot list appears when you receive the "Please select the operating system to start" message.

-----------------------------
Of_course this may expect you to have used XP:s bootmanager to install linux - witch wich you didn't, right, but it should give you your XP back.

You will lose access to your linux though. Most probably, it will find your linuxpartition to and offer to partition it into NTFS to, or Fat32 if thats more to your liking. At least i believe you should have this option somwhere,you have to ...read carefully... before acting.


----------------------------------------------

And...(XP_2)
-----------------------------------------

IF HAL.DLL still is 'Missing' you could try this.

Boot from your CD and follow the directions below to start Recovery Console. Insert the Setup compact disc (CD) and restart the computer. If prompted, select any options required to boot from the CD.
When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts;
choose the repair or recover option by pressing R.

If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access from the Recovery Console.
When prompted, type the Administrator password. (if you didn't create one try pressing enter).

At the system prompt, type Recovery Console commands; type help for a list of commands, or help commandname for help on a specific command.
Most likely you will need to expand the file from the CD. The command would be expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll.

Substitute d: for the drive letter of your CD. Once you have expanded the file type "exit" to exit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.

-----------------------------------------
Last edited by yoron on Sat 12 Nov 2005, 02:36, edited 1 time in total.
No Mind
Never matter

PaceBlade Laptop 600 Mhz with a (soo_slow) IR keyboard, FireWire_dvd/cd, usb mouse: dual boot Xp/linux

yoron
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#14 Post by yoron »

sorry, to long a post that one, it's just that i to have had those problems.
And those are the answers i've found. Not very good, but then again, it's Xp.
As the drivers for this laptop (PaceBlade) only works with XP i need to keep it for now.

What i really would prefere is a small 'bootfixer' that you could start from a system_floppy with options to restore your mbr to its original condition,
f ex it could make an image of the mbr directly after installing Linux.
One version before lilo/grub,one after. That would be nice to have.

How much for that Puppy in the window
Is it possible to download and install it directly on my ext3 from my XP?

Or downloading a ISO on my vfat, then install on my ext3/swap via a system_floppy?
As i have no CDburner, that is...

Or is there a better/other sollution ?
Last edited by yoron on Sat 12 Nov 2005, 01:13, edited 1 time in total.
No Mind
Never matter

PaceBlade Laptop 600 Mhz with a (soo_slow) IR keyboard, FireWire_dvd/cd, usb mouse: dual boot Xp/linux

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#15 Post by aahhaaa »

Hello yoron- & welcome! :D

Just curious... XP & ME have RESTORE points, would that give you a goback option on the boot.ini / mbr thing, or doesn't RESTORE reach that deep?

If it works, maybe people should be setting a restore point-of-reference?

yoron
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#16 Post by yoron »

Yeah, they should, but talking for myself ( mostly ), they haven't worked when hal.dll have been the problem. But i agree that they should, in MS_theory so to speak. Actually as i've understood it from googling, they dont, never ever...

That is, when having trouble with your hal.dll
Otherwise i've used them from my dual_boot with good results

And my next question will be.

What do you think the 'e... keenevil empire' thinks about linux ?

:wink:

It may, or, may not have been a forseenable problem for microsoft but,
as i see it, they don't give a flying sh..t when the main problem lies with...

(btw: my IR keyboard drives me nuts, it keeps losing letters, when i try to correct it, it corrects me, by putting in letters that i've already written of as lost 4ever)

Ahh well.

I have every geeks nightmare/dream depending ..

A PaceBlade Laptop 600 Mhz with IR keyboard FireWire DVD/cd, USB mouse. With drivers handwritten exclusivly for WXP. I got it as a gift from my brother, the only conclusion i can draw from that is, that he really must hate me ;)
No Mind
Never matter

PaceBlade Laptop 600 Mhz with a (soo_slow) IR keyboard, FireWire_dvd/cd, usb mouse: dual boot Xp/linux

tj

#17 Post by tj »

Can't rstore if you can't get into Windows.

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Waikiki Websurfer
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Using latest Wingrub version --> DANGER

#18 Post by Waikiki Websurfer »

Wingrub has a known bug which can make Windos XP unbootable.

Please see: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.ph ... tid=637224

--- BEGIN Quote ---

WinGrub changes Windows Disk Signature bytes
The four bytes from offsets 0x1B8 through 0x1BB in the
MBR are called the Windows 2000/XP Disk Signature or NT
Drive Serial Number.

Please See here:
http://therdcom.com/asm/mbr/Win2kmbr.htm#DS

One of the ways these values are used by Windows is
to associated drive letters with mount points/disk
volumes. If they are changed, a user may find that he
can no longer log on to Windows (this happened to me),
or his drive letters may be mixed up.

To fix it, I copied the 4 byte signature (from my
backed up MBR) to the first hard drive sector by using
Linux Disk Editor (lde) from the Recovery Is Possible
CD (RIP).

--- END Quote ---

Also, of interest:
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.ph ... tid=637224

To me, it seems like this project has been abandoned, as there has been no activity for more than a year. Wingrub might be potentially very dangerous to use if there is no way to recover.

My background:
I became interested in the "Win XP Puppy installer" because I would like to put Puppy onto the second (Currently Win XP NTFS) partition of a laptop harddrive inside Sony VAIO PCG-C1MV. The big problem in installing any other OS than the resident Win XP Home that came with the laptop is that there is no easy way to access the hard-drive other than in Win XP environment. The BIOS will not boot from an external CD/DVD firewire or USB drive (you would have to buy a SONY VAIO fw drive with a special power-plug-connector from CDD to the laptop to do that), will not boot from USB and will not boot from internal memorystick (or so I've read). There is a "network boot" option, but I do not have the optional dongle for NIC interface and it's unlikely that wireless would work with that option, and don't intend to get a PCMCIA NIC card to just try it...
Also, the laptop is not very easy to open and (I've read) is risky to put back together again due to bad connectors inside so as to rip out HD and stick to another laptop -- although I might consider trying to do this one more time...
What I really need, is an install method from inside Win XP (Home) that is guaranteed not to fry my Win XP -- because I cannot reinstall XP or do anything if XP won't boot due to no CD drive, no floppy drive, and BIOS
boot option limitations (complete lack of options..).
That's why I'm interested in the Puppy Win XP installer, but using the installer, I might have Wingrub wreck my hard drive.

Any help / comments / suggestions?
I would really like to get Puppy on this machine but looks to be next to impossible to do it anywhere remotely "safely" -- and I'd rather not get stuck with a completely unusable machine... (Although with Win XP, it is almost that.........)

Cheers!

__O__ \/\/ \/\/
__/\___
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

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MU
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#19 Post by MU »

Reply is in the thread of the older installer:
http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic ... 4295#24295

Mark

ICPUG
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#20 Post by ICPUG »

MU

As you know from my posts elsewhere I prefer to install Puppy with XP manually and I have not used your routine, although I think it is a fine contribution to the kennels. However, I am getting concerned about the problem of access to Windows XP being lost after someone uses your routine. Will it affect me if I upgrade my PC and, more importantly, should I stop recommending my approach to others if there is a problem? My manual installation simply copies a version of the grldr file from grub4dos (http://freshmeat.net/projects/grub4dos/) to the root directory of my hard drive and I call it up from boot.ini . I actually took my grldr from Gilles Ruymbeke on the Knoppix forum so I am not sure which version it is. Does your installation routine do anything different? Looking at documentation for Wingrub it seems there are 6 ways of it installing grub, including, I think, like my approach and also installing to MBR. What does your installation do? - it seems from an earlier post of sas3k that it might involve c:\boot\stage1 so I am not sure it is the same as my approach.

In the post of Waikiki Websurfer he suggests the problem is with the Disk Signature bytes being changed, but if we are not messing the MBR how can this be? I am wondering if that warning is associated with one of the installation methods in Wingrub that we are not using!

While Waikiki Websurfer says the Wingrub project seems dormant it is clear that grub4dos is very active, the latest release being 14th November. However, I was disturbed to read the following in the readme of this latest version:

*****************************************************************
*** !!!!!!!! NTFS Will No Longer Be Supported !!!!!!!! ***
*****************************************************************

Notice! In the future, we will remove NTFS support. For Windows users,
please create an FAT partition and place GRLDR and menu.lst
there. From now on, please don't report bugs relevant to NTFS.

Someone reports that Windows XP with newer SPs and Windows
Vista have intentionally broken the compatiblity with many
things(including GRLDR). So you will get into trouble with
these systems.
*****************************************************************
Is the Evil Empire trying to make it more difficult to install Linux! Without details of what the problem is, it is hard to know whether there is a real difficulty, or whether there is a touch of paranoia in the above warning.

By the way, I run an OEM Windows XP Home with Service Pack 1 and have no problems with my grldr trashing Windows.

ICPUG

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