4.13 RL Live Works, Install (BootRD) does not. (Solved)

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cmonkey
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Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:55 pm

4.13 RL Live Works, Install (BootRD) does not. (Solved)

Post by cmonkey »

I understand that ReactOS may not work on my system. So I am far from disappointed, if it does not.

The system is a Wyse Cx0, IDE, 512mb ram, 1G Via CPU, and installation/live with USB ramdisk.
The system does not have a Cdrom drive. So I have created a USB ramdisk per the wiki instructions (syslinux).
The USB contains both the LiveCD and BootCD iso files for the 4.13 release.

Booting into the Live system works great. I can access and use the drive connected to IDE. Without having done any extensive testing, there seems to be no lock ups or glitches.

The 1st BootCD install stage goes well. The first reboot gives an "import binary hive error". The drive designation in freeloader looks correct. However if I do change it, I instead get the "opening hive file failed error".

I get the same error when selecting Debug (screen).

It is also the same results when using the Live and Boot iso files, for the most Recent ReactOS 4.14 RC.

I imagine that it could just be awhile before this thinclient works with ReactOS. But I wonder if this could be a Ramdisk BootCD issue, which it does not seem to be. And out of curiosity, I wonder what the difference is between the Live and Installed, importing of the binary hive file.
Last edited by cmonkey on Thu Sep 30, 2021 6:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
Julcar
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Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:19 pm

Re: 4.13 RL Live Works, Install (BootRD) does not.

Post by Julcar »

More Likely a uniata problem, I would look in the BIOS (if possible) if there is any option to change the hard disk controller, maybe tweaking into the machine options you could boot ReactOS.

Alternatively you can try my frugal installation method using the livecd image
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gonzoMD
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Re: 4.13 RL Live Works, Install (BootRD) does not.

Post by gonzoMD »

0.4.13 is quite old. Please try to install one of those development builds: https://reactos.org/getbuilds/

Actual builds may also contain some USB fixes that let you boot them directly without using the ramdisk method, but may also contain regressions.

As you correctly stated this is a system work in progress so just try to fiddle around a bit. Feel free to open an Issue in our Jira, with debug logs (Hint: Debug (Screen)).
cmonkey
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Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:55 pm

Re: 4.13 RL Live Works, Install (BootRD) does not.

Post by cmonkey »

Julcar wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 8:56 am More Likely a uniata problem, I would look in the BIOS (if possible) if there is any option to change the hard disk controller, maybe tweaking into the machine options you could boot ReactOS.
Good advice. I was hoping for the same thing. The only option I did not try, was defining the drive manually.
Alternatively you can try my frugal installation method using the livecd image
Excellent tutorial. And very quick.

This did the trick. I didn't copy everything over (to the non-booting install). I'll probably play around to see which exact files were needed. I'm assuming that you are correct, and it is a uniata issue. So I'll start there first.

Thanks, Julcar

Already a more freeing experience that MS.
cmonkey
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:55 pm

Re: 4.13 RL Live Works, Install (BootRD) does not.

Post by cmonkey »

gonzoMD wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 2:11 pm Actual builds may also contain some USB fixes that let you boot them directly without using the ramdisk method, but may also contain regressions.
Thanks for the reply, gonzoMD.

You were right. There was regression. Neither option (ramdisk/raw dd copy) booted. It'll just be a matter of time and this will eventually be addressed.
As you correctly stated this is a system work in progress so just try to fiddle around a bit. Feel free to open an Issue in our Jira, with debug logs (Hint: Debug (Screen)).
I may head over to the Jira. So far, for 4.15, the raw written usb booting drivers are loaded and no boot options are provided (for debug). Using the ramdisk live, booting goes no further than loading ramdrive.sys. Using ramdisk setup, only the white and color loading bars do anything; and nothing is loaded.

As for 4.13 and 4.14, debugging does not work yet. It cannot import the binary hive.
cmonkey
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:55 pm

Re: 4.13 RL Live Works, Install (BootRD) does not.

Post by cmonkey »

So at the very least /reactos/system32/config/system and /reactos/system32/config/software need to be copied over. Maybe everything from the config folder.

You guys probably already knew that. But just in case someone else wants to follow along.
cmonkey
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:55 pm

Re: 4.13 RL Live Works, Install (BootRD) does not. (Solved)

Post by cmonkey »

Just an update. In addition to the config files mentioned in my last post, the /profile folder and contents also need to be copied over. (ReactOS 4.14RC101)

In my case, the advantage of using the previously copied files (from the bootcd) is that installing drivers works correctly.
If you have problems with the frugal install, you could install the first stage to some VM and then copy those files over to your problematic machine. Then copy the config and profile files over from the LiveCD session. Then you would just need to figure out how to install freeldr to the MBR or use a bootloader to initiate freeldr (syslinux).

For whatever reason the frugal install had issues installing drivers. With an audio driver, it did not copy the files over. I didn't check with my video driver, but after reboot I had 640x480 and maybe 16 colors (no visible icons/only text). The Video device did not appear in the device manager at all. So I assume the Video had the same issue.

Instead, copying files over to the (non-booting) bootcd install from the LiveCD, resolved this issue. You might call this a Frugal 2nd stage install.

Note: This later development was tested on a different machine (Wyse Sx0). I found video and audio drivers that work with the Sx0, for ReactOS. The Ethernet driver is included with ReactOS. At 366mhz, this device crawls. I never actually heard audio, but the speakers pop when the driver initializes. The Video works fine, except for that the mouse cursor turns in to a distorted square about the size of an Icon. This could be due to the irregular install method, and not ReactOS.

I believe the Cx0 WinXP Drivers have some DLL requirements that are not met. I'm not sure though. The audio and video each need their own executable service running for the drivers to work. It is in those services that I believe there are unmet dll dependencies.

I mention this in case google brought you here and you are trying this on the Cx0. The Velocity Gigabit Ethernet drivers do work. And the Via Hyperion Pro 4in1 chipset has an inf in the viamach folder that installs to the unknown listed system device.
Last edited by cmonkey on Sat Oct 02, 2021 3:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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