What is an Intel PXE ROM

[Llena Rose]

Where do I find out more information about the "Intel PXE ROM"?

Every now and then I get a boot error referring to an "Intel PXE ROM". The
error always goes away upon the next boot so the boot problem isn't what
I'm asking here. I just want to know what this "Intel PXE ROM" is.

I googled for "What is Intel PXE ROM" and found many people had problems
with this 'thing' but I did not find an explanation of what it actually is.

Do you know what an Intel PXE ROM is? What does it do?

If it matters, here is the boot error I get every once in a while on my
Thinkpad laptop running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (the message isn't the
question though).

Do you know where I find out more about what a "PXE ROM" is?
Ilena
---
Intel(R) Boot Agent Version 4.0.22
Copyright (C) 1997-2001, Intel Corporation
---
Intel Base-Code, PXE-2.1 (build 083)
Copyright (C) 1997-2001, Intel Corporation
---
CLIENT MAC ADDR: (long number) GUID: (long number)
PXE-E53: No boot filename received
---
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM
Operating System not found
---
(Again, the question isn't about the error because it goes away when I
reboot. The question is where can I find out what an Intel PXE ROM is?

Thank you,
Ilena

 

[Guest]

Pre Boot Execution Environment. PXE
Lots of info here:
http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=Intel+PXE+ROM&l=1&mkt=en-US&FORM=QBME1
TTFN.

 

[Boris Buchanan]

PXE -> Preboot eXecution Environment. Although it has a greater scope than
I will describe, its primary use is to boot diskless machines from a server
that can provide an operating image. If you see a reference to PXE when
booting your machine, it is probable that your BIOS boot device list
includes an ethernet port as a boot device. Remove any ethernet ports from
your boot list.

BB

 

[Ilena Rose]

PXE -> Preboot eXecution Environment.
Remove any ethernet ports from your boot list.

Thanks. I started searching for the full words you gave me and I then found
two documents that explain WHAT it is
http://www.pix.net/software/pxeboot/archive/pxespec.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment

Now that I know WHAT is it, I want to get rid of it!

To get rid of it, do I just press F1 when the WinXP Thinkpad boots and tell
it not to boot off "the network"? I don't think there is a "PXE option" in
the boot is there?

Is that the way to stop this?
Ilena

 

[Haggis]

Thanks. I started searching for the full words you gave me and I then
found
two documents that explain WHAT it is
http://www.pix.net/software/pxeboot/archive/pxespec.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment

Now that I know WHAT is it, I want to get rid of it!

To get rid of it, do I just press F1 when the WinXP Thinkpad boots and
tell
it not to boot off "the network"? I don't think there is a "PXE option" in
the boot is there?

Is that the way to stop this?
Ilena

it is in the BIOS (F10 ? I think for the Thinkpad) look for boot
sequence and remove any that state ("network device" or the like)

 

[Boris Buchanan]

Ilena,
I don't know enough about your machine to give you a complete answer. If
your machine is issuing messages about PXE then your BIOS is aware of PXE in
some way. Perhaps your BIOS supports PXE and you have a network device in
your boot list (this is what I described earlier) or something in your BIOS
is looking for a PXE extension that is not there. Alternatively, your
machine may be set up with a software emulation of PXE that is enabled.
Finally, if you use a PCMCIA network card, perhaps it is providing the PXE
capability. If someone provided this machine to you such as an employer, I
would ask your support group for help. If this is your own machine, you
should find some documentation about its PXE capabilities. If neither works
for you, I suggest you go through all the BIOS screens carefully looking for
references to PXE and network/remote boot and disable all such options you
find.

BB

 

[Malke]

Thanks. I started searching for the full words you gave me and I then
found two documents that explain WHAT it is
http://www.pix.net/software/pxeboot/archive/pxespec.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment

Now that I know WHAT is it, I want to get rid of it!

To get rid of it, do I just press F1 when the WinXP Thinkpad boots and
tell it not to boot off "the network"? I don't think there is a "PXE
option" in the boot is there?

Is that the way to stop this?
Ilena

Are you having a problem booting? Machines that are designed to possibly
connect to a professional network - Thinkpads, Dell Optiplexes, etc. -
have the PXE option in their BIOS. This is a Good Thing because it
gives network administrators flexibility.

In a home machine, just change your boot order to put the PXE option
last. Or possibly you can disable it in your BIOS. In order to get into
the Thinkpad's BIOS, press the blue Access IBM button as soon as the
laptop starts up.

If your machine is trying to boot from a PXE server and will not
complete the boot into your operating system, this can sometimes mean
that the operating system boot files are damaged but more often it
means that the hard drive is failing.

Malke

 

[Ilena Rose]

Pre Boot Execution Environment. PXE
http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=Intel+PXE+ROM&l=1&mkt=en-US&FORM=QBME1

Where is the option to turn PXE off?

Here is what I did.

I rebooted the Thinkpad and pressed F1 to enter the BIOS setup utility.
Under the "Startup" heading, there was both a "Boot" and "Network" section.
Under both sections, there was the same information:
- Hard Drive
- Removable Devices
- CDROM Drive
- IBM 4.0.22 slot 0240

There were options to move these four items up and down and to enable or
disable them but that was it.

I'm sure the first three can't be the PXE ROM boot agent, so I wonder which
I should disable to boot off the hard drive or CDROM at home?

Is the PXE ROM that needs to be disabled the same as the "IBM 4.0.22 slot
0240" device?

 

[Ilena Rose]

Are you having a problem booting?
In a home machine, just change your boot order (PXE option last)
Disable it in your BIOS.
Press the blue Access IBM button as soon as the laptop starts up.

Hi Malke and everyone,

It's a home machine that a friend set up years ago. All of a sudden, it's
doing this PXE ROM thing but I don't really have a problem booting.
Generally that PXE message only comes up once every few weeks and I just
reboot and it goes away. I just don't like the idea of the machine booting
off a network I don't know anything about. What network is it trying to
boot off of anyway?

I don't have a blue button (well, the "Enter" key is blue and there are
blue diagrams on some of the Fn buttons, but, there is a "THINKPAD" black
button you might be talking about. I hit the F1 when I was rebooting and
that brought me into the BIOS setup so I think that's what you're referring
to. (I understand, every laptop is different).

All I want to do is disable this boot into PXE option but I can't find it.
I never boot off of anything but the hard drive or sometimes I boot off of
Knoppix when files get corrupted so I can fix it by copying files which is
the most basic of all fixes which is all I know how to do anyway.

Do you think I should turn off all the F1, Bios Setup, Startup, Boot and
Network options other than just the hard drive?

Here is what the Bios setup says for F1, Startup, Boot:
- Hard Drive
- Removable Devices
- CDROM Drive
- IBM 4.0.22 slot 0240

It says the SAME thing for F1, Startup, Network!

Since I don't need to boot off any network, should I turn off ALL four of
these options for the F1, Startup, Network.

Unfortunately, I looked at ALL the options under F1 Startup and there are
no entries which apply directly to something called PXE ROM (there are date
and password settings but nothing about PXE ROMs that I can find).

I'd like to ask first before I tturn off ALL the F1, Startup, Network
options, if that is the correct approach?

Ilena

 

[Malke]

Please see my comments inline:

It's a home machine that a friend set up years ago. All of a sudden,
it's doing this PXE ROM thing but I don't really have a problem
booting. Generally that PXE message only comes up once every few weeks
and I just reboot and it goes away. I just don't like the idea of the
machine booting off a network I don't know anything about. What
network is it trying to boot off of anyway?

Since this is an older machine that has just started to attempt to boot
from a PXE server, I would run a hard drive diagnostic since this
behavior indicates that possibly your hard drive is failing. The
randomness also indicates hardware problems. The machine is *not*
booting off an unknown network; it is failing to find the boot files on
your hard drive and therefore looking at the next place it thinks boot
files might be. This is not a security issue at all in your case.

Get the drive diagnostic from the hard drive mftr.'s website. You will
create a bootable cd or floppy with the file that you download. Boot
with this (you may need to change the boot order) and do a thorough
test. If the hard drive fails any physical tests, replace it. If you
cannot find out what hard drive you have, Seagate's SeaTools diagnostic
can be substituted.

I don't have a blue button (well, the "Enter" key is blue and there
are blue diagrams on some of the Fn buttons, but, there is a
"THINKPAD" black button you might be talking about. I hit the F1 when
I was rebooting and that brought me into the BIOS setup so I think
that's what you're referring to. (I understand, every laptop is
different).

Yes, laptops are different. My Thinkpad X31 has a blue Access IBM
button, but since your Thinkpad is older you obviously don't have that.

All I want to do is disable this boot into PXE option but I can't find
it. I never boot off of anything but the hard drive or sometimes I
boot off of Knoppix when files get corrupted so I can fix it by
copying files which is the most basic of all fixes which is all I know
how to do anyway.

As I said in my first paragraph, disabling the PXE option is putting a
bandage on the problem of probable hardware failure.

Do you think I should turn off all the F1, Bios Setup, Startup, Boot
and Network options other than just the hard drive?

No, I think you should find out what is causing the issue and fix it.
Since the machine is older it is probably out of warranty. You may want
to take it to a professional computer repair shop for diagnosis and
repair instead.

Malke

 

[Boris Buchanan]

Here is what the Bios setup says for F1, Startup, Boot:
- Hard Drive
- Removable Devices
- CDROM Drive
- IBM 4.0.22 slot 0240

My guess is that the 4th item in the list represents a network interface.
Remove it from the list. But I'm also guessing that Malke is correct and
your HD is beginning to fail. If your system occasionally can not boot from
the HD, it will work itself down the list. Assuming there is no bootable
media in the removable device or the CDROM, it would try to boot from the
NIC, if that's what item 4 really is.

BB

 

[niteowl]

when in the bios, highlight the network item, and hit the right arrow on the
keyboard, it should give you more options concerning that item... simply
disable the PXE

good luck,
niteowl

 

[Ilena Rose]

My guess is that the 4th item in the list represents a network interface.
Remove it from the list. But I'm also guessing that Malke is correct and
your HD is beginning to fail.

I right clicked on "My Computer" and hit "Manage" and then "Event Viewer"
and then "System" to see a bunch of warnings but not hard drive errors. The
messages I saw were of the type "TCP/IP has reached the security limit
imposed on the number of concurrent TCP connect attempts." which I don't
think is related (or is it?). I'll run the IBM PC Doctor (which comes with
all Thinkpads) to see if it thinks the disk is bad
"C:\Program Files\PC-Doctor for Windows\PCDRW32.EXE"

Doing a big more research on that wierd boot item, I found this special
"redbook" (whatever that is) IBM PDF
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpapers/pdfs/redp3951.pdf
which implies on page 111 of 164 that this is related to a backdoor "image"
perhaps made with the IBM Image Builder software and on page 118 it implies
the IBM 4.0.22 slot 0240 slot is the "PXE boot option" created by that
image. Another redbook IBM PDF said on page 403 & 429 of 474 pages similar
things
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg247106.pdf
so we can be pretty sure that the IBM 4.0.22 slot 0240 slot is the PXE boot
ROM (wherever that really is).

I'll try each of your suggestions to solve this problem of which I have
very little native experience to rely upon.

Ilena

 

[Ilena Rose]

No, I think you should find out what is causing the issue and fix it

Hi Malke,

Digging deeper, I found out this may be related to something called Altiris
because the error is EXACTLY as stated on this web page!

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/rdp/knowledgebase/00000138.html

PXE-E53: No boot filename received. The client received at least one valid
DHCP/BOOTP offer, but does not have a boot filename to download. There are
several possible causes:
¡E The DHCP Server and the PXE Server were located on the same server, but
one of them was moved to a different server. This would result in an
incorrect PXE Server configuration.

To resolve this issue, reinstall the PXE Server component of the Altiris
Deployment Solution.
¡E The DHCP relay agent, either a Proxy DHCP Server or a switch configured
with helper addresses, is not configured correctly. For example, if DHCP
and PXE are on separate servers, the DHCP relay agent needs to have both
addresses in its configuration.

To resolve this issue, correct the DHCP relay agent configuration.
¡E For the Rapid Deployment Pack - Windows Edition, if the Microsoft DHCP
service is installed on the PXE server, but is disabled or unconfigured,
Altiris PXE Setup configures PXE to work with the local DHCP service (even
if the DHCP service is disabled). This causes the PXE server to not respond
to PXE clients that get a DHCP address from DHCP services running elsewhere
on the network.

To resolve this issue, remove Microsoft DHCP services from the PXE server
and reinstall the PXE Server component of the Altiris Deployment Solution.


I'm not sure what Altiris even is but this error message seems exactly from
it. I'm still looking up what Altiris is (seems to be some kind of spyware
software in the boot process).

Ilena

 

[Ilena Rose]

Doing more research, it seems this Altiris is some kind of professional
spyware but I'm confused as can be from these Altiris web sites explaining
the PXE Server mechanism

http://juice.altiris.com/node/279/print
http://juice.altiris.com/node/279
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/rdp/knowledgebase/00000138.html

This may be basic stuff to you but it's complicated to me to figure out if
it's a "good thing" or a bad thing.

Ilena

 

[Lem]

Doing more research, it seems this Altiris is some kind of professional
spyware but I'm confused as can be from these Altiris web sites explaining
the PXE Server mechanism

http://juice.altiris.com/node/279/print
http://juice.altiris.com/node/279
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/rdp/knowledgebase/00000138.html

This may be basic stuff to you but it's complicated to me to figure out if
it's a "good thing" or a bad thing.

Ilena

You are going in the wrong direction. Altiris is not "professional
spyware" but a collection of products for managing "client, handheld,
server, network and other IT assets." PC-Doctor may be adequate to
check your hard drive. See
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-4YQLGR