How to make it boot

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?Martin_M=FCller?=]

Hello,

I downloaded the XP-embedded evaluation version and after spending half a
day trying all versions of arc-paths (booting always says hal.dll is
missing) I somwhere saw a notice that the partition must be made bootable (I
installed a second hard drive for the image). But what I found then sounds
so strange that I can't believe.

I see something about booting into DOS and using DOS-format and fdisk and
bootprep.

First of all, how do I boot into DOS when I have XP?

And is this really the Microsoft way to build such a huge System like the
embedded Studio and then just missing a simple tool that writes a
bootsector?

In the help I found no article which describes exactly how to make a
(non-C drive bootable.

Tanks in advance for any tips!

 

[KM]

Martin,

I downloaded the XP-embedded evaluation version and after spending half a day trying all versions of arc-paths (booting always
says hal.dll is missing) I somwhere saw a notice that the partition must be made bootable (I installed a second hard drive for the
image). But what I found then sounds so strange that I can't believe.

Usually you get the "hall.dll is missing" error message from ntldr when the ARC path is wrong.
So make sure you get the ARC path set properly (see below) and have the Windows directory on the second partition with the exact
name you set in TD and in the ARC path.

I see something about booting into DOS and using DOS-format and fdisk and bootprep.

First of all, how do I boot into DOS when I have XP?

If you have XP installed you already got the bootable bootsector that can boot XPe.

And is this really the Microsoft way to build such a huge System like the embedded Studio and then just missing a simple tool that
writes a bootsector?

In case (not your case!) you've got a clean target machine and you don't want to or don't have a way to install XP Pro on it you
would want to use bootprep to create bootable boot sector on FAT FS.

In the help I found no article which describes exactly how to make a (non-C drive bootable.

This tutorial (dual boot) seems to describe the same setup as you have:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/xpehelp/html/xetbsStep1SetupYourDevelopmentSystem.asp
(only difference may be that you use a second drive instead of a second partition)

Please make sure you understand the XP/XPe boot process.

I assume you have already got XP installed on your system partition (the one you see as C. That would be the partition that
contains ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini.
In boot.ini you should have two entries - one for XP, another one for XPe (boot from another drive/partition).

The question is what did you get on the second (XPe) drive/partition?
When you build the image you have probably specified your target directories to be on D: drive, right?
Then after the build you got DriveD folder under the image build directory. Hope you then copied the content of the DriveD folder
directly to the root of the second drive/partition.

Also, read this tip page to get a better understanding about the drive letter assignment on XPe:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/embedded/community/community/tips/xp/rtpartin/default.aspx

If you still can't fix the problem, please post a message again with the information on the exact hard disk setup you have, how you
build the image and how and what you copy to the second drive (partition).

KM

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?Martin_M=FCller?=]

Thank you for the fast answer!

Usually you get the "hall.dll is missing" error message from ntldr when
the ARC path is wrong.
So make sure you get the ARC path set properly (see below) and have the
Windows directory on the second partition with the exact name you set in
TD and in the ARC path.

That was my initial thought. I have the following configuration:
Drive C: is IDE primary master. It has three partitions but two of them are
for Linux and therefore not seen under Windows.
Drive D: is IDE secondary master. It is a 160GB whith only one 700MB
partition up to now.
The remaining two IDE devices are CD-drives.

I supposed, the correct arc-path would be
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS
but with this I get an error message complaining harddisk configuration.
it only seems to work with
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\windows
where the missing hal appears.

now the question is what drive letter the 700MB will be. It does not work
with D:.
It does also not work with C: but both disks have a
\windows\system32\hal.dll on it.
I have ntfs support added so it should also be readable.

Please make sure you understand the XP/XPe boot process.

I'm sure I do not!

I assume you have already got XP installed on your system partition (the
one you see as C. That would be the partition that contains ntldr,
ntdetect.com and boot.ini.
yes

In boot.ini you should have two entries - one for XP, another one for XPe
(boot from another drive/partition).
yes

The question is what did you get on the second (XPe) drive/partition?
When you build the image you have probably specified your target
directories to be on D: drive, right?
right.

Then after the build you got DriveD folder under the image build
directory. Hope you then copied the content of the DriveD folder directly
to the root of the second drive/partition.

yes.


Hmm. I always said yes. So it should work, shouldn't it?

Martin

P.S. the error message says <windows root>\system32\hal.dll is missing. I
wonder whether <windows root> should not be C: or D:

 

[KM]

Martin,

What exact directory/file layout you've got under the second drive root?

The "XPe" ARC path should be multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\windows in your boot.ini.

KM

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?Martin_M=FCller?=]

What exact directory/file layout you've got under the second drive root?

The second drive contains "Documents and Settings", "Program Files" and
"WINDOWS" (and the hidden "System Volume Information"). No files.

The "XPe" ARC path should be multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\windows
in your boot.ini.

boot.ini only exists on C::


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /SOS /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Embedded"
/fastdetect

 

[Slobodan Brcin \(eMVP\)]

Hi Martin,
1. Make sure that this is first (only) partition on your second HDD. (use diskpart.exe tool)
2. Make sure that your files are in :\Windows folder that is in root of volume.
3. try higher values for rdisk like 2, 3 (unlikely it will help)

Regards,
Slobodan

What exact directory/file layout you've got under the second drive root?

The second drive contains "Documents and Settings", "Program Files" and
"WINDOWS" (and the hidden "System Volume Information"). No files.

The "XPe" ARC path should be multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\windows
in your boot.ini.

boot.ini only exists on C::


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /SOS /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Embedded"
/fastdetect

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?Martin_M=FCller?=]

Hello Slobodan,

1. Make sure that this is first (only) partition on your second HDD. (use
diskpart.exe tool)

it was a new harddisk and I made the only 700MB partition with windows
explorer.

2. Make sure that your files are in :\Windows folder that is in root of
volume.

there they are.

3. try higher values for rdisk like 2, 3 (unlikely it will help)

I tried up to 5 as I remember.

 

[Slobodan Brcin \(eMVP\)]

Hi Martin,

Make sure that your partition is MBR like and not some dynamic thing.
Go to Disk Management and look that it is same type as your partition on first disk.

Regards,
Slobodan

 

[KM]

Martin,

I agree with Slobodan. Clean up your second drive and partition and format it using XP Disk Management GUI tool (or diskpart command
line tool if you prefer).

Another experiment you may want to try is to disconnect the first HDD and leave only the second drive attaching it to primary
master. Does it boot this way? Who knows, maybe your BIOS does not work properly with the secondary IDE controller channel.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?Martin_M=FCller?=]

I should have opened my computer much erlier.
I connected the drive to the primary ide channel and it booted immediately.

Thanks to you both for your help!

Martin