REQ: IFL Makedisk.exe - support BIBM licence info in .ini

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

Mrx wrote:

> After removing user name, I no longer get prompted for IFL or BIBM licence when
> booting from DVD, but I get prompted for both when booting from HDD.

I'm not able to reproduce that problem here when I do what I think is the same thing you're doing. If you get a chance, the file /tbu/utility/bootscript.log from the running boot disk that you see this problem on may help point to what the issue is if you can post its contents here.

>
> I've found the solution though - I had to add the /doini switch to the makeHDD
> command. Adding /doini, I noticed it copied ifl.ini and bootitbm.ini as part of the
> setup. Without /doini, I was prompted for ilcence for IFL and BIBM.

Yes, for IFL 2.89 and later, both the /doini and non /doini methods should work. The /doini option puts the Makedisk files inside the root file system, while without /doini, they stay in the root of the boot media, and have to be copied over to the running disk at boot time.

>
> Few questions:
>
> 1) What is happening when I see the line during boot sequence of IFL "Processing
> iflbflag=2 Attempt 1" and why does it take 5 attempts ?

That's when it's mounting the boot media (UFD, CD/DVD, HDD partition, etc) to copy the makeDisk files to the running boot disk. It makes 5 attempts, then gives up if it can't find them.

> 2) How can I make it skip the video resolution prompt, and auto pick option 1 (ie.
> best available) without a delay ?

All boot media created by MakeDisk will boot the first video option by default. For the timeout, you can make the following changes in the file syslinux.cfg in the root of the boot media (the HDD partition in your case):
1. Change 'timeout 50' to 'timeout 1'
2. Delete the line 'display menu.txt' (this change is optional - it just keeps that text from displaying at all)

> 3) Is it possible to speed up the boot process any more ?
No, the timeout is the only one.

>
> Also, to summarise my suggestions:
>
> 1) can you make it so that makedisk.exe picks up BIBM licence info from bibm.ini
> 2) can you allow Reboot=1 and Shutdown=1 to be used in ifl.ini (in each of the
> relevant sections (ie. Backup, Restore, Copy))

The suggestions have been noted.

[Brian K]

TeraByte Support(TP) wrote:

> 1. Change 'timeout 50' to 'timeout 1'


Tom,

I've used this in the past but interestingly it only works if you boot the IFL flash drive in MBR mode. If you boot in UEFI mode you get the full 5 seconds. Any way to fix the UEFI boot?

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

Brian K wrote:
> TeraByte Support(TP) wrote:
>
> > 1. Change 'timeout 50' to 'timeout 1'
>
>
> Tom,
>
> I've used this in the past but interestingly it only works if you boot the IFL flash
> drive in MBR mode. If you boot in UEFI mode you get the full 5 seconds. Any way to
> fix the UEFI boot?

Brian, for UEFI it uses the grub config file at /boot/grub/grub.cfg in the root of the boot media. In that file, changing line 12 to 'set timeout=0' will eliminate the delay at the boot menu (boot menu won't even show). You can also change it to anything in between if you want - say 2 seconds instead of the default 5.

[Brian K]

TeraByte Support(TP) wrote:
>
> for UEFI it uses the grub config file at /boot/grub/grub.cfg in the root of
> the boot media.


Excellent, thanks.

[Mrx]

TeraByte Support(TP) wrote:
>
> All boot media created by MakeDisk will boot the first video option by default. For
> the timeout, you can make the following changes in the file syslinux.cfg in the root
> of the boot media (the HDD partition in your case):
> 1. Change 'timeout 50' to 'timeout 1'
> 2. Delete the line 'display menu.txt' (this change is optional - it just keeps that
> text from displaying at all)
>

I mounted /dev/sda1 and I can't find a syslinux.cfg file on it. I can ony find an /tbu/cdboot/isolinux.cfg file, which has the lines you mention. Where is syslinux.cfg ?

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

Mrx wrote:
> TeraByte Support(TP) wrote:
> >
> > All boot media created by MakeDisk will boot the first video option by default.
> For
> > the timeout, you can make the following changes in the file syslinux.cfg in the
> root
> > of the boot media (the HDD partition in your case):
> > 1. Change 'timeout 50' to 'timeout 1'
> > 2. Delete the line 'display menu.txt' (this change is optional - it just keeps
> that
> > text from displaying at all)
> >
>
> I mounted /dev/sda1 and I can't find a syslinux.cfg file on it. I can ony find an
> /tbu/cdboot/isolinux.cfg file, which has the lines you mention. Where is syslinux.cfg
> ?

That /tbu/cdboot/isolinux.cfg path is on the running boot disk (in RAM), not on partition /dev/sda1

To view the contents of /dev/sda1, and assuming you mounted it via the "Mount Drive or Partition" icon, you would look in the /tbu/mnt1 directory. That's where you should find syslinux.cfg.

Note that when you highlight a partition and press Enter to mount it, then the path to where it's mounted is shown on the screen e.g. MOUNTED:(/tbu/mnt1). If you have more than one drive/partition mounted, the 2nd one would be at /tbu/mnt2, the third one at /tbu/mnt3, and so on.

[Mrx]

TeraByte Support(TP) wrote:
> That /tbu/cdboot/isolinux.cfg path is on the running boot disk (in RAM), not on partition
> /dev/sda1
>
> To view the contents of /dev/sda1, and assuming you mounted it via the "Mount Drive
> or Partition" icon, you would look in the /tbu/mnt1 directory. That's where you
> should find syslinux.cfg.
>
> Note that when you highlight a partition and press Enter to mount it, then the path
> to where it's mounted is shown on the screen e.g. MOUNTED:(/tbu/mnt1). If you have
> more than one drive/partition mounted, the 2nd one would be at /tbu/mnt2, the third
> one at /tbu/mnt3, and so on.

That's what I thought, but I don't see any syslinux.cfg. The only entries I see in /tbu/mnt1 are:

azerty.ktl
boot
disk
dvorak.ktl
efi
extlinux.conf
extlinux.sys
fgGIod.ktl
initrmfs.gz
lost+found
menu.txt
qwerty.ktl
qwertz.ktl
vmlinuz

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

Mrx wrote:
> TeraByte Support(TP) wrote:
> > That /tbu/cdboot/isolinux.cfg path is on the running boot disk (in RAM), not on
> partition
> > /dev/sda1
> >
> > To view the contents of /dev/sda1, and assuming you mounted it via the
> "Mount Drive
> > or Partition" icon, you would look in the /tbu/mnt1 directory. That's
> where you
> > should find syslinux.cfg.
> >
> > Note that when you highlight a partition and press Enter to mount it, then the
> path
> > to where it's mounted is shown on the screen e.g. MOUNTED:(/tbu/mnt1). If you
> have
> > more than one drive/partition mounted, the 2nd one would be at /tbu/mnt2, the
> third
> > one at /tbu/mnt3, and so on.
>
> That's what I thought, but I don't see any syslinux.cfg. The only entries I see in
> /tbu/mnt1 are:
>
> azerty.ktl
> boot
> disk
> dvorak.ktl
> efi
> extlinux.conf
> extlinux.sys
> fgGIod.ktl
> initrmfs.gz
> lost+found
> menu.txt
> qwerty.ktl
> qwertz.ktl
> vmlinuz

OK, that means you installed it to a Linux partition (rather than FAT/FAT32). So the file you need to edit is extlinux.conf, which is the Linux equivalent of syslinux.cfg. The file's contents are the same as syslinux.cfg, and you make the same change(s).

That also explains why it is prompting you for license info unless you use /doini when installing to the partition with makeHDD. It doesn't search for Linux partitions on boot, only FAT/FAT32.

[Mrx]

I know there's probably not a lot of difference (are there any advantages of one FAT/FAT32 over Linux native format?), but is it recommended to install to FAT/FAT32 ?

I just assumed that because it's Linux, it's better/preferable to format as Linux native (type 0x83).

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

Mrx wrote:
> I know there's probably not a lot of difference (are there any advantages
> of one FAT/FAT32 over Linux native format?), but is it recommended to
> install to FAT/FAT32 ?
>
> I just assumed that because it's Linux, it's better/preferable to format as
> Linux native (type 0x83).

Once booted, the IFL disk runs from RAM, not from the partition, so the partition's formatting is not a factor. A nice advantage to using FAT/FAT32 is that the text files (like syslinux.cfg) are accessible from Windows, and so can be accessed easier for editing etc., than if the partition was Linux.