VERY SIMPLE INSTALL TO USB HELP REQUIRED

[Multipassface]

Hi,

I have been redirected to PLOP to help solve a problem with my multipass not booting on some machines with bios limitations.

I am searching for the instructions on how to install PLOP to my USB-HDD as the first boot loader so I can then use PLOP to start the already created Grub4dos multipass.

So in short, I want to set the PC to boot from USB. Then arrive at PLOP, then tell plop to load my Grub4dos.

However the instructions for USB seem to all point to something already having loaded PLOP itself rather than PLOP being the first thing to load.

I'm probably missing something but would grealtly appreciate some help with this. Thanks very much!

[Elmar]

hi,
connect the usb drive to a pc with bios usb support. boot the install floppy/cd or use any other way (http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html#installhd). select the destination drive with option 7.  the usb drive will be the last drive. (if you have 1 internal hard disk, then its 81h). then install the boot manager.

if its too dangerous for you, then simply start the boot manager from grub4dos. http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html#rungrub

regards
elmar

[Multipassface]

Thanks for that but I'm just lost -  I missing something vital here....

1. I burnt this ISO..............."plpbt.iso"

2. And then booted as per "boot the install floppy/cd or use any other way (http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html#installhd"

3. Select with option 7. What does that mean. There were no options in the booted ISO and option 7 on this

                            "7. Change destination harddisk Set destination harddisk to install the boot manager." Where is that option?

[Elmar]

maybe you can solve the mystery why people are choosing the wrong iso file. i posted the link to hard disk install. when you click on the link, then you get a list. in this list you see "Harddisk install using CD with an ISO file". when you click on this link, then you see

Harddisk install using CD with an ISO file

Download the current boot manager plpbt-5.0.10.zip. Extract it to get the iso file. You find the iso file in the install directory. The name of the file is plpbtin.iso

now my question is, did you read this sentence? if not, did you see the install directory or the 1README.TXT file with the file descriptions in the zip? what can i do that people does not choose plpbt.iso, when they want to have the install iso?

maybe i have to change the sentence, using other words, i don't know.

regards
elmar

[Multipassface]

Ok now I get it. Sorry for my "word blindness". I can explain why I missed this. I am fairly new to multi booting and so far mostly grub4dos and a little syslinux.

Because these 2 other methods require command line install I kind of had it in my mind that this would be the same. I quickly was looking for the command and because there are other commands involved on the page I was just fixed on finding the file needed and the appropriate command. Now I see it's a proper installation I see it clearly. Basically I didn't read it properly. I think I'll be able to do it now. Thank you for being patient.

I am going to be trying to speed up my USB ghost image transfers so you may here from me again soon     

[Elmar]

...so you may here from me again soon     

no problem

[Multipassface]

Hi Elmar,

Slightly puzzled again. So I'm booting and can see the star field and the menu. Excellent.
However I cant seem to be able fire up the G4D behind it. As I understand it, I need to establish a profile, a partition and set up as I want, force USB 1.1 or 2 etc etc.

However I'm trying to get the grub4dos to boot again by picking the partition and making sure G4D is installed in the PRT and "not" the MBR to mess up my new "PLOP". I have gone through each disk in turn but it just loads back to the start.

My test is a simple laptop with 1 HD and win 7 on there. I would have expected USB to be HDB (win7 A etc). But it doesnt want to play. I wonder if PLOP is looking at the whole USB and just reloading itself instead of finding the boot data for G4D.

Am I in the right area? many thnks 

[Elmar]

as i understood, you installed the plop boot manager to the usb drve, because you want to have the possibility if usb 1.1 is used by the bios, then you want to have usb 2.0 and no need to install the plop boot manager to the internal hard disk. so, boot usb by the bios -> then plop starts -> then use usb boot -> then the plop boot manager should be restarted -> then press "q" and use the first entry when you installed grub4dos to the first partition of the usb drive.

i would suggest to start the plop boot manager from qrub4dos only when its needed. i don't know why you want to have it as primary boot manager on the usb drive. its not required.

[Multipassface]

Hi Thanks for this

I have decided to make it a bit simpler by loading grub4dos first then PLOP when I need to try and speed up USB on older systems etc.

However ALL is working but it seems to have messed up the ghost imaging part. We ll not messed up just thrown a spanner in the works.

basicallly on the USB I have a series of images for building machines at work, they load up in dos, prepare some info from the BIOS and then starts a ghost image from a script.

In the ghost script this is what works without plop, you can see in there that ghost is looking to the
"2nd" hard drive in the system and then copies across. ( i think ghost works on the premise of 1, 2,3 etc not 0,1,2,3)

:DoGhostD
REM
REM Load the Ghost image (Note: Ghost.exe is delivered by the OS Software worksheet)
c:\32L\ghost.exe -nousb -fni -clone,mode=load,src=c:\32L\D%Image%.gho,dst=2 -sure
Goto :DISKINFO
:DoGhostL
REM
REM Load the Ghost image (Note: Ghost.exe is delivered by the OS Software worksheet)
c:\32L\ghost.exe -nousb -fni -clone,mode=load,src=c:\32L\L%Image%.gho,dst=2 -sure
Goto :DISKINFO

However after loading plop then trying the image it seems ghost cant find a valid destination drive

I have upped the dst number but still cant find what drive it needs to change to. How can I tell what PLOP has done to the drive info so I can match it in the ghost script?

[Elmar]

i don't know how ghost works and i never used it. i do everything (imaging too) with linux. maybe someone else can help you with ghost.

however, maybe in your case dst=2 should be dst=3

regards
elmar

[Multipassface]

yeah tried that and other numbers in succession but the same  - stuck now


Will try goolging, thanks so far!

Managed to get some major usb speed boost on some stuff though
Shame the main part is ghost problem, DANG IT!

I did load a PE (plop loaded)  up and run a ghost.exe just see how it was being passed the DISK info by PLOP.

laptop HD=1
USB =2
then there was "80" Os volumes (which doesnt actually exist)
I tried 80 aswell same.
When I tried 1 it tried to write over the USB

I'll let you knwo if I fix it for any others

[Multipassface]

Hi Elmar,

I'm back  , I must have exhausted nearly every option in terms of getting faster GHOST image transfers, and now my last chance is the PLOP as DOS USB. I followed the instructions very carefully and include them here so you can see

1.) Downloaded PLOP.
2.) Extracted to DESKTOP
3.) Inside PLOP there are all the files needed and a subdir called CFG
3.) Inside CFG we have "plpcfgbt", required to changed the "plpbt.bin" files to set up DOS-USB.
4.) Copied "plpbt.bin" from root of PLOP dir (I expect you can just point it to an instance of it already sat on a USB stick, if required) to CFG & ran this in CMD as admin



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


from here, boot to G4D on my USB, then select  PLOP, then should loop back to grub4dos (hidden? stm=hidden) but with DOS DRIVER loaded that will be then used by DOS when I load it etc?

Hope thats right

However my tests are confusing

my desktop PC= booted into G4D, hit the special PLOP, and it quickly looped back to the GRUB4DOS menu, I think it worked there?

However where I really need to work is a HP laptop. Here it just flicked to a flashing white cursor.

On another HP laptop it just booted the first HDD??

What am I missing  - thanks!!

[Elmar]

However my tests are confusing

my desktop PC= booted into G4D, hit the special PLOP, and it quickly looped back to the GRUB4DOS menu, I think it worked there?

However where I really need to work is a HP laptop. Here it just flicked to a flashing white cursor.

On another HP laptop it just booted the first HDD??

What am I missing  - thanks!!

the int19 is used to continue or restart the bios boot sequence. the behavior is bios depending. normally, it restarts the bios boot sequence but there is no definition that it must do that.

regards
elmar

[Multipassface]

Hmm tried 2 memory sticks and now 4 different models of HP laptops, everytime I just get a flashing white cursor or it boots the OS even if USB if set to be first boot option. Tried other configs of boot and nothing seems to force it to re start the USB.

I reprogrammed the .bin file with the first option (ie not the hidden version) to look for any errors as it scans the system, each time I see it detect the USB stick then restarts quickly so I cant read if there are any errors.

Anything more I can try ?

[Elmar]

Hmm tried 2 memory sticks and now 4 different models of HP laptops, everytime I just get a flashing white cursor or it boots the OS even if USB if set to be first boot option. Tried other configs of boot and nothing seems to force it to re start the USB.

you mean bios usb is the first boot option?

[Multipassface]

yeah, boot order in the bios etc, I've tried all sorts of configs but not having much luck,

[Elmar]

oh man, now i understand whats going on.

did you ever read this? http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html#drv

this means, with int19h the usb drive became the last hard disk. this makes only sense when you do not have bios usb and you want to use the plop usb driver to access the usb drive as last hard disk.

ok, whats happening on your machine? i try to describe it detailed:

• bios usb is activated and the boot sequence is set to boot the usb drive
  that means: the usb drive became hard disk number 80h, the first internal hard disk became 81h, ....
  
• you use the plop boot manager with usb as default boot and int19h
  
• you start the plop boot manager
  
• 
  the plop boot manager takes control of the usb controller to see if there is a usb drive
  
• 
  bios lost the control of the usb drive, but the hard disk mapping is still active
  
• 
  the plop boot manager finds your usb drive and maps it to the last hard disk because thats one of the things that have to be done in the int19h mode to have the usb hard disk as last drive.
  
• now we have:
  80h the not longer valid drive. it was bios usb controlled
  81h the internal hard disk
  82h the usb drive as new hard disk
  
• 
  the plop boot manager continues with the int19h stuff and initiates the reboot process
  
• 
  bios tries to boot 80h and now we cannot say whats happening. some bios will continue to the internal hard disk with the number 81h and booting this. if not then you get a blinking cursor and a hang. remember, 80h is the boot device and no longer controlled by the bios and is not valid
  

forget int19h. its totally wrong for that what you want.

regards
elmar