Topic: Frustrated and having a lot of trouble
started by: Chris Goodwin
Posted by Chris Goodwin on Jan. 23 2008,17:20
Hello, all. I'm trying to use UltraISO to build a bootable CD, and I'm having a lot of trouble getting it to work. I'm hoping someone can help. For starters, there are about half a dozen different file extensions, and I'm not sure which applies where.
I'm trying to create a boot image to flash the BIOS on a system. My BIOS image is greater than 1.44mb, so it appears I need to create a larger boot image using EasyBoot, which I seem to have done... but it's not working. When I go to Bootable > Load Boot File, it brings up the load file dialog, and I can select a file, but.... I'm not sure which file to select here, and when I select a file nothing appears to happen, even in a new image.
I have another CD that contains a boot file that has been used successfully, but when I extract it (into a .bif file), then remove the old boot environment files and add the new ones in, it doesn't boot. The old boot environment is a 16mb file, and when extracted it extracts into a 16mb .bif file.
So far the closest I've gotten to success has been to take the extracted .bif file, make some minor edits to some of the files, drag the files back in, click Save (not Save As....), then when I go to create the ISO, drag the .bif file into the image, and set it as the boot file. But the CD that I create using this doesn't look exactly like the source CD; the .bif file is hidden on the CD, while it's not on the original; it just doesn't appear anywhere.
So, the problems I'm having are essentially with following what happens and the documentation. For instance, when I go to File > New > Bootable CD/DVD, what exactly is this creating? (An ISO?) How is it marked bootable?
I want to add files to my boot image. I'm not sure which file is my boot image; there's .bif and .img and .bin and .ima and.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
When I highlight a file and click Set Boot File, nothing appears to happen, ever. When I create an image file (any image file), that has what I think is going to be my DOS environment and my flash software, then try to set this as my boot file, it doesn't ever appear anywhere and the "space remaining" indicator doesn't change.
I'm beginning to get very frustrated, and I suspect it's because I'm having a hard time understanding the instructions.
I'm using version 8.6.6.2180.
So, I have the following questions:
1. What file format should my boot environment be in? (.bif, .img, something else?) Assume that it's DOS, of any particular flavor.
1a. Because it's a 16mb environment, I want it to emulate a hard drive, correct?
1b. Let's say I want to use a bootable Win98se floppy as my environment. I followed the instructions for EasyBoot and got an 8.6mb img file, which I appear to be able to open and save, and which appears to contain all of the files I need.... which I again don't know what to do with.
2. How exactly do I create this image file? Which format should it be in?
3. How exactly do I get it into the ISO?
Once I've done all of this I can burn it myself. It's just getting there that's causing me grief.
Help!
Posted by xoben on Jan. 23 2008,22:35
According to El Torito bootable CD-ROM format specification ( < http://www.phoenix.com/NR....rom.pdf > ), there are three type of bootable CD/DVD: No emulation, Floppy emulation and Harddisk emulation, Boot image file (.BIF) may be any kind of them. 1) No emulation
File extensions: .bif, .bin, .dat
File size: < 512KB
Feature: binary files, can be opened with hex editors such as UltraEdit
Example: Windows 2000/XP/2003 bootable CD's
2) Floppy emulation
File extentions: .bif, .ima, .img
File size: 1.2MB/1.44MB/2.88MB
Feature: Floppy disk images, UltraISO and WinImage can handle them for adding, extracting files
Note: EasyBoot can make non-standard floppy images, which cannot be used directly as a boot image file with most bootable CD/DVD making software
Example: DOS bootable CD's
3) Harddisk emulation
File extentions: .bif, .ima, .img
File size: > 2.88MB
Feature: Harddisk images with a parttition table, UltraISO and WinImage can handle them for adding, extracting files
Example: some Ghost bootable CD's, with 16MB of data
Suggestions:
1) Always using boot image files extracted from a bootable CD/DVD
2) You can custom autoexec.bat/config.sys files for floppy/harddisk images this way:
- Open the image file with UltraISO
- Extract autoexec.bat to local harddrive
- Modify it by Notepad
- Add the new autoexec.bat to the image
- Save
3) If you want to modify no-emulation images, the only operation allowed is replaing strings with same length data
Posted by Chris Goodwin on Jan. 28 2008,18:34
Ok, to follow up: I now know how to create a .bif from a bootable CD, modify the files, save the .bif, and then use the .bif to create a bootable CD. However, when I use the same process on a .ima file I've created from a bootable USB key, it doesn't work. What do I need to do to turn the .ima file into a bootable CD?