[syslinux] Problem with FreeDOS ke2034_32 + PXELINUX + memdisk

Patrick J. LoPresti
2004-04-24T18:36:41Z

I am using FreeDOS kernel 2.0.34 with FAT32 support (ke2034_32),
together with PXELINUX and memdisk from SYSLINUX 2.0.9-pre15.

I am experiencing this problem on multiple test systems (Dell
Precision 450 and IBM T22 so far).

My pxelinux.cfg/default has these lines:

  label test
          kernel memdisk
          append initrd=test.img keeppxe

...which let me boot my 1.44M "test.img" floppy image with FreeDOS.

My problem is that config.sys is not being read at all.  I am certain
it is not being read because:

  1) I receive no "press F5/F8" prompt

  2) I see no messages from the items in my config.sys (e.g.,
     himem64.exe).

  3) When autoexec.bat attempts to start the network, it fails saying
     that the ifshlp.sys driver has not been loaded.

If I downgrade the FreeDOS kernel to 2.0.33 (ke2033_32), keeping
everything else identical, the problem vanishes; my config.sys is read
properly.

If I remove "keeppxe" from the PXELINUX configuration file, the
problem also vanishes.

I am open to suggestions for how to proceed.  Thanks!

 - Pat