CarlFK
11-01-2005, 08:47 PM
When a client PXE boots, the NIC does a dhcpclient thing, gets an IP and uses TCP/IP to get a boot image from a TFTP server on the lan. for Knoppix, this boot image is created via a scrip that requires you to pick what NICs will be supported.
Idea: use the existing TCP/IP stack that the PXE boot used. There is at least one implemtation of this: UNDI driver for dos, made by 3-com, released to plublic domain.
It may not be as fast as a "native" driver, but it would be universal. And if speed is really an issue, it could be used to get to the Knoppix TS server, then some probing could figure out what NIC is being used, pull the right driver from the server, do a 2nd dhcp and switch over to using it.
This idea was deemed "good" on the Eatherboot list, but noone has both the time and knollege to make it happen.
I think the "it" is a Linux net driver for the PXE stack. kinda the top half of a nic driver - it is just the interface to an existing stack.
Idea: use the existing TCP/IP stack that the PXE boot used. There is at least one implemtation of this: UNDI driver for dos, made by 3-com, released to plublic domain.
It may not be as fast as a "native" driver, but it would be universal. And if speed is really an issue, it could be used to get to the Knoppix TS server, then some probing could figure out what NIC is being used, pull the right driver from the server, do a 2nd dhcp and switch over to using it.
This idea was deemed "good" on the Eatherboot list, but noone has both the time and knollege to make it happen.
I think the "it" is a Linux net driver for the PXE stack. kinda the top half of a nic driver - it is just the interface to an existing stack.