Thinstation Setup Help

[ICTNUT]

Hi All,

 

Just getting round to playing with thinstation as I need to put 17 Thin Clients into our lower site and have run into problems.

 

I have followed this faq on the thinstation website and also this one for prestaging and RIS

 

I have the PC able to boot directly from the RIS server and the correct image is being downloaded but the problem is it is taking an age for the 11mb image to get onto the PC, something like 4 hours, all I get is a screen full of little white dots.

 

Going mad, must have missed something, guidance please someone.....

[Geoff]

I assume your wiring is ok?

What mode has the network card been set to? What does the switch think? There might be some 10mb/100mb/Half Duplex/Full Duplex related confusion.

[ICTNUT]

On booting the PC the thinstation recognizes the NIC as an RTL8139 which is correct and is running at full duplex.

 

Probing PCI NIC....

[rtl8139] - ioaddr 0xdc00, irq 10, addr 00:20:ED:76:17:53 100Mbps full-duplex

 

If I RIS this PC I can image it in under 20mins so I don't think the switch or NIC is at fault.

 

I have just noticed this though@

 

Initialized UNDI NIC with IO 0xdc00, IRQ 10, MAC 00:20:ED:76:17:53
NDIS type Etherboot interface at 10Mbps <-- Look
Searching for server (DHCP)...
..Me: 192.168.x.x, Server: 192.168.x.x, Gateway: 192.168.x.x
Loading 192.168.0.1:thinstation.nbi ...(ELF).....

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[Geoff]

You've found a bug in Etherboot. Well done.

[ICTNUT]

Hmmm, anyideas on how to resolve it, or alternative methods of connection.

 

I did try installing TFTPD32 on the Terminal server itself and have it push the image from there but no joy with that as it would not even connect.

 

Any help would be great on this as I need to prove the concept works

[Geoff]

Well, I had a similar problem with a Dlink card. I narrowed it down to the PXE bootstrap re-read NIC status incorrectly. In the end I had to patch the code (near the serial console stuff). That fixed it up fine.

[Ric_]

I've used Netboot via Etherboot to successfulyl boot Thinstation on these cards. You could try that instead - maybe it's a bug in the PXE driver.

[Geoff]

Yes, I've heard of other people booting off local storage to get round this sort of problem (CF cards IIRC).

[ICTNUT]

@Ric_: I would prefer to boot off the local HD rather than via the network do you know anywhere that has an FAQ on how to get the ThinStation .nbi onto the HD and to boot from there, if thats is possible????

[Geoff]

If you use Rom-o-matic.net you can generate a suitable image for your hardware.

 

http://rom-o-matic.net/

 

You can then PXE into your Thinstation image. However with a working network adapter.

[Ric_]

@ICTNUT. There was a great guide on http://www.edugeekconference.net however the site is down

 

I'll see what I can dig out...

[ICTNUT]

Call me daft but when looking on the Rom-o-matic site where/what do I need to get to enable booting directly from the local HD??

 

I have been on the above site most of last week downloading the PXE drivers for various cards but have not found anything on there for local booting,

 

or

 

do I forget this and head over to thinstation to see if there is something there instead??

[Geoff]

change the ROM output format to whatever you want to use. I'd suggest either DOS executable, GRUB/LILO loadable kernel format or a HD partition image depending on how you want to do boot system on the local storage.

[Ric_]

@ICTNUT: Since my instructions have vanished...

 

1. Go to http://etherboot.anadex.de/ and download the boot disk that will allow you to boot from hard disk (Realtek drivers are included)

2. Install TFTP server somwhere

3. Add option 66 (TFTP server) and option 67 (boot filename - i.e. thinstation.nbi) to DHCP

4. Jobs a good 'un

 

That's basically what my instructions said.

[Geoff]

Snap! That's what I said too

[ICTNUT]

Many thanks Ric_ & Geoff.

 

I am trying now as I speak and will let you know the outcome

[ICTNUT]

OK I have changed the NIC to a 3COM905C-TX-M PXE enabled card and I am now able to pull the image down from the RIS server VERY fast indeed.

 

So it looks like either the onboard NIC had an issue of the PXE Drivers where knackered.

 

Anyhow I go through the boot stage, screen goes blank and then I get a box in the middle of the screen with "click OK to reconnect" when I do it just comes back again. Any Ideas?

 

Below is my conf file

 

# --- Session Options
#
# Note:                     # is a number equal to or greater than 0
#
# SESSION_#_TITLE           Title description for SESSION. Needed for replimenu.
# SESSION_#_TYPE            Package type, choose beetwen:
#                           - vncviewer        Start vncviewer in X
#                           - rdesktop         Start rdesktop in X
#                           - x                Start x-terminal session (xdm)
#                           - ssh              Start ssh client in linux console
#                           - telnet           Start telnet client in linux console
#                           - ica              Start Citrix ICA client in X
#                           - tn5250           Start AS400 client in linux console
# SESSION_#_SCREEN          Display number to run the X server on
# SESSION_#_AUTOSTART       ON      Application will be executed immediately at startup
#                           OFF     Application will appear in a menu to be started manually
# SESSION_#_WORKSPACE       Workspace to run program on in a window manager
# SESSION_#_type_SERVER     IP address/hostname of the server
# SESSION_#_type_OPTIONS    Command line options for the session type


# Individual Session Settings, override defaults
#
# IMPORTANT:  Make sure you minimum have a SESSION_0. Otherwise you will get an error 
# on boot. You may have additional sessions: SESSION_1, SESSION_2 ...
# SESSION_0 is on ctrl-alt-F3
# SESSION_1 is on ctrl-alt-F4
# ... etc.


# If you only have one session, it is a good idea to uncomment this line:
AUTOSTART=On

# Typical Windows 2003 Server session, with True-color and sound redirection
# Note: use '-a 16' and '-a 24' to get true-color with Windows 2003+
# Older servers don't support these color depths, wrong settings may cause connection to fail.
SESSION_0_TITLE="Windows 2003 TS Server (16 bit)"
SESSION_0_TYPE=rdesktop
SESSION_0_RDESKTOP_SERVER=192.168.49.40
#SESSION_0_RDESKTOP_OPTIONS="-a 16"
#Example on USB Printer Redirection for Rdesktop
#SESSION_#_RDESKTOP_OPTIONS="-r printer:usb='DYMO LabelWriter 400 Turbo'"


# --- General Options
#
# AUDIO_LEVEL        Audio Level for sound, 0-100
# KEYBOARD_MAP       Keyboard layout
# TIME_ZONE          Used to set time zone on TS client by entering the UTC offset.
#                    This can be set automatically if the appropriate dhcpc option is selected
#                    (Option 2, time offset in seconds)
# RECONNECT_PROMPT   This displays the reconnection/shutdown options for when a session is ended
#
#                    OFF    No reconnect prompt
#                    ON     Reconnect prompt will be displayed
#                    MENU   Shows a menu with a shutdown and reconnection option
#                    MENUXX As MENU option, but the XX is a time period in minutes.
#                           After XX minutes shutdown will occur unless the reconnect option
#                           is choosen

AUDIO_LEVEL=67

# Look inside BuildFiles\build.conf* file for a list of the supported KB layouts
KEYBOARD_MAP=en_gb
RECONNECT_PROMPT=On


# --- X Server Options
#
# SCREEN_RESOLUTION       Screen resolutions available in the workstations
# SCREEN_COLOR_DEPTH      Number of bits per pixel (8,16,24)
# SCREEN_HORIZSYNC        Monitor horizontal sync frequency in Khz.
#                         If left blank Xorg will try to detect with DDC
# SCREEN_VERTREFRESH      Monitor vertical refresh frecuency in Hz.
#                         If left blank Xorg will try to detect with DDC
# SCREEN_X_FONT_SERVER    IP address or hostname of the font server for X
#                       
#                         Screen Saver Settings
# SCREEN_BLANK_TIME       Minutes to X session goes blank
# SCREEN_STANDBY_TIME     Minutes to X session goes into standby mode
# SCREEN_SUSPEND_TIME     Minutes to X session goes into suspend mode
# SCREEN_OFF_TIME         Minutes to X session turn off
#
# MOUSE_PROTOCOL          Mouse protocol type (Microsoft, PS/2, etc.)
#                         (mouse is autodetected, use this only if it fails)
# MOUSE_DEVICE            Mouse device:  /dev/ttyS0 -> COM1
#                                   /dev/ttyS1 -> COM2
#                                   /dev/ttyS2 -> COM3
#                                   /dev/ttyS3 -> COM4
#                                   /dev/psaux -> PS/2 mouse port
#                                   /dev/input/mice -> USB mouse (needs USB package)
# MOUSE_RESOLUTION        Mouse resolution
# MOUSE_ACCELERATION      Mouse acceleration
# X_NUMLOCK               Set numlock state on boot
# X_COOKIE                Will set X Cookie if specified

SCREEN_RESOLUTION="1024x768"

SCREEN_COLOR_DEPTH="16"

#SCREEN_HORIZSYNC="30-64"
#SCREEN_VERTREFRESH="56-87"

MOUSE_RESOLUTION=100

[Geoff]

I see nothing obviously wrong. What did you TS think just happened?

[ICTNUT]

Just checked the event logs on the TS server and nothing in the all looks ok

 

Hmmm this could take some time me thinks.....

[Geoff]

The IP is correct isn't it? Failing that try messing with the screen resolution and colour depth.

[ICTNUT]

The IP is correct yes.

 

Can i comment out the screen res and color depth so it can autodetect it????

[Geoff]

I meant the SESSION_0_RDESKTOP_OPTIONS configuration not the SCREEN_* stuff. I have a full list of parameters for rdesktop if you need them.

[ICTNUT]

Yes please that would be great

[Geoff]

gking@offpc06l:/etc/ssh$ rdesktop --help
rdesktop: invalid option -- -
rdesktop: A Remote Desktop Protocol client.
Version 1.5.0. Copyright (C) 1999-2005 Matt Chapman.
See [url]http://www.rdesktop.org/[/url] for more information.

Usage: rdesktop [options] server[:port]
  -u: user name
  -d: domain
  -s: shell
  -c: working directory
  -p: password (- to prompt)
  -n: client hostname
  -k: keyboard layout on server (en-us, de, sv, etc.)
  -g: desktop geometry (WxH)
  -f: full-screen mode
  -b: force bitmap updates
  -L: local codepage
  -A: enable SeamlessRDP mode
  -B: use BackingStore of X-server (if available)
  -e: disable encryption (French TS)
  -E: disable encryption from client to server
  -m: do not send motion events
  -C: use private colour map
  -D: hide window manager decorations
  -K: keep window manager key bindings
  -S: caption button size (single application mode)
  -T: window title
  -N: enable numlock syncronization
  -X: embed into another window with a given id.
  -a: connection colour depth
  -z: enable rdp compression
  -x: RDP5 experience (m[odem 28.8], b[roadband], l[an] or hex nr.)
  -P: use persistent bitmap caching
  -r: enable specified device redirection (this flag can be repeated)
        '-r comport:COM1=/dev/ttyS0': enable serial redirection of /dev/ttyS0 to COM1
            or      COM1=/dev/ttyS0,COM2=/dev/ttyS1
        '-r disk:floppy=/mnt/floppy': enable redirection of /mnt/floppy to 'floppy' share
            or   'floppy=/mnt/floppy,cdrom=/mnt/cdrom'
        '-r clientname=': Set the client name displayed
            for redirected disks
        '-r lptport:LPT1=/dev/lp0': enable parallel redirection of /dev/lp0 to LPT1
            or      LPT1=/dev/lp0,LPT2=/dev/lp1
        '-r printer:mydeskjet': enable printer redirection
            or      mydeskjet="HP LaserJet IIIP" to enter server driver as well
        '-r sound:[local|off|remote]': enable sound redirection
                    remote would leave sound on server
        '-r clipboard:[off|PRIMARYCLIPBOARD|CLIPBOARD]': enable clipboard
                     redirection.
                     'PRIMARYCLIPBOARD' looks at both PRIMARY and CLIPBOARD
                     when sending data to server.
                     'CLIPBOARD' looks at only CLIPBOARD.
  -0: attach to console
  -4: use RDP version 4
  -5: use RDP version 5 (default)

[ICTNUT]

many thanks I'll give it a go