ipxe wimbooted wim file slow to initialize

[Darkwalker]

Does anyone have any idea why I can boot a .wim file in 2-3 seconds, get to where I can see the background and a mouse pointer, but then have to wait around 60 seconds or more before anything happens like the network initializing and my startup program running? if I boot this same file via syslinux it take a lot longer to load but once it gets to the windows screen it fires right up, loads the network and my startup program.

I am booting to syslinux with the following config
(Trimmed to show just the two lines im working on)

label wds
menu label wds - ghost
kernel pxeboot.0

label http boot
kernel ipxe.lkrn dhcp && chain http://10.48.0.200/winpe/ghostboot.ipxe

ipxe file contents
#!ipxe
cpuid --ext 29 && set arch amd64 || set arch x86
imgfree
kernel wimboot
initrd http://10.48.0.200/winpe/${arch}/ISO/bootmgr bootmgr
initrd http://10.48.0.200/winpe/${arch}/ISO/boot/bcd bcd
#initrd http://10.48.0.200/winpe/${arch}/ISO/wgl4_boot.ttf wgl4_boot.ttf
initrd http://10.48.0.200/winpe/${arch}/ISO/boot/boot.sdi boot.sdi
initrd http://10.48.0.200/winpe/${arch}/boot.wim boot.wim
imgstat
boot
I am running Windows server 2008 with wds/dhcp/dns on this server.

The syslinux pxeboot is slow to boot but loads right away
the ipxe boot really fast and then takes a minute or more to load after you see the windows screen.

[robinsmidsrod]

Do you have iSCSI sanhooked during boot of that ghost .wim? If you have that, it is known to cause 2x 60sec hang during boot. It could be that your .wim has something similar that causes the hang even if iSCSI volumes are not hooked. Most likely you'll not be able to figure out what exactly is happening unless you fire up WinDbg and attach a serial cable... (or use Bochs to do some hardcore debugging).

[Darkwalker]

No, its just a basic PE built using wimbuilder with nothing added except for ghost.

I've booted it different ways, such as via grub, wds, and syslinux and never had this issue until I came across ipxe and wimboot and thought I could get this loaded faster, and it does load faster, but then it hangs for a long time so in the end its a waste of time instead.

If no one chimes in about having this issue too, I guess I'll try and build some other PE's and see what they do.

[robinsmidsrod]

The default WinPE (from the ADK) does this if you have iSCSI hooked, but does NOT do it if iSCSI is not hooked.

Have you verified with wireshark or WinDbg what the reason for the hang is? It _could_ be something related to the FAT emulation wimboot uses, but it might also be some timeout on that hardware or your specific network environment.