Chained iPXE and ISO via http

[marost]

I should have specified. I am using apache2. That being said, apache2 handles range requests out of the box for static content. So that should not be the problem, right?

You mentioned that the image will be read only. That might make a difference. It should be marked also with an x for execute, right? I mean, my bootloader is in memory and I need to actually execute it, not just reading it.

Now, the one part I am not 100% sure of is the ISO part. I am using Linux's loopdevice/fdisk to write my own imagefile containing my kernel.

I can use the file command to see details about my image:
>file hdd_image
>hdd_image: x86 boot sector; partition 1: ID=0xa5, active, starthead 32, startsector 2048, 38912 sectors, code offset 0x31

I am fairly certain that this satisfies ISO requirements.

Now, on to your question why am I not loading my kernel directly. As far as I know at the end of the iPXE routine, the processor is still in 16 bit real mode. My kernel is solely 64 bit. I don't think iPXE jumps to long mode for me, hende I need the bootloader that does the jumping for me.

I have been using memdisk with iPXE but what I really want is the code signing ability from iPXE. As far as I understand, I CANNOT verify neither the memdisk image nor the ISO image that way since I have to use TFTP instead of HTTP! Am I right here?

And lastly, about my toolchain. I have a custom OS, from scratch. No Linux distro or code at all. I am using GCC, LD, loopdevices and fdisk. Nothing fancy or blackmagic. Maybe I can help you with your problem, just need to know some more info.

Thanks!!