Ghost Solution Suite

We use GSS 2.5 for imaging identical computers.  We boot up to a pc-dos USB flash drive, and connect to an image server over a network.

We now have two different models, so I would like to use just one flash drive for either model.

one computer has an agere ET1310, and the other has a Realtek RTL8103 NIC.

Is it possible to have one USB flash boot drive for both computers?

It's possible, but I had to do mine manually.

First create a normal network USB boot disk from Ghost Boot Wizard using one of the drivers you want.

Once that's finished, under the NET directory on the drive, create a folder for the driver you used and copy the [DRIVER].dos and protocol.ini file from the NET folder to the NET\[DRIVER] folder.

For each of the other drivers, create a NET\[DRIVER] folder and copy the [DRIVER].dos and protocol.ini files from your template directory.

At the root of the flash driver, edit autoexec.bat so it's contents are this:

@ECHO OFF
SET TZ=GHO+05:00
prompt $p$g
IF "%NET%" == "" GOTO NONET
:YESNET
ECHO Loading Network Driver...
\NET\NETBIND.com
:NONET
IF EXIST MOUSE.COM MOUSE.COM
echo Loading Ghost...
\GHOST\GHOST.EXE 

Then edit config.sys so that it's in this format:

[menu]
MENUITEM=DRIVER1,   DRIVER 1 NAME
MENUITEM=DRIVER2,   DRIVER 2 NAME
MENUITEM=DRIVER3,   DRIVER 3 NAME
MENUITEM=NONE,    NONE - LOCAL ONLY
MENUCOLOR=7,0


[COMMON]
LASTDRIVE = Z

[DRIVER1]
SET NET=DRIVER1
DEVICE=\NET\protman.dos /I:\NET\DRIVER1
DEVICE=\NET\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\NET\DRIVER1\DRIVER1.dos

[DRIVER2]
SET NET=DRIVER2
DEVICE=\NET\protman.dos /I:\NET\DRIVER2
DEVICE=\NET\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\NET\DRIVER2\DRIVER2.dos

[DRIVER3]
SET NET=DRIVER3
DEVICE=\NET\protman.dos /I:\NET\DRIVER3
DEVICE=\NET\dis_pkt.dos
DEVICE=\NET\DRIVER3\DRIVER3.dos

[NONE]

You can have as many network drivers as you want. Just select the proper card from the menu when you boot to the flash drive. I've attached a zip file of my universal boot disk for reference

 

GSS 2.5 includes the ability to make multicard templates, provided you have the correct drivers in the console.

Go to the Boot Wizard and select PC-DOS.

At the next screen choose Network Boot Package.

At the next screen choose Multicard template and then select which cards you would like to be a part of the multicard.  This method doesn't create a menu from which to chose a card - instead the PCI/VEN number of the NIC gets matched dynamically against the list of drivers in your multicard and the correct driver is automatically chosen.  I usually choose ALL the drivers in the console, including those I didn't manually input.  It takes the multicard a little longer to run through the driver list (on the order of 1 to 10 seconds) but insures I have the right driver (I work for a school district with lots of models).  For sure, you could chose to create a multicard with just the two drivers you specifically need.

Combined with Daniel's menu list above, you could create a boot usb that has other ghost tools, bios updates, etc. and the multicard is just one option on that menu.