I posted a while ago about setting up a PXE-boot-enviroment for an old laptop. Unfortunately i am still stuck whith the Alpinelinux-Netboot-Files from Alpinelinux.org and the following configuration:

tftproot/pxelinux.cfg/default:
So kernel and initramfs from the alpine-netboot-package are in tftproot/image/ and i chose the rolling repo for alpine. I am not sure about the modloop-parameter but otherwise i successfully booted into alpine-linux and the basic setup. The only thing that's problematic after boot: i have no block devices in /dev nor in /sys/class/block except ram0-9. So there is no way to install alpinelinux to any of the laptops hard drives.

I have tested the harddrive on another machine and it worked. I have tested with slackware-pxe-setup as in here with no problems finding the partitions of the laptops HD after netboot.

My simple questions are: am i overseeing something basic about alpine linux?
Are there any known issues with harddrives?
Is my setup faulty or missing something essential?
TIA

I think your answer lies in Alpine linux. Does the kernel show any hardware detected?

Looking through dmesg and messages didn't show anything harddrive-related after boot. It's almost like this verstion was intended as live-system/workstation but scince i haven't found any indications for that in the docs i'm asking here.

It's unfortunate because otherwise alpine seems perfect for an old machine like this.

Edit: i think i just found the answer here

It looks to me quite like Tails, which runs from a live dvd but is more secure on a usb key.
The idea is that you can run on a box and leave no trace. I am told Parrot OS is a more normal compromise - a secure OS more like normal ones.

Alpine is not like tails afaik. Getting smarter by the hour i now understand that it only runs with initrd in the current setup while another, extended ramdisk (modloop) is required. Every pxe-toturial i find loads that from a seperate http server and i try to figure out if it's possible to boot everything from the tftp-server. Pxelinux uses wget but also supports ftp somehow so maybe it works. I hope i understood these things halfway right.
Another thing yet to find out for me is what an nfs server is and why/if i need that in my setup.

AFAIK, PXE uses tftp, not regular ftp. It goes like this:

1. 'Network Boot' in Bios asks: "Is there anything out there?"
2. Tftp Server on remote system says: "Yeah, I'm here." Nic gets an IP courtesy of some dhcp extensions.
3. Bios asks: "Could I have a kernel pls?"
4. Remote server supplies one, which is duly run, and resources are found.
5. Bios asks: "Have you an OS for me, pls?"
6. Remote Server supplies one, all over tftp. Bios installs it.

That's the basic idea, and the install should end in a reboot, so your system comes up, with it's default install. If some place buys 1000 pcs, it saves loads of labour.

I suggest you read up on Alpine. You apparently got a special purpose OS and just installed it.

Thanks for the brief overview allthough i thought the bios asks for a bootloader wich is replaced through pxelinux over the nic. Nevertheless, understanding that pxe booting is initially intended for live-system-like workstations in a big network brings some clarity here.
But i still think it's possible to configure it as an install medium to rescue a single machine somehow.

PXE is designed for systems with nothing on the drive(s), so the Nic & BIOS do the heavy lifting initially. I didn't think it needs a bootloader because there's nothing to load. It does need an install-able distro from the server.

Pls don't confuse me any further, i meant that a system like pxelinux loads a file called pxelinux.0 wich is configured similar to a bootloader.

So you say it _does_ use installable media as live-media in the same way (referring to my last post)?

Meanwhile i tried booting kernel and initrd from the alpinelinux standard installation image (instead of netboot) wich resulted in a kernelpanic. From that i deduct that you were right when you said that i used a version not suitable as an installation medium. This would give an answer to this thread but leaves me with my initial problem not being able to configure pxelinux in order to install a linux distribution over the network.

Soon i won't have time on the hand to focus on these things so if anybody has a hint or can point out what i'm doing wrong i'd be very glad.

PXE came up in a job interview. Guys were disabled (Primarily slightly mentally retarded), and I was to be the techie type. They were formatting old pcs & installing the latest windows on them. They had one Server loading everything via the network.

Good story but i don't quite catch the moral of it. I'm far from discriminating mentally retarded people or doubting anyones skills here. I just need to find out what i'm doing wrong or acquire some general knowledge about the process.

I think i am on the right tracks but the boot is missing something basic - terms like squashfs, modloop and nfs-server float around in my head but i can't wrap my mind around it yet.

Squashfs = a compressed filesystem that is small, but when it's mounted it's bigger. Used on usb disks, for one
Modloop Dunno; the 'loop' might give you an idea
NFS = some system of mounting remote drives on your box over your network.

Thanks, like said i am glad for every hint.
Meanwhile i got the time to troubleshoot a little bit further. The system boots into an emergency shell with the statements:

So i'm stranded in a recovery-shell with basically no clue what to do here (I can't find any network devices except lo, however /dev/sda exists here - i just don't want to mark this thread as solved yet)
When i exit, the boot ends in the said kernelpanic.

I would strongly suggest you install a linux distribution - any one except Alpine. Your messages look like a failed network boot but you choose network boot in the BIOS, not by turniung it on.