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Download and Run a Virtual CEPC OS Run-Time Image (Compact 7)

  • Article

3/12/2014

After you have created an OS design and a virtual machine, you are ready to prepare Platform Builder for OS download, start the boot loader, and download your OS run-time image into Virtual PC.

Important

If you encounter problems in trying to do the following tasks, refer to Troubleshoot Virtual CEPC Downloads for possible solutions.

Tasks to Download and Boot a Virtual CEPC OS Image

  • Task 1: Prepare Platform Builder to Download Your OS Image to Virtual PC
  • Task 2: Start the Virtual CEPC Boot Loader
  • Task 3: Connect Platform Builder to Virtual PC
  • Task 4: Download Your OS Image to Virtual PC

Task 1: Prepare Platform Builder to Download Your OS Image to Virtual PC

Platform Builder downloads your OS image to a virtual CEPC boot loader running in Virtual PC. After the boot loader transfers the OS image from Platform Builder to Virtual PC, it runs this image in Virtual PC.

To prepare Platform Builder for download to Virtual PC

  1. In Visual Studio, on the Target menu, click Connectivity Options.

  2. In the Target Device Connectivity Options dialog box, click Add Device and type a name for your virtual CEPC in the New target device name box. You can use the name that you chose earlier for your virtual machine. For example, you could use "VCEPC" as the name of your virtual CEPC. For Associated OS Design/SDK, select Windows CE, and then click Add.

  3. Select the Kernel Service Map service configuration if it is not already selected. In the Target Device list, select the name you chose for your device (for example, "VCEPC").

  4. In the Kernel Download list, select the Ethernet option.

  5. Click the Settings button under and to the right of Kernel Download (as shown in the following figure) to open the Ethernet Download Settings dialog box.

    Note

    If you see a Windows Security Alert dialog box with the message, "Windows Firewall has blocked some features of this program," you can click Allow Access to allow the Platform Builder CE Service Host to communicate with domain and private networks.

Target Device Connectivity Options

The Ethernet Download Settings box initially appears as shown in the following figure. While the Ethernet Download Settings box is displayed, Platform Builder listens for BOOTME messages on the local network. As described earlier, these messages are connection requests that the virtual CEPC boot loader broadcasts on the network in an attempt to connect to Platform Builder.

Ethernet Download Settings

When Platform Builder receives a BOOTME message from a Virtual CEPC boot loader, it prints the device name of that virtual CEPC in the Ethernet Download Settings box (the device name is also called the "Target device boot name") as shown in the next figure. The device name uniquely identifies a Platform Builder target device on the network. If there are other Virtual CEPCs (or CEPCs) on your network, you may see multiple device names appear in the Ethernet Download Settings box.

Target Device

You will connect your virtual CEPC to Platform Builder by clicking the device name for your virtual CEPC after it appears in this box. Leave the Target Device Connectivity Options and Ethernet Download Settings dialog boxes open as you proceed through the remaining steps.

Task 2: Start the Virtual CEPC Boot Loader

After you have prepared Platform Builder for OS image download, you start your virtual CEPC and use its boot loader to download your OS image from Platform Builder.

Important

Before you start your virtual CEPC, keep in mind that you have only a few seconds to enter the boot loader configuration menu if you want to change virtual CEPC settings, and you have only a minute or so to connect Platform Builder to the virtual CEPC boot loader before the boot loader "times out" and stops sending connection requests on the network.

If you are unable to connect Platform Builder to your virtual CEPC in time, you can simply restart your virtual CEPC and try again. The procedure to restart is below.

Note that this manual coordination between Platform Builder and your virtual CEPC is required only when you are establishing a connection between Platform Builder and your virtual CEPC for the first time. After Platform Builder makes an initial connection to your virtual CEPC, it has the virtual CEPC boot name and it can automatically synchronize with the virtual CEPC boot loader and re-download your OS image to the virtual CEPC whenever the virtual CEPC restarts.

Step by step instructions follow.

To start Virtual CEPC in Virtual PC 2007

  1. Click the Start button in the Virtual PC 2007 console.

  2. Verify that Virtual PC 2007 starts and displays boot loader messages in the Virtual PC 2007 console. See the following figure for an example of boot loader output.

To start Virtual CEPC in Windows Virtual PC

  1. Double-click the virtual machine configuration file (for example, VCEPC.vmcx) or virtual machine file (for example, VCEPC.vmc) for your virtual CEPC.

  2. Verify that Virtual PC starts and displays the boot loader in the Windows Virtual PC console as shown in the following figure.

    Virtual CEPC Boot Loader

After you start Virtual CEPC, the boot loader progresses through each of its boot stages as described in Create a Virtual Machine for a Virtual CEPC. If the boot loader halts with an error message, see Troubleshoot Virtual CEPC Downloads for information about how to resolve the error.

If you are unable to connect Platform Builder to the virtual CEPC and download your OS image before the boot loader displays the last BOOTME message, you can simply restart your virtual CEPC and try again.

To restart your virtual CEPC

  1. Click Action on the Windows Virtual PC console and click Close. (In Virtual PC 2007, click Reset.)

  2. If Windows Virtual PC presents a dialog box asking What do you want the virtual machine to do? (see the following figure), you can choose the option Turn off. Because your virtual CEPC is booting an existing virtual hard disk image without making any changes to it, you can turn off your virtual CEPC without losing any unsaved data.

  3. If you want Virtual PC to automatically turn off your virtual CEPC on subsequent closes, you can select Make it the default and don’t show this message again (see the following figure) so that Virtual PC will automatically turn off your virtual CEPC when you close it again.

    Closing the Virtual PC Console

  4. Click OK.

  5. Double-click your virtual machine file (for example, VCEPC.vmcx) to restart the boot loader in a new Windows Virtual PC console.

Task 3: Connect Platform Builder to Virtual PC

You use the Ethernet Download Settings dialog box that you left open earlier to connect Platform Builder to the Virtual PC session that is running your virtual CEPC.

To connect Platform Builder to the running Virtual PC session

  1. Under Active target devices, look for the name that corresponds to the "device name" displayed by the boot loader in the BOOTME messages on the Virtual PC console.

  2. When you see the device name for your virtual CEPC appear under Active target devices, click that device name. For example, if the console BOOTME messages display your device name as "PC-0003FF17EB16", click the device name PC-0003FF17EB16 under Active target devices.

    Connected Target Device

    The selected device name becomes highlighted with a red background in the Ethernet Download Settings window and the boot name appears under Target device boot name as shown.

  3. Click Apply. You have now set up a communications link between Platform Builder and your virtual CEPC.

  4. Click Close in the Target Device Connectivity dialog box.

Task 4: Download Your OS Image to Virtual PC

To initiate download of your OS image to Virtual PC, you must first attach Platform Builder to your running virtual CEPC as the target device.

To download your OS image to Virtual PC

  1. In Visual Studio, select your virtual CEPC in the Device list. For example, if you named your virtual CEPC "VCEPC", you will see VCEPC in this list. Note that this name is not the same as the "device name" that is manufactured and displayed by the boot loader.

    Device List

  2. In Visual Studio, click Target and click Attach Device to initiate the OS image download to the Virtual PC.

  3. Verify that the download has started. When Platform Builder downloads your OS image to the boot loader running in Virtual PC, it reports download progress in a Device Status window as shown in this figure.

    Platform Builder Download Status

    The boot loader in the Virtual PC console also provides download status. For example, you will see a percentage complete indication on the Virtual PC console as shown in the following figure.

    Virtual PC Console Download Status

When the OS image download finishes, the boot loader boots your image in the Virtual PC window, displaying the Windows Embedded Compact desktop in the Virtual PC console as shown in the following figure. Now you can interact with Windows Embedded Compact 7 in a virtual machine running on its host computer.

Running Virtual CEPC

See Also

Concepts

Create and Run a Virtual CEPC