Textmode folder - scripted install

[Jeff Mathews]

Hi Gang,

I'm hoping someone else has tried the and figured it out to save me the aggravation. I had this working in the past, but upgraded to the Prolient integration module 1.40 and have tried to convert all my customized server builds to the new way of doing things. All work except for the scripts I have written for non-compaq hardware.

Here's the deal:

I have some older pre-merger HP gear so I need to create a scripted install that uses different drivers. In particular the mass-storage device drivers.

I have created a directory under compaq called HP (instead of using ss.640) and created the different os folders beneath that (w2k, wnet). All the files I want copied over to the server through w2k.bat are put into these folders including the textmode folder. I have double checked the server after the w2k.bat has completed, and the textmode folder is in the right spot as far as I can tell (C:\$oem$\textmode). The txtsetup.oem file is in both c:\$oem$ and the textmode folder. In my unattended file, I am specifying the path to the $oem$ folder properly as far as I can tell (oemfilespath=c:\)

All environment variables have been set in the deployment event to make this work and I have verified that is copying everything from the right locations. The drivers in the textmode folder are correct for this hardware.

The problem is, when windows setup initializes and begins copying files, it fails to find the textmode drivers?!? It fails with the message "cannot copy megaraid.cat", and I can retry, skip or exit. Skipping won't do me any good so I exit.

Can anyone tell what files I have in the wrong location? From everything I know, this is how it should work.

Note: All mass storage device drivers are mentioned in my unattended file and yes, the megaraid.cat file is one of them, and it does exist in the textmode folder.

Thanks a bunch, and a big pat on the back for anyone that knows the answer.

[Michael P. Maley]

Things rings a bell with me, but it was too long ago for me to remember the exact resolution. I do have two suggestions to try.

1. Remove everthing but *.sys from [OEMBootFiles] in unattend.txt. Windows has an issue with copying other files besides .sys and .inf. And it turns out that everything works in the end. Surprisely, this is a case of too much informaiton being bad.

2. Verify the megaraid.inf file for references to the cat file. We have to use a special version of the the cpqcissm.inf file for a similiar reason.

There is a lot of undocumented, black magic in the Windows unattend process. I would start with a working ss.xxx tree, select an existing driver that is similiar to the driver you want to add, and then via trial and error, make the changes.

[Jeff Mathews]

Well, I tried all of your suggestions without joy. I verified that the files had the correct entries (txtsetup.oem, unattend.txt, megaraid.inf) and even copied them all over the deployment server and for some reason they could not be found by setup. Believe it or not, I ended up copying the drivers directly to the i386 source location, and commented out all the [OEMBootFiles] in my unattended. Now it doesn't look for the files, but seems to be able to install the mass storage device driver anyway (not sure if copying them to the i386 directory helped, or if the Netraid 1si drivers have been included with my slipstreamed i386 directory - either way it works).

Thanks,

Jeff

[Joseph Stanczak]

I just had a similar issue today - ended up for me that even though all the folders and files existed on the CD under $OEM$, when the server batch file copied the directory over, it only copied the root of $OEM$ to the server's C:\ drive.

Upon further investigation, when Nero burned the CD, it changed the $OEM$ directory on the CD to _OEM_, so the batch file created the folder on C:, but had no folder to copy from since it was looking for $OEM$.

All that to say, make sure you have all the files copied to your server $OEM$ folder, and that OEMFilesPath=c: is there in the unattend.txt. When the install fails, reboot to DOS, and check that $OEM$ folder thouroughly as it exists on the C: drive.

[Jeff Mathews]

Thanks, but I'm actually using RDP and not the scripting toolkit / CD install method. All folders are copied over to the correct locations and folders have the correct names. I've even done the copies manually, then initiated the unattended install myself and no joy. The only thing that seems to work, is getting rid of the reference to the OEMBootFiles in the unattend. The only problem, you get an error message that textmode.oem could not be found - and you have to press a key to continue. Not totally unattended anymore. Thankfully, these servers are going to be retired by the end of the year so I won't have to worry about them much longer :)

[Jeff Allen_5]

Jeff,

Sometimes this happens when the installation media (w2k itself) has been slipstreamed with an SvcPack. It;s not the acutal slipstreaming prcoess (I don't believe), but usually something that was done manually for some reason (like a certain file is copied in uncmopressed format). Whatever it is, it's common enough as I see it every now and then.

Try doing everything exactly like you have it and replace the w2k installtion files with native ones and see what happens. Then try slip-streaming (is that really a word?).

[Jeff Mathews]

Interesting thought. I will give this a try when I have a few spare moments and report back what I find. Thanks...