Cloning...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Travis Bean
  • Start date Start date
T

Travis Bean

ok, i know that to deploy XPe on multiple machines you have to clone it with
the tool and so on. However i want to know what happens when you try to go
from one set of hardware to a different set? For example if i go from a p4
1.8ghz machine to an amd XP 2200? is there a way i can do this without
creating a new runtime for every hardware set i have?
 
Travis,

Different machines mean different chipsets. The different chipsets require
different device drivers, thus you need to create a new run time image.

Regards,

Sean Liming
XP Embedded Manager
A7 Engineering (www.a7eng.com)
Author: Windows XP Embedded Advanced and Windows NT Embedded Step-by-Step
 
That not completly right...

I have 1 image for 2 hardware platforms.
different processor, audio, nw card, grafik device,...

I ran fba on one of the platforms, when the disk is inserted into the oher
platform, the new devices are detected by pnp and than I rerun fbreseal....

That works fine for me...

The only thing which must be the same, is the hal.

Mario
 
You are assuming that the drivers are already in his image. If the drivers
are not part of his image, they will not get loaded. The more stuff you put
into the image the image gets bigger. If you are not concered about image
size, then you can add all the components you want.

Regards,

Sean
 
Sean,

To support all NVIDIA graphics cards you need three files.
To support all Intel chipsets you need few inf files. Also this is true for
other non Intel chipsets. And one or two sys files are required per chipset
manufacturer.
Network also can be supported by one binary and one inf file per network
adapter manufacturer. (Few of them will cover great variety of devices).

I don't know what is required for sound since I don't use it.

But like you can see with few extra megabytes in your image, you can cover
great variety of different platforms. In most cases this extra size is small
price to pay comparing to benefits you gain from it.

And the best part is that you don't need to include components for every
type of chipset, or video cards in TD. XPe is quite capable of finding and
installing right drivers during FBA PnP phase.


Regards,
Slobodan
 
Slobodan,

I think this is an old discussion. No question you can include all the
components that are in the database into one configuration and image. One
would have to be able to manage such a configuration and make sure that
every chipset and device driver component is in the image. What happens when
something doesn't quite work right, which has been known to happen from time
to time?

Everyone has their solution for managing configurations, I have found that
the path of least resistance is to create a configuration per unit or better
a macro component for each platform. It doesn't take too long to create, and
it would save time.

Without further details of Travis' project, how many hardware sets, boot
media, etc., either suggest is the right direction to go.

Regards,

Sean
 
Sean,

Well like you said you must draw a line somewhere.
I have not encountered any problems yet regarding support for multiple
hardware platforms, and I can tell you what I'm doing to solve different
hardware configurations.

First we are always using fastest chipsets and processors, so we are stuck
with commercial desktop boards (All ACPI compliant).

I have build that can boot and start FBA on any device. Since I don't use
components meant to some specific chipset id's this is possible.
Using components like "PCI standard ..." and "Standard ...", etc will
populate registry with required critical devices and will enable you to run
FBA on any device.

Having one component that will copy inf, dll and sys files for chipsets,
display adapter, etc is all that is required for you to support all hardware
that is described in these inf files.
This can be done for all hardware components. If you are concerned with
image size then you can create few components that will support certain
extra functionalities of your hardware.
During the FBA all hardware will be identified by the PnP and based on
present inf files appropriate drivers will be used.

Simple and efficient.


Consider following scenario regarding NVIDIA or for that matter graphic
cards of any single manufacturer.

I chose NVIDIA intentionally since all their AGP 8x models are capable of
2GB/s processor to video memory transfers.
They are constantly changing their models, but only constant in all this
changes are drivers. One binary and one inf file for all cards they ever
made.
So why would I want to create 40 different components and to create
different builds when I change card to new model, when all components would
be same?

If I don't have anything related to specific hardware inside of TD, and I
become concerned with image size then I could easily create batch file that
would copy files to my pre FBA image for let say another manufacturer.

Regarding the default display resolution settings, you can use component
:"Device: Display" to set resolution you want. It will be applied for any
model that is found during the FBA.


This was just an example of my point. You can use this approach for any
piece of hardware. And use same build for any device you need.


Regards,
Slobodan
 
Travis,

To answer to your question directly.

Yes, you can have one runtime that will work on above mentioned devices.

Regards,
Slobodan
 
Slobodan,

Just got back from vacation, and saw your reply.

For your situation you have been able to choose hardware, and architect the
image so that it runs on the multiple boards. Not everyone has this luxury.
Your
Besides, NVIDIA and ATI are getting smarter with their software firmware
model. They have learned to avoid the driver installation issue by making
all the changes in the firmware. Other devices like sound and Ethernet are
coming into the fold slowly. NVIDIA example holds true only if every board
has an NVIDIA chipset. What if you had to change to ATI, SiS or Intel 810?
You would have to add the extra files to the image to support the new video
card.

Changing boards implies changing video, Ethernet, sound, etc. HAL and
drivers could be different. Besides making sure that the HAL is the same for
every board, one needs to make sure that all the support files are in place
so that one image runs on multiple boards. The files can add-up for some
developers. There are some embedded developers that have issues with adding
just one INF file to a systems because they are tight on space.

In Travis' case, he will still needs to go back and run TAP on his target
hardware and create components for devices that might be missing.

Regards,

Sean
 
Back
Top