RIS hanging at "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tony
  • Start date Start date
T

Tony

The subject say it all; PXE and RIS start fine, but the
very first step of the install - inspecting the hardware
setup - never finishes.

I have an Unattended.sif file which includes the following:

---------------
[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=Yes
TargetPath=\WINNT
ExtendOemPartition=1
FileSystem=LeaveAlone
NtUpgrade=No
OverwriteOemFilesOnUpgrade=No
DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore

[MassStorageDrivers]
"VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows 2000)"=OEM
----------------

This is applied to a "Flat" image on a RIS server.

The client has a SATA enabled motherboard and a SATA drie
in it, so I've copied the SATA drivers from my mobo's CD-
ROM to the $OEM$\textmode directory in my distribution
folder.

The problem is that I'm just not getting any error
messages to work off of. The setup just stops while
inspecting computer's hardware configuration. No error is
logged in the Event Logs on the RIS server either.

I've searched the KB and found 3 different articles that
refer to the text mode hanging. However, every single one
says that they would be corrected by installing sp4.

Does anyone have an idea what's going on?

TIA,
Tony
 
Did you try running RIS without specifying the controller to see if it could
use a generic driver? Whenever I've used the [MassStorageDrivers] option
I've had to make changes to the txtsetup.oem file, the manufacturer settings
never seem to work. I also recall having to go through the accompanying
driver files and eliminating ones that were causing problems. It takes a
while to figure out the settings but you'll get it eventually. IMHO the
[MassStorageDrivers] option is a pain in the neck and if you can avoid using
it i.e. windows has a generic driver, it's probably worth loading the driver
after the install depending on your circumstances of course.
 
I think you're exactly right (after working on this for
over 4 days now). I _have_ replaced the SATA drive with a
normal IDE drive and the installation worked fine. So I
definitely have a problem with the .oef, .sif, $oem$
directory structure.

Do you have any tips on what to change in the .oem file?
I'm guessing it's just a matter of getting the proper
directory paths right. But I'm not experienced at this.

TIA!

-----Original Message-----
Did you try running RIS without specifying the controller to see if it could
use a generic driver? Whenever I've used the [MassStorageDrivers] option
I've had to make changes to the txtsetup.oem file, the manufacturer settings
never seem to work. I also recall having to go through the accompanying
driver files and eliminating ones that were causing problems. It takes a
while to figure out the settings but you'll get it eventually. IMHO the
[MassStorageDrivers] option is a pain in the neck and if you can avoid using
it i.e. windows has a generic driver, it's probably worth loading the driver
after the install depending on your circumstances of course.

Tony said:
The subject say it all; PXE and RIS start fine, but the
very first step of the install - inspecting the hardware
setup - never finishes.

I have an Unattended.sif file which includes the following:

---------------
[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=Yes
TargetPath=\WINNT
ExtendOemPartition=1
FileSystem=LeaveAlone
NtUpgrade=No
OverwriteOemFilesOnUpgrade=No
DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore

[MassStorageDrivers]
"VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows 2000)"=OEM
----------------

This is applied to a "Flat" image on a RIS server.

The client has a SATA enabled motherboard and a SATA drie
in it, so I've copied the SATA drivers from my mobo's CD-
ROM to the $OEM$\textmode directory in my distribution
folder.

The problem is that I'm just not getting any error
messages to work off of. The setup just stops while
inspecting computer's hardware configuration. No error is
logged in the Event Logs on the RIS server either.

I've searched the KB and found 3 different articles that
refer to the text mode hanging. However, every single one
says that they would be corrected by installing sp4.

Does anyone have an idea what's going on?

TIA,
Tony
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
 
Other than suggesting that you verify that the OEM format fits the
description as oultined in
http://www.eu.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prbc_cai_qcxl.asp I
really can't give you much advice for your particular controller. The last
time that I recall futzing around with a txtsetup.oem file was with a PERC
Raid controller and it was a rather painful process of trial and error(i
think i even made some changes to the inf). If you get to a point where
you're pretty sure that the oem file is correct, and it's still not working,
then try eliminating the other driver files one by one i.e. the
sys/dll/inf/etc. Frankly I avoid controllers that are not natively
supported by RIS like the plague. Good luck Tony!

Tony said:
I think you're exactly right (after working on this for
over 4 days now). I _have_ replaced the SATA drive with a
normal IDE drive and the installation worked fine. So I
definitely have a problem with the .oef, .sif, $oem$
directory structure.

Do you have any tips on what to change in the .oem file?
I'm guessing it's just a matter of getting the proper
directory paths right. But I'm not experienced at this.

TIA!

-----Original Message-----
Did you try running RIS without specifying the controller to see if it could
use a generic driver? Whenever I've used the [MassStorageDrivers] option
I've had to make changes to the txtsetup.oem file, the manufacturer settings
never seem to work. I also recall having to go through the accompanying
driver files and eliminating ones that were causing problems. It takes a
while to figure out the settings but you'll get it eventually. IMHO the
[MassStorageDrivers] option is a pain in the neck and if you can avoid using
it i.e. windows has a generic driver, it's probably worth loading the driver
after the install depending on your circumstances of course.

Tony said:
The subject say it all; PXE and RIS start fine, but the
very first step of the install - inspecting the hardware
setup - never finishes.

I have an Unattended.sif file which includes the following:

---------------
[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=Yes
TargetPath=\WINNT
ExtendOemPartition=1
FileSystem=LeaveAlone
NtUpgrade=No
OverwriteOemFilesOnUpgrade=No
DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore

[MassStorageDrivers]
"VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows 2000)"=OEM
----------------

This is applied to a "Flat" image on a RIS server.

The client has a SATA enabled motherboard and a SATA drie
in it, so I've copied the SATA drivers from my mobo's CD-
ROM to the $OEM$\textmode directory in my distribution
folder.

The problem is that I'm just not getting any error
messages to work off of. The setup just stops while
inspecting computer's hardware configuration. No error is
logged in the Event Logs on the RIS server either.

I've searched the KB and found 3 different articles that
refer to the text mode hanging. However, every single one
says that they would be corrected by installing sp4.

Does anyone have an idea what's going on?

TIA,
Tony
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Some notes regarding the unattended.sif file.

Regarding mass storage device drivers, besides copying the files to
folder $OEM$\Textmode you should also copy the driver files to the
<PnPdrvrs> location that you specified with the OemPnPDriversPath
parameter in the answer file.

You also need to list the Txtsetup.oem file and all the files placed
in this folder in the [OEMBootFiles] section in the answer file. If
you have dll files as drivers you should remove that line in the
Txtsetup.oem file (this is not the case with the SATA driver)


You can also try an alternate method of integrating mass-storage
device drivers by modifying txtsetup.sif which sometimes works better
than the oempnpdrivers approach

You can try this

copy the viasraid.sys to the
RemoteInstall\Setup\Eng\Images\<yourfolder>\i386 folder.

Add below info to the
RemoteInstall\Setup\Eng\Images\<yourfolder>\i386\txtsetup.sif file.

[SourceDisksFiles]
viasraid.sys = 1,,,,,,_x,4,1

[HardwareIdsDatabase]
PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3149 = "viasraid"

[SCSI.Load]
viasraid = viasraid.sys,4

[SCSI]
viasraid = "VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller"

Restart the Remote Installation (BINLSVC) Service

Test the server


Reference:
Txtsetup.sif Internals
http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBN/tip6500/rh6575.htm

The txtsetup.oem File Format
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...ry/en-us/install/hh/install/txtsetup_1wmq.asp

[Unattended] TXTSETUP.OEM, MassStorageDrivers, etc.
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg00107.html

Windows 2000 Resource Kit, Chapter 5 - Customizing and Automating
Installations
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../professional/reskit/en-us/part2/proch05.mspx

817616 How to Add OEM Mass Storage Drivers to the Windows Recovery
Console
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=817616


regards
Johan Arwidmark

Windows User Group - Nordic
http://www.wug-nordic.net


I think you're exactly right (after working on this for
over 4 days now). I _have_ replaced the SATA drive with a
normal IDE drive and the installation worked fine. So I
definitely have a problem with the .oef, .sif, $oem$
directory structure.

Do you have any tips on what to change in the .oem file?
I'm guessing it's just a matter of getting the proper
directory paths right. But I'm not experienced at this.

TIA!

-----Original Message-----
Did you try running RIS without specifying the controller to see if it could
use a generic driver? Whenever I've used the [MassStorageDrivers] option
I've had to make changes to the txtsetup.oem file, the manufacturer settings
never seem to work. I also recall having to go through the accompanying
driver files and eliminating ones that were causing problems. It takes a
while to figure out the settings but you'll get it eventually. IMHO the
[MassStorageDrivers] option is a pain in the neck and if you can avoid using
it i.e. windows has a generic driver, it's probably worth loading the driver
after the install depending on your circumstances of course.

Tony said:
The subject say it all; PXE and RIS start fine, but the
very first step of the install - inspecting the hardware
setup - never finishes.

I have an Unattended.sif file which includes the following:

---------------
[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=Yes
TargetPath=\WINNT
ExtendOemPartition=1
FileSystem=LeaveAlone
NtUpgrade=No
OverwriteOemFilesOnUpgrade=No
DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore

[MassStorageDrivers]
"VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller(Windows 2000)"=OEM
----------------

This is applied to a "Flat" image on a RIS server.

The client has a SATA enabled motherboard and a SATA drie
in it, so I've copied the SATA drivers from my mobo's CD-
ROM to the $OEM$\textmode directory in my distribution
folder.

The problem is that I'm just not getting any error
messages to work off of. The setup just stops while
inspecting computer's hardware configuration. No error is
logged in the Event Logs on the RIS server either.

I've searched the KB and found 3 different articles that
refer to the text mode hanging. However, every single one
says that they would be corrected by installing sp4.

Does anyone have an idea what's going on?

TIA,
Tony
Click to expand...


.
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