trw

My goal was to create an Unattended Install CD that could install Windows XP Pro to a SATA RAID 0 array in my Intel D865PERL-based system. The following details how I modified my unattended installation project. While my system uses the Intel 82801ER SATA RAID Controller, I suspect the steps will apply to any recent vintage Intel motherboard with SATA RAID. The two resources I used to figure this out were: Add Mass Storage drivers to RIS images Add Mass Storage drivers to an installation CD Steps: 1. Create a folder at C:\UIXPCD\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\IntelRaid (IntelRaid is the name I chose for the folder). 2. Copy to the aforementioned folder the contents of the "F6 Install 2600" floppy, which was created using an Intel app of the same name (downloadable from the Intel Support section for the mobo). I saw other methods mentioned for extracting these files from the iata_cd.exe application but getting them from the floppy was simple enough. These are the four files I copied from the floppy: iaStor.inf iaStor.sys iaStor.cat Txtsetup.oem 3. Copy one of these files, iaStor.sys. to the C:\UIXPCD\i386 folder (or wherever the i386 folder is in your unattended install project area. 4. Add the following text to winnt.sif, which you will find in the same i386 folder. I just put it at the end of the existing text and saved it. [unattended] OemPreinstall=Yes OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\IntelRaid" OverwriteOemFilesOnUpgrade=No DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore 5. Add the following text (in bold) to txtsetup.sif, which you will find in the i386 folder also. I did this by opening txtsetup.sif in Notepad and then searching for each bracketed item, which I assume is a "section heading". I placed the additions just below the existing section heading. [sourceDisksFiles] iaStor.sys = 1,,,,,,_x,4,1 [HardwareIdsDatabase] PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24DF&CC_0104 = "iaStor" [sCSI.Load] iaStor = iaStor.sys,4 [sCSI] iaStor = "Intel® 82801ER SATA RAID Controller" 6. I saved txtsetup.sif, and then created the ISO file as usual. The worked great on its maiden voyage and did not need a floppy inserted during the installation. Once the new Windows XP system was fully booted I ran Intel's INF installer, rebooted, and then installed their iata_cd.exe application, which installs the RAID control app. BTW, an Intel tech told me that I could use a newer version, iaar45_enu.exe, in place of iata_cd.exe, which I did -- but I would not use its driver contents or the corresponding "F6 Floppy" file for the above steps; only use iaar45_enu.exe to install the RAID controller app. You can find it by searching Intel's support site. I hope this will help others who are searching for a simple approach to creating an unattended install for an Intel motherboard with SATA RAID capability. I should add that the reason I tackled this was because my standard unattended-install CD would refuse to fetch the iaStor.sys file from the floppy during installation. So if you want to do an unattended installation of XP on SATA RAID drives using an Intel SATA RAID-capable mobo, you've gotta use this technique and forget about using the "F6 floppy" approach -- at least in my experience.

First, thank you to this amazingly well-informed and collaborative group for creating such a deep foundation of knowledge on the subject of unattended installs. This forum is a perfect illustration of the good the Internet has brought us. I'm SO close to getting my first XP U.I. done but have run into an unexplainable glitch with the Shutdown.exe command used near the end of start.cmd. I hope some kind soul here will shed some light on the prob. Simply put: I'm testing my ISO file using the latest VMWare. When the following line in start.cmd executes: shutdown.exe -r -f -t 60 -c "Windows XP .." It shuts down my system; not just the guest OS in VMWare but my actual hardware-based host system turns off. Besides reeling from the shock that an executable in the guest can impact the host, I'd sure love to see my install work all the way to the end. Has anyone else experienced this?