mats

I think that is the version of the os you used to build your pe from XPSP2. Drvinst was included in both Pe2004 and PE2005

You could use pe to install an image of a win98 installation but as stated i would use the win98 boot floppy or make a bootable win98 cd

No You will have to build the filesystem on a harddrive and then create a bootable .iso file with the utility oscdimg wich is included in pe. The exact procedure is documented in winpe.chm located in the docs directory of the cd.

Sure It can. i would boot PE copy the unattended file to a ramdrive and then display a nice HTA page for the user to fill in computername and so on. The hta form should update the unattended file. after that, its just a unattended installation with the cd as a source. for example if you store the XP i386 folder in xpi386 on your dvd and the ramdrive is Z: x:\xpi386\winnt32 /unattend:z:\unattend.txt /syspart:c: should do it if you got your unattended right.

I checked our installation today The installation is for XP not server and the $oem$ folder is a subfolder to i386. This works for us with the .\i386\winnt32 /unattend:.\i386\unattend.txt /syspart:c: command. We don't even use the OEMFilesPath entry. I don't know if you can use anything of this but it might be of some value for testing a least

The new MS driver works really nice. That's the one i wrote about from the beginning but you need fair/fair plus contacts with ms to get it, therefore I tried to get the Qsoft driver to work since that is availible in pebuilder 3.13 from www.nu2.nu The true advantage with the regslam is that it updates the buildfolder and not the winpe folder as the old solution did. Therefore you don't need an extra winpe folder to switch between ramdrive and non ramdrive builds.

HI Schra Nice to see that someone else also got it working. I started to belive that i was dreaming.

I have been working a little more on this and it seems to be working nicly. The thing to remember is the image to ramsize ratio. A 256Mbyte system kan boot a 150-160MB image. If you go larger the ramdrive fails. On a 512Mbyte I have booted a 260Mbyte image with working ramdrive. It was this above 160 border i hit when i used the /WMI switch. With more memory or a smaller image /WMI vill work with the ramdrive too

Disclamer: I have tested this with the SA verison of PE2005, all testing has been done with virtual pc on my laptop. Step by step to get a working PE CD with ramdrive 1. create the test folder under c:\ 2. Copy the WINPE folder from the Windows PE CDROM to C:\ 3. Create a textfile named WINPE_RAMDISK.INF in the C:\test\WINPE folder using step 3 in http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm 4. edit config.inf in the C:\test\Winpe folder using step 4 in http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm 5. copy the i386 folder from a 2003Sp1 CD to c:\test. I used the Enterprise Edition 6. Create a target folder under c:\test 7. Create an Iso folder under c:\test 8. Start a cmd shell and go to the c:\test\winpe folder 9. run MKIMG.CMD ..\srv2003entsp1 ..\target 10. get the ramdrive.sys file from bartpe version 3.13 www.nu2.nu (version should be 5.2.10.2) and rename it ramdrv.sys. 11. Put ramdrv.sys in C:\test\target\I386\system32\drivers 12. start a command prompt and go into c:\test\winpe 13. run oscdimg -h -n -betfsboot.com c:\test\target c:\test\iso\test1.iso 14. Create c:\test\iso\winnt.sif with the following contents [setupData] BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)" BootPath = "\i386\System32\" OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=test1.iso" Architecture = "i386" 15. Create the c:\test\iso\i386 directory 16. copy c:\test\target\i386\bootfix.bin c:\test\iso\i386\bootfix.bin 17. copy c:\test\target\i386\ntdetect.com c:\test\iso\i386\ntdetect.com 18. copy c:\test\target\i386\Setupldr.bin c:\test\iso\i386\Setupldr.bin 19. start a command prompt and go into c:\test\winpe 20. run oscdimg -h -n -betfsboot.com c:\test\iso c:\test\PEramdrv.iso

The problem is that you need to use files from the ddk to compile and the ddk isn't free. Therefore I would be using licensed files in what I am giving away and I don't think we got the right licensing for that.

I know it isn't an answer but can you try and put $OEM$ in the i386 folder. This is the standard way and according to this post others have had the same problem then cd booting http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=19810&st=0

I would like to send it to you but I cant since I belive it would break the licensing rules.

Yes the MS ramdrv.sys works if it has been recompiled for XP. THe sample on the ms web in kb257405 see http://support.microsoft.com/?id=257405 isn't recompiled and i think you need the ddk to recompile it. The bad thing is that you need a msdn subscription to get the ddk. I also got a recompiled one directly from MS and that one works really nice. I originally wrote about that one but since i found a way to get the qsoft driver to work i changed my post so it reflected that driver since everyone can get it.

The instructions at http://www.wug-nordic.net/articles/winpe_ramdrive.htm actually do work with a little tweaking. I followed the instructions with some exeptions: You dont need ramdrv.inf at all so forget that file make sure that the ramdrv.sys is at least verison 5.2.10.2 (i got mine from an existing bart cd). This gave me a working ramdriva at Z: with pe booted in ramdisk mode

If you can get the uppdated MS win2000 ddk ramdrive sample someway that one works with pe i ramdisk mode. tested both with cd and RIS.

Uppgrade the broadcom driver. This is a known issue

Winbom.ini i think. It is described in the chm file in the docs directory on the winpe cd. Basicly you will have to set it int the file and then burn a new iso. Or if you can use non ms tools take a look a penetcfg.

And as we have told you a few times know. The only way you are going to get is by contacting your MS representative. They are the only ones who can solve this and they will if you got the right contract with them. Else download Barts PE builder from www.nu2.nu since that is a freeware. It is however not supported by MS.

Oki I had placed my sif in the i386 folder and that's why it failed for me Current structure c:\work winnt.sif test1.iso c:\work\i386 bootfix.bin ntdetect.com setupldr.bin and the content of the sif is: [setupData] BootDevice = "ramdisk(0)" BootPath = "\i386\System32\" OsLoadOptions = "/noguiboot /fastdetect /minint /rdexportascd /rdpath=test1.iso" Architecture = "i386"

IT isn't on MSDN it's MVLS and if you dont got MVLS access then contact your MS representative

Just let me know if you need any help to get pqideploy to work.

Oki kan you post a dir of your build directory for the iso and the content of winnt.sif? I think that should be the easiest way to nail any differences

Either we are two that can't read the chm or they got a problem. If you copy winnt.sif to txtsetup.sif it finds the sif but then it can't access the ramdrive

The split limit is 2GB so I got it in one big file

I do it with a unattend.txt but the cmd line is .\i386\winnt32 /unattend:.\i386\unattend.txt /syspart:c: you will have to do the reboot in your script. Winnt32 will not reboot automatic. This is by design