Tripredacus

Using multiple instances of Winamp did not work. I was able to configure each instance to use a different sound card, but the sound distorted once I hit play on the second card. I tried using two different source files as well. Perhaps it is an issue, there is only 2GB RAM on this machine...

OK so I have a new project. One of our customers has ordered a computer with 3 sound cards in it. They are 2 PCI X-Fi Xtreme and 1 PCI-E X-Fi Extreme. The first problem was that I was able to install the drivers for the PCI cards, but the PCIE refuses to accept the driver. Vista sees it as a High Definition Audio Device, and I currently have it set to be the default Sound device, so Windows sounds play through it normally. However, that isn't the issue I am experiencing. I need to prove that I can get reliable sound out of all three sound cards. I can get sound out of all three at once, but I'm encountering a problem. I want to make sure it isn't a resource or hardware problem before I approve this configuration for sale. So I have Winamp installed using the output select plugin. This allows me to use 1 Winamp instance (I have read about multiple instances but haven't tried that yet) and output to the two PCI sound cards (the ones with the drivers installed) to get simultaneous sound. Except I am having a problem. Using DirectSound to XFI-1: normal playback Using DirectSound to XFI-2: normal playback Using WaveOut to XFI-2: normal playback Using WaveOut to XFI-1: normal playback Now with either config, using BOTH DirectSound and WaveOut plugins, the song (using MP3) plays back too fast, and the output levels are too high for the soundcard. FYI, when the output levels are too high (think waveforms being cut off caused by exceeding maximum tolerance in electronics theory) you get distortion. This is common if you take a CD that has a high mastering gain from recording, encode an MP3 at a lower bit rate, and playback has a "choppiness" to the song because some of the sound information (the highs and lows) is missing. This is basically the best way I can describe this. Of course using a PC isn't as easy to configure as using sound equipment, so I can't just turn a knob this time to fix it. So, my issue is why does Winamp play the songs too fast and at the incorrect level? Also if there is another software program I can test with that supports multiple outputs (not WMP either) and it has to be free or a trial. We can't be spending money on software to do this testing. Also, is there a limiter in Vista that is not allowing the PCIE sound driver to install? FYI about the PCIE driver, when I tell it to use the updated one (its a different driver package than the PCI card uses) Windows reports that the best driver for the device is already installed. I will be trying out the multiple instance trick, and perhaps contact out Creative rep for help. Also I must add that Winamp refuses to output sound to the PCIE because the MS driver doesn't allow playback. Also, when playing back audio to the two PCI cards, the Windows sounds played on the PCIE sound normal. There is an onboard Audio controller (Realtek HD) that is disabled in the BIOS, and the Realtek driver/software package is not installed.

It may be better to install XP to a different volume than the one Vista is on. Either way, you should boot from the CD to install XP rather than running it from Windows. Especially if its an unattended CD since it would likely attempt to erase your boot volume. If you do it the way you want to, you need to read about how to edit the BCD after imaging.

The image is has been sysprepped and past the Windows Welcome Setup. Running sysprep on the image is not an option. Since I had received no information in a timely manner, I recreated base images for our customer to rebuild the final image with.

I've got a strange issue I am dealing with right now. We have a config that I have to evaluate a different video card for, but Windows is causing a problem. Our MS rep says that changing hardware shouldn't pop the WPA activation with our OEM VL that we use, but it does anyways. I'll be emailing him later today and see what kind of official explanation I can get, as recreating the image isn't a viable option for me at this time. Here is the gist of it. We have an XP Pro SP2 image that uses our OEM VL that we sent to a customer. They sent it back with their software and settings. We image that drive and redploy it over many systems and there is no problem. The image was created with a PCI-E MSI GeForce 8400GS 256/512MB video card. This video card is not designed to work within the chassis (case) that their config uses, and while the card actually works fine, it has some quality control issues from assembly due to the fact that it isn't supposed to be used the way we use it. It also has some possible heating issues as well. On my recommendation, we got in another card, the XFX equivalent of the 8400GS, with the hope that nVidia's scalable driver package would allow us to easily swap this card in without installing new drivers. And as far as I can tell, this is indeed the case. The XFX card also has a fan on it, which will help with the possible heating issues when these units are in the field. Here is the strangeness about the issue. When the image is deployed onto the config with the XFX 8400GS, it pops the activation due to "significant" hardware change. Now, if I drop the image onto the config that has an XFX GeForce 7300 LE video card in it, it does not pop the reactivation of Windows. So my question, is there a way to modify Windows so that it does not prompt for reactivation? I have the option of imaging the drive using the current hardware to imagex, mounting the WIM and either modifying a file or loading the registry hive to make any changes. The only reason I am asking this is because it would be preferable to fix the image here quickly (say 1-2 days) than have the customer remake the image again which could take a week at least. Thanks

I do not know how Winamp handles the crossfade when burning a CD. AFAIK, the m3u doesn't contain any playback or EQ settings, just what order and location of the songs (and some ID3? information). I only use Winamp because I used to use it to test crossfade timings (typical) between 5 and 20 seconds. Winamp doesn't support crossfades higher than 20 seconds, however.

wait... sorry about that part. OK all these pictures that aren't showing up are redirecting advertisements. They are not being hosted on the server that the website is on. While remote linking pictures is common today (with the whole 'paste this code into your website' fad) it is still far better to store the pictures on the webserver. If you are concerned about the websites those images link to disappearing or changing, just run a hyperlink validator on the site every month or two.

I'm not exactly sure what you are saying there, but unless you are installing an image into a VM/VPC session, I wouldn't recommend installing Windows while you are booted into another copy of it.

So far my SP1 experience has been very good. We don't actively use it yet, but we have finally gotten through our evaluation period and will adopt it very shortly. I have only had to use it twice, and in both instances, we used it to fix two issues we were having with hardware or software configs that weren't working properly with RTM. In both cases, the root cause of problem was sysprep, however.

http://www.quatech.com/support/mei_sds_faq.php

I have acquired an additional X-Fi card and I am going to test to see if this issue happens with SP1 as well.

OK rite now this shall be filed under phantom resolution. The three are working now after I reimaged them for the 4th time... Or at least they boot into Windows...

Yes they all have the same hardware, same BIOS version. Before imaging (the first time) we go into the BIOS and set to optimal defaults. Then change only the following: - date - time - set primary display adapter to PEG - disable onboard audio - set resume on power loss to last state All three work properly if I manually load with the CD. I'm going to make another attempt today to see if I can't figure it out. Does sysprep/windows welcome make a log file during the boot process that I can check once it stalls? I can use NTFSDOS to view anything on the C drive if needed.

Yes. It just seems like the Windows Welcome process is hanging. Also, I had previously attempted creating the master image on one of these machines, and that image was blowing up when I tried to deploy it. I just know there must be a hardware issue, I just can't find it.

some boards with nForce/nVidia NIC are virtual devices controlled by the BIOS. For example, they don't have a hardware id assigned to them at the time of boot! so there is not a garauntee that it will even work with Ghost. I got it to work but it took me about two months, and we updated all boot keys to DOS 7 to get the drivers to load into memory properly. These NICs still aren't supported in the PE either. You'll have to find the files you need from online somewhere. I'm not sure how you're going to go about making the boot, but here is what I use in a config.sys. DEVICE=\net\Nvndis2.dos DEVICEHIGH=\net\protman.dos /I:\net DEVICEHIGH=\net\ndis.dos DEVICE=\net\dis_pkt.dos DEVICE=emm386.exe /noems Of course we use older Ghost than you i bet.

Alright, I've been battling a problem trying to image 10 machines with Vista. I've outlined my original problems here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=&amp...st&p=779963 Out of the 10, I am left with three that won't reboot after the image is deployed. This has changed and is not an imaging question anymore, but I am not sure if it is hardware or software atm. What happens, after deployment, and restarted, it POSTs, then shows the black "Windows is preparing to start for the first time" screen, then goes to a black screen with an arrow, then goes to the loading screen (blue/green wallpaper) that says please wait in white with the "donut" spinning around. On these 3 machines, it will sit at that screen for as long as I decide to let it. The load is thus broken, as doing a restart at that point results in the "Windows was improperly restarted, click ok to restart and reinstall Windows" message. I've tried everything to determine what the problem could be. These machines contain a motherboard (q35jo), 4x 1GB RAM, 2 hard drives, a sound card and a video card in them. I've attempted the following: 1 - reimage using a different network port (different cable to different port on switch but same NIC) 2 - remove 2GB RAM and use remaining in dual channel mode. 3 - run memtest v3.3 and v3.4c (PASSED both) 4 - run a CPU tester* (PASSED) 5 - run WD Tools (PASSED full and quick tests) So at this point I can't figure out where the problem is. None in the network, passed all diagnostics, but won't load up the the Vista welcome screen. And before you say it, the image does not have the sound card software or driver installed. Any ideas? * cpu tester is a 32bit app I ran from the PE off the ramdrive.

I am also doing this differently than what you guys are talking about. I am not doing anything with the install.wim at all. We are not ready to deploy Vista in that manner. We will get there after we finish SP1 validation.

My PC scored a whopping 140 (or 134 or something like that) Marks in 3dmark06 and I got Crysis to run. So if you got a PC that can score better than that, yer all set.

I became wary of using ALT + 255 for use in filenames, because it is exploitable, being the ASCII code that the keyboard sends when you press the DELETE key.

I have been experiencing intermittant issues with the progress bar itself. I know it doesn't "work" but when it is on the screen, you get a long gray rectangle, which is helpful because you know when it is imaging, or when its waiting for you to start it. Here are the different things I have seen concerning it, and the last one is a problem. 1 - regular long rectangular bar covering 75 (or 80) % of the screen 2 - regular length but only a couple pixels in height 3 - regular length but 3-4x regular height 4 - not appearing at all I am wondering what can cause this. Its not resolution, as I've had 1, 2 and 4 happen at the same time on a bunch of same model notebooks. #3 was experienced on one PC in a group of 12 with the same CFG.

I agree. Now that we are using Imagex for production with our new server, I still keep Iceman's guide handy in case I ever need to look at anything. Its better than the OPK documentation and the Vista books we have because its all summarized into one little thing. No need for explaining what a WIM is or why x compression is better than y, etc.

They might. You just need to have a 32bit app to run in the PE. 16bit apps won't run, so example you can't run DEVCON in the PE like you could from a boot disk. EDIT: I'd like to add if you try to run a 16bit app from the PE, it returns an error stating it can't find the file. ex: "Cannot find devcon.exe" would appear if you tried running devcon.

Alright, a little update... I've had to rebuild the image a total of 5 times now. I also built the image on 3 different machines. We came to the conclusion that the software was interfering with Sysprep, so we elected to NOT install the Creative software and leave the installer on the desktop. This also means that we can't test to make sure each sound cards works unfortunately. Because I kept running into the ReArm limit, I hosed 2 images because of this. The 3rd image failed epicly in a fashion I can't seem to understand, other than the source machine may have had a bad stick of RAM. What happened was the Master PC worked fine (other than it uninstalled the software and driver) and it was acceptable to management. So I uploaded it, and brought it down on 8 other PCs. But for some reason the image was incomplete, as other drivers were not installed, applications couldn't open properly, etc. The Fourth image caused 3 different issues. 1) The computer wouldn't ever boot to the desktop after the first reboot, it would sit with the green/blue screen with the "please wait" at the bottom and the little donut spinning. I had 2 PCs do this and let them sit for 3 hours! 2) On the first reboot, it would get to the Please Wait screen and display a message box proclaiming "Windows suffered an incomplete or sudden restart" or something to that effect. It had the exclamation flag. And lastly 3) one booted to the Please Wait screen and displayed an exclamation about contacting Creative because their software failed to do something. In none of these situations was it possible to get to the Welcome (sysprep) screen. So image five we decided to not install the software like I said. I haven't redeployed it yet but I am certain it will work. If it doesn't, well it will be next week so I don't care about it right now! The other thing I learned is that you can't append to a WIM with imagex and deploy a different image from within the same WIM at the same time.

What happens if you do a manual run through using the cmd? Does a similar thing occur if you use diskpart/imagex?

I think what we are running into here are people who didn't experience how the development (cycle) played out for those older OSes. They don't remember how EVERYONE wanted Millenium when it was in RC1 or don't remember how NOTHING WORKED on Windows 2000 on opening day or how Longhorn ruled until MS put a different GUI on it. It's because they weren't around, maybe they were younger, or not born (face it, there's a lot of kids on the Internet nowadays) or weren't into computers this much, etc. Yes there will always be the argument of "it sucks when it comes out" vs "its always been that way" because new people are coming in and saying their part. I encounter this in the other forum arena I work with, that being Transformers. While it used to just be a bunch of people (older) of the same age group, it has become a battle of the generations as more people enter the community.