Driver management - how do you do it?

[Mordac85]

OK, I've been dealing with the hassle of manually tracking drivers, what hardware they cover (specific PCI ID's), what systems they're for and updating an ad hoc database as I go. In this day and age there should be an easier solution and I was wondering how other people do it? It's such a pain in the rear that I wanted to get some ideas about what to include, or how others are already handling this.

Bâshrat the Sneaky has to be the Mac Daddy at this and probably knows exactly what I'm talking about, but good luck finding a commercial, or open source solution to manage drivers in any way. So since it has to be a home grown solution I'd like to hear how others have pulled this off. I know this isn't really something for a home user that only has a single or just a few systems to manage, but I also would like to learn from those that have gone down this road already.

[PC_LOAD_LETTER]

not sure exactly what your looking for but i know that Unknown Devices(awesome little program BTW) uses a pretty big database in txt format at http://members.datafast.net.au/dft0802/

might look for other projects that use that database.

My "Driver Management" usually involves buying a new newer larger pen drive when the \Drivers folder gets too large on mine

[Mordac85]

Thanks. This is a start. For a little background, I manage an image that's currently deployed to 22 different models and managing all the drivers for those systems is getting to be a real pain. I could just include all the drivers for each model, but copying the same nVidia, Dell Truemobile, <insert large driver pkg name here> drivers over and over seems way too redundant. So I walk through them all and consolidate it down as much as possible. Thankfully, we started enforcing hardware standards a few years ago, but it still gets to be a pain.

On top of that, Dell (our primary PC vendor) will sometimes release identical driver versions as different revs depending on the model or family (haven't really figured out the method to this madness yet). Plus it would be handy to watch for driver updates, but a little impractical to be proactive with that at the moment. If I knew Broadcom NIC driver version X covered models 1 thru 9, or that ATI driver is no longer needed b/c we're retiring the only system on which it was needed, then I could pick the drivers I need in my build and have some sense that they were up to date.

With all of the variables involved, I know why there isn't anything out there yet. But I also know other people have a metehod of handling this so they don't spend a week crawling through INF's just to make sure their drivers are up to date.

[MadBoy]

Thanks. This is a start. For a little background, I manage an image that's currently deployed to 22 different models and managing all the drivers for those systems is getting to be a real pain. I could just include all the drivers for each model, but copying the same nVidia, Dell Truemobile, <insert large driver pkg name here> drivers over and over seems way too redundant. So I walk through them all and consolidate it down as much as possible. Thankfully, we started enforcing hardware standards a few years ago, but it still gets to be a pain.

On top of that, Dell (our primary PC vendor) will sometimes release identical driver versions as different revs depending on the model or family (haven't really figured out the method to this madness yet). Plus it would be handy to watch for driver updates, but a little impractical to be proactive with that at the moment. If I knew Broadcom NIC driver version X covered models 1 thru 9, or that ATI driver is no longer needed b/c we're retiring the only system on which it was needed, then I could pick the drivers I need in my build and have some sense that they were up to date.

With all of the variables involved, I know why there isn't anything out there yet. But I also know other people have a metehod of handling this so they don't spend a week crawling through INF's just to make sure their drivers are up to date.

I wrote function that scans all .inf's for DEVICE they support and put them in the following format (DEVICEID, PATH to INF). Not exactly what you need but still something to work with It will be released as part of greater project as soon as possible

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7454,\C\AM\1\Amdagp8x.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7455,\C\AM\1\Amdagp8x.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7455,\C\AM\1\Amdagp8x.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7451,\C\AM\2\amdioapic.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7450&CC_0604,\C\AM\3\Amd8131.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7450&CC_0604,\C\AM\3\Amd8131.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7450&CC_0604,\C\AM\4\AmdShpc.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7458&CC_0604,\C\AM\4\AmdShpc.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7450&CC_0604,\C\AM\4\AmdShpc.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7458&CC_0604,\C\AM\4\AmdShpc.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7450&CC_0604,\C\AM\4\AmdShpc.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7458&CC_0604,\C\AM\4\AmdShpc.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_746A,\C\AM\5\amdsmb2.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7413,\C\AM\6\amdsmw2k.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_7443,\C\AM\6\amdsmw2k.inf

PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_746B,\C\AM\6\amdsmw2k.inf

*PNP0103,\C\AM\7\Amdhpet.inf