HFGUIRUNONCE and txtmode copy errors...

[Martin H]

I just wanted to report that i'm getting txtmode copy errors when trying to install silent switchless installers from the HFGUIRUNONCE folder(i have tested it 4 times now).

I have then tried to change the names of the installers to straight 8.3 format(without spaces or punctuation), but still i get the same errors.

The errors only shows with *.exe files, but not *.msi or *.reg files.

Here's the error message :

The file HFGUI(X) was not copied correctly. The file Setup placed on your harddrive is not a valid Windows 2000 system image. If you are installing from a CD, there may be a problem with the Windows 2000 CD.

Thank's in advance.

[Tomcat76]

If that's the message you're getting, it means the headers of the executables are borked. You'll need to run modifyPE.exe on them once.

In your main HFSLIP folder, create a new folder named TEST and copy the problematic executables in there.

Then save the following in a .cmd file in the main HFSLIP folder and run it:

@ECHO OFF
FOR /F "DELIMS=" %%I IN ('DIR/B TEST\*.exe') DO (
HFTOOLS\modifype.exe TEST\%%I -c
)
PAUSE

Copy them back into the HFGUIRUNONCE folder and run HFSLIP again.

FYI... Long file names are OK, but remove any spaces; files with spaces in their name will copy over fine but will fail to install. This applies to .msi and .exe files in HFGUIRUNONCE.

EDIT: Updated code.

Edited March 16, 2008 by Tomcat76

[Martin H]

Thank you for your help, mate

modifype.exe reports 'Could not open file', for each of the files in the 'for' loop.

I always make my silent switchless installers by myself manually and so i find it strange that the headers are borked, but they must be, then...

They are all 7z SFX installers and i'm using Oleg Scherbakov's modified version of the 7z SFX module for installers, as it features some extra functionality like e.g. running msi's directly and hiding the console window with batchfiles etc.

Anyway, it's not really a problem for me, since i'm normally always just using the "RunOnceEx from CD" approach for installing my apps, but i where just momentarilly thinking about if i should switch over to using the HFGUIRUNONCE folder instead, and then when i tried it out, then i though that i had found a bug and which i then wanted to report...

Again, thanks alot for your help, mate

CU, Martin.

[Tomcat76]

Oops... well... modifype.exe doesn't seem to like quotes. I added them in case there were files with spaces in their name.

Replace the code in the CMD with the updated code in my previous post. Make sure no files in TEST have spaces.

I have never experienced copy errors with 7-zip SFX packages before, though.

[Martin H]

OK, i have just now passed the txtmode copy stage in VMware and without a single copy error this time, so you where absolutely right

Thanks alot for all your help, mate

CU, Martin.

[Tomcat76]

No problem

[Darkshado]

I have the same issue, even after running modifyPE on the files, and no issues being reported...

The files are silent installers made with WinRAR 3.90.

While I could try an older version, or perhaps 7Zip, does anyone have an idea why this would happen?

(I'm testing in a VM right now to see if this causes any other issue than the message itself...)

[tommyp]

This issue hasn't arose in over a year. Please do what tomcat76 said, and fwiw, it may be worthwhile to rename your files to 8.3 format without any strange symbols. Also, how are you installing the image? Did you set up your vm to boot from the iso? Did you select the default multiboot options when you ran hfslip? Are you trying some sort of network installation?

[Darkshado]

Hello TommyP

I already had used tomcat76's script prior to posting. Will try renaming in 8.3, did not use strange symbols my in previous filenames (I speak French, so the alphabet's latin anyway.) I have the vm booting off the iso file to keep the coaster count low. I am not doing any multiboot so yeah its default.

I'm thinking it might have to do with the compression method. I'll see if the issue comes up with either 7Zip SFX or the previous version of WinRAR I have (3.sixtysomething iirc).

I'll try to report back sometime later with my results.

Thanks for this great, great tool Tommy.

Darkshado

[Darkshado]

I remade the SFX archives with the older WinRAR version and renamed the files in 8.3 format and this solved the problem.

(Now... To track down why WU is asking for a couple of updates that I either didn't download, or that didn't slipstream properly for some reason.)