nLite doesn't work right

[SloppyGoat]

I thought this was supposed to be simple?!! I have not succeeded in creating one single install CD that does what I chose for options. The very most success I've had is only slipstreaming. Removing anything, or choosing any options can produce very unexpected results, like almost everything in Accessories and System Tools missing, classic desktop when I chose XP style, the list is a mile long. What the hell is wrong with this program? People say it works, but most of the posts I've found that seem to claim that are old ones. What gives? I'm no id***! All I want is a good unattended install CD with SP3 and hotfixes, and of course the tweaks would be nice. I would try not removing anything, but then it won't fit on a CD! GRRRRRR!!!

I'm about to give up on nLite. Can anyone shed some light on why this fails to do what I select every single freaking time?!

[johnhc]

SloppyGoat, please calm down. I suspect cockpit error. The people who post here are the ones who have a problem and the huge percentage of them are helped and happy as a result. Please spend some time looking at a few pages of posts and you will see. Unfortunately some present a problem and ask for help and do not respond, leaving us to wonder. Now here is my personal inculcation: Please attach (not paste) your Last Session.ini. Make sure to always start with a fresh copy of your CD files/folders, do all your work in one nLite session and integrate only one SP. I suspect to have violated one or more of these rules. Enjoy, John.

EDIT: I suggest you look into a virtual system (VirtualPC, VirtualBox, VMware Server) to test your ISOs. It is a sure preventer of coasters, since you can install from an ISO file. John.

Edited February 13, 2009 by johnhc

[SloppyGoat]

Sorry, but I tend to get p***ed off when I spend days trying to make a program that advertises simplicity work, and it doesn't seem to do anything I choose. If there's something that causes the entire build to go bad, perhaps there should be some kind of warning or the option(s) should be removed from the program entirely? Also, if you leave it on default, will it use DHCP? Static IP's are not a good idea for a fresh unattended install in a corp. environment. Some station may already be using it.

And I have been using VPC. It still takes ages to create and install, only to find out either things are missing, or it just ignored all settings. I'd sure appreciate it if someone can tell me why this program is not working for me, when it seems to work for so many others.

Anyway, here you go. See anything wrong?

LAST_SESSION.zip

Edited February 13, 2009 by SloppyGoat

[johnhc]

SloppyGoat, I hope you are not using nLite in a business environment, because that violates nuhi's (owner/author) license agreement. Your Last Session looks OK except for the Hot Fixes. I don't use RyanVM's stuff, so I know almost nothing about them. If the update pack contains updates to IE7 (I suspect it does), then it needs to be placed after the integration of IE7. If it is back wards, all kinds of strange symptoms will occur. Have you followed the rules I posted? Always started with a fresh copy of your files/folders etc.? There have been several posts about the network adapters definition in nLite, including from me. I hope nuhi will take a look and correct this some day. Until then, the definitions end up in winnt.sif. I have and you can edit this file after running nLite but before making an ISO and change the settings to your liking. In the Support folder (CD), you will find a file called deploy.cab. Expand it and you will find two help files. Look in the deploy.chm for definitions of the controls in the winnt.sif file. My latest ploy was to set the IP address to 0.0.0.0. I get an install error in setuperr.log but I get the DHCP and all the IP addresses I need to communicate with my VM host. Enjoy, John.

[SloppyGoat]

A lot of people use RVM and claim that it works fine. nLite even lists it as an option and loads it just fine, as far as I can tell. No, I'm not using it in a business environment, but it's just not good practice not to use DHCP on a new install. Can't you just set it to DHCP somewhere? I believe you can if you're doing a regular Win unattended setup.

I believe the update pack does use IE7, but I've tried it with and without. Yes, I started with a fresh VL copy with no service packs. I was told that once the service pack is integrated, there is no reason to keep integrating it over and over again. So, do you use a hotfix pack, or just use WinUpdatesDownloader?

Edited February 13, 2009 by SloppyGoat

[johnhc]

SloppyGoat, like I said, there have been several posts about DHCP issues. As far as I know there is no way to just set it in nLite. We can asked nuhi to change nLite, but if and until he does, we have what we have. I explained two options to do it yourself. BTW, I think if you specify Adapter parameters without a MAC address, nothing is applied because the adapter could not be identified. Please click the ? in a circle next to the parameter lists for the adapter definition. If you integrate an SP into your original CD files/folders and use this as the source for subsequent nLite runs, you should be OK. If you integrate an SP more than once or multiple SPs, you will have a mess. I suggest you start over. Make a fresh copy of your CD files/folders, run nLite without the RVM stuff and see if you get a solid, stable Windows. I am running XP x64 and I use Kurt_Aust's great guide. I recommend you take a look. He has all the updates after SP2. WinUpdatesDownloader never was current for x64 and update packs for x64 are fairly new and cause me to relinquish a significant amount of control. Please let us know what you learn on the experiment I suggested. Enjoy, John.

[SloppyGoat]

So far, all I've learned is that it absolutely will not work, no matter how I try it. I've already tried using an orig XP CD and slipstreaming SP3. It doesn't matter. You can indeed use a slipstreamed CD. You just don't slipstream it again. It's just the tweaks and hotfixes I want. Slipstreaming is easy. Unfortunately, it's either the tweaks or the hotfixes that make this totally fail every single time.

[johnhc]

SloppyGoat, I don't understand. Did you run the experiment I suggested? Did you try placing the update pack AFTER the IE7 install file? Have fun, John.

[g-force]

Can't you just set it to DHCP somewhere? I believe you can if you're doing a regular Win unattended setup.

I use nLite since 2004, I never used the IP-Settings - and DHCP was always working for me.

Your "Last Session.ini" doesn`t say that you`re deactivate the DHCP-Service,

so just leave the IP-Settings alone, don`t make any settings there - and DHCP will work fine.

If you got problems with any kind of hotfixes or addons, sort them out Half-by-Half.

Integrate one Half, leave the other 50% of them - in your case (2 Hotfixes) not too difficult.

What about the settings "OEM-Preinstall" - do you have enabled that in nLite?

[SloppyGoat]

I've tried about everything. No method of integrating hotfixes works. It always says files are missing or something. I played with the stupid thing for about a week straight and still can't get it to work. I tried the RVM pack and also integrating just the hotfixes, downloaded via WUD. The latter was even more of a disaster.

No, I was not using OEM preinstall. I was just trying to make a regular unattended CD with hotfixes and preconfigured info. I've followed about every current tutorial I can find. SP2 tutorials are not very helpful. This is not SP2 anymore. I already have a perfectly good and working XP SP3 slipstreamed CD that works perfectly. All I want to do is add the hotfixes and tweaks. I even tried not removing anything and doing the tweaks, and it still fails. It seems that just the act of trying to add tweaks breaks the iso completely.

A friend of mine (who said it always used to work for him) has also had no success in creating a hotfix updated CD. I gave up out of sheer frustration.

Edited February 18, 2009 by SloppyGoat