[Resolved]Flash BSOD on first restart during W7 install.

[johnhc]

I have been trying my first HW install of my W7 Ultimate x64 image. It has been tested under VMware Player and seems to install and work fine. When I first tried installing on VMware I had a BSOD (07B) that I chased down to a driver (South Bridge) which I removed and the install proceeded. I posted my Autounattend.xml in the 7UA thread (I used 7UA to build my original .xml) and maxXPsoft commented that I should remove the <RefreshRate>60</RefreshRate> as he had some trouble with it (or maybe his video card). Since my VM installs worked, I left the RefreshRate in and tried on HW. I cannot see the Stop code,so am not sure what the problem is but am willing to try removing the RefreshRate if it is possibly the problem. The process takes so long on HW and I hoping to avoid as many false starts as possible. Since I am doing a dual boot install, I am able to look at the partition created in the install for my XP x64 system. I have found in the Windows\Panther\Setupact.log the following message:

2010-05-20 09:31:09, Info IBS ==== Initializing Display Settings ====

2010-05-20 09:31:09, Info IBS Setting display resolution 1920x1080x32@60: 0xfffffffe

2010-05-20 09:31:09, Warning IBS Setting the display resolution failed; this error is being ignored

2010-05-20 09:31:09, Info IBS STATUS: SUCCESS (0x00000001)

2010-05-20 09:31:09, Info IBS ==== Initializing Computer Name ====

Perhaps this is trying to tell me something. Now some questions. What is Panther? Is there any other logs/files I can look at to define the problem? Is there a setting to make the BSOD stay put and not cause an immediate restart? If so, can I do it now with access to the W7 partition and/or via the .xml for the next install? I attach my Autounattend.xml. Thanks for any help to be offered. Enjoy, John.

EDIT: I failed to remove my personal data, so will re-attach .XML shortly.

EDIT: I have re-attached my .XML - hope clean this time.

Edited May 22, 2010 by johnhc

[Tripredacus]

I'm not sure why it is called Panther, but it is. Check the native resolution and refresh rate of the display the computer is connected to, and use those settings.

[johnhc]

Tripredacus, thanks for your reply. As I said, I am doing a dual boot. I have set the display to the same same settings I am using right now on my XP x64 system (same HW). Thanks, John.

[grabben]

Not sure if videodrivers are required for setting your own resolution and refresh rate but just an idea..

[johnhc]

Not sure if videodrivers are required for setting your own resolution and refresh rate but just an idea..

grabben, thanks, perhaps I should have given more details. I have included all the drivers I think I will need in my system. The video (Catalyst 10.4, plus HDMI audio), NIC, AHCI, printer and RAID drivers are all injected. The KB and audio drivers are installed out of the <FirstLogonCommands> exit via a batch file which installs other things like JAVA, 7-Zip etc. I also run WPI to install other programs and tweaks. Right now I can only suspect a driver, but don't know what to try next. Thanks, John.

[Tripredacus]

That's interesting, how did you get the Radeon drivers to be injected? As far as I know, they are packaged in the installer, or maybe you are using third party drivers?

[johnhc]

That's interesting, how did you get the Radeon drivers to be injected? As far as I know, they are packaged in the installer, or maybe you are using third party drivers?

Tripredacus, as I stated, I am using ATI(AMD) Catalyst 10.4 drivers. I prepared them basically the same way I did for nLite for my XP x64 system. In this case I DLed the W7 version, executed the installer in my VM running W7. Even though I do not have access to the real video card, the drivers get extracted into a folder in the root directory. I saved this folder and used dism to inject them. There is one problem that arose. The dism process could not extract the files in one folder, so I had to extract all of them using 7-Zip (version 9.13 Beta, current released version will not extract them). HDMI audio driver comes out also. I install Catalyst Control Center as a switch-less installer out of my <FirstLogonCommands>. Enjoy, John.

[MagicAndre1981]

Hi,

Bug Check 0x7B: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE. This has nothing to do with your graphics card.

[johnhc]

Hi,

Bug Check 0x7B: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE. This has nothing to do with your graphics card.

MagicAndre1981, In my first post I said the 07B came before I started trying to install on HW and was fixed by removing a driver. I do know what an 07B stop is - seen many on the nLite forum. I cannot see the Stop Code on my HW install because it happens so fast - thus the title to this thread. Thanks, John.

[johnhc]

I restarted with a fresh copy of my DVD, added updates and drivers using dism and then installed it on a new partition on my machine. All went well, so I really don't know what the problem was. I did remove one driver from AMD and stuck with only the drivers supplied my my MB vendor, DFI. Thanks for all the comments.

For this install I used a USB stick. The install seemed to go about as fast or a little faster than from a DVD, but writing my files/folders to the stick took 1 hour 20 minutes. I must have the slowest USB stick in existence! I would be glad to hear suggestions for a faster 8 GB USB stick. Newegg has some Patrist sticks in the mid $20s which is rather expensive for the capacity but plenty worth it if they are really faster. Thanks for any suggestions. Enjoy, John.

[johnhc]

I received a Patrist Xporter XT BOOST, 8 GB, 200x (read speed) USB stick today and prepared it for my W7 image (about 4.3 GB) and wrote all the files/folders to the stick. It took 12 minutes. This is in comparison to 1 hour and 20 minutes on my older 16 GB generic stick. This is almost 7 time faster and well worth the $23. Enjoy, John.

[cluberti]

Patriot sticks generally are the best, especially as you move up the capacity ladder. They will rarely be the fastest writers, but read speeds are pretty darned good. I use a 64GB Patriot to hold all of my installs, and it's just unbeatable to actually run a whole install (apps and all).