Questions & Comments from a Greenhorn

[alanrosesf]

First off, THANK YOU all for your efforts! I’m a newbee here that knows enough to be dangerous only to myself. SO much information to poor through…

Please note aside from my burning questions, my comments are not meant as criticisms but suggestions for a more simple mind like my to better make use of your tools.

I’m in the process of getting an XPCreate session going. I have an Abit TH7-II RAID mobo, 4 identical Seagate drives set up for RAID0+1. All of which are(were) working. I won’t go into the reason I need to do a clean install of WinXP-Pro here.

Regarding the HighPoint HPT370 driver integration:

In the HPT3XX.OEM file posted in the .cab file http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=13173

It states the SourceDisksFiles to be: hpt3xx.sys = 1,,,,,,4_,4,1,,,1,4

However, when I look at the latest drivers from HighPoint and the drivers from 2002, the SourceDisksFiles state: hpt3xx.sys = 1,,

Since I’m not familiar with this line statement, I’m not sure which one is correct. I will attach the OEM and inf file below that was downloaded for you to refer to.

Also regarding the SATA/RAID and other documentation issues:

I would say yes, you are expecting a well above average person to understand many things before and during the entire process. This is all fine, but for those of us that really want to get into this process, its very confusing and a little scary.

On the page: http://greenmachine.msfnhosting.com/READING/addraid.htm

It states:

‘Step One - Edit TXTSETUP.SIF

In the I386 directory or your Windows Source Directory, open the TXTSETUP.SIF file in your favorite text editor. Copy the following text into the TXTSETUP.SIF file, at the end of the file, just before the (sometimes invisible) end of file marker’

It took a while to figure out that the TXTSETUP.SIF file was on my WinXP CD. It is not clear if I have to copy this file from the CD to my HDD before I run XPCREATE.

Q: Do I have to copy this file from the CD to the hard drive and edit it BEFORE I run XPCREATE?

Q: In the TXTSETUP.SIF file from the WinXP CD, the [sourceDisksFiles] and [HardwareIdsDatabase], etc headings already exist. The addraid.htm file in Step One says to ‘copy the following text into the TXTSETUP.SIF file, at the end of the file, just before the (sometimes invisible) end of file marker’. Does that mean this file may contain more than one of the same heading?

Q: What about the WINNT.SIF file? Is that too supposed to be copied from the CD to the HDD before the XPCREATE process and edited?

On the home page: http://greenmachine.msfnhosting.com/XPCREATE/ it states at the top:

‘When run, XPCREATE connects to an Internet server to obtain a list of hotfixes that must be downloaded for your Windows version. This list will be used to determine which files must be downloaded from the internet, and which files are already present locally.’

Stating ‘must be downloaded’ made it feel like I had to do the downloads even though you go on to say ‘already present locally’. If I may suggest a change in this statement to:

‘When run, XPCREATE will connect to an Internet server and obtain a known list of hotfixes needed for your Windows version. With this hotfix list, XPCREATE will determine which files are needed and it will download them from the internet for you.

Should any of these hotfixes have already been downloaded and exist on your system, XPCREATE will skip the download of those files.’

I would also add directly under the section of ‘The main goals of XPCREATE are:’ a section like ‘What XPCREATE will not do’ and then perhaps point to the links section for MSFN unattended, etc.

On the page: http://greenmachine.msfnhosting.com/XPCREATE/begin.htm it states:

Options:…

…

- The files WINNT.SIF and CMDLINES.TXT.

- Registry settings, in the form of .REG files.

- …

it would be nice to add to these lines where these files can be found in regard to the WINNT.SIF and the CMDLINES.TXT files. And for the registry settings, whether or not you want us to export our current registry settings or if you are looking for specific registry keys from specific softwares.

On the page: http://greenmachine.msfnhosting.com/XPCREATE/quickstart.htm you suggest we familiarize ourselves with the concepts and then point us to the MSFN Unattended site. What I took this to mean is that I needed to add yet more to the XPCREATE folders before I started to run XPCREATE. If by pointing us to this site you meant to say ‘XPCREATE will only create the XP slipstream along with any added device drivers. If you wish to add more to your slipstreamed CD that XPCREATE will create, refer to this site for more information on other files that may be added during the XPCREATE process.’ This was lost on me and I took it to mean there are many other slipstreaming methods with more information to confuse me.

On the page: http://greenmachine.msfnhosting.com/XPCREATE/directories.htm at the top you state: ‘There are several directories provided for files that are to be included or integrated into the installations.’ This makes it sound like the user has to download these files. If I may suggest a change:

‘Several directories will be created for you when you run the included XPCREATE.CMD command file before you run the XPCREATE.EXE program. Should you already have any of the below hotfixes, copy them into the appropriate directories. If you don’t have these files, XPCREATE.EXE will attempt through the internet connection to find them and download them into the appropriate directory for you.’

That’s all for now. I’m sure I will have further questions. Again, thank you all for your time. It is greatly appreciated!

Alan

htp3xxFilesInQuestion.zip

[GreenMachine]

Welcome to MSFN, alanrosesf!

Well ... Firstly, yes, the Web Site is assuming a certain technical level, and is far from complete, and certain sentences outright outdated or incorrect (REG file handling no longer exists). It needs a re-write, and is on my todo list - but not too high ... Basically, it is simply a question of finding the time and doing it, and the fact that I consider the chore less than stimulating: neither rewarding, nor terribly interesting. When I do, I will re-read your suggested edits, for which I thank you.

In terms of your SATA/RAID drivers, I have no first hand experience with those drivers in the RAID configuration, and would like to know if you get it working OK. Yes, the instructions are assuming the XP distribution is already on the HDD, and that you have created, and are familiar with, the WINNT.SIF file. If not ... familiarize yourself on the unatttended site first. As for the 1,, and whatever I have in the CAB file, though not the same, the downloaded files should be fine - there is always more than one way to skin a cat.

Thanks again for the suggestions, I will file them right here, until I work on the web site!

Good luck, and keep us posted as to how you get on.

[alanrosesf]

Thanks for your feedback. I spent the better part of the day trying to run the program and get things squared away on a CD. Have run into several issues. One of which is the ISO image was coming up too big for a CD 700mb. I tried a DVD and that too pooped out. I tried to edit the code so I could try a few things to just burn the ISO with no luck.

What I seem to have found out is the CDBURN.EXE only likes it when you give it a CD-RW and you erase it:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]

© Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>cd C:\XPCREATE\XPcreate

C:\XPCREATE\XPcreate>CDBURN.EXE D: -ERASE

Erasing media before burning

Number of blocks in ISO image is ffffffff

Erasing target media

Media erased

C:\XPCREATE\XPcreate>CDBURN.EXE D: XPCREATE.ISO -SPEED 24

Requesting burn at 24 speed

Number of blocks in ISO image is 4d943

Finished Writing

Synchronizing Cache: burn successful!

My log file showed:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 17:45:13 -- Start CDBURN Code:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@ECHO OFF

CDBURN.EXE D: XPCREATE.ISO -SPEED MAX >> XPCREATE.LOG

EXIT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 17:45:13 -- End CDBURN Code:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 17:45:14 -- Burning ISO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Requesting burn at maximum speed

Number of blocks in ISO image is 4d943

Error verifying next writable address

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 17:45:28 -- ISO Burning completed.

every time I tried to let the code burn a clean CD-R.

I was able to cut down the ISO size based on the MSFN tips and get the ISO image to around 635Mb.

Early on in the code popped up an error regarding the KB837373 telling me there was a syntax error. I just pressed OK and let it go and I'll deal with that update later should this all work.

Well, tomorrow is a big day. I'll do my last backups and down she goes for a full refit . I've been running RAID0+1 for 2 years now without a problem (other than Ghost will not back up RAID0+1 nor will any other software. So I'm backing down to RAID 1 and doing some partitioning here and there. I have 4 80Gb drives thus with the RAID0+1 I had one big 160Gb drive plus backup.

If all goes well, I may post here tomorrow night. If you don't hear from me, you'll know I've gotten myself into trouble. If this works well, I'd be happy to help you out with any documentation for your site. If this does not work well, I'll never speak to you again!

Just for the hell of it, I'm attaching my latest log file should you want to look through it while your having coffee or walking the dog.

Thanks again.

Alan

xpcreate.zip

[Wraith]

Now why don't I get nice people like that for XPlode?

[MCT]

Now why don't I get nice people like that for XPlode?

u sayin i wasnt nice? haha

ps. i got xplode workin good

regards

[GreenMachine]

... If all goes well, I may post here tomorrow night.  If you don't hear from me, you'll know I've gotten myself into trouble.  If this works well, I'd be happy to help you out with any documentation for your site.  If this does not work well, I'll never speak to you again!    ...

I wonder if it is time to start worrying.

Thanks for filling in the details, alanrosesf. In terms of the CDBURN, I'm thinking that I may need to revert back to my original method of erasing and writing in one go, as opposed to first erase then burn. I'll need to test.

I don't recognize that hotfix in error ...

Now why don't I get nice people like that for XPlode?

You don't pay them enough?

[THRiLL KiLL]

as far as installing windows on a raid setup... it goes pretty easly... i have set it up on a 8port 3ware card ( i added the sata driver to xpcreate and things worked flawlessly) with 8 250gig sata drives

and far as burning the cd.. use another program that supports overburning like nero or alchol 120% and u will be fine

[GreenMachine]

Been gone an awfully ling time, alanrosesf ...

@THRiLL KiLL: I'll see what I can do about adding your drivers (I think yuo sent them to me). THe problem is mainly that the 3ware drivers don't fit in with my conventions, and will require "special handling" on my end.