Hi All,

Here's a quickie for you - I want to deploy a Windows XP riprep image to several thousand clients using a 2003 RIS server. All the clients are PXE bootable (I actually have three different riprep images to encompass all HAL types we use). I use a sysprep.inf file in the c:\sysprep directory of the pc used to compose the riprep image. The sysprep.inf file contains the path to the oem WHQL signed driver files I wish to use:

[unattended]

OemPnpDriversPath=Drivers\C\I;\Drivers\V\I;Drivers\A\I\845;Drivers\A\I\865;Drivers\A\R;Drivers\L\I\100;Drivers\L\I\1000;Drivers\L\I\XGB

The drivers are located in C:\Drivers\...

I run riprep to copy the image to the RIS server and update the registry with the driver path from the sysprep.inf file. Excepting the NIC driver, no other OEM drivers are installed (native drivers do not exist for the video or audio). We edit the riprep.sif file accordingly to set the product key, language, resolution, etc. outside of what has been set in the image.

When I deploy the image to a client everything is as it should be except for the fact that the OEM drivers are not being used.

The .sys and.inf files for each driver are located in the folders specifed within the path. Not all clients use the same drivers and so those included encompass all circumstances.

I cannot think what I'm missing and would appreciate any help anyone has to offer.

Thanks,

Andrew

ps - For reasons of system administration I cannot yet gain complete control over group policy - it's a public sector organisation - hence the need for pre-configured riprep images and not RIS CD installs and group policy.

pps - I realise that network drivers are a seperate issue and I will deal with those accordingly after tackling this problem. I have already copied the .sys and .inf files to the CD install on the RIS server and into the i386 directory of the image as well as restarting the binlsvc service.

When using a RIS server I believe (if I remember well) you have to edit the dosnet.inf file as well!

When using a RIS server I believe (if I remember well) you have to edit the dosnet.inf file as well!

Hi,

Thanks for the reply - I had a look at MS knowledge base articles 246184 (How to add thrid-party OEM network adapters to RIS installations) and 314479 (How to add OEM plug and play drivers to Windows XP) and I can't find any reference to dosnet.inf. A quick google search seemed to suggest it was used when applying software updates that use update.exe and not searching and installing drivers.

See MSKB 828930 (How to integrate software updates into your Windows installation source files)

Thanks,

Andrew

What drivers are you adding anyway? Are they WHQL signed? Because if they aren't, and if Windows has older ones but signed ones, then these will be used...

What drivers are you adding anyway? Are they WHQL signed? Because if they aren't, and if Windows has older ones but signed ones, then these will be used...

Hi,

The drivers are WHQL signed. There are no native drivers for the video or audio hardware. Excepting the NIC, I do not install any OEM drivers onto the PC used to make the riprep image.

As such, I would expect the audio and video drivers to be installed at the very least.

Thanks,

Andrew

While most drivers should install using INF files, some drivers do require the use of the "setup.exe" file that accompanies them. A good way to test this is to use Device Manager to install one of these drivers. If you are able to point it to one of these INFs and it will install then that narrows down that problem. If it will not install properly then it may require the use of the install program that comes with it. If that's the case see if you can find a version that allows you to install it using just the INF.

While most drivers should install using INF files, some drivers do require the use of the "setup.exe" file that accompanies them.  A good way to test this is to use Device Manager to install one of these drivers.  If you are able to point it to one of these INFs and it will install then that narrows down that problem.  If it will not install properly then it may require the use of the install program that comes with it.  If that's the case see if you can find a version that allows you to install it using just the INF.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. After the image has been deployed I can quite happily use "Update Driver" in the device manager and point it at a directory specified in the HKLM\...\Devicepath key and it installs without issue. No setup.exe needed.

Thanks,

Andrew