Various Problems With Unattended Install

[Rambler]

Hi guys, i'm playing around with WinPE and unattended installs, but i'm having some troubles and would appreciate some help if possible.

Firstly i should say i boot to WinPE from a cd, then connect to a network share. I also need to install win to multiple computers, so i created a UDF file.

1)Problem is with the UDF - for some reason, when i run winnt32 /unattend:unattend.txt /udf:PC01,unattend.udf the setup starts, but says my product id supplied is invalid and i have to enter it manually again.

Related sections in my unattend.txt file:

[UserData]
    FullName="Company_name"
    OrgName="Company_name"

and unattend.udf (for simplicity sake i've deleted all the other ids and left only one):

;SetupMgrTag

[UniqueIds]
PC01=UserData

[PC01:UserData]
ComputerName=PC01
ProductKey=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

The product key is valid (ofcourse not this X-stuff ), because when i enter it manually it works just fine.

2)I'm reinstalling these machines, so they already have a partition with OS on them. So i'm using AutoPartition=0 and Repartition=Yes, but during the setup it still asks me if i wish to delete the partition etc etc. I simply want to delete all partitions and create new one.

3)After the initial copy stage i still have to quit WinPE - is there any possibility for this to happen automatically?

4)I've included some drivers in the $OEM$ section - specifically NIC drivers - it's Intel onboard NIC and i even followed their readme for slipstreaming them into the dist. share. But the problem is that they're included in the installation, but not actually installed for some reason. This is probably the most serious seatback atm, because i can't test further without working networking.

5)I know there's ton of stuff on these forums, but are there any general guides for automating software installations/including them in the distribution share? Same applies for customizing the windows - we have somewhat different settings compared to default WinXP installation - we have it configured for speed/simplicity, so it's closer to W2k appeareance-wise - i'm aware of some registry tweaks for this, but i couldn't find all the tweaks i'd need.

Thanks in advance, any input is appreciated.

[Rambler]

No suggestions? At least about the productkey? That really bugs me, why it shouldn't work.

[Dahi]

1. Do you have a different ProductKey for each PC? It looks like it should work, but I've never tried - I use a volume license key.

2. Set AutoPartition=1 to wipe all partitions automatically. Warning: be careful where you leave your unattended CD - it will format any PC you leave it in!

[Data]
  AutoPartition=1
[Unattended]
  Repartition=Yes

3. Use EXIT to close WinPE

winnt32.exe /unattend1:C:\local\unattend.txt /s:c:\local\source\i386 /udf:%computername%,Z:\Control\unique.udb /syspart:c: /tempdrive:c: /debug4:c:\local\debug.log /noreboot /copysource:lang /dudisable

rem Restart PC. Kill nu2menu to restart from BartPE. "Exit" restarts WinPE
rem pskill.exe nu2menu.exe 

exit

4. Copy your drivers to XPCD\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\IntelNIC then add Drivers\IntelNic to your OemPnPDriversPath

[Unattended]
	OemPreinstall = Yes
	DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
	NonDriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
	OemPnPDriversPath=Drivers\IntelNic;Drivers\MarvellPXE;Drivers\nv4disp2;Drivers\nv4_disp;Drivers\SoundMax;Drivers\USB2-EHCI;Drivers\VMVideo;Drivers\AtiSMBus

5. If its not in the guide, ask in the forums.

[Rambler]

Firstly thanks for reply Dahi. Now on to my comments

1. Do you have a different ProductKey for each PC? It looks like it should work, but I've never tried - I use a volume license key.

Yes, we have OEM Windows, so i need to use product key for each of the machines - hence i want to simplify that by using the UDF file, but i have no idea why it shouldn't work.

2. Set AutoPartition=1 to wipe all partitions automatically. Warning: be careful where you leave your unattended CD - it will format any PC you leave it in!

[Data]
  AutoPartition=1
[Unattended]
  Repartition=Yes

AutoPartition description from WinPE documentation - "Installs Windows to the first available partition that has adequate space for a Windows installation and does not already contain an installed version of Windows." I left it at 0, because on some other forums people advised that it won't automatically wipe the partitions via Repartition=Yes when AutoPartition=1. Anyways thanks for tip, i'll try it.

4. Copy your drivers to XPCD\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\IntelNIC then add Drivers\IntelNic to your OemPnPDriversPath

[Unattended]
	OemPreinstall = Yes
	DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
	NonDriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
	OemPnPDriversPath=Drivers\IntelNic;Drivers\MarvellPXE;Drivers\nv4disp2;Drivers\nv4_disp;Drivers\SoundMax;Drivers\USB2-EHCI;Drivers\VMVideo;Drivers\AtiSMBus

Sorry, i wasnt' too clear in my initial post - i'm doing exactly this - using these settings in unattend section (except for NonDriverSigningPolicy - what is that - i haven't found any description of this) and using similar directory structure (actually i put my drivers in $OEM$\$1\001_lan and added that path to OemPnPDriversPath).

5. If its not in the guide, ask in the forums.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, i'll search more.

[Rambler]

Hm is there noone using UDF files who could help me out??

Anyways i've encountered more problems - after the initial file copy phase, i looked into the temporary folders on my C: drive and they both contain $OEM$ folders, but these are empty. None of my $OEM$ folder contents was copied over. What is wrong with that? It apparently can't be copied over once i quit WinPE and restart the pc, because then it's no longer connected to the distribution share.

Any suggestions?

[Rambler]

Well, seems like i am talking to myself only, but anyways...

I've done some more testing - apparently repartitioning the driver from the setup won't work for me, because this would be done after the initial file copy phase *shrug*, so i've solved this using diskpart before starting the setup.

But it seems the setup is ignoring PARTS of my unattend.txt, because some settings are applied, while others not. Especially nothing from the $OEM$ folder is copied over, then AutoLogon=Yes doesn't work for me (after installation i have to log in manually), furthermore Background from [OEM_Ads] is not used either. And then there's still the issue with the UDF file.

Here's my unattend.txt if anyone could take a look at it and tell me if there's anything wrong with it. Btw currently the network-related settings are useless as my NIC doesn't get installed apparently, because the $OEM$ folder with the correct drivers is not copied over.

;SetupMgrTag
[Data]
    AutomaticUpdates = 0
    AutoPartition = 0
    MsDosInitiated = 0
    UnattendedInstall = Yes

[Unattended]
    ActivateProxy = Proxy
    UnattendMode = ProvideDefault
    Repartition = No
    OemSkipEula = Yes
    OemPreinstall = Yes
    TargetPath = \WINDOWS
    AutoActivate = Yes
    OEMPnPDriversPath = "000_chipset;001_lan;002_gfx;003_audio"
    DriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
    NonDriverSigningPolicy = Ignore
    DUDisable = Yes
    Hibernation = No 
    WaitForReboot = No

[GuiUnattended]
    AdminPassword = fc5bc10636ea6c231aa818381e4e281b5ad371740741022c8633fb5cb92a0960
    EncryptedAdminPassword = Yes
    AutoLogon = Yes
    AutoLogonCount = 1
    TimeZone = 95
    OemSkipWelcome = 1
    OEMSkipRegional = 1

[UserData]
    FullName = "company_name"
    OrgName = "company_name"

[Display]
    BitsPerPel = 16
    Xresolution = 800
    YResolution = 600

[Shell]
    DefaultStartPanelOff = Yes
    DefaultThemesOff = Yes

[Branding]
    BrandIEUsingUnattended = Yes

[URL]
    Home_Page = about:blank

[Proxy]
    Proxy_Enable = 1
    Use_Same_Proxy = 1
    HTTP_Proxy_Server = proxy_server:3128

[Identification]
    JoinWorkgroup = WORKGROUP

[Networking]
    InstallDefaultComponents = No

[NetAdapters]
    Adapter1 = params.Adapter1

[params.Adapter1]
    INFID = *

[NetClients]
    MS_MSClient = params.MS_MSClient

[NetProtocols]
    MS_TCPIP = params.MS_TCPIP

[params.MS_TCPIP]
    DNS = Yes
    UseDomainNameDevolution = No
    EnableLMHosts = Yes
    AdapterSections = params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1

[params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1]
    SpecificTo = Adapter1
    DHCP = Yes
    WINS = No
    NetBIOSOptions = 0

[WindowsFirewall]
    Profiles = WindowsFirewall.TurnOffFirewall

[WindowsFirewall.TurnOffFirewall]
    Mode = 0

[OEM_Ads]
    background = bckgrnd.bmp

[Dahi]

Autologon wont work with encrypted admin password.

Try adding UnattendSwitch to get your $OEM$ folders copied and your NIC drivers installed. Parts of winnt.sif get skipped without this.

[Unattended]
    UnattendMode=FullUnattended 
    UnattendSwitch = Yes

If you get $OEM$ folders on C: then theres something else wrong. All you should have on C: is C:\000_chipset and C:\001_lan etc.

Setup loads drivers, partitions the drive, then copies files. Using Diskpart is fine, but it isnt necessary if the limited partition ability of Setup will do the job for you.

[Rambler]

Autologon wont work with encrypted admin password.

Thanks, didn't know about that

If you get $OEM$ folders on C: then theres something else wrong. All you should have on C: is C:\000_chipset and C:\001_lan etc.

No, i don't get $OEM$ folder on c:, but it's created in the temporary LS,BT folders after the file copy phase (and it's empty).

Setup loads drivers, partitions the drive, then copies files. Using Diskpart is fine, but it isnt necessary if the limited partition ability of Setup will do the job for you.

Well i thought so too before. Maybe it's just this OEM version i'm using, but what it does after running the setup from WinPE is copy the files from the dist. share over to c: (has to exist otherwise setup won't continue) and does no partitioning/formating at this stage. Then setup exits, i have to exit WinPE, after reboot the setup continues the text-mode portion, but apparently at this point it can't partition/format the drive because the file are already copied on the drive and setup doesn't have access to distribution share anymore.

Anyways thanks for the help so far, i'll try what you suggested.