OemPnPDriversPath longer than 255 chars

[espeedy]

Hello

I'm using an unattended network installation at work, and we use OemPnPDriversPath in unattend.txt to point to all the drivers for our computers.

Now we have got a problem with the length of the string, because when the line is more than 255 chars long, the rest of the line is not used in windows.

Anyone has experienced the same, or know how I can break the 255 char limit?

regards

Rasmus

[Shamwari]

Hi Rasmus

Yes, I have had the same challenge (not allowed to call them problems). You have serveral options:

*Shorten the names of the driver folder- obvious I know!

*Change your boot up environment from DOS to WINPE so that you have a 32 bit environment to start Windows XP installation- 255 character limit no longer applies.

*Use method 2 of the device driver installation methods where it automatically parses the driver directory for drivers during the installation. No path in unattend.txt required.

Regards

[espeedy]

Hi again

Its great to have some quick replies here

*Shorten the names of the driver folder- obvious I know!

Yes, this was also the solution that hit us but then again, we need to have all drivers present for multiple machines with different hardware, so this is only a short term solution before we hit the 255 char limit again.

*Change your boot up environment from DOS to WINPE so that you have a 32 bit environment to start Windows XP installation-  255 character limit no longer applies.

We might take a look at this.

*Use method 2 of the device driver installation methods where it automatically parses the driver directory for drivers during the installation.  No path in unattend.txt required.

Do you mean the method described here: http://unattended.msfn.org/intermediate/drivers/cd.htm ?

regards

Rasmus

Edited September 29, 2005 by espeedy

[Shamwari]

We use the same sort of driver structure as seen in Bâshrat the Sneaky's DriverPacks, and we can fit a lot within the 255 character constraint. E.g:

OemPnPDriversPath="D\C\AT;D\C\AU;D\C\I;D\C\N;D\C\V;D\G\A\1;D\G\A\1\WDM;D\G\A\2;D\G\A\3;D\G\I\1;D\G\I\2;D\G\I\3;D\G\I\4;D\G\I\5;D\G\M\1;D\G\M\2;D\G\M\3;D\G\N;D\G\S\1;D\G\S\2;D\G\S\3;D\G\V\1;D\G\V\2;D\G\V\3;D\G\V\4;D\G\V\5;D\G\X\1;D\G\X\1\WDM;D\G\X\2;D\L\3\1;D\L\3\2;D\L\3\3;D\L\AU;D\L\B;D\L\B\2;D\L\BU\1;D\L\BU\2;D\L\BU\3;D\L\C\1;D\L\C\2;D\L\C\4;D\L\CO\1;D\L\CO\2;D\L\CO\3;D\L\CO\4;D\L\CO\5;D\L\D\1;D\L\D\2;D\L\D\3;D\L\D\4;D\L\D\5;D\L\D\6;D\L\D\7;D\L\D\8;D\L\I;D\L\L\1;D\L\L\2;D\L\L\3;D\L\L\3\B;D\L\L\4;D\L\L\5;D\L\LI\1;D\L\LI\2;D\L\LI\3;D\L\LI\4;D\L\LI\5;D\L\LI\6;D\L\LI\7;D\L\M;D\L\MI;D\L\N\1;D\L\N\2;D\L\N\3;D\L\N\4;D\L\N\5;D\L\N\6;D\L\N\7;D\L\N\8;D\L\NV;D\L\NV\O;D\L\O\1;D\L\O\2;D\L\O\3;D\L\O\4;D\L\O\5;D\L\O\6;D\L\O\7;D\L\O\8;D\L\R\1;D\L\R\2;D\L\S;D\L\SM\1;D\L\SM\2;D\L\SM\3;D\L\SM\4;D\L\SM\5;D\L\SM\6;D\L\SM\7;D\L\SM\8;D\L\SM\9;D\L\T;D\L\U\1;D\L\U\2;D\L\U\3;D\L\U\4;D\L\U\5;D\L\V\1;D\L\V\2;D\L\V\3;D\M\3\1;D\M\3\2;D\M\3\3;D\M\A\1;D\M\A\2;D\M\A\3;D\M\A\4;D\M\A\5;D\M\A\6;D\M\A\7;D\M\A\8;D\M\AD\1;D\M\AD\2;D\M\AD\3;D\M\AD

And so on...

We are however looking at developing a WINPE solution over the next 12 months.

Do you mean the method described here: http://unattended.msfn.org/intermediate/drivers/cd.htm

Yes, this is what I was refering to.