OemDrivers, [OemInfFiles] and WINNT32 /unattend

[antoineL]

Hi guys,

Marvelous reference site about unattended installation, so chapeau bas.

I have discovered the [OemInfFiles] method, which seems to be the ultimate best to deal with newer disk-controller drivers.

However, while experimenting a bit with it, I discovered a problem.

We know we can feed WINNT32 with a Unattend.txt pre-cooked file.

Furthermore, WINNT32 will do essentially nothing with the content of this file, it just parse it to recognize the sections and copy the result to winnt.sif inside $win_nt$.~bt, with two exceptions:

1. sometimes a [setupParams] section is added/modified, for example to deal with /cmd: switch which is simply transformed to userexecute= option, or /copydir: switch which raises optionaldirs= option; or the accessibility options.
   
2. The [Data] section is completely revamped...
   

And this is where there is the problem. It seems that the line

[Data]
OemDrivers=OemInfFiles

(which will raise the "installation" of the mass storage drivers at the next stage, textmode setup) is NOT PASSED THROUGH by Winnt32 .

I have just played with single instance installation (local), but I fear similar problem could occur with networked or perhaps remote installation.

Any comment? Something obvious I missed?

EDIT

According to trainee's neat description of the TEXTMODE method M2, I guess I should be able to force the inclusion of the drivers for the next phase using [OEMBootFiles] section, which will be copied from $oem$\textmode into $win_nt$.~bt\$oem$ by winnt32.exe, and then used appropriately (long description of this well-known process).

However, it seems to me this is going to be girdle AND straps, isn't it?

Antoine

Edited February 24, 2006 by antoineL