Where on the HDD does the windows image get copied?

[betamax]

Here's the scenario:

I have a system with two cd rom drives, and one HDD.

I put BartPE in the first drive, and my XP CD in the second. I start my computer and boot to BartPE.

The cd drive with BartPE is labeled X:

The cd drive with the XP CD is labeled D:

I then do format c: /fs:ntfs /q /y

followed by

D:\i386\winnt32.exe /syspart:c: /tempdrive:c: /makelocalsource

This puts the ~BT and ~LS folders both under C:\

But what is /makelocalsource actually doing? Where do these extra files appear? I'd like to have them get copied to c:\i386

Also, after rebooting, setup text mode boots off the hdd as expected, but when it triest to copy files over, it says it cannot find any of the .dll files. It then says to make sure the cd is in the drive and to push enter to retry. Even with the cd in any of the drive, it cannot find the source files. I thought /makelocalsource would place the files on the HDD so I wouldn't need the CD for the rest of the installation.

If anyone knows what's going on, please reply.

Thanks.

[thuun derboy]

see the documentation on your xp cd!

or search?

[betamax]

I still can't get it to work. It creates the ~BT and ~LS folders on the root of my hdd. When I reboot, it launches the text portion of setup from the hdd as expected. But once I tell it to begin installation, it says it can't find the required files.

Shouldn't everything be in the ~LS folder at that point?

Edited September 21, 2006 by betamax

[Br4tt3]

I am not certain but I think it is supposed to be in the ~LS directory... then again, Winnt32.exe reads dosnet.inf which informs setup on where to copy the files to (either ~LS or ~BT). If u added custom files, for example when using TXTSETUP.SIF to integrate masstorage drivers, u also need to supply the file references to the DOSNET.INF file. If NOT, then the text mode portion of the setup will fail due to the errors described by u...

In my case, I often have to integrate drivers into my Windows setup source, if it is a new driver (not native to Windows setup) here is what I have to do (in terms of DOSNET.inf):

Find section [FloppyFiles.2] and insert;
d1, mydriver.sys

Find section [Files] and insert the same value;
d1, mydriver.sys

So check for some specific files and check where they are referenced from dosnet.inf and then check to which directory the files are place once the installation goes into the text mode portion (~LS or ~BT). Hope it helps..

Also, this is why u dont have to edit same files when integrating stuff into the setup into the same files (dosnet.inf)... when for example running a RIS install, winnt32.exe is not used, kicking off a WinXP install from within WinPE, winnt32.exe is the only option which again, requires dosnet.inf to work... and a last advice, never mess with layout.inf or it will haunt u forever!

[betamax]

that's the thing.. i'm not trying to do anything fancy. I just wanted to see if I could get setup to work when initiating it via winnt32 with the syspart switch.

I just reformatted the drive, booted back to bartPE, copied the i386 folder to C:\ then ran c:\i386\winnt32.ext /syspart:c: /tempdrive:c: /unattend:c:\i386\winnt.sif

I removed the CDs and restarted. Once again, setup booted off the hard drive. And, once again, Setup reports not being able to find any files. What the heck's going on here? Is it because I'm booting from a different drive letter?

The bartPE cd labels itself X:. I noted that in the ~BT file, there was a winnt.sif file with the following key/value pair

uniqueid="X:\i386\MGM"

What is that all about?

[betamax]

I should have mentioned that this is a Dell provided XP cd. The files Setup can't find are actually drivers from Dell. Two of them are nvraidco.dll and nvraid.sys.

At any rate, they exist under the i386 folder, but are not copied over to the ~LS folder. Is there something I have to do to get those files to copy over? I also copied over the $OEM$ folder from the cd root to C:\i386 because it's my understanding that when you're not installing off the cd, the OEM folder is actually within your i386.

What files should I be looking at to help figure out how to get Setup to notice these files?

[Br4tt3]

Hi again!

The two files, nvraidco.dll and nvraid.sys, are these the files that setup cannot seem to find when booting back into the text mode portion of the setup? In case Yes, then peform the following:

1. Check if the files are existing within a "normal", not a Dell XP CD! Prolly not.... then check if they are referenced from the dosnet.inf file....

2. As stated above, when envoking winnt32.exe from within WinPE, the setup engine (dosnet.inf) is parsed to inform on which files that are to be copied, and where to copy them. As troubbleshooting, once the setup fails due "setup cannot find file xyz.xxx", then boot into PE again, copy the two files to the ~BT folder, restart into XP setup mode again, and check if the setup is working now... in case NOT, then boot back into PE again, copy the files into the ~LS directory and try the XP setup once more.. in case it works now, guess what; dosnet.inf needs to be edited to reference the files listed above!

trial & error....

[betamax]

Hey Br4tt3

Thanks for the advice. I'll try it when I get home today and let you know how it goes.

[twalk482]

Looks like you might need to add an answer file in your WINNT32.EXE command and have the OEMPreinstall Option set in that answer file

Here is a sample of mine ... using HP array controller ... I also use /MAKELOCALSOURCE

example UNATTEND.TXT (relevent sections)

[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemPreinstall=Yes
OemPnPDriversPath=Drivers\HP\BXVBDX

[MassStorageDrivers]
"Smart Array 5x and 6x Controllers"=OEM

[OEMBootFiles]
txtsetup.oem
HpCISSs.sys
HpCISSs.inf
HpCISSs.cat

The text in [MassStorageDrivers] section has to match an entry in the TXTSETUP.OEM file

Have to have a TXTSETUP.OEM in that $oem$ ... Dell CD probably has that so check the $oem$\TEXTMODE folder

example TXTSETUP.OEM (relevent sections)

[SCSI]
5x6x = "Smart Array 5x and 6x Controllers"

[Files.scsi.5x6x]
driver  = d1,HpCISSs.sys,HpCISSs
inf	 = d1,HpCISSs.inf
catalog = d1,HpCISSs.cat

[Config.5x6x]
value = "",tag,REG_DWORD,103
value = Parameters\PnpInterface,5,REG_DWORD,1

[HardwareIds.scsi.5x6x]
id = "PCI\VEN_0E11&DEV_B060&SUBSYS_40700E11","HpCISSs"

[betamax]

I will look for that as well.

I'm not sure what the difference is when using /makelocalsource, since I'm just copying my i386 folder to my C:\ drive and then running winnt32 from there (as well as copying $OEM$ into C:\i386).

[twalk482]

You need the boot from hard drive in either case correct?

When you do your initial copy and run from C: you are still bot environment of the CD, correct?

After all the copying is done from CD or wherever, the system will reboot in hopes of finding a bootable Hard Disk / writeable media ... and isn't this where your process is failing?

Sorry if I am missing something.

[betamax]

I have 2 cd rom drive and 1 HDD.

I put my BartPE cd in the primary cd rom drive and boot off of it. From BartPE, I format my HDD. Then, I insert my XP CD into my secondary cd rom drive. Still in BartPE, I copy the i386 folder from my xp cd to my HDD as C:\i386. Then, I copy the $OEM$ folder from my xp cd to the i386 folder on my HDD as c:\i386\$OEM$

I remove my xp cd from my secondary cd rom drive.

Then, still in BartPE, I open up a command prompt and type the following:

C:

./i386/winnt32.exe /syspart:c: /tempdrive:c: /unattend:\i386\winnt.sif

the winnt.sif has my cd key already in it.

after setup finishes, i remove the BartPE CD from my primary drive, and restart my computer.

There are now no cds in my computer.

Text mode Setup boots up off my hard drive, checks my drive, says it's making a list of files to copy, then says it can't find nvraidco.dll.

nvraidco.dll does not exist on a normal retail xp cd, nor is it copied over to $WINNT$.~LS\i386 or any other folder for that matter.

However, if I boot straight off the CD and install windows normally (without BartPE or anything else) it works fine. But I'm not reformatting this computer to use it, I'm just experimenting with my BartPE cd and trying to install windows from a preinstall environment. And I can't get it to work!

[Br4tt3]

Hi!

Of course, I cannot be sure, but I would say that I am almost 100% sure that this error is not originating from using the /makelocalsource param. Normally, when getting this error, the file requested is not in place in the ~ folders, as expected. U would have to solve it through dosnet.inf.... have u tried running the same installation without the /makelocalsource param? I think u will get the same error even without it...

[betamax]

The file is listed in both txtsetup.oem as well as txtsetup.sif. However, it is not in dosnet.ini.

Does that mean this CD was made with the expectation that the user would just boot off of it to install windows?

[Br4tt3]

I have no idea what the intention of the CD's and it's usage but, unless the file is not referenced from dosnet.inf, the files will not be copied, placed, to the correct temp directory when u run winnt32.exe..