Can nLite do this?

[Dondi]

My configuration consists of a Shuttle SB61G4, Pentium 4 and a single Hitachi 500G SATA drive. I'm simply trying to load Windows XP onto the drive. I'm not trying to install a RAID setup.

I have spent the entire day trying to use nLite to help me accomplish the following:

1) Start with an OEM Win XP Pro SP1 CD

2) Add SP2

3) Add Silicon Image SI3112 SATA driver

4) Create a bootable "enhanced" Win XP Pro ISO with XP Pro, SP2 and SATA driver

5) Burn a bootable CD

6) Use that CD to load Win XP on my SATA drive without using a floppy drive

So far, I have succeeded in creating a bootable CD thanks to help from users on the board. However, when I use it to set up WinXP, setup still does not see my SATA drive -- even though my BIOS does. And when I reboot and try the F6 option, setup still looks for a Floppy drive. I have tried disabling the Silicon Image RAID ROM on my BIOS, but the behavior remains unchanged.

As a result of multiple attempts and just as many failures I am starting to believe that I am trying to do the impossible.

I believe nLite can perform steps 1-5; but I'm beginning to think that step 6 is impossible for the following reasons:

1) nLite is not really creating a true SP2 version of Win XP Pro -- I think it is just adding SP2 files as a post-installation action

2) Because of this, Setup is still running SP1 code -- so, the fact that SP1 can't recognize SATA drives is unchanged

3) As such, the code still behaves like SP1, requiring a floppy drive to load the SATA driver -- just like my original CD with Win XP SP1

I am beginning to believe that I simply need to go buy a fresh copy of XP Pro with SP2 embedded -- which I believe will recognize SATA drives. Please confirm or refute my logic. If I'm wrong some guidance on the required steps is appreciated. Thx,

Dondi.

[Angel Blue01]

nlite should do what you ask.

Not all SATA drivers will slipstream properly. I ended up using BTS driverpacks to get my hard drive recognized, but they may take up a of space.

You'll just have to stick a floppy drine in there and use the drivers on the floppy.

A store-bought version of XP is no likly to contin the needed drivers or anything else than one you slipstream yourself. Its less so!

[gamehead200]

My configuration consists of a Shuttle SB61G4, Pentium 4 and a single Hitachi 500G SATA drive. I'm simply trying to load Windows XP onto the drive. I'm not trying to install a RAID setup.

I have spent the entire day trying to use nLite to help me accomplish the following:

1) Start with an OEM Win XP Pro SP1 CD

2) Add SP2

3) Add Silicon Image SI3112 SATA driver

4) Create a bootable "enhanced" Win XP Pro ISO with XP Pro, SP2 and SATA driver

5) Burn a bootable CD

6) Use that CD to load Win XP on my SATA drive without using a floppy drive

So far, I have succeeded in creating a bootable CD thanks to help from users on the board. However, when I use it to set up WinXP, setup still does not see my SATA drive -- even though my BIOS does. And when I reboot and try the F6 option, setup still looks for a Floppy drive. I have tried disabling the Silicon Image RAID ROM on my BIOS, but the behavior remains unchanged.

As a result of multiple attempts and just as many failures I am starting to believe that I am trying to do the impossible.

I believe nLite can perform steps 1-5; but I'm beginning to think that step 6 is impossible for the following reasons:

1) nLite is not really creating a true SP2 version of Win XP Pro -- I think it is just adding SP2 files as a post-installation action

2) Because of this, Setup is still running SP1 code -- so, the fact that SP1 can't recognize SATA drives is unchanged

3) As such, the code still behaves like SP1, requiring a floppy drive to load the SATA driver -- just like my original CD with Win XP SP1

I am beginning to believe that I simply need to go buy a fresh copy of XP Pro with SP2 embedded -- which I believe will recognize SATA drives. Please confirm or refute my logic. If I'm wrong some guidance on the required steps is appreciated. Thx,

Dondi.

Yes, take a few minutes to browse through the forums or search. You will be very surprised at what you will find. Also take a look at http://www.nliteos.com/ in the Guides section.

Angel Blue01 is right about the SATA drivers, though.

[matthestar]

I have used nLite to slipstream my SP1 disc with SP2 + Si3112 drivers for a while now without any problems.

You will need to download the SP2 redistributable package to your hard drive and copy the drivers to a folder on your HD.

(You could also download them from the Silicon Image website but make sure you extract them from the zip file 1st)

Simply copy your SP1 disc to a folder on your HD. Load this into nLite and select the options for service pack, drivers and create bootable ISO image.

After you have applied the service pack you should be taken to the drivers page. Load up the silicon image drivers and you should be given a choice of a Windows XP driver and something else. make sure you hilight the XP driver then continue. Create your ISO burn it with Nero and you should be OK.

Ps. Also make sure you re-enable the SATA Raid Rom as this will also disable the SATA even if you don't use RAID.

Mat.

Edited November 21, 2006 by matthestar

[Dondi]

Thanks gamehead and Angel Blue. The Guide was news to me. I reviewed it and found that I did exactly as outlined -- so nothing new there. I also searched the forums for hours before posting. I still cannot find anything that suggests what I am doing wrong. So I will ask a few more questions to try and isolate the problem:

1) If the SATA driver is slip streamed correctly, should I still see the prompt to "Press F6" to add third party RAID driver?

2) Is the slip streamed driver only functional once Windows XP loads, or is it functional during setup (thereby allowing setup to see the drive the way the F6/floppy-loaded driver does)?

3) gamehead, can you explain how to use the BTS driver packs, and which pack to use for SATA drivers?

4) I have seen many posts in the nLite forum stating that WinXP SP2 does not require third party SATA drivers for non-RAID configurations. This leads me to believe that a newer WinXP CD should solve this problem (especially for a Hitachi drive).

Thanks,

Dondi.

[Dondi]

I have used nLite to slipstream my SP1 disc with SP2 + Si3112 drivers for a while now without any problems.

Thanks Matt! I appreciate the detailed response. I did what you outlined, but with some variation in how I did it. I don't believe the differences should be material, but I have outlined them below. Your thoughts are appreciated.

You will need to download the SP2 redistributable package to your hard drive and copy the drivers to a folder on your HD.

(You could also download them from the Silicon Image website but make sure you extract them from the zip file 1st)

I downloaded the SP2 for IT professionals directly from Microsoft:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;DisplayLang=en

I downloaded the SATA driver directly from Silicon Image:

http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/3x12-vist...-logo-13670.zip

I then extracted the files from the archive and placed all 9 of them into a directory (c:\SATADrivers).

Simply copy your SP1 disc to a folder on your HD. Load this into nLite and select the options for service pack, drivers and create bootable ISO image.

I didn't copy the disk contents to my HD, instead, I placed the Win XP SP1 disk into my CDROM (Drive F:) and browsed to it using nLite. nLite then asked for a source directory (c:\WinXPSetup) on the HD and I pointed it to the one I created. nLite then copied the files from the Win XP SP1 CD to the C:\WinXPSetup without error. I assume this is OK. Could this be a source of error? I then selected Service Pack, Drivers and Bootable ISO image.

After you have applied the service pack you should be taken to the drivers page. Load up the silicon image drivers and you should be given a choice of a Windows XP driver and something else. make sure you hilight the XP driver then continue. Create your ISO burn it with Nero and you should be OK.

I browsed to the c:\SATADrivers directory and selected the SI3112.inf file. Then I selected the Windows XP/Server 2003 driver (NOTthe Windows NT/2000 driver).

Another point of departure is that I selected the Direct Burn Mode instead of creating an ISO then burning it to the CD with Nero, etc. Could this be a problem?

Ps. Also make sure you re-enable the SATA Raid Rom as this will also disable the SATA even if you don't use RAID.

I did this as well.

Thanks again for your assistance.

Dondi.

Edited November 22, 2006 by Dondi

[matthestar]

Hey no worries your more than welcome

I think I have noticed the problem. I checked the drivers that you linked to and they are NOT for the SATA RAID BIOS. They are instead for accessing non-raid devices with the BASE BIOS.

If you ask me their website is a bit confusing but if you download these drivers you should be ok

http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/3112r_x86_10561_logo.zip

They are the latest stable drivers for the SATA RAID BIOS under XP that I can find. (And I use them on my system)

Hope this helps

Mat.

[Dondi]

Hey no worries your more than welcome

I think I have noticed the problem. I checked the drivers that you linked to and they are NOT for the SATA RAID BIOS. They are instead for accessing non-raid devices with the BASE BIOS.

If you ask me their website is a bit confusing but if you download these drivers you should be ok

http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/3112r_x86_10561_logo.zip

They are the latest stable drivers for the SATA RAID BIOS under XP that I can find. (And I use them on my system)

Hope this helps

Mat.

Thanks a lot Mat. The reason I selected the BASE driver is because I am not using my SATA drive in RAID configuration. It's the only drive in my system. I bought a SATA drive because of SATA's supposed better performance. So I thought the BASE driver was appropriate since I did not intend to use RAID.

I will try the driver you referenced. I assume that I can just ignore the "Press F6 ..." option and have Win XP setup find the slipstreamed driver all by itself. I'll report my findings in a bit. Thanks again,

Dondi.

[matthestar]

Hey no worries your more than welcome

I think I have noticed the problem. I checked the drivers that you linked to and they are NOT for the SATA RAID BIOS. They are instead for accessing non-raid devices with the BASE BIOS.

If you ask me their website is a bit confusing but if you download these drivers you should be ok

http://www.siliconimage.com/docs/3112r_x86_10561_logo.zip

They are the latest stable drivers for the SATA RAID BIOS under XP that I can find. (And I use them on my system)

Hope this helps

Mat.

Thanks a lot Mat. The reason I selected the BASE driver is because I am not using my SATA drive in RAID configuration. It's the only drive in my system. I bought a SATA drive because of SATA's supposed better performance. So I thought the BASE driver was appropriate since I did not intend to use RAID.

I will try the driver you referenced. I assume that I can just ignore the "Press F6 ..." option and have Win XP setup find the slipstreamed driver all by itself. I'll report my findings in a bit. Thanks again,

Dondi.

No worries! Yeah I would read it as requiring the BASE driver as well but it's the SATARAID one you are after

And yes just ignore the F6 message.

Mat.

Edited November 22, 2006 by matthestar

[Dondi]

Success!!! Thanks Mat, gamehead and angel blue! The problem was the driver as Mat surmised. I was using the BASE driver instead of the RAID driver. I used the driver Mat referenced and the nLite-created install disc worked like magic. Thanks for all of your time and patience. Much appreciated!

Dondi.

[matthestar]

Cool excelent, enjoy your fresh install