Unattended Xp Setup Stops After Copying Files

[gs1956_2000]

Hi,

I'm trying to do an unattended install of XP Pro SP2 and Office XP over my home network.

I start the machine (which has a blank reformatted HD as IDE-0, recognized by BIOS) using a BartPE-Reatogo disk and from there I connect to the install share on the server.

This share contains XP Pro from original CD, slipstreamed with SP2 and all Hotfixes. (By the way, if I burn this to a CD, I get a perfect unattended install).

The share also contains (under \I386\$oem$\$1\install\Applications\OfficeXP) the slipstreamed install files for Office XP (they don't fit on the CD).

I map the share as drive Z.

I start the unattended install by clicking on unattend.bat (at the root of the install share), which was created by MS setupmgr.exe and goes as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@rem SetupMgrTag

@echo off

rem

rem This is a SAMPLE batch script generated by Setup Manager.

rem If this script is moved from the location where it was generated, it may have to be modified.

rem

set AnswerFile=.\unattend.txt

set SetupFiles=\\PAP\windist\I386

\\PAP\windist\I386\winnt32 /s:%SetupFiles% /unattend:%AnswerFile% /copysource:lang

ECHO Installing Office XP Professional with Frontpage

ECHO Please wait...

start /wait %systemdrive%\install\Applications\OfficeXP\setuppls.exe TRANSFORMS=Unattended.MST /qb-

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(NB: The last lines on Office XP have been added manually.)

In the same root directory of the install share I have the unattend.txt (also created with Setup Manager), which I've also copied to the I386 directory and renamed winnt.sif

The install starts normally and seems to complete the first step (copying of files to the HD); at least, the progress bar is all filled.

Then everything stops; no reboot, nothing else.

If I force a reboot, the setup continues but stops almost immediately telling me that setupORG.exe and presetup.cmd are missing.

If I choose to carry on regardless, after a further reboot I get a more detailed message telling me that the following two line are missing in txtsetup.sif:

setupORG.exe = 1,,,,,,,2,0,0

presetup.cmd = 1,,,,,,,2,0,0

I reboot with the CD and get into the HD and indeed those two files are missing from I386. The two lines are NOT missing from txtsetup.sif but they seem a bit out of place, so I copy them (double checking the spelling etc.) to the top of the [sourceDisksFiles] section and start again from scratch.... No difference, same exact problem.

If I manually copy those two files into I386 (on the HD) and reboot, install completes normally; however, this is not exactly what I mean by unattended install....

I've tried both removing the Reatogo CD (after starting install), and leaving it in. No difference.

If, instead of starting the install from unattend.bat, I start it from winnt32.exe, I don't get an unattended, just the normal install.

What am I doing wrong? Any help appreciated.

I couldn't attach the txtsetup.sif file (too big, apparently), so I link it here.

One other question; surfing different sites on the web I see that the $OEM$ application install files are more often placed at the same level as I386, but sometimes inside it; does it make a difference? I have them inside and they end up in the right place on the HD (although so far I haven't be able to get the Office XP install automatically started).

Thanks.

[blinkdt]

Pretty certain that $OEM$ needs to be alongside I386 when installing over a network (but inside when installing from CD). Also, aren't setupORG.exe and presetup.cmd related to the 'Drivers from CD' method of driver install? If you're installing over a network, then 'Drivers from CD' is moot, eh?

EDIT: "Pretty certain that $OEM$ needs to be alongside I386 when installing over a network (but inside when installing from CD)." Nope, pretty certain that it's the other way around!

Edited November 26, 2006 by blinkdt

[gs1956_2000]

Pretty certain that $OEM$ needs to be alongside I386 when installing over a network (but inside when installing from CD). Also, aren't setupORG.exe and presetup.cmd related to the 'Drivers from CD' method of driver install? If you're installing over a network, then 'Drivers from CD' is moot, eh?

Thanks blinkdt. I prepared the install with MS Setup Manager, specifying a network install, so I wonder why this happens. Any idea how to resolve it?

[blinkdt]

OK, can you confirm that you used the 'Drivers from CD' method in the past? I imagine you are now trying to adapt that installation to the network? If so, you replaced the original setup.ex_ with the one downloaded from the Drivers from CD instruction page and that may be the problem. I believe you want to put the original setup.ex_ back into your install as a first step, and cut/paste $OEM$ from I386 to your CD's root as well. Me? I would rebuild from scratch and take baby-steps, testing each modification made to the source on a testbed machine. It's difficult to troubleshoot when multiple mods are made to the installation source, in my experience.

[gs1956_2000]

OK, can you confirm that you used the 'Drivers from CD' method in the past? I imagine you are now trying to adapt that installation to the network? If so, you replaced the original setup.ex_ with the one downloaded from the Drivers from CD instruction page and that may be the problem. I believe you want to put the original setup.ex_ back into your install as a first step, and cut/paste $OEM$ from I386 to your CD's root as well. Me? I would rebuild from scratch and take baby-steps, testing each modification made to the source on a testbed machine. It's difficult to troubleshoot when multiple mods are made to the installation source, in my experience.

blinkdt,

It is true that I started by building an unattended CD install (which worked fine), then tried to adapt it to network install. I never consciously touched setup.ex_, but looking at it I saw the size was different from the original, so I reinstated the original. However that didn't work (same problem as before).

So I took your advice and started from scratch (leaving aside Office install for the moment).

I copied the original XP install CD and used n-lite for all the rest, hoping in this way to minimize the chances for human error...

Now I've made some progress:

1) the install still gets stuck exactly as before (ie, at the end of the first part: when the progress bar is full, the four square dots in the bottom-right corner stop flashing, nothing happens and I can't get out of it by pressing Esc; however, the mouse pointer still moves so the system is not frozen);

2) BUT this time, if I force a reboot the process continues and completes normally (no missing files) ( ).

So, the only question is: how do I prevent the stupid thing from getting stuck at the first reboot point? (The following reboots work fine). Could it be a problem with the BartPE-Reatogo environment in which I boot the machine?

Failing everything else, are you suggesting I should start again and test after every change (SP2, all Hotfixes and the answer file)? That would take some time...

Many thanks for your patience.

[blinkdt]

. . . used n-lite for all the rest . . .

See, that's the part that concerns me. Heaven and you are the only ones who know what that means.

Are you getting stuck at the T-13 or T-12 mark?

Baby-steps may be a bit of an exaggeration. No, slipstreaming a service pack and adding critical updates shouldn't cause issues, so combine them and test with a basic unattend.sif file maybe.

I'm going to try BartPE one of these days.

[gs1956_2000]

Are you getting stuck at the T-13 or T-12 mark?

I'm getting stuck much earlier, at the end of "Text-mode Setup" step 2 or 3, before the first reboot.

Now I restarted from scratch avoiding all third-party software and tested a pure SP2+Hotfixes install share: same problem, I get stuck at exactly the same point.

I thought the problem might be with the Reatogo boot disk, so I tried a bare BartPe, same thing.

I don't know of any other (simple) way to boot a machine with Network, so I can access the share on another computer.

This is driving me crazy... Any further ideas?

[blinkdt]

Well, don't let it drive you crazy . . . take a walk and clear your head. I'm rebuilding my disc today and tried HFSLIP (I love that tool) but went a little overboard, tried to incorporate EVERYTHING ("HFSLIP means no OEM" as they say), and I'm crapping out at the 9 minute mark, freezing up just as in your case.

So I'm going back to tried and true manual methods. We have an MSDN disc now so SP2 is already incorporated, "one less thing" as Gump would say. Here's what I plan on doing:

1. Use the SVCPACK method to incorporate hotfixes, sticking religiously to the MSFN list for XP Pro SP2.

2. Hack the theme file and apply my own theme.

3. Incorporate Pyron's Drivers from CD method of driver install. Nothing comes close to being as easy. If later I need to incorporate SATA drivers I will cab and drop them into I386 and modify txtsetup.sif, manually, and reburn.

So that's my basic disc. My $OEM$ schtick incorporates a cmdlines.txt effort that adds registry tweaks, imports a domain blocklist, renames the admin account, configures any partitions other than C: that I might have created, and autologs the admin user. It also--here's the good part--places a compiled AutoIt script on the Desktop, so after logon I double-click to run my post-install routine over the network. A drive is mapped and EVERYTHING gets done here, too much to mention, really. Somewhere along the way the routine stops and I am prompted to rename the machine, install printers via an AutoIt GUI, and install optional stuff via WPI, and then it continues. It's done when the disc pops out and the message "The installation completed successfully" appears. Some of my cohorts use it and they love it.

No, it wasn't simple, been playing with individual facets for years now. It's challenging, its fun, and its rewarding.

The downside, from where I stand, is the need to incorporate hotfixes and drivers into the disc, requiring a reburn. But I don't reburn as often as you might think, not a hassle really.

So my question is: do you really need a fulsome network install? I don't use the method and fear it somewhat based on my experience with Ghost imaging over a network. What a nightmare! Those days are gone, thank goodness.

EDIT: Also, check my edited comment above regarding $OEM$ placement!

Edited November 26, 2006 by blinkdt

[gs1956_2000]

blinkdt,

your edited comment noted.

I found out that the problem with my routine is that BartPE and WinPE don't execute the normal Shutdown or Restart commands.

I think the solution is to install the BartPE Shutdown plugin (which comes standard in my version of the builder, but is not activated) and give a timed restart command, to be executed well after the text-mode part is over. I'll try the next time I do unattended install.

Many thanks for your help, much appreciated!