can i dig a driver out of 5728 setup files...

[Tim_Mac]

hi,
i have 5600 up and running but no Aero because my PCI-AGP bridge driver is
causing a problem, this is widely reported with code 43 in the ATI driver.

i eagerly downloaded and upgraded my RC1 installation to 5728 but it froze
during the 'expanding files' as usual after the first reboot. for some
reason the only safe way for me to install is do burn a DVD and boot
directly from there. i'm not bothered to wipe the partition and lose all
my RC1 programs and settings, and i'm wondering is there a way i can extract
the drivers from 5728 to see if they will work. in particular i'd be
interested in the ATI WDDM driver (i have an X1600 pro) and any drivers for
an AGP-PCI bridge on a ATI 9100 IGP chipset.

i suppose ATI will eventually release their own but i don't like the
catalyst suite and would much prefer to just install the drivers bundled in
Vista. the ATI support site seems to still have the original RC1 drivers
released on September 2nd.

i extracted the 5728 ISO and the WIM file seems to have all the goodies but
i don't know how to get in there.

thanks for any tips
tim

 

[Steven Wabik]

i'm not sure u can really do that. why do you want to test the drivers? i
think i have an idea that may help you but i'm not sure if it applies to
what you wanna do.

 

[Tim_Mac]

hi steven,
thanks for replying. as you know, microsoft bundle their own ATI drivers
with Vista. These are different to the ATI Catalyst drivers, and many
people think the MS drivers are better. The MS ATI driver version that came
with 5600 didn't work with my system (code 43 error on the device). I was
hoping that the 5728 build might include new drivers. if i could get the
Inf/Sys files from build 5728, then i could install them on my current build
5600.

in 5600 i can look in c:\windows\system32\Drivers???\FileStore\ATI??? and
see the files in there. this isn't the exact path but that's the best i can
remember. i'm sure these files must be packaged in the WIM file. i'd
really love to get Glass working with my card and try out some 3D
application development.

i would be very grateful for any suggestions.
tim

 

[Steven Wabik]

when i installed vista beta 2 on my notebook, 80% or more of the drivers
were not found in vista so i had to search for the device drivers elsewhere.
later on i found out that the xp drivers for the hardware worked fine in
vista. it took to long to get everything working after the install. so when
vista rc1 came out i did what i call a dual DVD install. the OS was
installed from the dvd in the main DVD and the drivers were taken from
another dvd that was in an external multibay dvd drive. if you have 2 dvd
drives on your pc use it to your advantage. put all the drivers u wanna use
on a CD or DVD and disc in the secondary dvd drive while vista is
installing. while the os is installing, the drivers will be taken from the
CD or DVD and will be applied to the OS. this saved me like 20 minutes while
setting up my pc when i installed rc1.

in my opinion mirosoft drivers r not always the best. if you have that
issue, then download the manufacturers version of the drivers for the
device. most of the devices i use don't have their drivers built into vista.
and 80% had their drivers built into xp. a majority of those devices still
will work in vista as long as i get the proper drivers from the
manufacturer. about 30% of the hardware i have in my room are from the year
1995 and their drivers r still in xp. now some of them r not supported in
vista sadly. and some of those device are more reliable then devices that
were made within the last two years. some of the newer devices that i got in
the last year are so are not even supported in vista. at least the driver
support for some drivers in rc1 improved while some when the other way
sadly. if you still have the driver CD that came with your PC if it came
with one, i suggest you use the drivers on it.

if vista is installed already, and you wanna use different drivers for the
device, open the device manager, open the properties for the device, select
the drivers tab, click the driver update button and tell it to look on the
CD or DVD that the drivers are located on. it should find them, whether they
are packed away in another file or not. digging the drivers from the
installation DVD is easy, you just have to know where the driver files are
and which files are the driver files. i suggest you leave the drivers in
their folders though. just copy the folder that they are in to where you
want to store them. i have taken driver files for a lot of device from a lot
of devices and stuff.

well, good luck, if you need anymore help or have anymore questions, just
ask.

 

[Tim_Mac]

hi steven,
thanks for the detailed reply.
the problem is that the ATI Catalyst drivers haven't worked for many many
users. people have had more success with the Microsoft WDDM drivers, and
unfortunately the XP drivers don't support WDDM so you get no Aero with
them. i was just hoping that MS had released a new WDDM driver for ATI
cards.

digging the drivers from the installation DVD is easy, you just have to
know where the driver files are and which files are the driver files.

yes but they are all locked up in the Install.WIM file. i just did more
research and found that there is a tool called ImageX that will extract a
WIM file. i'm downloading it now.

thanks for the help
tim