Changing h/w platform

[Doug G]

I'm sure everyone here is familiar with the work it takes to create a
well-tailored XPE system, starting with the TAP output, adding components,
dependency checking, installing QFEs, etc. Well, after getting my XPE image
in good shape and deploying quite a few copies, it looks like we may be
switching PC vendors and I'll have to create an image for a new base
hardware configuration (new mainboard, etc.).

What is the best way to do this? I have been more than usually meticulous
about documenting everything I've added to my current config, but starting
over with a fresh TAP-based component and trying to add everything to
recreate what I now have gives me a headache in advance . Since disk
footprint is not a big issue, what would happen if I simply replaced my old
TAP-generated hardware macro with a new one and ran the dependency checker?
I know that this would leave a lot of chipset drivers and other cruft that
was in there for the old hardware, but would this cause any runtime
problems? I would think that everything would get finally configured during
FBA and unused drivers would simply remain unused.

Is this a reasonable thing to do, or is there a better way without starting
totally from scratch?

Another thing that occurred to me would be to go in and blindly remove all
of the low-level components. After including the new hardware macro, a
dependency check would then bring everything back in that is actually
needed. Would this work as well?

Doug Gordon

 

[Slobodan Brcin \(eMVP\)]

Hi Doug,

What can you tell us what MB you used, and what MB you plan to use?

Please read thoroughly whole tread:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&selm=#78YE#[email protected]

And then ask questions if there is something unclear about how you should do it.
Anyhow bottom line is that you can make image that support all hardware platforms that you use without even using TAP.

Regards,
Slobodan

 

[Doug G]

Hi Doug,

What can you tell us what MB you used, and what MB you plan to use?

Please read thoroughly whole tread:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&selm=#78YE#[email protected]

And then ask questions if there is something unclear about how you should do it.
Anyhow bottom line is that you can make image that support all hardware

platforms that you use without even using TAP.

Regards,
Slobodan

This would probably be hard to do in our case. We are developing for
industrial-style PCs that may not be using a "standard" desktop-style
motherboard. So predicting what type of LCD-display hardware it might have,
as well as the various integrated peripherals such as the USB chipset,
integrated Ethernet, etc. would be difficult. I don't see how I could
support "all hardware platforms" unless I included the entire set of XP
low-level device drivers. The current PC we are using appears to be using
chipsets from SiS, but the one we are going to evaluate might use an
entirely different design.

Doug

 

[Slobodan Brcin \(eMVP\)]

Hi Doug,

For audio, network, and video you are right. (But you can always additionally add support for any of these by just adding required
driver and inf files to their folders, trough component or manually)

USB for XP goes trough MS drivers. If you look carefully you will see that. Also this is true for most parts of chipset.

I'm simply telling you to check what driver files are used to support your SiS chipset, and you will see that they are mostly from
MS (just inf files are specific to MB). Also you can use generic drivers so they will work on all chipsets. (And provide additional
inf files for visual pleasure and additional functionality).

For instance try minlogon macro from TD and you will see all components that you need to have so you can boot on any computer
without any additional driver.

Regards,
Slobodan