componentized drivers

[Chris]

Hello All,

I need to componentized versions of some drivers for XPe which are not
in XPe (and not in www.xpefiles.com)

It is a national instrument card and another specific card

I do not have .inf or .reg files for the drivers

I've done the following things :

1/ install driver on XP
2/ Add components with system files and all registry data found in XP
registry. I DIDN'T ADD ANY RESSOURCES SUCH AS SERVICE DATA OR PNP
DEVICE ID. How do I know if I have to do so ?
3/ I made the image and once boot on XPE, the result is that "not file
is loaded for the current driver in the DeviceManager" when I want to
check the driver details.

Is It better to install the driver on XPE and work backwards (retreive
information from the XPE registry) or is there other methods for
integrating specific material ?

Thks

 

[dferencz]

Chris,

You're making your life much harder by trying to componentize the
driver without the installation files. I'm not sure I understand how
you are able to perform the installation on XP without access to the
INF files?!

Nevertheless, you can use the method you're describing (that is,
attempt to inspect the registry to determine what gets installed.) I
use a tool called "InCtrl5" which you can find here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,9882,00.asp

You run it BEFORE the installation, then perform the install, then run
it AFTER. It will determine all of the file and registry changes that
occurred between them. Note that some of these will be irrelevant to
the installation (stuff that Windows does randomly), but it will help
you determine what parts of the registry and what files are used by
your driver. I find that it's easier to do this first under XP Pro.

To make things a little easier, you can perform an "iterative" process
by attempting to "patch" the XPe build with the missing files (assuming
the error messages are enough to give you a clue). You can then
continue this (without having to rebuild XPe multiple times) simply by
copying files and adding registry entries to the XPe install. Once you
think you've got it right, start from a clean build with all the files
and reg entries and test it again. Good luck!

-- Don

 

[Adora Belle Dearheart]

Chris,

You're making your life much harder by trying to componentize the
driver without the installation files. I'm not sure I understand how
you are able to perform the installation on XP without access to the
INF files?!

Nevertheless, you can use the method you're describing (that is,
attempt to inspect the registry to determine what gets installed.) I
use a tool called "InCtrl5" which you can find here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,9882,00.asp

You run it BEFORE the installation, then perform the install, then run
it AFTER. It will determine all of the file and registry changes that
occurred between them. Note that some of these will be irrelevant to
the installation (stuff that Windows does randomly), but it will help
you determine what parts of the registry and what files are used by
your driver. I find that it's easier to do this first under XP Pro.

To make things a little easier, you can perform an "iterative" process
by attempting to "patch" the XPe build with the missing files (assuming
the error messages are enough to give you a clue). You can then
continue this (without having to rebuild XPe multiple times) simply by
copying files and adding registry entries to the XPe install. Once you
think you've got it right, start from a clean build with all the files
and reg entries and test it again. Good luck!

-- Don

My guess is, inctrl will, if nothing else, enable you to find the .inf
file you need to import...

 

[Chris]

Hi all,

dferencz said :

I'm not sure I understand how
you are able to perform the installation on XP without access to the
INF files?!

It is because I can not manage to import the .inf file work in CD.
The following error occurs : "INF Importer could not find any
recognizable installation to convert in the file ".

Any clue on how to repair the file ?

Instead of "InCtrl5" I was using up to now the Ashampoo Uninstaller. Is
it better to use "InCtrl5" anyway ?

Thk

 

[dferencz]

Sorry, I misunderstood your problem with INF files. It sounds like
your INF is either poorly constructed.

I have sometimes had success in parsing each section of the INF file
separately. In CD, when you select an INF for importing, choose
"Custom" rather than "Automatic" and add each section individually.
You can even import each section into a different component, then you
can tell which section is causing the problem.

Of course, if the component is fairly simple, you can just learn to
"speak" INF and construct the component manually. (This is usually
easier for me than trying to decode the output of InCtrl5). You can
find a reference to INF files in the MS DDK Documentation (go to
msdn.microsoft.com, open the "Library", then look for "Driver
Development"). Sometimes you can "tweak" an INF so that it can be
successfully imported.

I'm not familiar with Ashampoo, but if you are able to get a list of
added files and registry entries, then it's basically the same function
as InCtrl5.

-- Don