Importing .inf, no errors, some registry entries missing.

[Guest]

I have imported a .inf for a Sata controller. I did this on a machine that
has the controller installed and the device driver registered and working.
When I examined the registry entry values in the component designer and
compared that to the registry I found all the entries *except* the values
within the top level key. There were no errors in the import log so I am
wondering if these top level values are required? They include DisplayName,
ErrorControl, Group, ImagePath (for the .sys file), Start, Tag, and Type.
These values are present for all the devices I looked at in the registry at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\...deviceName...

I am going to insert the missing values manually but I wonder why these
entries are missing. I had the same problem using econvert.exe too.

 

[KM]

Did the component you got from the import have a FBA PnP and/or Service resources? It is likely it had and those are typically
responsible for registering the driver (driver service) and populating the values you mentioned below.

 

[Guest]

Looking at the .inf file I see a sections as follows:

[SI_3132_XP]
[SI_3132_XP.Services]
[SI_3132_XP.CoInstallers]
[SI_3132_CoInstall_AddReg]
[SI_3132_Service_Install]
[FilterService_Install]
[RemovableDevFilter_Install]

Some of the data and some of the instructions made it into the component
definition and some elements did not. I added them manually. Any particular
reason why all the instructions and information wouldn't be imported.

I didn't copy in all the detail since I am not trying to solve a problem but
to learn more about process. At his point it seems the import tool, although
helpful, has some pretty serious flaws and that taking before and after
snapshots as the drivers are installed is probably the best way to proceed.

--
VayTek Programmer

Did the component you got from the import have a FBA PnP and/or Service resources? It is likely it had and those are typically
responsible for registering the driver (driver service) and populating the values you mentioned below.

 

[Guest]

I looked at the loaded component definition under the resources folder and
there are 30 PnP Device ID entries and 3 Service Data entries. The
properities of the Service entries match up with some of the missing data.
The registry has a Tag value that is not represented in the properties of the
Service Data properties of the component resource also the enum and security
subkeys are not represented.

Here's the question then: If I do an import of the component and don't
manually enter in the missing entries will the initial boot up of XPe
automatically create the missing registry entries?
--
VayTek Programmer

Did the component you got from the import have a FBA PnP and/or Service resources? It is likely it had and those are typically
responsible for registering the driver (driver service) and populating the values you mentioned below.

 

[KM]

I think you are looking at the wrong place. Again, as I mentioned earlier, those section would end up in FBA resource section of the
component. You don't have to enter them manually.

The convert tools are pretty well tested over the many years. No serious flaws. Some known minor bugs still there, though.

--
=========
Regards,
KM

Looking at the .inf file I see a sections as follows:

[SI_3132_XP]
[SI_3132_XP.Services]
[SI_3132_XP.CoInstallers]
[SI_3132_CoInstall_AddReg]
[SI_3132_Service_Install]
[FilterService_Install]
[RemovableDevFilter_Install]

Some of the data and some of the instructions made it into the component
definition and some elements did not. I added them manually. Any particular
reason why all the instructions and information wouldn't be imported.

I didn't copy in all the detail since I am not trying to solve a problem but
to learn more about process. At his point it seems the import tool, although
helpful, has some pretty serious flaws and that taking before and after
snapshots as the drivers are installed is probably the best way to proceed.

 

[KM]

Here we go. 30 PnP resource items sound usual for an inf import.
Not all the values necessarily have to be present. Some of them are defaults to the driver and not used even by XP PnP parser.

Once again, you don't have to enter any registry entries for the component manually. Importer did that for you in a clearer way.
Instead of GUID based registry entries (some drivers and driver services will have a GUID based registry paths to their keys) FBA
will process PnP resources at run time and install the drivers correctly. (similar to what devcon or Device Manager would do)

--
=========
Regards,
KM

I looked at the loaded component definition under the resources folder and
there are 30 PnP Device ID entries and 3 Service Data entries. The
properities of the Service entries match up with some of the missing data.
The registry has a Tag value that is not represented in the properties of the
Service Data properties of the component resource also the enum and security
subkeys are not represented.

Here's the question then: If I do an import of the component and don't
manually enter in the missing entries will the initial boot up of XPe
automatically create the missing registry entries?