Attention Fernando 1:

In regards to nLite's ability to change unattended setup options (by I386\winnt.sif), there might be a way to change these, yet still allow users to use the F6/floppy option to install RAID or SCSI drivers!!

I just spent an hour studying unattended installations. A good reference of the winnt.sif file appears here http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/19/ I have never thought I needed this feature, but apparently, I do!

I have not tested this, but it seems one could change nLite's default setting of the Oempreinstall variable from "Yes" (which prevents the F6/floppy driver install) to "No" which should allow it. (In the I386\winnt.sif file).

nLite MAY HAVE A BUG HERE ACTUALLY (I could be wrong, however). The Oempreinstall option is supposedly to support automatic copying of files from directories called the "$OEM$ Distribution Folders" to the final installation, regardless of where it is on the target system. If these are not used (nLite does not seem to allow their inclusion or modification) this option can probably be turned off.

I have not tested this (I will try to and post my results), but perhaps nLite should just set this option to "No." Unless the option does something else, I think that will allow a CD Key, and other unattended options, to be integrated into the install and still allow RAID/SCSI drivers to be installed in Windows textmode using F6.

You may test it, but I doubt, that you will succeed by just disabling the OEMPreinstall option.

Why don't you just integrate the nForce S-ATA and RAID drivers into your bootable XP CD's by using nLite? Even if there is no nForce RAID array, you won't get any problems, because Windows Setup will only install drivers, when it finds the associated hardware.

If you want to use the "Unattended Install" part without using the "Driver Integration" part of nLite, there is still the possibility to manually integrate the nForce S-ATA and RAID drivers into your nLited CD before creating the ISO file., but I don't see any reason for going that hard way.

That's my exact question! Do I need any nForce SATA/RAID drivers if I have such controllers in the motherboard, but am only using the IDE controllers?

I would have thought this was the ideal thread for a question like that? I already know about the ethernet and audio integration, but I'm trying get the basics working before I touch even more drivers.

Thanks for your time.

No!
If you want to use NVIDIA's native IDE driver (nForce P-ATA = IDE s/w driver), you should integrate the LEGACY subfolder of the 6.86 chipset driver package as PnP driver, but many users reported, that they had less problems by using the XP in-box MS IDE drivers.

I'm using nlite to slipstream the raid drivers for the P5N32E SLI motherboard. When i integrated the drivers it didn't include the textsetup.oem file into the folder that has the raid drivers. Does that file need to be in that folder? I used the single file method. I'm using the latest drivers from nvidia's web site. The textsetup.oem file is in their raid folder after it extracted. If it needs to be on the cd why didn't it add it? If it does need that file how do I get it to add it? Also, do i need to add the serial_ata drivers as plug and play on the cd? Sorry for all the questions. Nice thread and thanks for trying to help everyone.

P.S. The driver package is 9.53

Everything is fine as it is. There is no need for the TXTSETUP.OEM file within the nForce RAID driver folder of your nLited CD.
The TXTSETUP.OEM file contains some informations, which are needed for the correct installation of mass storage controller devices and is only needed during the very first (=TEXTMODE) part of the Windows OS installation (otherwise the OS Setup routine wouldn't be able to detect your RAID device). NLite uses the informations of this OEM file, but you don't see the file itself within your nLited CD.

Below is where I am getting stuck.

"If you are using the new SATARAID/SATA_IDE integration method, you have to integrate the SATARAID subfolder as textmode driver and additionally the SATA_IDE subfolder of the same package as PnP driver. "

I seem to be proceeding ok but when I get to this step, I do not get to control whether the SATARAID driver gets integrated as textmode or not. I have no choice, it just adds it as PnP driver. I do not know how to get it to add as textmode. I did some research and it seems I require some kind of text file in the folder to make it integrate as text mode. Please let me know what I can do.

My chipset is nForce 430.

Thanks in advance!

Normally you haven't to do anything - nLite will automaticly integrate the SATARAID folder as TEXTMODE driver (because this driver folder has a file named TXTSETUP.OEM) and the SATA_IDE folder as PnP driver (PnP drivers don't have a TXTSETUP.OEM file).

There has to be a file named TXTSETUP.OEM within the SATARAID folder. If not, please post the nForce chipset driver package version you are using.

The following is the chipset driver version I am using. First of all I assume that Vista drivers will work for XP Pro since there are non for XP Pro. I got these from the nVidia download website. This chipset is the one that fits mine because my nForce 430 board has integrated graphics.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf400_...sta_15.01G.html

You cannot use Vista nForce chipset drivers for pre-Vista Operating Systems as Windows XP (it makes no difference, if you have XP Home or XP Professional).
These drivers will not work at all for you!

EDIT: Take these nForce chipset drivers!

Ok. I will proceed with your recommendations but then I need to address the fact that this set does not have a video driver. My motherboard has integrated video and therefore I need the driver for it. Perphaps I can get the driver from somewhere else? Since the PC is a Dell, I can certainly grab the driver from them. Do you think that is ok?

There is no essential need to integrate any special graphics driver into your bootable XP CD, because the integrated graphic chip will work with the Windows standard graphics driver.
Nevertheless you should integrate or install (after the successful XP Setup) the latest NVIDIA Forceware driver. You will find it at NVIDIA's download home page. I think, that this driver will be the best one for you.

Ok, here is the status.

First of all, it worked! Created a bootable CD with Windows XP Pro did an OS wipe on my Dell 531s that had Vista on it with a nForce 430 chipset.

Second, there was some points that still confuses me, maybe you can clear it up. When loading the SATARAID driver (nvraid.inf), I was offered two line items-- nVidia nForce Storage Controller (required) and nVidia Raid Class Driver (required). Since you instructions where not specifc on what to do with these, I added them both but I was uneasy. However, it worked.

Third and last, it seems that XP Pro did not have sound/audio drivers so I got not sound. I did a few quick searches found a couple of drivers, loaded them but didnt work. The nVidia nForce 430 chipset also does not include audio drivers. So at this point I have to reseach some more about this but if you can point me at the right direction, it would be great. Also, let me know if I can possibly create another bootable disk and include the audio driver in as well.

Overall, thanks a lot that you go me through my most challenging part of doing an OS wipe on m y Dell 531s.

Here is the text of my guide:

The choice of the suitable sound driver depends on the sound chip of your motherboard.
Look into your manual to find the exact type of sound chipset and then you will find here the correct driver.
EDIT: If you have downloaded and unzipped the suitable sound driver, it will be no problem at all to integrate it into a bootable XP CD by using nLite.

Thanks again for the tips. I have yet to try a new sound driver later tonight. I thought Windows XP would have default drivers for audio, maybe they don't beccause I do not hear any sound at all from my cards. MY Dell 531s do no come with a motherboard specifications so it is very difficult to determine the sound chp but from googling it looks like it is Realteck's ACL888. So that is what I will attempt to do tonight.

That's what I thought too.

Good luck!
Fernando

Ok, this is my first post, I've been trying to get my nlite CD up and running to format my computer and reinstall windows on a RAID 0 array. I've been working on integrating the NvRaid drivers in with the cd, but I'm curious, there is nothing mentioning what to do once the file is downloaded. You mention to "unpack" it, but all I get from Nvidia's website is an executable file. I can't unpack it, only run it. Since this isn't something I want to do, What do I need to do with the file? Do I need to create a file on the desktop and put the exe file in it by itself? What should the folder be called? All nlite offers during integration is a search for an ini file. Is this what the folder would be afterwords if the exe file is all that's in it? Thanks... anxiously awaiting reply...

If you want to unpack an EXE file, you will need a tool like WinRar or 7-zip. After having installed any (un)packing tool, you will be able to unzip the nForce chipset driver package by right clicking onto the EXE file. You can extract the package wherever you want and name the created folder with the extracted files and subfolders as you like.

Care to update to include 680i RAID drivers?
Thanks.

What do you think should be updated or included?

If you follow my guide, you will download this official nForce chipset driver package v.9.53, which is designed for all nForce 680i chipset mainboards. If you integrate the included SATARAID driver folder, you should get no problems with the later XP installation.
I know, that the nForce SataRaid drivers v. 6.91 are not the newest and maybe not the best ones, but they are currently the latest official nForce IDE drivers for nForce 850i chipsets.

Do you think, that I should give a link to the nForce IDE drivers v.6.99 into my guide? I would do it, if I get the feedback, that they are better for nForce680i chipsets than the official nForce IDE drivers v.6.91.

I mean the very first post. It does not talk about nForce 6 RAID drivers.
I figured out how to do it, I just thought it might be a good idea to mention it.

Here are the essential sentences within my guide (first post of this thread):
Do you think, that I should mention separately nForce 680i and nForce 680a chipsets?

Ok, I unpacked everything, and did another nlite disk. Upon reconfiguring my system with the 2 raptors I rebooted and set the BIOS in my Asus A8N32SLI Deluxe to boot from cd. Everything was fine, but the disks were not recognized by windows as a RAID array. I rebooted, and set the Bios (version 1303) as NvRaid, with SATA 1 and 2 set for RAID. Upon rebooting again, I hit F10 and went into the RAID configuration and set it up as Striping, with 128 connectivity, and moved the 2 raptors into the array. Upon rebooting again, the POST screen displayed that everything was fine with the RAID array. I went back and started installing windows, however at the partition section, there were 2 unpartitioned sections, both at 147 gigs I believe. I went through this 2 or 3 times trying to get the partition to show all 300 gigs on one partition (was only showing half). I couldn't get it done though. I finally thought I was reading it wrong, and partitioned one of the partitions at 20 gigs and started installing windows. However after that, I ran into 2 blue screens, one with a bad spool, one with a bad sector (I think.. ) Finally I gave up on RAID, and just installed windows, however the first time it came back saying I was missing the asms file off of Service pack 2. Upon rebooting and trying again, it went through and completed. However, it would never start, This was setup on only one drive, and as soon as the windows screen would show, it would reboot. I finally hooked up my old drive, and here I am now.

Can you advise what steps to do for a fresh nlite cd? I don't know if that was my problem or what... ?

Thank you very much...

It depends on what you want - a non-Raid or a Raid system.
If you want to rebuild the nForce Raid0 array, you should do what I have written within the first post of this thread.
Very important: After having (re)created your Raid array, you have to set it as bootable. You will not be able to do it unless you have changed the boot priority of your hard disk drives within your mainboard BIOS. The NVIDIA Raid array has to be set on the first position! Otherwise you will not be able to get any OS installed. The HARD DISK Boot Priority has nothing to do with the "normal" boot order of the storage devices (1. CD-ROM. 2. HDD etc.).

Greetings Fernando,
Just a couple quick questions. Thanks very much for this thread btw. Excellent info!

I will be using nlite to integrate SP2 into XP home oem (no service packs) along with NVraid drivers. The RAID array will be 2 SATA drives. I am having the usual constant restart problems after installing NVRaid driver using the F6/Floppy disk method. I'm not sure what NVRaid driver version I am used....it is the version that comes with nForce version 5.11

1 - My board is an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (MS-7025). nForce3 ultra chipset. I have upgraded to the latest board bios available (version 1.D) however, the NVRaid bios that comes with the board bios is version 4.81. Anyway to update to raid bios only?

2 - If I'm not able to update the raid bios, I should follow the steps to use the unofficial 6.95 drivers correct.

3 - If updating the raid bios is possible, would you recommend upgrading this and using the newest drivers over staying with 4.81 and the legacy drivers?

Lastly 4 - In your experience with using nlite, have u ever removed Windows Messenger? If so, any problems afterward?

Thank you very much for your time. Your research has proven invaluable. I just got a new processor and was hoping to stretch the life of my current setup a few more years. I was beggining to think that was not possible with my raid setup not able to work.

Ryan

Well, I did that but came up with a blue screen error during installation of windows called Bad_Pool_Header 0X00000019 (0x00000020, 0xE108C000,0XE108C070,0X0CE0400)
I tried rebooting and installing windows again, but only came up with a blinking cursor..... thoughts???

1. It is possible to flash a higher Raid BIOS version into your mainboard BIOS, but the new nV Raid BIOS version would not work for you, because nVRaid BIOS versions higher than 4.81 do not support nForce3 Raid Controllers.
2. Yes, take the unofficial nForce IDE drivers v. 6.95. There are working fine with nForce3 chipsets.
3. No (see point 1).

You should give me some more details about your hardware configuration, the OS you want to install, the OS source you were using and the drivers (sort and version) you have integrated by using nLite.

Wow. All went perfectly. My raid array is as it was before. nLite rules. Fernando rules. Thanks very much.

Thanks for your feedback!
This may encourage other users with an nForce3 SataRaid system to integrate the nForce IDE drivers v.6.95 instead of the old official ones v.4.46.

This is basically my issue as well..minus the siren part. Went through the usual install procedures with a floppy disk and got BSOD/reboots. I followed the guide in the beginning and made a CD with the drivers from the sataraid subfolder (using 8.43 WHQL driver pack from Nvidia). Went and tried to install again, didnt use F6 and it detected the raid array fine and it went through the installation fine..but to my dismay i got to the same point and BSOD/reboot. Any further help would be greatly appreciated.

Specs: asus p5n32-e sli plus, e6750, 2gb ram, 2x 75gb raptors, 8800 gtx

P.S. My bios has been flashed with the most recent via Asus's website.

I am sorry, that footwo didn't get any advice and that he didn't report here how he managed to solve his problem.
Now to your issue:
It is not easy to find the reason for your endless reboots.
1. Try to read the error message by hitting F8 during the reboot and choosing the option not to reboot at any system failure.
2. If you have a dual or multi boot system, have a look into the SETUPLOG.TXT (only the last lines are interesting), SETUPERR.LOG and SETUPAPI.LOG files. You find them within the Windows directory of the partition where you tried to install XP. As the SETUPAPI.LOG file is not easy to read, let the editor search for "Serial ATA Controller" and find out, if the "nForceXXX Serial ATA Controller" has been installed (or the wrong "Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller").

Interesting enough, after i posted i again created a winxp cd but this time with the older 8.26 drivers, and this time i was able to complete the install problem free!

One thing though is that i tried to follow your guide about installing MediaShield by copying the files from the raidtool cab file into windows/system32 but it didnt work. about 1/2 way through the copying process i would get an error saying that one of the files is in use so it couldnt complete. Any suggestions?

Fine, that you succeeded at least.
You obviously mean this Vista and nVRaid installation guide, but this is not valid for Windows XP.
The easiest way to get NVIDIA's Raidtool installed is to run the installer of the associated nForce chipset driver package. As long as I used Windows XP with my nForce4 chipset mainboard I have never used or installed NVIDIA's Raidtool.

Hi all, I've been reading this guide for 2 days now and am still having a hard time working out what I need to do. I'm hoping someone can help me. 1st my problem:

I currently am using an ide harddrive but it is full of bad sectors, I have a single 80Gb SATA harddrive that I want to replace it with. My PC does not have a floppy drive so I need to go the slipstream method. I just want to use my SATA drive like a normal drive. My motherboard is an ASUS M2N, in the manual it says the chipset is NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP. I have a WindowsXP Home genuine cd, microsoft branded and it has a sticker on the cd sleave stating 'Includes SP1'.

My 1st question, most of the guide is for users with an nForce RAID array, I have no idea if this means me or not Can I use my WinXP cd for slipstreaming with the SATA driver?

Sorry for the dumb questions. If someone could help me I would be really grateful!

You are right: The guide was mainly written for users with an nForce RAID array. As you don't have and don't want to create a RAID, only the Annex II part of my guide is useful for you.

Probably yes, but you should remember, that the nForce SATA_IDE folder cannot be used as textmode driver (no TXTSETUP.OEM inside).
When the Windows XP Setup detects your S-ATA hdd at the beginning of the installation, everything is fine, but if your mainboard BIOS doesn't allow to set the nForce S-ATA ports to the "IDE" mode, I recommend to integrate the SATARAID driver folder as textmode driver (although you don't have a real RAID array).

I know it's not part of this topic (32-bit), but I am looking for the best LEGACY driver for xp64 and I am a bit confused about what's the best package I should use. Under xp32 I use legacy 6.95 driver, but I cannot find anything like that for xp64. I should just use the latest unified remix for xp64 and extract it's legacy folder for integration?

Exactly this was the reason why I wrote this special guide for the nForce RAID driver integration into Windows XP x64 and Windows Server 2003 x64. There you will find usable 64bit drivers too.
If you have any further questions regarding nForce RAID and XP x64, please post into the linked 64bit thread.

They should work too, but you won't get WHQL signed nForce IDE drivers installed this way.

First of all, this guide has gotten me way further than all the other guides.

I am using an MSI P6N SLI Platium (680i Chipset, Nforce).

I have an SP2 XP disc, and I used Nlite to integrate the SATA Raid and IDE Raid drivers (Sata raid as text only and IDE raid as PnP).

The XP install sees the raid array correctly, but once everything is installed and it tries to boot fully for the first time, it just blue screens.

Any suggestions? I'd also like to point out that my raid BIOS says mediashield, and the version is 6+.

Any help would be appreciated.

Yes, try it again by just integrating the SATARAID driver folder as textmode driver (without integrating the SATA_IDE driver folder). Some new mainboards with nForce 5xx or nForce 6xx chipset don't like the SATARAID/SATA_IDE mix.

Please reply if this fixed your problem.

After replacing mobo, hard drives, memory, video card, and power supply, trying to get the nvidia raid to work. I ran across this solution.

IT WORKS GREAT!!! GOOD JOB TO FERNANDO 1....

I'm an advocate gamer and started building this system last year or more, just for gaming. Skill level limited didn't need more than this for now. Plus I'm all about looks...

System
Black/Silver NZXT Case
Black Thermaltake TR2-430 Power Supply
A8N SLI Mobo
AMD 3500+
1G (2@512) Crucial Ballistix Tracer /lights
Nvidia XFX GeForce 7600 GT Fatal1ty (no fan)
3 WD 160G SATA
1 DVD SATA

Not for power but dam, it looks good!!!

This instructinon worked like a charm!

It took me almost 2 days of banging with my head into the wall because system has instantly restart after installation.

I really appreciate advices like this is ! Thank you Fernando 1 !!!

I tried making an nLite image with the SATARAID drivers from nForce 9.53 for the 680i chipset. I used nLite 1.4 final and Xable's XP post SP2 lite update pack (XUpdatePack_v3.0.3.7z).
The image was then burned at 16x to a CD-R and booted. During install, I didn't hit F6 and just let setup run.

It gave me an error:


System is:
Motherboard: ASUS P5N32-E SLI (bios revision 1205)
Chipset: Nvidia nForce 680i SLI SPP Rev. A2
Sothbridge: Nvidia nForce 680i SLI MCP
LPCIO: ITE IT8718

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (Conroe)

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Interrogative

I have never seen or heard about such error message.

To exclude an issue of the brandnew nLite version, I recommend to retry it with the previous version 1.4 RC2 (if you have access to that version).

Furthermore I need some additional informations:
1. Do you have an nForce RAID array?
2. If yes,
a ) are you going to install Windows XP onto the RAID array?
b ) do you have any hdd outside the RAID?
3. Did you only integrate the SATARAID subfolder or did you try to additionally load the SATA_IDE drivers (as PnP)?

I have three HDDs on this system. Two of them are in RAID 0, but that RAID aray is not set as the OS-resident drive (nor do I intend it to be... it's whre I install my program files and archive my other files.) The OS-resident drive is on the same SATA conteroller as the RAID array, but the OS-resident drive is excluded form the RAID controller portion of that SATA controller. (that's all done in the BIOS, by the way).
So...
1) yes.

2a) no.
2b) yes.

I only used the SATARAID subfolder and not the SATA IDE drivers.

Ok. That means, that you would not need to load any textmode driver while installing Windows XP. Windows Setup is not able to use the nForce RAID driver, because it does not detect the RAID at this stage of the installation.

You can do the following:
1. Create a new nLited CD with integrated nForce S-ATA driver by just enabling the "NVIDIA nForce Storage Controller" within the textmode driver popup window.
2. After having finished the XP installation you can run the installer of your used nForce chipset driver package and choose the "MediaShield" driver installation.

No, that doesn't work either.
If I just load the "NVIDIA nForce Storage Controller" and not the RAID controller, I get



I get these error mesages during the initial loading of drivers (the phase right before Windows would ask you to insert your F6 disks if you had pressed F6 right when Windows Setup had stared).

Are you sure, that you used the correct driver for Windows XP?
If yes, I recommend to do the following:
1. Download the nForce driver package again (to prevent, that the driver really was corrupted).
2. Integrate the SATA_IDE subfolder (instead of the SATARAID one) of the chipset driver package as PnP driver.

Please report here, if you succeeded this way.

Fernando - im sorry for this very long post but I've gotten quite peeved at the problem i have and was wondering if you could help me..ive given as much info as possible here.


I bought the following pc from mesh.

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?...&KEY=224893

GTS QUAD PRo
the mobo is an nForce650sli

The problem?

Basicaly, I had heard of a performance boost in fps for games under xp over vista. i'm personally not convinced that DX10 or vista are doing anything special at all, especially when people came out with the dx9->10 performance hacks for the crysis demo.

So, decided to install XP Pro (with SP2), initially as a dual boot. Couldnt for the life of me figure out how to make the xp installer recognise the partition i had made for it, so threw caution to the wind and formatted the drive todo a clean install (ie. over vista...obviously after collecting important files).

Right, so vista gone, XP installer copied its files over, then system restarted (at the point which its meanta restart into the GUI portion of the installation) - but i got an error message "disk read error".

Tried the install a few more times, same error message comes up. i read around and heard somewhere that vista changes the MBR or something like that, so i went into repair mode in the XP install and typed in "fixMBR". Afte restarting the pc, the error message that came up was "invalid partition table".

Right so fiddled about with more installs, this time streaming in nForce SATARAID drivers with the Xp install disk (as per the instructions). Now this time, after i've gone through the first run and it goes to restart, instead of an error message the screen is black, and the PC restarts itself. If i leave it on unattended it will do this in an infinite loop.

I used nLite 1.4 to stream in drivers onto my copy of XPpro - specific drivers were the 8.43_nforce_650i_winxp32 drivers, in the SATARAID folder. You mentioned in the tutorial not to d the IDE bit, ie. its unecessary?

I've gone through around 5/6 disks trying to get the streaming right and no dice...i'm not sure what to do, it really shouldn't be this complicated should it?

Thankyou very much for your time

Do you have created any nForce RAID array?

nForce raid array? Um no...how do i do that? Could that be the problem?