Attention! This method is supported by last official release of HFSLIP but it still needs testing and maybe improving. Unfortunately I can't test it myself as I don't have SATA/RAID drivers. Please report your experience and suggestions about using it. If you feel like interested in supporting the database and even creating universal packages for HFSLIP SATA/RAID integrating feature please go ahead and share your knowledge
Simple method of integrating other drivers could be found here.

The idea was inspirated by reading this topic. Interesting link too.

Big thanks to glentium and iTwins for testing, catching bugs and giving advices!

First step: preparing driver files.
Copy to hard disk all files from the floppy disk with SATA/RAID drivers that came with your motherboard.
You may also use drivers from others SATA/RAID driver packs.

Second step: preparing folder structure.
Create folder HFEXPERT in HFSLIP directory. Go inside this folder and create STORAGE subfolder in it. Place all driver binaries in this folder.

Third step: creating database file.
Download our database file*, extract it and place STORAGE.INI in STORAGE folder.
Advanced users may create their own much shorter driver database file with only two sections: [HardwareIdsDatabase] and [SCSI] using drivers TXTSETUP.OEM file (use downloaded file as an example).

*scankurban should be credited for creating and sharing the information used in it.

If HFSLIP finds any SYS files in HFEXPERT\STORAGE folder it will add four sections to TXTSETUP.SIF. That will let you use SATA/RAID support during Windows installation

Database file STORAGE.INI may not be up-to-date. If your SATA/RAID controller is not installing check if it is in the database or post the content of TXTSETUP.OEM file here so that we try to help you.

Oleg...

Situation in 61014c:

1) Multiple INI files are accepted; they should start with "STORAGE" and end with the .INI extension. Long file names are accepted but spaces are not. Examples: STORAGE.INI, sToRaGe1.iNi, STORAGE999.INI,... Their contents are copied into TXTSETUP.SIF

2) SYS files are compressed into SOURCESS\I386, and entries are added in TXTSETUP.SIF and DOSNET.INF

3) Other file types are merely copied into SOURCESS\I386 (uncompressed, and no references for them in TXTSETUP.SIF or DOSNET.INF)

Unfortunately I just setup my RAID machine recently or I would use it to test this. There is probably a way to simulate this with VMWare but I am not at home right now to tinker with it.

But with VM you can only test a very limited set of scenarios.

Tomcat76
Disturbing you again

I replied you in test version topic about it:
Maybe other files needed in TXTSETUP.SIF and DOTNET.SIF too. It's better to mentions them too only under [SourceDisksFiles] section.
Only TXTSETUP.OEM is definetelly not needed.


TAiN
Thanx for trying to help No problem, it should work in theory as it works when doing it manually according to reports (I specified the link on such topic in Unattended Drivers Forum). We just need to create full STORAGE*.INI files and find out which files are needed and which can be omitted.

Using "1,,,,,,_x,4,1,,,1,4" or "1,,,,,,,_x,3,3"?

If you want I can check if XP detects correctly a RAID-0 array with a i915 chip (I think) but I can not install it.

Tomcat76
It's =1,,,,,,3_,4,1,,,1,4 for all files according to scankurban.
It's = 1,,,,,,4_,4,1,,,1,4 for SYS files in TommyP's example.
It's = 1,,,,,,_x,4,1 in Anderz's example (he made it uncompressed but according to others it's not necessery).
Two more tutorials (including MSFN's one) state = 1,,,,,,3_,4,1 for SYS files.
Too many choices.

Now I'm thinking of what: maybe you are right just placing them into i386 but don't add into TXTSETUP.SIF and DOSNET.INF - when installing drivers Windows will search for them in i386 folder on CD too.

But anyway if you don't mind let it be =1,,,,,,3_,4,1,,,1,4 for now. If something goes wrong after testing it's simple to change the string

Camarade_Tux
You mean you can not install your RAID driver using this method?

No, I meant the computer that I will test it but that the computer that has a raid array can not be formatted because it is used for work.

Using 61015a, non-SYS files are compressed into SOURCESS\I386 and added into TXTSETUP.SIF with "1,,,,,,3_,4,1,,,1,4" and into DOSNET.INF.

Camarade_Tux
No, of course it's better not to test on the work computers

Tomcat76
Thank you!

PS
Probably I have to buy one motherboard that needs installing SATA drivers (can't afford to buy more then one right now). Have other hardware including a couple of SATA drives (can use it untill the end of October, this computer doesn't need drivers because it maps SATA as IDE drive during installation), probably will need only a CPU in addition to the motherboard.

Any advice of some sofisticated model with difficult drivers? Just for testing don't need a new computer.

I manually 'slipstreamed' my SATA drivers a long time ago but might try this method within the week..

glentium
That would be nice.
By the way what did you do with other files (not SYS) when slipstreamming the drivers manually?

(BTW, I have Intel AHCI SATA Controller)
I never bothered with the other files provide with my SATA controller but I only used 3 files: iastor.inf, iahci.inf and iastor.sys (makecabBED and modifypeD); Then I added the following entries:

In DOSNET.INF:

[FloppyFiles.2]
d1,iastor.sys

[Strings]
iastor = "Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver"

[Files]
d1,iastor.sys

In TXTSETUP.SIF:

[SourceDisksFiles]
iaahci.inf = 1,,,,,,,20,0,0
iastor.inf = 1,,,,,,,20,0,0
iastor.sys = 1,,,,,,3_,4,1

[HardwareIdsDatabase]
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106 = "iaStor"

[SCSI.Load]
iastor = iastor.sys,4

[SCSI]
iastor = "Intel® 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller (Mobile ICH7M)"

In general it's nearly the same.

I've just tried WinBuilder (something like BartPE) and it can include support for SATA/RAID drivers including only SYS files and editing TXTSETUP.SIF.

"out-of-the-box" the latest HFSLIP and this method didn't work for me and text mode portion of setup cannot find my harddrive..

after fiddling with it for a few hours, I found out that the problem is with the database (STORAGE.INI)

I had to change the line particular to my storage driver in the [HardwareIdsDatabase] section from:
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106.DeviceDesc = "Intel® 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller"
to:
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106 = "iastor", "Intel® 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller"

the reason is because this line will call the corresponding line in [SCSI] section which in this case is, not "Intel® 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller" (which doesn't exists), but:

iastor = "Intel® 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller (Mobile ICH7M)"

perhaps it also true for the rest of the database. the records in the [SCSI] portion must match the records in the [HardwareIdsDatabase].

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106 = "iastor" would suffice, but then in the text mode portion of setup you will see:

Setup is loading files (iastor)...

so putting PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27C5&CC_0106 = "iastor", "Intel® 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller"
, you will see a more descriptive message in the text mode portion:

Setup is loading files (Intel® 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller)...

One more thing, it didn't work with ".DeviceDesc" in it so I had to remove it... ".DeviceDesc" doesn't appear in any record in the original TXTSETUP.SIF.
with that, perhaps we just need to change STORAGE.INI to reflect the same changes as in my case and, maybe, other scenario would also be okay.

otherwise, the HFSLIP script to slipstream the storage drivers was perfect!

glentium

Perfect! Marvelous!

So some work with STORAGE.INI is needed... OK! I'll correct these mistakes.

Seeing the post by Glentium, I wanna propose the following (for HFSLIP):

SYS files > 1,,,,,,3_,4,1,,,1,4
INF files > 1,,,,,,,20,0,0,,1,20
other files > 1,,,,,,,2,0,0,,1,2

Tomcat76
Go ahead!

It's done (61016a).

Also, nothing is added to DOSNET.INF if it isn't detected. This also applies to HFEXPERT\DRIVERCAB.

No problem, glad I could help..

BTW, the latest storage.ini and HFSLIP 61016a works perfectly well for me in integrating my SATA drivers.

With regards to filling up the database with more drivers, I think we can use BTS pack which offers a lot of SATA drivers. All the information needed to put records in storage.ini are in the INFs.

Yeah... It took me about 3 hours to make it. I tried correcting the old STORAGE.INI but found that's easier to take info from INF files (as you suggested). And I'm not done with NVIDIA drivers yet.
And I make it in sections for different manufactorers - hope it would be easier to update that way.

That would be nice but it take too much time. I'll check it when I have time. If somebody could help



New database file is ready. Please test it with the latest beta of HFSLIP.
If your hardware is not listed please let me know and I add it into the database.
If somebody is willing to continue updating and support the database please also let me know.

I'm done with this untill I have some more time to check BTS driver packs and a computer with such hardware. Hope it will be before this year Christmas



PS Want to know your opinion: is it better to have one big file STORAGE.INI or make it as a few smaller ones like STORAGE_INTEL.INI, STORAGE_SIS.INI, STORAGE_VIA.INI, etc.?

my vote goes to smaller individual database per hardware... that way:

users just copy the appropriate one depending on their hardware to HFEXPERT\STORAGE

or they could copy all databases, especially if they are creating universal CD/DVDs

This forum post outlines a way to test RAID drivers in VMWare. Not sure if it is worth the effort, though, since Oleg seems to have this working and the VMWare method only lets you test the VMWare drivers; it cannot be configured to test others.

TAiN
Thank you for notice. There is some information in STORAGE.INI concerning VMWare drivers: So I think it's covered and should work with current HFSLIP beta.

I don't have VMWare so can't test. If somebody can check it it would be great.

I intend to test this in VMWare but won't be able to do so until next week.

btw, I noticed XP works better with "1,,,,,,4_,4,1,,,1,4" while 2000 and 2003 work better with "1,,,,,,3_,4,1".

I really don't have a clue why but over the years I have adopted this method and it seems alright.

I noticed most of the newer drivers (ie. IBM ServeRAID 7k) do not use the other supporting files such as DLL, EXE, etc. Or at least they do not need it after it has completed OS installation. But I remember vividly that the IBM ServeRAID 4L/4M Controller needs the NFRDCI04.DLL during GUI installation. If the file is not present during installation, it will pop up a dialog asking to provide the location of the files. If you ignore them, it will BSoD. That is one of the reason why I copy all the vendor-supplied files into the directory specified in the UNATTEND.TXT's "OEMPnPDriversPath" string....just in case. In HFSlip's case (since you don't use answer files), it may be necessary to specify all supporting files into TXTSETUP.SIF and possibly DOSNET.INF as well. I find the work too tedious AND at work we use answer files, so I never really investigate this further.

Update:
I found a controller that uses its supplied DLL file. Check out the QLogic QL4010 iSCSI Controller that has a customized GUI similar to the standard Microsoft device dialog. Right-clicking on the Qlogic iSCSI Adapter device and you will see this dialog:



The QLogic QL4010 uses the QL4X00PP.DLL file:



Yup. You need all its supporting files as well.

NOTE. Copying all the files into I386 without specifying them in TXTSETUP.SIF may not enough. The supporting files are needed during the GUI installation phases and during that phase, the $WIN_NT$.BT~ and $WIN_NT$.BT temp directories are already deleted. Because of this, you may need to tell the OS to copy these non-SYS files into the SYSTEM32 folder.




BTW, HFSLIP is the most amazing batch file I've ever seen. Well done!

iTwins
Your advices are very much appreciated

Tomcat76
Is it possible to make HFSLIP choose the string if the source is different?


According to this advice it may be usefull to include all files except SYS into TXTSETUP.SIF.

Unfortunately we don't have much testers but I think this method should be even more reliable than integrating drivers with driver.cab because it's even simpler.

By the way I think to put all SATA/RAID drivers I found into a package and upload it to Rapidshare.de.

Correction. According to this advice it may be useful to include all files INCLUDING SYS into TXTSETUP.SIF. If the SYS files are not included in the TXTSETUP.SIF, the system will BSoD at the initial Text Mode installation phase. The loading of RAID drivers are done in two separate phases. The first phase is the initial blue TEXTMODE screen. It's main purpose there is to load the RAID driver so that it can recognize and format hard disks or do FAT/FAT32 to NTFS conversion. The second phase is during the middle of GUI installation where the system is configuring the Windows GUIs. If the system found that the RAID driver is associated with support files, it will link and load them. Here, if the support files are not found, it will popup a dialog asking for the location of the files. If ignoring them, it will most likely BSoD.



hehe...I hear you. However, I don't have too many servers for testing either. If your procedures are done accordingly and conforms to standards, you really only need one RAID controller for testing. The other drivers should work exactly the same way.

The drivers that are included in my RAID Slipstreamer v2.0 tool, well, I have only physically tested less than 10% of the RAID controllers listed there. Normally, I get requests from country IT support staffs who have the "unsupported" controller on their servers. They simply send me the RAID drivers and I update the RAID Slipstreamer tool. They will then send me feedback whether it works or not. In most cases, they work flawlessly. In cases where it didn't work, it was usually because the vendor had introduced a new variation of an existing controller and have updated the driver to include new Plug 'n' Play codes. Ex. "PCI\VEN_9005&DEV_0286&SUBSYS_95801014".

Nevertheless, I'll be happy to lend a hand whenever possible.




I think in HFSLIP's case, it would be very hard to slipstream drivers because each vendor store their drivers differently. Some vendors also like to put their drivers into subfolders categorized by platform types (IBM loves doing that!). For example:



CAREFUL, although they appear to have the same filename, they are not always the same!! Using of the wrong platform drivers could lead to BSoD.

Anyways, in this case, either you modify the OEMSETUP.INF to tell it to find the drivers in the root instead OR you add the drivers in "\I386\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\RAID" exactly the way the vendor has specified:




You may need to find some way to read the directory info from the OEMSETUP.INF and then migrate it to the TXTSETUP.SIF and/or DOSNET.INF. Just make sure you remember this advice:




I think you guys should have no problems. Since trying out HFSLIP, I no longer underestimate the power of batch programming. Keep up the good work, guys!


For more info, see my post here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...173&st=164#

May I also add that if support files are referenced in the OEMSETUP.INF, then it is strongly advised to add them into the TXTSETUP.SIF.

Although unrelated to RAID drivers, but integrating graphic card drivers are done similarly. If you noticed, the layout of the OEMSETUP.INF for RAID and VIDEO drivers are almost exactly the same.

But then, some vendors have their own way to doing things that is differently from the rest of the boys. Some of the nVidia drivers are a real pain in the butt - especially those Quadro drivers. Eventhough the files are not referenced in the OEMSETUP.INF, these unlisted files are probably called by the DLL files themselves. If you missed one CHM or HLP file for example, it will abort the installation. Maybe this was the reason why your HFSLIP 60810 did not work. Don't feel bad though, nLite v1.2 RC didn't work either.

Sorry to make it sound confusing. Anyways, the moral of the story is, it is better to reference ALL files in TXTSETUP.SIF...just in case.

Sorry my Enlgish As far as I know SYS files are added by HFSLIP right now. I meant adding other files to TXTSETUP.SIF too

As for different versions - you are probably right if there is a driver pack with real files. But right now users are asked to provide the files from their floppies. HFSLIP only adds file names to TXTSETUP.SIF for files that are provided by user and also adds information that are the same for W2k and XP (at least according to the INF files I saw - most of them state the same files and two installation section for W2k and XP in one INF file so should be version independant).

By the way: would you like to handle this topic?

Well, I rest my case then.



Thanks for the offer; I'm honored...but I'll have to decline. Work is mostly hectic, only recently I get spare time to do some research. At home, **** Playstation is taking up all my spare time.

I'll just barge in in your discussions, pretends to be pro, and offer my few cents.




huh....that's a first I've ever seen on a forum...."You have posted a message with more emoticons that this board allows. Please reduce the number of emoticons you've added to the message". Geezus, and I thought the restrictions I integrate into the operating systems I developed for work were restrictive....

I would be interested in downloading that. I'll also host it for you if you like.

iTwins
OK! Thanks anyway

TAiN
I have a few packages now but don't have enough time to merge them and separate again according to the manufactors.

All information for STORAGE.INI I've got from the package of scankurban (I've got it manually from included INF files). I think most of drivers from his package are universal (there were sections for both W2k and XP in INF files with the same source files).

But there is still a possibility that some driver binaries could be different for different OS as iTwins said.

So this should take some time, I guess.

I have mainboards: ASUS P4V800D-X(VIA 8237R+<?>) & ASUS A7N8 deluxe(nforce2)+ hdd serial ATA.I will execute tests in the weekend

cheers
dziubek

Well, I'm offering my first cent.

Link to the RAID Slipstreamer v2.0's Mass Storage Drivers

Inside "Mass Storage Drivers for Wintel.rar" are Windows drivers that are categorized by the following folders:

2K_2K3
2000
2003
XP
COMMON
XP_2K

I think it's quite self-explanatory - platform specific drivers. For example. "2K_2K3" means this driver only works on Windows 2000 and Windows 2003. However, don't come crying to me if it works on XP as well for example. I simply took the vendor's words. They say it doesn't support XP and I take their words for it. If however I ignore this warning and the RAID array died, we cannot whine at the manufacturer!

Anyways, inside each folder are the compressed SYS files. These are to be copied to the I386 share and specified in both TXTSETUP.SIF and DOSNET.INF

Last but not least, inside each folder is a sub folder called FULL. These are the complete vendor supplied drivers that I tell the RAID Slipstreamer to copy to the "OEMPnPDriversPath" string specified in the Answer File. Note that I have modified some of the OEMSETUP.INF (I renamed most too to avoid any duplicate filenames) to point directly to the root directory rather than their original paths, usually categorized by platform type.

For most people, you have no use for these drivers. For big corporations that have too much money to spend and can afford to buy US$4,000 controller cards AND YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT THEM, this is worth the trouble.



OLEG:
Feel free to add them to your set of drivers.

Cheers,

iTwins
Thank you very much!
I don't have much time for testing now but I'm going to download the package and have a look into it.

PS Are you from Macao (Aomen)?

You're welcome. Glad to lend a hand



No, Hong Kong, right next door....no casinos over here, just plenty of smog, courtesy of mainland China.

How could I confuse HK emblem!

So we are neighbours

It's even more here in GZ

dziubek

Nearly missed your posting. Let us know what's going on. Thanks for helping and good luck!

PS dziubek I'll try to check INF files for your motherboards (if needed information is included into STORAGE.INI).

You don't sound like a local. Quite a long way from home, sailor. What brought you to GZ? Expat?

Yep, something like this

Nice. 10 years expat and you can retire!

Now I know why you're helping out with this HFSLIP thingy...hehe...nothing else better to do in GZ! just teasing... Seriously, yes, its very challenging and I enjoy doing this kind of tinkering / tweaking Windows stuff too...only when I was not hooked on the da-mn Playstation. I would've enjoy it more if it wasn't the wife kicking my butt on the game!

I don't see a way to test this STORAGE method in VMWare. I tried, but the BusLogic driver is already in Win2K and there is no LSI Logic driver for Win2K. VMWare tells you as much, and those are the only two virtual devices that would work for this.

Also, there is an error in storage.ini on line 6820. This error causes setup to fail.
should be:

Tain:

Hmmm, I don't know how you can test the SiS drivers EVEN if you have the LSI Logic drivers for VMWare. Anyways, help yourself. Try adding it manually:

DOSNET.INF:


TXTSETUP.SIF:



Attached are the LSI Logic 1020/1030 Ultra320 SCSI drivers for VMware Workstation v5.5.x. The attached VMware drivers work on all platforms.

Sorry. Those are unrelated topics and my post should have been more clear. That error causes text-mode setup to fail. I fixed the entry and was able to continue, but wanted to let Oleg know so that the package could be updated.

Where did you get this other driver?

Ah...my mistake.

Umm...what other driver?

The LSI Logic one that you posted

I really need to work on the clarity of my posts

TAiN

Sorry. Corrected.

oh...hehe...I snatched it from inside VMware.

When you click on "Install VMware Tools...", it is then accessible from the virtual CDROM from inside VMware. The driver can be found at \Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\Drivers\SCSI\Win2k

@iTwins: Yeah, I tried that one already. That is the BusLogic driver, not the LSI Logic one. I also tried drivers from the LSI Logic site just for giggles. No luck.