[MaaR]

Quote

XPCREATE AutoUpdate currently only supports XP Professional RTM/SP1.

does it meen I can use it to build win2000 disc too?

[mdes]

Quote

About hpt3xx.sys

I replaced SP1a with SP1 => Installation in now OK ... till now because still busy on installation process.

[GreenMachine]

@mdes:
I think the update program in the hotfixes changed, thus the difference in the files. The patches themselves have not changed.

I have only tested with a slipstreamed SP1 (not SP1A), though I find it hard to believe that SP1A would make a difference. I still don't like the HPT???.SYS error ...

@Wraith:
I really don't know what to do about you ... I think I will ask the administrators to delete all your posts, and pretend you never existed ... Seriously, that a totally different config gives the same errors ... It honestly does work for others ... I would be quite frustrated by now ... You can try as you suggested, or just leave as is, and select Do NOT slipstream Type I hotfixes from the settings.

I'm sorry that it did not work out for you, but I would like to thank you for sticking with it and trying to get it going. I will be releasing a revamped version in a few days, but I cannot say if those problems have been corrected. You help has been most appreciated.

@MaaR:

currently only supports XP Professional

That means NO WIN2K (yet ... ).

Changes in the next version will include:

Phasing out of XPCREATE CMDLINES.TXT use. All operations will be performed at the SVCPACK.INF level, including setting up RunOnceEx and copying the necessary files for those few updates that must be installed from GUI reboot. This means that XPCREATE CDs will NOT need $OEM$, nor OEMPreInstall=Yes, nor WINNT.SIF. It also will produce a CD that can easily be customized with standard Pre-Installation tools.

All updates called from RunOnceEx will be pre-packaged in IExpress installers.

Number of XPCREATE reboots have been reduced to maximun of one. This eliminates previous language version considerations.

Default password has been changed to blank (e.g. no password)

That's all for now ...

[MaaR]

Quote

Phasing out of XPCREATE CMDLINES.TXT use. All operations will be performed at the SVCPACK.INF level, including setting up RunOnceEx and copying the necessary files for those few updates that must be installed from GUI reboot. This means that XPCREATE CDs will NOT need $OEM$, nor OEMPreInstall=Yes, nor WINNT.SIF. It also will produce a CD that can easily be customized with standard Pre-Installation tools.

wow!

I'm runing now w2k instalation I've made by xpcreate. only thing I changed was temp\spacks\update\update.exe to temp\spacks\i386\update\update.exe in xpcmain.cmd file to slipstreem sp4.

during install till now (save settings position) I've got one warning about digital signature of sound, video and games controlers.

edit: too bad - nothing installed from svcpack ...

edit: flash doesn't work too.

[GreenMachine]

MaaR, on Jan 6 2004, 03:54 PM, said:

... nothing installed from svcpack ...   ...

Probably would if you were slipstreaming 2K SP1 fixes, and not SP4 fixes. There is also a logic flaw for subdirectories in the SVCPACK.INF creation, as well as version numbering. It should slipstream an SP nice anyway ...

[Lost Soul]

@GreenMachine

i like the way some of the new changes you talked about doing to the revamp version of xpcreate,, and even tho my disk is complete now, i wouldnt mind having a go at your revamped version,, let me know when its finished ill have a go at it and tell you what i think,,

btw keep up the good work

[mdes]

Some news: (hoping this may help others having similar problems) (Remember, I started again from scratch; SP1, not SP1a, is in SPACKS\)

After moving msjavwu.exe from HFTYPE2 to JAVANEW and putting msjavx86.exe in JAVAOLD:

• I don't have anymore the 2 messages telling me I should have had IE6 SP1 and OE6 SP1
  
• IE is now installed and working
  
• Default user is created
  
• ...

So, this solved a lot of issues I encountered

Windows Update is pointing:

• Framework language pack (was on error during the installation: "Framework is required before installing the language pack").
  So, I assume LANGPACK.EXE should be installed after a reboot. My SVCPACK.INF contains the following lines:
  • [SetupHotfixesToRun]
    
  • DOTNETFX.EXE
    
  • LANGPACK.EXE
  
  
• Journal viewer (was on error during the installation: "incorrect params on command line").
  The RUNONCE.CMD contains:
  ECHO "1"="MSIEXEC.EXE /QB /I %SYSTEMDRIVE%\\MICROSOFT WINDOWS JOURNAL VIEWER.MSI" >> %SYSTEMDRIVE%\RUNONCE.REG
  but it should probably be: (Hey GreenMachine what do yo think of this?)
  ECHO "1"="MSIEXEC.EXE /QB /I ""%SYSTEMDRIVE%\\MICROSOFT WINDOWS JOURNAL VIEWER.MSI""" >> %SYSTEMDRIVE%\RUNONCE.REG
  
• DirectX 9.0b end user (I didn't put DX9NTopk.exe in HFTYPE0)

[Wraith]

@GreenMachine:

Oh, I'll be sticking around until I can get a workable solution. This seems to be annoying you as much as it annoys me!



EDIT:

Wow. I got a "working" CD. All the drivers during first bootup complain about driver signing. Even the MS ones, like "Microsoft Streaming Time Proxy" (WTF?!). None of the hotfixes are being installed via RunOnce. DirectX is not being installed. Media Player is not being installed.

And to top it off, Windows now reports as being a Debug version when running winver. I assure you, the original CD is NOT a debug version.



Oh how I love MS.



Now thinking I should be building a CD manually. Knowing my luck it'll turn out the same way. Hmmm.

Someone got a URL for SP1, not SP1a? If it's working for other ppl, maybe it'll work for me. (Yeah, I know, wishful thinking.)

[GreenMachine]

Wraith, on Jan 7 2004, 12:36 AM, said:

@GreenMachine:

Oh, I'll be sticking around until I can get a workable solution. This seems to be annoying you as much as it annoys me!

Oh. Like revenge? No problem! Hang around: the more the merrier! And sometimes these bugs disappear with other bug fixes. Some problems DO go away if you ignore them enough.

@mdes: Strange, I never had any of those issues. I used all the files AutoUpdated, and a DX9 installer. Most of these problems: language pack and Java Update, are a matter of order. Strange that mine went OK. I won't be looking into it right away, as my code is now quite different from yours. See what happens when you try it ... Journal Viewer is missing quotes, as you saw. I now just repack into an IExpress thingy, and forget about it. All that path stuff is much easier. Thanks for posting your help.

@Lost Soul. Soon, very soon. Be warned, just to make y'all work, too, I decided to rename all the directories ... and not update the doc. See if you can spot the names!

[MaaR]

Quote

Probably would if you were slipstreaming 2K SP1 fixes, and not SP4 fixes. There is also a logic flaw for subdirectories in the SVCPACK.INF creation, as well as version numbering.

version numbering was the fault. changed it and everything installed fine.

Quote

It should slipstream an SP nice anyway ...

it did!

I didn't add ie6sp1 jet. will try now.

[Wraith]

I was bored for a couple of hours, so I knocked up a directory copying prog with a UI...

Thought it was kinda annoying not knowing whether XPCREATE was doing anything - I get bored very easily

Might wanna use it for XPCREATE

Syntax: VCOPY "G:\" "D:\CDSOURCE"

Pretty easy

Attached File(s)

•  VCOPY.zip (66.71K)
  Number of downloads: 22

[nuhi]

GreenMachine, great work... I have just a small proposition

If somebody chooses Custom integration, and selects folowing options

DOISO=NO
DOBURN=NO
XPSOURCE=C:\XP
BOOTIMGFILE=NULL

Then it would be great if it doesn't asks for bootsector, wouldn't it ?

[Lost Soul]

lol grrr green thats evil, your trying to make me work,, lol ok ill take on your challenge when it comes out

[GreenMachine]

@Wraith: Thanks, I added support for VCOPY, and posted it on my Add-ons page. OK? (I guess you did have a few boring minutes waiting for yet another XPCREATE CD ...) I also added my own, less "GUI" version, to show that something was happening during those few minutes.

@nuhi: I would think that if DOISO=NO, the BOOTIMG file should not matter ... I think I got it right now.

As threatened ... I have once again updated XPCREATE. Some of the changes:
- I have tried to both simplify it's utilization, and add user control through options and system settings.
- The directory structures used has changed, with a few directories being merged (e.g. FILESXP and FILESCD), and some removed.
- CMDLINES.TXT processing has been discontinued. You may still add exe, cmd and reg files to be used from SVCPACK.INF.
- Reboots have been reduced to one.
- All control of the RunOnceEx code, as well as the updates that will run from RunOnceEx, is done from a single package called from SVCPACK.INF. These files are copied to the %SYSTEMROOT% directory during setup, and removed after use. All files use the naming convention XPCIN???.*, where ??? is a number starting at 100. If someone else ever uses these file names ... their files will be mercilessly deleted.

The major improvement brought by these changes is that the final XP distribution CD is no longer dependent on WINNT.SIF, thus OEMPreInstall=Yes, nor the $OEM$ directory. The final product is the perfect starting point for your custom unattended CD. This will create a clear distinction between XPCREATE and Unattended issues, and eliminate the need to modify XPCREATE files.

I have also modified the slipstreaming routine itself, to include the extra steps listed in THIS KB article, that were not included in THIS article, the basis of the original slipstreaming mechanism.

The menu has been "cleared up" a bit as well. All submenu items have been grouped a little better, and there is only one sub menu, Source Preparation, that results in irrevocable actions ... The sub menus are:
1) Custom CD Settings: Control over the XPCREATE process.
2) Slipstreaming Settings: Determine how Hotfixes are applied.
3) Source Preparation: These options manipulate the files used to create XP CDs.
4) XPCREATE Add-Ons: These options effect the behaviour of the installed Windows: e.g. user names, or whether to reboot after installation.

The directory naming convention has changed so look at the web site for the correct names. This version is NOT backwards compatible. The main Hotfix directories, HFTYPE1, HFTYPE2 and SPACKS have not changed.

I added support for the VCOPY from Wraith above. If this file, VCOPY.EXE, is present, it is used.

In addition, I have tried to include WIN2K support. Please feel free to test this and let me know the results. (I have not tested this myself, but there are few differences. Specifically, I am not sure about the original SVCPACK.INF, so the headers AND sections may need to be verified.

To clear up confusion about the OneStep Option, it will (if necessary) copy the CD to the HDD, check if it is at current service pack level, if not, it will download (if file does not exist), and slipstream the service pack. It will then download all the hotfixes not already present. Finally, it will run a Custom CD Option, with a predefined,” fail-safe" set of options. The OneStep option need only be run initially, Custom CD should be used subsequently.

Let me know how it works for you!

[Aaron]

GM, have you considered version numbering your releases?

[GreenMachine]

AaronXP, on Jan 7 2004, 11:42 PM, said:

GM, have you considered version numbering your releases?

Well ... I did introduce Release Date in the upper right corner (when I remember to change it ... took a few minutes this time). I believe MS regulations prohibit version numbering in CMD based applications ... And this way, I can sneak the debugged releases in with XPCREATE Update, and no one will ever know ... let's see, XU, WU, maybe I'm on to something ...

[Wraith]

Still no ISO creation path


EDIT: Yay! Best luck in the world! (Check the attachment )
Was using SP1, not SP1a. Newest version of XPCREATE.

May as well go try it with SP1a. Got nothing else to do today...

Attached File(s)

•  yay.jpg (6.09K)
  Number of downloads: 24

[shareef59]

@GreenMachine

Once again, many thanks for the latest version! After a few sleepless nights thinking about this version, I am ready to lock and load.

As a matter of interest, which folder do I place some of my programs which has been repackaged using iexpress and where does the msjava (the old and new slipstreamed version) go? Also, can the msjava be included as a optional download and added to the "download" page, along with any others that might prove useful. If storage space etc is a concern, let me know, I can arrange it so you have as much space as needed, within reason.

Once again, awesome job!!! One step closer to the "Perfect Solution"

[GreenMachine]

Wraith, on Jan 8 2004, 02:26 AM, said:

... Best luck in the world!  ...

I added ISOPATH support ... maybe that will fix it ... You could try using the alternate CDIMAGE switches: Custom Settings - Alt something ...

@shareef59: Thanks. Most of the directory usage is listed on the web site. Part of my reasoning in getting away from CMDLINES.TXT and WINNT.SIF is that conventional pre-install tools/methods can be used. There are, of course, still hooks into XPCREATE, just not as many. Check the web site - directory usage or something.

I'm not really interested in hosting or linking to repacked MS files, but thanks for the space offer. I prefer to let MS host all the files I need!

I should note that if you are planning on using the RunOnceEx reg key, that XPCREATE uses entries 400 for cleanup, 500+ for hotfixes, 600 for cleanup, and 900 for (optional) reboot.

[Wraith]

Well isn't this fun. vga.sys seems to be corrupted no matter which SP1 I put in. Gonna go put the original in FILESCD\I386 now...