[FatalSaviour]

Could someone please clarify what errors they're actually getting when they try to slipstream SATA NVRAID array drivers into an WinXP SP2 (32-bit) cd. Without making any text-mode modifications, simply using nlite to integrate the drivers, windows appears to have installed fine, and I can run apps, games etc. all day long. However, upon leaving it, sometimes immediately after booting, sometimes 3 hours after...it randomly reboots. Is this the constant rebooting that people are having problems with, or is it straight after booting XP that most people find their PCs flaking out?
Cheers

[Fernando 1]

FatalSaviour, on Sep 7 2005, 02:54 PM, said:

Could someone please clarify what errors they're actually getting when they try to slipstream SATA NVRAID array drivers into an WinXP SP2 (32-bit) cd.  Without making any text-mode modifications, simply using nlite to integrate the drivers, windows appears to have installed fine, and I can run apps, games etc. all day long.  However, upon leaving it, sometimes immediately after booting, sometimes 3 hours after...it randomly reboots.  Is this the constant rebooting that people are having problems with, or is it straight after booting XP that most people find their PCs flaking out?

I don't know, if somebody could successfully integrate the nVRaid drivers into Windows XP by using nLite Beta6 without any "handmade" changes. All my tests failed at the end of the installation procedure by endless reboots of my computer, even when I rebooted in safe mode.
So the answer is: The issue appears straight during the installation of the OS, there is no chance to use it.
The reason for this issue is, that the Windows XP setup routine installs the wrong driver (Standard PCI IDE Controller) during the GUIMODE part of the installation.
The [OemInfFiles]-method, which is able to prevent this strange behaviour, has not been completely implemented into nLite Beta6.

[mjswooosh]

Fernando 1, on Sep 7 2005, 07:46 AM, said:

FatalSaviour, on Sep 7 2005, 02:54 PM, said:

Could someone please clarify what errors they're actually getting when they try to slipstream SATA NVRAID array drivers into an WinXP SP2 (32-bit) cd.  Without making any text-mode modifications, simply using nlite to integrate the drivers, windows appears to have installed fine, and I can run apps, games etc. all day long.  However, upon leaving it, sometimes immediately after booting, sometimes 3 hours after...it randomly reboots.  Is this the constant rebooting that people are having problems with, or is it straight after booting XP that most people find their PCs flaking out?

I don't know, if somebody could successfully integrate the nVRaid drivers into Windows XP by using nLite Beta6 without any "handmade" changes. All my tests failed at the end of the installation procedure by endless reboots of my computer, even when I rebooted in safe mode.
So the answer is: The issue appears straight during the installation of the OS, there is no chance to use it.
The reason for this issue is, that the Windows XP setup routine installs the wrong driver (Standard PCI IDE Controller) during the GUIMODE part of the installation.
The [OemInfFiles]-method, which is able to prevent this strange behaviour, has not been completely implemented into nLite Beta6.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi there Fernando~

First of all, let me say THANK YOU SO MUCH for your contributions to helping all of us figure this out. I believe it is very irresponsible of nVIDIA to release such an obviously *broken* NVRAID driver, but thanks to you and other users there is a chance that many of us will actually get to use the wonderful RAID features on our nForce3/4 motherboards.

Unfortunately, I must report the [OemInfFiles]-method does not work for me yet.

I have tried re-doing the entire process 6 or 7 times (I've lost count now!): I re-transferred 2 different XP SP2 source CDs, re-did the nLite process multiple times, re-typed the [OemInfFiles]-method into the WINNT.SIF file many, many times just as you said to do, etc...

Unfortunately, I keep getting multiple errors during the install process. The main problems occur during the initial file install phase right after the drive formats (before it gets to the WinXP GUI). The primary problems are "missing .dll" errors in which I am instructed to hit [enter] if I want to keep going or [esc] to abort the install. Of course, I always hit [enter]. In some cases the install will get "stuck" on a particular missing .dll and I am forced to abort the install. In other cases, the file install will successfully finish at 100% but then at the very end the machine will BSOD with mention of some problem with a particular file.

I just tried Dale's method (no OemInfFiles) and was able to get the system to boot into windows. At first I thought the install was totally successful, but unlike Dale's personal experience my install did *not* successfully find or install the NVRAID files once WinXP loaded up. In other words, device manager shows the typical question marks for missing drivers and when I try to force the system to look for system changes it just brings up the same dialogue box that tells me the system had a problem finding the correct drivers for the nFORCE4 RAID device, blah blah.

In short, the [OemInfFiles]-method does not work for me (yet). If you (or anyone else here) can give me some insight as to what might be causing the repeated "missing .dll" and BSOD errors during install I'd greatly appreciate it.

Dale's method of simply integrating the files will at least let me get into windows, but for now it appears I'll have to manually install all drivers once I get there. This isn't too bad of a solution if it truly activates NVRAID (am still not there yet).

I'll keep tweaking and working to see if I can get things to work. Any further help with the [OemInfFiles]-method will be greatly appreciated!

Of course, it'd be nice if nVIDIA would pull their heads out of their collective butts and give us a RAID driver that actually works so we don't have to waste our time doing this kinda crap...I'm not real happy that I've had to waste TWO DAYS messing with RAID which is advertised to work as an "out-of-box" feature...

[Fernando 1]

mjswooosh, on Sep 7 2005, 06:25 PM, said:

Unfortunately, I keep getting multiple errors during the install process. The main problems occur during the initial file install phase right after the drive formats (before it gets to the WinXP GUI).  The primary problems are "missing .dll" errors in which I am instructed to hit [enter] if I want to keep going or [esc] to abort the install.  Of course, I always hit [enter].  In some cases the install will get "stuck" on a particular missing .dll and I am forced to abort the install. In other cases, the file install will successfully finish at 100% but then at the very end the machine will BSOD with mention of some problem with a particular file. 

Before I can help you, I need some informations:

Are you really sure, that Windows Setup missed DLL-files? Or is it possible, that the system asked for CAT-files?
Did the setup always ask for the same or for different files?
What is your system (nForce3 or nForce4 chipset, PataRaid or Sataraid)?
Which nForce chipset driver package version did you use?

[mjswooosh]

Fernando 1, on Sep 7 2005, 10:46 AM, said:

mjswooosh, on Sep 7 2005, 06:25 PM, said:

Unfortunately, I keep getting multiple errors during the install process. The main problems occur during the initial file install phase right after the drive formats (before it gets to the WinXP GUI).  The primary problems are "missing .dll" errors in which I am instructed to hit [enter] if I want to keep going or [esc] to abort the install.  Of course, I always hit [enter].  In some cases the install will get "stuck" on a particular missing .dll and I am forced to abort the install. In other cases, the file install will successfully finish at 100% but then at the very end the machine will BSOD with mention of some problem with a particular file. 

Before I can help you, I need some informations:

Are you really sure, that Windows Setup missed DLL-files? Or is it possible, that the system asked for CAT-files?
Did the setup always ask for the same or for different files?
What is your system (nForce3 or nForce4 chipset, PataRaid or Sataraid)?
Which nForce chipset driver package version did you use?
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1. Yes, the system asks for various "missing" .dll files, *not* cab files.
2. Setup seems to ask for different, random .dll files each time.
3. A couple of times install totally stopped due to a "missing .dll" file and hitting [enter] did nothing. Those 2 times I had to hit [esc] to abort install. However, most of the time hitting [enter] resumes install. This is very strange since most of the time it seems as if the system is saying, "I can't find this file...OH, NEVER MIND, now that you hit the [enter] key I just found it!"
4. My motherboard: BFG "BFGRNF4U" nForce4 Ultra
5. BIOS: 0719 = nVRAID 4.84
6. nFORCE drivers = 6.66

**********************
Since I last posted I have re-tried Dale's method 2 more times, adding more drivers each time. Initially, I thought this method to be successful since I could boot into WindowsXP right after finishing install. However, after re-booting the system reverts to continual re-boots.
**********************

Further Information Regarding Dale's Method:

My last effort successfully loaded the nForce sound drivers & ATI Catalyst 5.8 drivers in the *first* boot up sequence.

However, when WinXP starts the "Found New Hardware Wizard" pops up. The message reads:

"Cannot Install this hardware. There was a problem installing this hardware: NVIDIA nFORCE RAID Class Controller. An error during the installation of the device. The installation source for this product is not available. Verify that the source exists and that you can access it. Click Finish to close the wizard."

There is no option to do anything but click "Finish".

Since Windows seems to have successfully loaded the nForce/Ethernet drivers, Device Manager shows all of the question marks are now gone.

Device Manager/Disk Drives *correctly* shows I have "NVIDIA STRIPE 372.61G"

However, SCSI and RAID Controllers shows "Unknown Device", which correlates to the aforementioned "Found New Hardware Wizard". If I scan for new devices, the same wizard pops up time after time. None of the NVIDIA RAID drivers available seem to work.

In short, this method does not work for me since it does the continual re-boot process.

[Fernando 1]

mjswooosh, on Sep 7 2005, 08:57 PM, said:

1. Yes, the system asks for various "missing" .dll files, *not* cab files.
2. Setup seems to ask for different, random .dll files each time.
3. A couple of times install totally stopped due to a "missing .dll" file and hitting [enter] did nothing.  Those 2 times I had to hit [esc] to abort install.  However, most of the time hitting [enter] resumes install.  This is very strange since most of the time it seems as if the system is saying, "I can't find this file...OH, NEVER MIND, now that you hit the [enter] key I just found it!"  
4. My motherboard: BFG "BFGRNF4U" nForce4 Ultra
5. BIOS: 0719 = nVRAID 4.84
6. nFORCE drivers = 6.66

I am nearly sure, that your problem has nothing to do with nLite or the method how to integrate the "ugly" nForce SataRaid drivers.

My suggestions:
Change your cd player and create a new unattended install CD.
If this doesn't change anything, there is something wrong either with your RAM (check them) or power supply (strong enough?), with the temperatures within your pc case (maybe the 2 hard disk drives are too close together) or you are an overclocker, which has reached the limits (take Bios defaults settings).

This post has been edited by Fernando 1: 07 September 2005 - 02:28 PM

[willdoicu]

Tweakin, on Sep 6 2005, 08:49 PM, said:

I am really stuck with this guys and need some help. I have tried Fernando_1's way twice and dale5605's way once. All three attempts have ended in repeated bluescreens.

I have,
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (BIOS 1011 / nVraid v4.81)
A64 3500+ Venice
2x Western Digital 74gb Raptors

I have tried using the 6.66 package of nForce4 drivers, included the pataraid directory contents in the OemDir, integrated the sataraid and sata_ide drivers with nLite (1.0 b6), etc. I can't figure out what I could be doing wrong.

I can't believe how hard it is to get a stripe working with my raptors, I have never had so much trouble with a raid array before.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tweakin, pay attention you have ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe no DFI !!!

This post has been edited by willdoicu: 07 September 2005 - 02:33 PM

[Fernando 1]

willdoicu, on Sep 7 2005, 09:32 PM, said:

Tweakin, on Sep 6 2005, 08:49 PM, said:

I am really stuck with this guys and need some help. I have tried Fernando_1's way twice and dale5605's way once. All three attempts have ended in repeated bluescreens.
I have,
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (BIOS 1011 / nVraid v4.81)

Tweakin, pay attention you have ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe no DFI !!!

That is right, but he succeeded even with an ASUS board. Haven't you seen this reply by Tweakin?

Tweakin, on Sep 7 2005, 02:42 PM, said:

Updating the BIOS did the trick. I have 4.84 NV RAID now, and it worked on the first try using your method on the first post.
Thanks!

[mjswooosh]

Fernando 1, on Sep 7 2005, 01:25 PM, said:

mjswooosh, on Sep 7 2005, 08:57 PM, said:

1. Yes, the system asks for various "missing" .dll files, *not* cab files.
2. Setup seems to ask for different, random .dll files each time.
3. A couple of times install totally stopped due to a "missing .dll" file and hitting [enter] did nothing.  Those 2 times I had to hit [esc] to abort install.  However, most of the time hitting [enter] resumes install.  This is very strange since most of the time it seems as if the system is saying, "I can't find this file...OH, NEVER MIND, now that you hit the [enter] key I just found it!" 
4. My motherboard: BFG "BFGRNF4U" nForce4 Ultra
5. BIOS: 0719 = nVRAID 4.84
6. nFORCE drivers = 6.66

I am nearly sure, that your problem has nothing to do with nLite or the method how to integrate the "ugly" nForce SataRaid drivers.

My suggestions:
Change your cd player and create a new unattended install CD.
If this doesn't change anything, there is something wrong either with your RAM (check them) or power supply (strong enough?), with the temperatures within your pc case (maybe the 2 hard disk drives are too close together) or you are an overclocker, which has reached the limits (take Bios defaults settings).
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think you are probably correct to some extent. It crossed my mind it could be a problem with my CD-RW media (Sony 4X) or possibly the DVD burner I'm using on the other system (Pioneer), or maybe even the DVD-RW players on my new system (NEC). There are LOTS of possible problems! And since it seems "random" I thought the same thing you do.

However, the only thing that doesn't make sense to me is why would the CD-RW burns of WinXP using Dale's method work just fine and get all the way through the install process without showing the same "missing .dll" errors? I used the same equipment, even the same media (I just wrote over the top of the same 3 CD-RWs for all 9 attempts so far...).

If it really is a problem with my equipment you would think that the problem would occur using both the OemInfFile method -AND- Dale's integrated method, correct?

But the errors only occur when using the OemInfFile method.

PS: All of my equipment is running at normal spec, not overclocked.

[dale5605]

mjswoosh, I also get those errors when I tried it the one time I did it that way. However after I installed those drivers I did not experience that reboot problem you are speaking of. Usually that problem only occurs after windows installs and you never make it into windows in the first place. I would recommend only adding in the nvatabus.inf and raidtool folder into your sataraid directory and leaving out the other stuff. You won't get the device manager errors that way, I really only suggested that as a *possible* solution to people having lots of problems. But I would just stick with the aforementioned.

Fernando you mentioned that windows is install the wrong ide driver being the cause for the problem.

I know I remove ALL drivers with nlite, this includes all the various ide drivers and the scsi/raid drivers.

Does this have anything to do with it?

I'm just curious as to what is causing these different results to be achieved.


Again, I can get my raid array working fine with nlite 1.0 b6 with no "handmade" changes.

Some things that may or may not be significant.

-Using nvidia 6.66 drivers
-Using nvraid 4.81 drivers loaded on my mobo
-Remove ALL drivers with nLite and integrate all my own
-Do not check "oem preinstall" box
-Use DefaultHide unattended method
-Integrate RVM1.3.1 + WMP10 + Addons


Oh and I didn't realize the 6/23 BIOS has the newer nvraid version because I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in the changes. I am considering flashing to that BIOS but everything is working the way it is now and I don't really feel like messing it up.

This post has been edited by dale5605: 07 September 2005 - 02:53 PM

[mjswooosh]

dale5605, on Sep 7 2005, 01:50 PM, said:

mjswoosh, I also get those errors when I tried it the one time I did it that way. However after I installed those drivers I did not experience that reboot problem you are speaking of. Usually that problem only occurs after windows installs and you never make it into windows in the first place. I would recommend only adding in the nvatabus.inf and raidtool folder into your sataraid directory and leaving out the other stuff. You won't get the device manager errors that way, I really only suggested that as a *possible* solution to people having lots of problems. But I would just stick with the aforementioned. 

Fernando you mentioned that windows is install the wrong ide driver being the cause for the problem.

I know I remove ALL drivers with nlite, this includes all the various ide drivers and the scsi/raid drivers.

Does this have anything to do with it?

I'm just curious as to what is causing these different results to be achieved.


Again, I can get my raid array working fine with nlite 1.0 b6 with no "handmade" changes.

Some things that may or may not be significant.

-Using nvidia 6.66 drivers
-Using nvraid 4.81 drivers loaded on my mobo
-Remove ALL drivers with nLite and integrate all my own
-Do not check "oem preinstall" box
-Use DefaultHide unattended method
-Integrate RVM1.3.1 + WMP10 + Addons


Oh and I didn't realize the 6/23 BIOS has the newer nvraid version because I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in the changes. I am considering flashing to that BIOS but everything is working the way it is now and I don't really feel like messing it up. 
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, my latest attempt at using Dale's suggested method actually WORKS. Very little was different from the previous attempt, all of the settings in nLite were identical, added drivers was the same, etc.... But it caused the re-boot problem before, and this time it does not.

This is about as predictable as the weather, stock-market, and my girlfriend!



Dale, it's good to hear you experienced the same "missing .dll" install errors and/or the BSOD errors...as they say, misery loves company...hee hee... so at least now I know it's (probably) not a problem compounded by some of my brand-new equipment going tits up...

When you say to only include the nvatabus.inf and the raidtool folder, can you clarify? I think what you must mean is to *not* add the additional files such as nvata.inf, nvata.sys, etc.... Can you list the contents of your sataraid folder just so I can compare it to mine? That way I can make sure I'm not leaving anything in there that might be causing the still-present device manager question marks/errors/wizard pop up boxes/blah blah...

I took your advice and had nLite remove the SCSI/RAID drivers in nLite's "Drivers" section and the 4 separate IDE drivers in the "Hardware" section. I'm betting this has something to do with how this method seems to work (at least some of the time...am still not sure why it worked this time and not the last time...)

EDIT: After all of this I just had to laugh my butt off uncontrollably for awhile. Why does it suddenly feel like my $2000+ gaming rig is being held together by gum, string, and duct tape? THANKS NVIDIA!

This post has been edited by mjswooosh: 07 September 2005 - 03:18 PM

[Fernando 1]

There are only small differences between that, what Dale did and that, what works for me and a lot of other people. We all used the [OemInfFiles] method, which was integrated the first time into nLite by version Beta6.
The problems Mjswoosh was writing about, occured during the first (TEXTMODE) part of the installation. During this setup part the installation procedure of Dale and me is nearly identical, because we have very similar hardware.

Quote

Fernando you mentioned that windows is install the wrong ide driver being the cause for the problem.
I know I remove ALL drivers with nlite, this includes all the various ide drivers and the scsi/raid drivers.
Does this have anything to do with it?

It really can have something to do with it, if you removed the Microsoft STANDARD-IDE-ATA/ATAPI-CONTROLLER, because this wrong driver is installed by Windows Setup instead of the correct NVIDIA nForce IDE Performance driver NVATABUS.SYS.
Is it really possible to delete this driver by nLite? If yes, that would be a good idea anyway.

This post has been edited by Fernando 1: 07 September 2005 - 11:52 PM

[dale5605]

@mj

My folder looks like this (except it should be WinXP not Win2k )

http://teamicenine.c...otag/nvraid.bmp

@Fernando

I simply select everything in the "drivers" section of nLite to remove.

Oh and I had a brain fart and thought the ide crap was included in there, sorry about that.

Besides selecting to remove all drivers I also select to remove these under the "hardware support" section.

ALI IDE Bus Driver
CMD IDE Bus Driver
Intel IDE BUS Driver
Toshiba IDE Bus Driver
VIA IDE Bus Driver

Perhaps removing those things is what allows me to successfully install without the reboot loop.

[Fernando 1]

dale5605, on Sep 7 2005, 10:45 PM, said:

My folder looks like this (except it should be WinXP not Win2k  )
http://teamicenine.c...otag/nvraid.bmp

The raidtool folder will not be necessary.

But now to the driver removal by nLite:
The longer I think about what Dale has written the more I believe, that the removal of certain drivers could be a very easy way to solve a couple of nVRaid problems.
Tomorrow I will test these things.

[nuhi]

dale5605, you are onto something, by removing BUS Driver nlite breaks default Windows signature for their IDE drivers and by that it makes it equal to other third party txtmode drivers...thus nvraid gains priority...now if Fernando 1 you can confirm ?

This post has been edited by nuhi: 07 September 2005 - 04:29 PM

[FatalSaviour]

Thx for the reply Fernando. Is it not everyone getting this exact same problem then? It's very bizarre - without making any handmade changes - simply slipstreaming SP2 onto an original XP source folder, adding's Ryan's latest updates, and then integrating all the nvidia drivers (E'net, SATA, RAID etc), I seem to have a perfectly healthy OS at the end of installation (give or take the odd random reboot). I stress however that I can go through hours and hours of games, putting my CPU at full load almost constantly, yet the system's perfectly stable. Just letting it idle however will indefinitely result in a crash at some point, usually within a couple of hours.
Update: For some reason, when transcoding avi's using Nero VisionExpress to put to DVD, it can never complete a DVD, whenever I get back to the machine, 1.5 hours later or so, it's rebooted itself. I'm not 100% sure whether this is related to the initial reboots you guys seem to be having or not.

Not sure how you guys diagnose these things exactly, if it helps, i can post my presets etc, both for those of you that can't get you're systems to work, and for me, who's fondly remembering the days I last had a stable system...it was a AMD XP 2000+, with a known faulty 512mb of RAM, which didn't bother it in the least, and an FX5200. Oh the memories...

[Fernando 1]

FatalSaviour, on Sep 8 2005, 04:07 AM, said:

It's very bizarre - without making any handmade changes - simply slipstreaming SP2 onto an original XP source folder, adding's Ryan's latest updates, and then integrating all the nvidia drivers (E'net, SATA, RAID etc), I seem to have a perfectly healthy OS at the end of installation (give or take the odd random reboot).
Not sure how you guys diagnose these things exactly, if it helps, i can post my presets etc

Please help us and others to find the reason for the different handling of nVRaid systems by the Windows Setup routine on different systems and/or different nLite settings.

Very interesting are the following details:
1. What sort of Raid system do you have (nForce3/nForce4, Sata/Pata)?
2. Did you remove any drivers by nLite? If yes, which ones?
3. Which version of the nForce chipset driver package did you use?
4. Which driver subfolder (SATARAID/PATARAID) did you integrate as Textmode driver?
5. Have you made any modification within the driver subfolder (by editing the TXTSETUP.OEM or copying other files into the folder), before you used it?
6. You have written, that you integrated SATA and RAID. Did you integrate them by choosing the both required drivers after pointing to the SATARAID /PATARAID subfolder or did you integrate them within 2 different steps?

[dale5605]

Well since fatalzaviour was able to integrate with no extra changes like me he probably removed those ide and scsi drivers? I'm hoping that is the case because that would confirm this maybe being the solution.

But I believe the problem he is speaking of is completely unrelated. Fatal, set your options to not automatically reboot when the system crashes. Then when it does crash you will see the blue screen and then note what that error message is. That will point you in the direction of the problem. But the rebooting we are talking about with regards to nvraid integration is just after the install of windows, not after windows has already been up and running for a few hours.

[Fernando 1]

dale5605, on Sep 8 2005, 12:12 PM, said:

Well since fatalzaviour was able to integrate with no extra changes like me he probably removed those ide and scsi drivers? I'm hoping that is the case because that would confirm this maybe being the solution.

Within the next days I will try to find out the driver or driver family which has to be removed by nLite to prevent the conflict with not WHQL-certified NVIDIA Raid drivers.

But to make it clear: The removal of all or a lot of the standard drivers from the Windows CD would not be a good idea for everyone. If Mjswoosh really removed MS standard drivers, he should not be surprised, that the Windows setup routine has interrupted the installation by asking for several DLL-files and that he has seen yellow question marks in his hardware device manager.

The best solution for our problem is to find an easy way for everyone to integrate the not WHQL-certified nVraid drivers into a bootable complete Windows XP CD with the option, that it contains all standard drivers and all standard features. People, who are using tools like nLite, want to be free in their decision, what they want and what they don't want, and a lot of people change their mind about these things.........

CU
Fernando

[mjswooosh]

Fernando 1, on Sep 8 2005, 05:13 AM, said:

dale5605, on Sep 8 2005, 12:12 PM, said:

Well since fatalzaviour was able to integrate with no extra changes like me he probably removed those ide and scsi drivers? I'm hoping that is the case because that would confirm this maybe being the solution.

Within the next days I will try to find out the driver or driver family which has to be removed by nLite to prevent the conflict with not WHQL-certified NVIDIA Raid drivers.

But to make it clear: The removal of all or a lot of the standard drivers from the Windows CD would not be a good idea for everyone. If Mjswoosh really removed MS standard drivers, he should not be surprised, that the Windows setup routine has interrupted the installation by asking for several DLL-files and that he has seen yellow question marks in his hardware device manager.

The best solution for our problem is to find an easy way for everyone to integrate the not WHQL-certified nVraid drivers into a bootable complete Windows XP CD with the option, that it contains all standard drivers and all standard features. People, who are using tools like nLite, want to be free in their decision, what they want and what they don't want, and a lot of people change their mind about these things.........

CU
Fernando
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My latest attempt using the OemInfFile method + removing the built-in SCSI/IDE drivers seems to work (at least on the surface).

I believe the reason this attempt finally worked for me (& the last 2 attempts using the OemInfFile method did not) is because I did not use any of the SATARAID files at all...I only used PATARAID files when integrating with nLite and also in the OEMDIR directory. Since all of these files appear to be identical I am not sure why it would make any difference. However, this is the only difference in my method between the previous 2 times that did not work and this time that did finally work. I will re-test this again in my next nLite build by using the SATARAID folder files and just copying the correct nvatabus.inf over from the PATARAID folder and see if it results in the "missing .dll files" problem again.

1. The system seems to correctly identify the hard drive as NVIDIA STRIPE. I looked at the device driver in Device Manager and it appears to be WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\nvraid.sys.

I loaded up drivers for my wi-fi PCI card and took some time to transfer various files and apps over from another PC this system. No problems with that or basic computer operation.

2. However, Device Manager shows SCSI & RAID Controllers as "Unknown Device". I tried the "Update Driver" option several times but with no luck. Regardless of which RAID driver I try to load, it tells me every time that it cannot load the driver for the device.

3. It seems that trying to load the drivers for this "Unknown Device" and/or trying to remove it from Device Manager causes the "endless re-boot" problem. This particular system load was working perfectly and I re-booted several times without incident...BUT after I tried to load the drivers for the "Unknown Device" and/or when I tried to remove the device and then re-boot it started endless re-boots again.

Fernando & Dale...do either or both of your Device Managers show the SCSI & RAID Controller as "Unknown Device"? I'm wondering if removing the standard SCSI/RAID drivers with nLite causes this Device Manager issue? Or does your Device Manager correctly display NVRAID?

Time to try another slipstream/re-load....

This post has been edited by mjswooosh: 08 September 2005 - 01:34 PM