Installing nForce drivers with Windows.

[mookydooky]

I already wrote this in another thread, but I think some of you guys might find it useful. If you follow the directions, you should be able to make a disk that will install WinXP and all the nForce drivers at once. It will also allow you to load the Si3112 drivers (SATA for NF7-S) without hitting F6 removing the need for a floppy to install WinXP on a new SATA disk.

Loading Si3112 drivers into a WinXP disk.

Take a look at this thread and read the basics on the unattended install:

Get Windows XP to install ITSELF!!! Unattended instal

1) In the I386 folder, find the file txtsetup.sif. Open it with Notepad.

2) Add the following lines somewhere before the end.

[SourceDisksFiles]
si3112.sys = 1,,,,,,3_,4,1

[HardwareIdsDatabase]
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_31121095 = "Si3112"
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_34238086 = "Si3112"
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_311215D9 = "Si3112"
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_B0021458 = "Si3112"
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_01661028 = "Si3112"
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_82141033 = "Si3112"
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3512&SUBSYS_35121095 = "Si3112"
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3512&SUBSYS_01661028 = "Si3112"

[SCSI.load]
si3112 = si3112.sys,4

[SCSI]
si3112 = "Silicon Image Si 3112 SATA"

3) Create the following folders:

C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\SI3112

4) Copy the drivers into the folder you just created.

5) Open the winnt.sif file with notepad and add and or change the following under [Unattended]:

[Unattended]
OemPreinstall=Yes
OemPnPDriversPath="Drivers\SI3112"

6) Use the "Run" command from the Start Menu to run the following:

MAKECAB C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\DRIVERS\SI3112\SI3112.SYS C:\WinXPSP2\i386\SI3112.SY_

7) Check the I386 folder to make sure you see the "SI3112.SY_" file.

8) Burn the disk.

If you did it correctly, WinXP should recognize the SATA drive without having to hit F6 and load drivers.

No. 2 of the above is thanks to Green Machine

EDIT: BTW, this isn't very difficult at all. Once you have the unattended install files all set up, adding small elements takes a couple of minutes at most. For example, you can add drivers for your NIC or chipset or other things into the C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Drivers folder. Then you just add the path to the drivers at the OemPnPDriversPath="Path to drivers;Path to drivers;Path to drivers" line seperated by semicolons and between the quotation marks. Then another couple of minutes to burn either the CD or DVD.

EDIT2: Steps 2, 6, and 7 are only required for drivers that are needed during the disk recognition phase. For all other drivers, ie. NIC drivers, you only need to stick them in a seperate folder in C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Drivers. Then you specify the path as noted in the above EDIT. For example, I extracted all the drivers from the nForce package with WinZIP. Then I copied the individual driver folders directly to C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\nForce. Finally, I listed all the paths at the OemPnPDriversPath="Path to drivers;Path to drivers;Path to drivers" line. In the end, mine looked like:

OemPnPDriversPath="C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\SI 3112;C:\WinXPSP2\$O EM$\$1\Drivers\nForce\AudioDrv;C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$ 1\Drivers\nForce\Ethernet;C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Dri vers\nForce\GART;C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\nFor ce\IDE;C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\nForce\MemCtl; C:\WinXPSP2\$OEM$\$1\Drivers\nForce\SMBus"

[mookydooky]

BTW, if you were to use the disk you make with this method on a non-nForce machine, it won't install the nForce or Si3112 drivers. During the install, WinXP will recognize PnP hardware and install only the drivers that are necessary.

[cadaveca]

is they a way that we can create a custom disk for our systems and disable PnP? I'd love to have a XP cd that i can throw in a machine and walk away from...and no have to come back to it to re-install drivers. I'm currently working on a project where i have to reinstall XP on 82 machines, as the presvious network tech simply upgraded, and all these machines are running on FAT32....with BugBear floating around.

[SteveI]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

is they a way that we can create a custom disk for our systems and disable PnP? I'd love to have a XP cd that i can throw in a machine and walk away from...and no have to come back to it to re-install drivers. I'm currently working on a project where i have to reinstall XP on 82 machines, as the presvious network tech simply upgraded, and all these machines are running on FAT32....with BugBear floating around.

You shouldn't have to disable PnP.
If you create an XP CD with all of the extra drivers, you should be able to use it for all of your machines. The only thing you want to leave out is the 'input' files. Rather than burning all the preset inputs on to the CD, you could use a floppy disk or thumb drive... Then, for each machine, you could customize the inputs for that machine, such as license key, or machine name and such.

[mookydooky]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

is they a way that we can create a custom disk for our systems and disable PnP? I'd love to have a XP cd that i can throw in a machine and walk away from...and no have to come back to it to re-install drivers. I'm currently working on a project where i have to reinstall XP on 82 machines, as the presvious network tech simply upgraded, and all these machines are running on FAT32....with BugBear floating around.

Why would you want to disable PnP? The project you have sounds like a perfect candidate for doing what I suggested. Load all the drivers that the 82 machines can possibly need onto the WinXP disk. Then WinXP will install all the drivers during the install so you don't have to go back to install them. If you're doing this for a school or company with volume license keys, then you can automate just about everything, including inputting the CD keys and answering all the questions that WinXP asks during the install.

[cadaveca]

i misunderstood what you were posting...basically you're just adding to the driver cache, right? and the PnP install the drivers automatically? what about mobo drivers , and such that require a reboot...will it all be automated?

[cadaveca]

seems this had perfect timing for my project!

[mookydooky]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

i misunderstood what you were posting...basically you're just adding to the driver cache, right? and the PnP install the drivers automatically? what about mobo drivers , and such that require a reboot...will it all be automated?

Yes, basically, it's adding to the list of drivers that WinXP has available during the install. Since almost all devices nowadays are PnP, WinXP will install the proper drivers for them if you put them in the Drivers folder and list them one by one in the OemPnPDriversPath="Path to drivers;Path to drivers;Path to drivers" line. The process works exactly the same for chipset drivers. In my example, I loaded all the nForce drivers including memory controller and the SMBus. As for reboot, there's no need for it until ALL the drivers are installed and WinXP will reboot right before the end. As for automation, the process can be automated as much as you want. There are ways to automate everything, so basically you stick the disk in and come back an hour later. There are also ways to automate only a small portion, like the time zone. The level of automation is fully customizable.

[kellamne]

I have XP HOME OEM SP1 Integrated >

I tried using the above method using short cut as suggested onto this disk - - but I get the message (see attachment - not sure how to paste to this message).

I have got another XP disk (retail home - would I be able to use this disk in place of the OEM disk, or can you see how I can integrate SP2 over SP1??)

At the moment I have the XP disk sitting in a folder on the desktop.

[mookydooky]

You're getting the message because the SP2 install engine is not recognizing the switch. Make sure you have the syntax correct in the target box of the shortcut. It should look very similar to this:


"C:\WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe" -s:C:\WinXPSP2

Notice the location of the quotation marks. There is a space after the last quote. After the -s: switch is the path to where you copied your WinXP CD.

EDIT: The fact that you're using an OEM disk should make no difference. The only difference between the two are a couple of customized install files and the the activation mechanism.