XPPowerPacker for RVM AIO + DriverPacks + OEMSLP ==> Can't get it to work

[tstaddon]

Hi,

*** NOTE NOT WAREZ RELATED ***

I've been using DriverPacks, RVM and Mr Smartepants' RVM addon (not to mention RMPrepUSB, WinSetupFromUSB and NLite) for over a year without any significant issues, but have heard good things about PowerPacker and thought I'd give it a try.

I do a lot of machine cleanups for corporates, mostly IBM and HP desktops where corporate imaging has blitzed off the XP Home/Pro recovery partitions, but sometimes they just want to do an XP build refresh and I can customize the VLK distribution.

So with that in mind I've downloaded this for testing against XP Home, Pro Retail and Pro VLK (with the intention of including the AIO update + DriverPacks + Mr Smartepants OEMSCAN addon) and am using VMWare for testing (with a VM configured to boot from PLPBT ISO).

The base I386 folders from each were created by applying RVM to the relevant "vanilla" XPSP3 ISO sources (GRTMPVOL_EN for the VLK, GRTMPFPP_EN and GRTMHFPP_EN for the OEM versions) and ONLY integrating AIO on all three, and OEMScan (for the OEM versions) at that stage.

I have also added some custom app plugins to SVCPACK via RVM, but only for things like NotePad++ and JVM runtimes.

I'm using a common DriverPacks INI file containing just the LAN, WLAN, chipset and mass storage drivers (I have a separate folder for integrating other drivers) which is being applied through the PowerPacker.

I must be missing something because I simply cannot get this process to generate a workable USB key for ANY of the three options even though the process appears to complete successfully from inside PowerPacker.

The XP Home one goes through all the copying, unpacks the drivers OK, and then complains about an invalid signature and aborts setup (but if I create an ISO from the RVM folder and use the DVD instead OR I use WinSetupFromUSB on the exact same source folder to create a setup from the pen drive, then it's fine). SETUPP.INI seems OK.

If I put both XPPro variations onto the same memory stick then neither of them will even boot after selecting them from the menu.

I thought I'd post this here just on the off chance I'm being a complete idiot and doing something totally wrong.

Er... Help?!

[tstaddon]

OK, it seems they build successfully if I split them out (e.g. have three sets of folders one for each version of XP) but if I tell even the XP ones to share the same folders everything works up to the Driverpacks.Net stage - the first time works but that's all. Subsequent adds perform all the file comparisons and then breaks during the DriverPacks integration. DriverPacks complains the INF files can't be found or renamed.

I don't have enough time to play around with it today.

[mr_smartepants]

The key is to build each source (pro, home, mce) independently and test at each stage. Once each source is built to your liking (driverpacks, oemauto, etc.) then and ONLY THEN do you pack them using PP.
Once packed into the AIO structure, I've found that making changes will cause problems. So using PP to pack them into an AIO is the LAST step.
For a reference, here's my .ini for PP. I use named folders for each build (OEM Home=XPHO, OEM Pro=XPPO, VLK Pro=XPPV, OEM MCE= XPMO, etc.)

[InputOutput]
XPSource=C:\Tools\XP\Projects\XPMO
XPDestination=C:\PP

[Exclusions]

[Extra Files]
ExtraPackDest=
ExtraRootDest=

[Custom Options]
FileToRun=
RunParams=
PackNameOn=Y
Tri-Pack=N
PackName=XPMO
BootEntryOption=Windows XP Media Center Edition OEM SP3
CompactPack=N
CompactPackLastPack=XPMO

[Unattended]
Winnt.sif=C:\Tools\XP\Projects\XPMO\I386
$OEM$=C:\Tools\XP\Projects\XPMO\$OEM$
Unattend=X

[DriverPacks]
DPSource=C:\Tools\XP\AutoImage\DPs_BASE_110912\DPs_Base.exe
DPSettings=
DriverPack=O

[WinXPVersion]
XPVersion=M
CMPNENTS=C:\Tools\XP\Projects\XPMO\CMPNENTS

[WinXPEdition]
XPEdition=O

[Win2k3Version]
2k3Version=

[Boot Entry]

[tstaddon]

This... GAH! This forum accepts my replies but doesn't actually show them! Anyway, my sources work fine but I skipped the application of DriverPacks in RVM thinking the preferred approach was to use the DriverPacks integration options in PP. If it's simply a case of using RVM instead I can give that a try...

[mr_smartepants]

I don't install driverpacks with rvmi. I use the DPS_Base program and integrate them as a separate process. I don't use RVMI or PP to spawn the DPS_Base program. That's just me personally though.
The main thing is to make sure your individual builds work fine on their own before grabbing them with PP.

[tstaddon]

Hi,

I've got them working fine now, so long as I DON'T configure compact packing.

I normally use DPS_BASE to integrate mass storage, LAN, WLAN, CPU and Chipset after RVM integration of AIO and OEMSCAN; I have a separate SAD folder for other drivers.

This process has worked fine when burning to DVD or when WinSetupFromUSB is used to put them on a pen drive. I've been doing that for over a year.
So I thought if I just left that DPS_BASE step out and pointed PP to use the INI file I normally use for that step, it would work. It does, but only for the first Compact Packing build. It's only when adding subsequent builds ALSO with CP enabled to the same pen drive, that the DriverPacks step breaks.

But it doesn't really matter; from now on I'll do everything in RVM, then apply DPS_BASE separately, then use PP without the DriverPacks option..

[SpinningCarrots]

Hi tstaddon,

I've taken a look at my Powerpacks on my USB key and indeed the compact packing using Driverpacks was not successful. Perhaps you'll have more luck with PowerPacker RC15. Let me know.

Spinning Carrots

[tstaddon]

Sorry, I've been really tied up on other stuff. Will get back to you when I've had a chance to test.

[Siginet]

It sounds like you ran into the same issue as SpinningCarrots and I. We can not find out how to Compact Pack Windows Home and Windows Pro together in the same directory. We haven't been able to completely narrow down what prevents it from happening. I beleive it has something to do with the differences in the ASMS folders but I haven't been able to quite figure out what it is exactly.

So for now I reccommend users stick to simular types of Windows Disks.

I do know Media Center and XP Pro tend to compact pack together nicely.

I have not yet tried mixing XP Pro and 2003 Server together... but I am assuming it would fail as well.