F6 Backup Plan for WEPOSPOSReady 2009
A problem was discovered that causes the “Add Additional Drivers” page to not install a specific set of RAID drivers. Through some investigation we determined that the logic behind this wizard screen wasn’t copying all the necessary files needed to properly install the RAID drivers. This caused the Setup to fail.
Luckily we were able to help using a Setup feature used to install 3rd party drivers. Here’s how it worked.
InfImporter
This little tool is used by both WEPOS and POSReady 2009 to convert a driver INF file to XML, a format readable by Setup. To create this XML:
1. Download and install InfImporter at: https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3BE48D23-BA90-4D5A-9AB0-93D9311ED520&displaylang=en. This can be run at any computer, as long as it has .NET 1.1 or greater installed. A floppy drive will also come in handy, external USB is okay.
2. Insert the RAID/SATA driver’s floppy disk in the drive. If you don’t have a driver disk, look to the manufacturer’s download page for the download matching the hardware.
3. From the command prompt (As Administrator is not necessary) do these commands:
a. Go to the floppy drive and change to the directory where the driver’s INF files are. These are probably in the root, but could be in a sub directory. (A: )
b. Run the InfImporter (C:\Program Files\WEPOS\InfImporter\InfImporter.exe raiddriver.inf raiddriver.xml). Substitute names to match the driver’s files.
c. Check to see if the XML file was created.
Setup
With the driver floppy and XML made, Setup is ready to try installation one more time.
1. The target system must have a floppy drive installed, so install a temporary floppy or plug in a USB floppy drive before booting. Also, be sure the POSReady 2009 DVD is inserted in the DVD drive.
2. When the system boots and shows the message to “Press F6 to install SCSI/RAID drivers”, do this and install them through the menu that appears.
3. Setup should continue to boot, but before the Wizard loads, a small popup window should appear that says “Press any key for the Command Prompt” . Press the Any key right away because this message won’t be there long.
4. From the command prompt that appears enter the command:
a. Setup /devicefile:a:\raiddriver.xml
Typing “Setup /? ” will reveal more options. The most common are /unattended and /guionly, used to automate installs through XML data files.
5. Run Setup normally, except on the Add Additional Drivers page, use the default option to say there are no additional drivers required. The next page should show the RAID drive because of the drivers loaded in step 2 above.
Installation
Setup should run through formatting the RAID drive, coping files, and the most important phase, Plug-n-Play.
Optionally, installing from USB thumb drives is also possible, just not through the usual method. Creating the USB Setup drive is the same, however pressing F6 will still be necessary. Watch out, the F6 message will only be there for less than a second so be prepared to hit that key. Same as above, you’ll need to use the command line instead of the wizard to install the drivers.
We would like to hear about your experiences installing POSReady. Regardless this helps or you encounter problems, feel free to send us your comments below.
- Brendan