Driver Install Problems (Non-Hardware)
I have been tasked with creating an install package for a driver which is part of a VPN client application so there is no hardware involved.
I have been looking into the various ways to do this, but, it appears that there is no facility available in any of the current tools which handles this type of driver.
If I create an install using the DIFxApp method, it appears to work fine, but, no device node is created in Device Manager. After doing some reading I found out that DIFx is great for hardware based driver installs, but, does not appear to support the type of driver install that I am doing.
I have read that I need to create a DLL in order to do this type of install, and I am ok with this, but, information that is given as to how to go about this is very vague.
Does anyone have any information on this type of install, or a good starting point to creating a DLL for this specific purpose?
My apologies if this description of the problem is unclear. I am somewhat new to this type of driver install and therefore, may have failed to provide critical information.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike
I have been looking into the various ways to do this, but, it appears that there is no facility available in any of the current tools which handles this type of driver.
If I create an install using the DIFxApp method, it appears to work fine, but, no device node is created in Device Manager. After doing some reading I found out that DIFx is great for hardware based driver installs, but, does not appear to support the type of driver install that I am doing.
I have read that I need to create a DLL in order to do this type of install, and I am ok with this, but, information that is given as to how to go about this is very vague.
Does anyone have any information on this type of install, or a good starting point to creating a DLL for this specific purpose?
My apologies if this description of the problem is unclear. I am somewhat new to this type of driver install and therefore, may have failed to provide critical information.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike
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Answers (4)
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Posted by:
spartacus
16 years ago
VPN Software (and it's associated drivers) is notoriously difficult to repackage as you have discovered.
Before putting too much effort in, have you considered the following :
1) Does the vendor provide their VPN software in MSI format ? - for example, the CISCO VPN client is available in two flavors (non-MSI legacy) and MSI based - not everyone is aware the latter exists in my experience.
2) Create a simple "wrapper" MSI that deploys all the source files and then calls the native silent installation / uninstallation commands as Custom Actions. It's not elegant, I'll admit, but I have seen this work quite acceptably (e.g for the non-MSI CISCO VPN client)
Regards,
Spartacus
Before putting too much effort in, have you considered the following :
1) Does the vendor provide their VPN software in MSI format ? - for example, the CISCO VPN client is available in two flavors (non-MSI legacy) and MSI based - not everyone is aware the latter exists in my experience.
2) Create a simple "wrapper" MSI that deploys all the source files and then calls the native silent installation / uninstallation commands as Custom Actions. It's not elegant, I'll admit, but I have seen this work quite acceptably (e.g for the non-MSI CISCO VPN client)
Regards,
Spartacus
Posted by:
mpento
16 years ago
Spartacus,
Thanks so much for the reply.
I am actually creating the initial install for the driver, so, #1 does not really apply. But, #2 from your reply does apply to my situation. The problem is that a.) either I am doing this wrong, or b.) I am not using the correct tool to install.
For example, if I use DPinst.exe to attempt to install the driver, it "appears" to work, but, I end up with the same problem. If I look in Device Manager, there is no device node for my newly installed device.
The driver is signed, and, if I install it manually using instructions from the developers, it works fine and a device node is properly created for the driver.
If it helps any, this driver is the type that you must use the "Add Hardware" applet to install, you cannot use the right-click -> install method.
Am I using the wrong tool with DPinst.exe? Is there a better method for installing this type of driver?
Again, many thanks for the help,
Mike
Thanks so much for the reply.
I am actually creating the initial install for the driver, so, #1 does not really apply. But, #2 from your reply does apply to my situation. The problem is that a.) either I am doing this wrong, or b.) I am not using the correct tool to install.
For example, if I use DPinst.exe to attempt to install the driver, it "appears" to work, but, I end up with the same problem. If I look in Device Manager, there is no device node for my newly installed device.
The driver is signed, and, if I install it manually using instructions from the developers, it works fine and a device node is properly created for the driver.
If it helps any, this driver is the type that you must use the "Add Hardware" applet to install, you cannot use the right-click -> install method.
Am I using the wrong tool with DPinst.exe? Is there a better method for installing this type of driver?
Again, many thanks for the help,
Mike
Posted by:
spartacus
16 years ago
You could have a try with the DEVCON utility
The command line to use for driver installation is
devcon [/r] install INFfile HardwareID
where /r is optional and causes a reboot if the device installation was successful.
INFfile specifies the .inf file for the driver. The only difficult bit might be supplying the HardwareID as there isn't strictly any physical hardware.
If you install the VPN drivers by the manual method and then issue the following command
DEVCON FIND =Net
this may help you find an ID that you can use with the first command I posted - look for VPN related entries in the list.
Sorry I can't be any more precise, it is a *long* time since I last played with DEVCON.
As a final note, you can look in the file setupapi.log (in the Windows folder) to possibly get some clues why the methods you have used so far haven't been working.
Regards
Spartacus
The command line to use for driver installation is
devcon [/r] install INFfile HardwareID
where /r is optional and causes a reboot if the device installation was successful.
INFfile specifies the .inf file for the driver. The only difficult bit might be supplying the HardwareID as there isn't strictly any physical hardware.
If you install the VPN drivers by the manual method and then issue the following command
DEVCON FIND =Net
this may help you find an ID that you can use with the first command I posted - look for VPN related entries in the list.
Sorry I can't be any more precise, it is a *long* time since I last played with DEVCON.
As a final note, you can look in the file setupapi.log (in the Windows folder) to possibly get some clues why the methods you have used so far haven't been working.
Regards
Spartacus
Posted by:
mpento
16 years ago
Spartacus,
I had looked at the devcon tool but was unsure whether or not I could use that with a driver that has no device ID. I will look into it again though and see if there is a solution there.
Thank you so much for your help. I will let you know what happens.
Thanks,
Mike
I had looked at the devcon tool but was unsure whether or not I could use that with a driver that has no device ID. I will look into it again though and see if there is a solution there.
Thank you so much for your help. I will let you know what happens.
Thanks,
Mike
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