I just created a click-by-click video tutorial that shows users of ANY experience level (yes, even my mom can do it) how to slipstream SP1, SP2 and SP3 along with updated Mass Storage drivers, LAN drivers, WLAN drivers, CPU drivers and Chipset drivers and then create a new, bootable (and now updated) Windows XP installation CD using DriverPacks and Nlite.

These videos are viewable in YouTube's standard 360p and 480p resolution and they are also all viewable in 720p HD resolution for the best viewing experience.

How To SlipStream SP1, SP2 and SP3 and Drivers into Your XP Installation CD. Part 1 of 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQoAqwBgUb4

How To SlipStream SP1, SP2 and SP3 and Drivers into Your XP Installation CD. Part 2 of 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PurXTvqBiHI

How To SlipStream SP1, SP2 and SP3 and Drivers into Your XP Installation CD. Part 3 of 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1K5zds_AaM

How To SlipStream SP1, SP2 and SP3 and Drivers into Your XP Installation CD. Part 4 of 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbOiBKY2cPg

How To SlipStream SP1, SP2 and SP3 and Drivers into Your XP Installation CD. Part 5 of 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54hci2zkVKw

Enjoy! (if you notice any inaccuracies in the video or have suggestions for improvement, please let me know!)

Sincerely,
Mr. Carey Holzman
Co-host: www.computeramerica.com
The Business Talk Radio Network
The LifeStyle Talk Radio Network
#1 podcast New York Times/PodCast Bunker

Author: The Healthy PC (McGraw/Hill)
Author: Smart Computing magazine
Author: CMP Media's www.techbuilder.org

The solution is to integrate ONLY the main DriverPacks, and maybe one or two Third Party DriverPacks into your source to eliminate this bug.
Creating a S.A.D disc with ALL the Third Party DriverPacks to install with DP_Install_Tool.cmd after first desktop load is another widely used option.

Another cause of this bug is to use Nlite to integrate ANY driver after DriverPacks have already been integrated into your source.  Nlite WILL corrupt your source if DriverPacks have already been integrated.
NEVER use Nlite to integrate drivers.  ONLY use DriverPacks BASE to integrate drivers.

It's also possible that another bug exists, but you must first eliminate the most common (99%) cause by following the above advice.
If the problem still exists after eliminating all Third Party DriverPacks, then ask for help in the forums.
And don't forget to include all your logs as referenced in this post.

When I downloaded and extracted all three 7 zip file (actually I think it was 4 including the Graphics languages DP), I got overwrite messages for some files. Does this mean that Graphics A, B, and C have some of the same drivers in them?

1) If you tried using the DriverPacks by integrating with DriverPacks BASE and your device still does not work after Windows install, then proceed to next step.
2) Get the HWIDs for the device with no driver, use our HWID tool.
3) Search for the vendor and device (VEN_xxxx&DEV_yyyy) by using Google.  Try to find a good driver from the vendor themselves.
4) When all else fails, look for a compatible driver using the driver index here: http://www.downloadwindowsdrivers.info/
  -  Example:
   - Searching for PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0389
   - Try http://www.downloadwindowsdrivers.info/ … /dev_0389/

If and ONLY if you can't find a driver this way, THEN ask for help.
Read the Read before you post thread, then post the info that we have requested (HWIDs, logs, etc.)
Remember that the DriverPacks team spends hundreds of man-hours building and testing these DriverPacks FOR FREE so that you don't have to.  Please do us the courtesy of performing a little research before asking for help.

I did not find an FAQ answer to this question, regarding integrity:  How safe are these drivers ?

Is there a way I can make sure they are genuine drivers, and not forged ones?

TIA,

-- Piko

Why is the driver included in the DriverPacks not the most recent version?
[REQ] Driver Update to version xxx

A good question, frequently asked.

Answer:

A little history first...
Wim used to always include the latest versions and released them often! DriverPacks was much smaller then. It has grown into over ten main packs for NT5, hoards of 3rd party DriverPack and Packs for NT6... The DriverPacks includes tens of thousands of device drivers for a over a dozen different platforms ranging from Win2k through Win7 (NT 5.0 through NT 6.1 x64).

Since we include over 90% of all available drivers for windows there is the potential for many conflicts when using the full set and especially with 3rd party DriverPack too. Most drivers are not written very well, In fact it is the teams consensus that they are oblivious to how badly they actually do write them. The point is you just can't drop a driver into the packs. There is an entire process involved, Dump the HWIDs from the packs and the old and new driver compare and eliminate duplicates, verify signing, release to testing team, likely fail several times and then Beta, RC, and Release. Since there are only a couple of people active on adding drivers there is a huge amount of work to do and only a few people to do it. The few who do help do so after they work their 40 hours, exercise, help the kids with homework, eat dinner and take a shower... you know all that real life stuff! (Just like you!)

We like to stay current but being current takes a back seat to Stability...
This was a change the team made from Wim's original process.
We feel that Stable packs are preferred to buggy ones that have all the latest drivers.
Just because a driver is new does not make it better... (And never use version 0.0 of anything )
It might be better but we don't know until it has been released and tested by a large audience.

We release our packs to the testing team as nightlies (alphas).
We have over 50 official testers and an unknown number of unofficial ones with access to hundreds of machines.
- If you would like to be a tester please ask! - Especially if you do installs often on many different PCs.
If a pack makes it a week on the testing team with no issues we consider it a Beta.
With a little luck and a few reports of success from the team it will then become a Release Candidate (RC).
It often takes months to groom a nightly pack into a Release Candidate.
Once a pack achieves RC status it usually will become a news article with a download link on our home page...
If no issues are reported after the public testing it will be released as a 'Final'.

There is much going on in the background in our hidden team forums that are not visible to the public.
It is a lot like a bee hive, not much to see from the outside but bustling with activity inside.

The short answer is being current takes a back seat to being stable. No reported issues = stable.

We primarily care that there are zero issues with our packs...
No BSODs, no crashes, no lost functionality, no lost performance, no bugs.
 
If all hardware is supported, and there are zero reported issues from our users.
Then we (The DriverPacks team.) believe we have done the best possible job.

8 million people download the DriverPacks a month.
We assume that represents multiple installs per download.
We normally have zero reported issues...
- How would you rate that on a 1- 10 scale ? 

Quite often people will ask [REQ] we add a newer driver.
"Come on already, It has been out since yesterday!"

I often like to ask them why?
    They will then, invariably, seem perplexed and then give me a goofball answer like "because it is newer!"

So then I just can not resist the temptation to ask "What issue are you having that the newer driver addresses?"
    Now they are really perplexed... "huh? What..." / "What do you mean?" "I don't understand"

I will continue with...
1) Does it make your device faster?
2) more reliable?
3) What problem / issue were you having with the old driver?
    If you are having an issue will you please describe it in detail?

At this point they must meekly report they were not having any issues at all.
Which is the answer that I expected and already knew I would elicit. 

So I then press on.
1) What issue does the newer driver claim to correct?
- In three years I have not had a single REQuester that was able to answer this simple question.
- for that matter I have never had a user ask us to update a driver because they were having an issue with the older version.

So this behavior makes me think to myself...
Why waste our time asking if the only reason to add the driver is so it reports a higher version number????
PLEASE... You just want bragging rights??? - I have the latest driver! I totally rock dude!
Tie a pork chop around your neck and go play with the lions. OK? Darwin-ism is a good thing .

In all likelihood the newer driver is probably just going to introduce bugs into an otherwise rock solid solution...

If a driver address' a known issue or adds HWIDs then sure... It goes right to the top of the list of things to do.
- 98% chance we knew that the newer version was out way before you did!!! (It IS our specialty)
If you don't even know what the difference is then don't bother to ask. We will either ignore you, or make fun of you.

Don't get me wrong, I am a gamer and I have more than once had to update my drivers to get the game to work, however, gamers never come in here and request we update our drivers. Not even once... ever...
At least I would understand someone saying hey those old drivers have a known bug with "SuperGame 3000" that is fixed in the newer driver from ATI / Nvida ver 10000.2.01
I must conclude that gamers are either a little brighter or they are more understanding than average.

If a driver is years old and we missed it
and there is a newer version
and it fixes a bug
- then - yeah please let us know!

Just be sure you can report what issue you have
that you have already tested the new one
and that it did in fact fix the issue you were having.
- Then - that would be considered cool!
- you will be expected to test a nightly
   and report the test packs success or failure
   and possibly post your logs.
- We refer to this as helping us to help you.

PS Before you make a comment on how long it takes us to release please at least offer to help us!
    If you don't have the time to help then clearly you already understand our situation.

As always I encourage DriverPacks Moderators to edit this FAQ as you see fit and welcome the feedback of the DriverPacks team!

Below are a list of guidelines we have provided in order to help ensure everyone has a favorable visit here at DriverPacks.net.

Remember … we have only one "rule":

This is how the team interprets 'responsible':

Forum Rules

0. Read this before posting a request for our help.

1. This is not a warez site! Links to or requests for warez and/or illegal material (OS discs, porn, cracks, serials, etc.) will not be tolerated. Discussion of circumventing WGA/activation/timebombs/keygens or any other illegal activity will not be tolerated. Advertising is also forbidden. If you violate any of the aforementioned you will be banned from this site without further notice.
Consider this the one and only warning for the above list of egregious items. 
  1a.  We do not support warez or pirated installs.  Our definition of this is:  Did you obtain your license from Microsoft or an authorized OEM vendor?  Do you have a legal hologram-ed disc?  If the answers to both of those questions is "Yes", please continue.  Otherwise, go legit or go home.  Warez is a support nightmare for the DriverPacks staff.  99% of the DriverPacks failures are caused by the idiot who modified/released the pirated OS source in the first place because they didn't know what they were doing. 

2. Topics devoted to political or religious debate, unless technology related, are prohibited. DriverPacks.net is a driver support forum and political debates are just too far off topic. Political links in signatures, and any polite and courteous comments, in otherwise non-political topics are allowed, but we will not allow and may remove any topics where the content is solely a debate of politics.

3. No user shall by any means of the forum: sell, trade or give away; hardware, software, or any other non consumer or electronic related material. DriverPacks.net does not support any type of trade, sale or gifting, and shall not be held accountable.

4. Please do not post large screenshots within threads. (exceeding 300x200 px in resolution and/or 150 KB in size.) Provide a link to any large images and please host on your own web space if possible. If you do not have personal web space try imageshack.us or tinypic.com.

5. Spamming will not be tolerated. [Duh] We have provided an "Other" section for those members who wish to share their personal websites or off topic discussions, but not commercial ones. Please use that section only. We do log all IP traffic on this site and will simply block you, so don't even bother trying.

6. Images in signatures should NOT exceed a total of 260x80 px and 80 KB in size. Flash and animated sigs are discouraged. You can enter max 5 lines of text and 650 characters in a signature or signature image. Advertising and/or affiliates are not allowed in signatures nor avatars. (With the exception of one small link in addition to your signature, just NO overt advertising). If your signature link leads to a site with a shopping cart it will be deleted. If your avatar or signature seems to us to have exceeded the above guidelines it will be edited without any additional notice required from us. Members with slow connection can disable other members signatures when reading posts by going to: Profile -> Display -> Set options.

7. If you need to attach something, it'd be great if you could find a host for the file. Please only email something if you absolutely have no other option.

8. You are expected to be mature when discussing in threads. Racism, pornography, threatening, profanity, personal attacks, or excessive vulgarity are not tolerated. You will be promptly banned … or worse. No exceptions. This community is built upon mutual respect. You are not allowed to wage personal attacks against other members. People who do not respect personal opinions and/or personal work will be warned in first instance. If you ignore the warning and keep on flaming, you will be banned (or worse) without any notice.

9. Has the thread you started or participated in been moved, closed or deleted? We might have just been bored. Check with the forum moderator via forum email. Under no circumstances should a thread be started asking why other threads were moderated. Forum moderation is not up for public debate, such threads will be deleted and the thread starter warned. DriverPacks.net reserves the right to edit, delete or move posts made on this site. The previous also goes for signatures that have been modified or removed. All decisions of the DriverPacks team are final and non negotiable. So say we all...

10. We do not encourage the raising of post counts or creating threads that state you have reached a post count milestone, unlike other forums that do. Please remember there's no prizes in store for those with a very high number of posts! (except for the coveted DriverPacks Maniac title we will award for  the first one reaching 1 million posts - LOL)

11. Please refrain from using CAPITALIZATION in the topic title or when participating in threads because they will not attract attention - instead it will annoy many of DriverPacks.net members.  POSTING IN ALL CAPS is equivalent to shouting.  Please don't, it hurts our ears.

12. Please do not bash old topics when a member has made it active again, it's been made active for a good reason; to answer an unanswered question, or to bring new information. It does not need to be closed or deleted. In fact we like it when our users can find related material to their issue. We encourage this behavior.

13. (see rule 0) Use some common sense. Don't post your question under multiple forums. Remember to engage brain first, then post. Take a minute and be thoughtful when creating the topic title for a new thread. People do judge a book by its cover. When posting, have something to say, not just "My First post!" or "Cool site!!!" We already know it's your first post and sort of have the idea how this site looks by now :-). Poor judgment when posting will result in a demerit, and we wouldn't want that would we?

14. (see rule 0) Very often we see meaningless subjects in topic title giving absolutely no clue what the post / thread is about.

Good examples of a Bad Title:
- Oh no!
- Help
- I'm mad
- Please help
- Question
- I need your help
- Hmmmm ....
- Whoa Dude!
These and similar bad titles can and should be avoided! Simply enter something more specific and descriptive in the topic title. It's easier for us to help if you do!

A few good examples of a Good Title:
- [BUG] BSOD with DriverPack Graphics A 9.04 on ATI Radeon 9800Pro
- RunOnceEx install problem (double installation)
- [REQ]uest - add driver for Toshiba modem model xxxx
- [HELP] BASE 8.12.4 3rd party DriverPack for Game controller
- BartPE HDD not found BASE 8.12.4, MassStorage 9.03r1

15. (see rule 0.) Use the correct tags for a new topic
- Available tags for members:
[BUG] - If you are getting a Windows error message, program error message, or any other type of error.
[REQ] - Request to add a feature or driver
[HELP] - If you need help changing settings or configuring a feature.
[How-to] - If you have a guide on how to do something.
[Question] - If you have a question that doesn't fall under any of the above categories. No errors or help requests.
[Misc] - If your topic doesn't fit into anything else here.
- Additional tags for moderators:
[IMPL] - Request was implemented in current DriverPacks. 
[SLVD] - Problem/bug was solved in current DriverPacks.  Also used to indicate where a question was answered.
[CLSD] - Topic closed or locked.  Either because the issue was resolved, or because of rule violations.

We would like to make everyone's visit here a pleasant one,
and if you have observed the above guide you should be safe

Posting Guidelines

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way is a good read for any user, especially if you think any of the following is harsh. 

Although quite easy to use, the DriverPacks and the accompanying software form a toolset that is designed for use by advanced level users. 
If you have not used the search feature of this forum, or Google. AKA, STFW
If you do not include basic details (See rule #0)
If you have not read the FAQ's or documentation BartPE Tutorial   DP_Base Tutorial
If you did not include your HWID's or DPs_BASE.log in your post

If you create a post that says "I am looking for a driver for..."
   (Especially if you have not used the DriverPacks at all.)

Then it's obvious that you failed to read this post and your welcome here may not be as warm and fuzzy as you might like. 
    The above mistakes are considered Noob like behaviors...
    We are not and have never been a noob friendly site.
    - Note to Newbies:
        The label Noob is not assigned based on a perceived level of experience,
        but rather for showing a lack of resourcefulness, (Did you try to help yourself?)
        or failing to demonstrate some effort was made to help us to help you. (omission of key details)
    You are expected to already be familiar with everything in this guide.
    http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/
    If you ask a question that is covered in that manual then you will receive a demerit.

If you will expect us to take our personal time to support you, then we can likewise expect:
a) You will take a minute to include good details in your post.
b) You will have already read our documentation and tutorials.

If one of the team seems to have been short with you...
Perhaps you should make sure you have been respectful / appreciative.
We are working for free.

Think to yourself: "Could I reproduce my issue with just the info I have provided in my post and title?"
This does not need to be a wordy or involved task.   In Example (IE)

Title "[BUG] Finisher - Base 8.12.4 - Sound A 9.01 & Sound B 9.01"
I used RVM to add SP3 and updates to my XP, then nLite to automate it, I run DriverPacks BASE with all packs and mass textmode, then create ISO with nLite.
Sound drivers are installed but the Control panel is not.
The relevant part of the finisher log is included below.
the HWID for the sound card is PCI/VenxxxxSubxxxRev12

LOG here

If the answer to "Could I reproduce..." is 'yes',
and you have double checked "Read BEFORE you post" (AKA rule 0.)
Then you should be welcomed with open arms - and possibly breakfast.

Enjoy your stay at DriverPacks.net!

Regards,
The DriverPacks.net Administration Team

===================================================
The original of the above guide was donated to Mr_smartepants
and once again he did most of the work editing it to work for DriverPacks…
I simply plagiarized it here and added a few lines
It is considered to be open for review, comments and suggested edits, to the entire team.
(If you are a member... then you are part of our team too.)
Mods of course can help themselves to adding any omissions, removing, correcting, rewording for clarity etc...

How to install DriverPacks with nLite?
It does not work well. - Please don't.

Please use nLite and make all of your changes first.
Then run DriverPacks BASE to add your drivers.

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER integrate drivers with nlite as well as DriverPacks using DriverPacks BASE.  Your integration WILL fail!

Hint: You can leave nLite open at the create ISO page while you run DriverPacks BASE.

Thank you for finding this post!

Have a great day!

All of the driverpacks files were extracted into the root of my hard drive and my devices were installed. 
but there is still a folder named "D" with the extracted DriverPacks and some other loose files in the root after the install. 

What should I do?

For some reason the final step in the DriverPacks process was not called automaticaly
to clean up the remainig files and 'finish' the process just run the  DPsFnshr.exe  and reboot

I belive that most of our team is aware of a few of these already but probably did not realize there were so many.

by useing common abbr. we can let the forum subsitute for us. (in order to make them visible i have added a space charachter (or two) to each one (otherwise they would have been substituted automagicaly)
"b ts"      "Bâshrat the Sneaky"

"d pb"         "DriverPacks BASE"
"b -log"     "DPs_BASE.log"
"f -log"     "DPsFnshr.log"
"b -ini"     "DPs_BASE.ini"
"f -ini"     "DPsFnshr.ini"
"d psf"     "DriverPacks Finisher"
"d pf"         "DriverPacks Finisher"
"d ps"         "DriverPacks"

"d pcpu"     "DriverPack CPU"
"d pc"         "DriverPack Chipset"
"d pga"     "DriverPack Graphics A"
"d pgb"     "DriverPack Graphics B"
"d pgc"     "DriverPack Graphics C"
"d pl"         "DriverPack LAN"
"d pm"         "DriverPack MassStorage"
"d pms"     "DriverPack MassStorage"
"d psa"     "DriverPack Sound A"
"d psb"     "DriverPack Sound B"
"d pw"         "DriverPack WLAN"

"d p3p"         "3rd party DriverPack"
"d ps3p"     "3rd party DriverPacks"
"t pdp"     "3rd party DriverPack"
"3 pdp"     "3rd party DriverPack"
"3 dp"         "Third party DriverPack"
"3 d ps"     "Third Party DriverPacks"
"3 d pm"     "Third Party ModemPack"

"d l"         "download"
"c dn"         "[u rl=http://simplecdn.com]cdn[/url]"   IE    cdn
"t he bugtracker"     "the [u rl=http://bugtracker.driverpacks.net]bugtracker[/url]"   IE   the bugtracker

However, it is a lot easier to to remove them to save space, than it is to add them to support new hardware.
since mass storage is such a small pack trimming it down is not often needed but it is a FAQ.

HINTS and hints, and a story about learning pains.
----------------------------------------------------------
       Drivers and the Mass storage Driverpack

GLOSSARY

1; driver.INF
Information the Operating System requires to support hardware; including registry entries and files to copy.

2; driver.CAT
Security catalog. A *.CAT file can be WHQL signed but this is not always the case.

3; driver.SYS
System level support for hardware (the driver!)

4; HWID
Hardware identity, vendor and device.
This is the number the device reports to plug and play to match with a driver file.

5; driverpack INI (full name = DriverPack_MassStorage_wnt5_x86-32.INI)
This file is used to identify exceptions and special cases, such as, this driver only has windows 2003 support.

6; generic HWID (VendorID&deviceID, NO SUB.)
Example PCI\VEN_13C1&DEV_1002
Example PCI\VEN_1191&DEV_0006

7; SUB Specified HWID
Subversions of a chip can exist. Either proprietary made for an OEM, or an improved mask was used at the Fabrication plant. They will have SUB_SYS and sometimes Revision info after the generic ID.
Example PCI\VEN_13C1&DEV_1002&SUBSYS_100213C1
Example PCI\VEN_1191&DEV_0006&SUBSYS_00061191&REV_01

8; mask
Used in etching process at the Plant. A new mask etches different traces and a different chip is built.

9; Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)
Large OEMs like DELL, NEC or HP/Compaq often have proprietary chips on the motherboards.

10; Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) and Windows Driver Model (WDM)
Drivers that have been submitted and successfully passed the tests at Microsoft will get the WHQL signed status.
WHQL was introduced when XP was in its infancy and you will seldom find very old WHQL signed drivers because of this.
Windows Driver Model (WDM) are most likely good drivers because this standard is still in use.
Unstable drivers do exist. Information and rants about unstable drivers can be found on the internet.
We will attempt to avoid any known unstable drivers.

11; Native drivers
Native drivers are the drivers supported by the original OS. When Microsoft release a service pack, sometimes they add support for new devices. The best way to find out wich drivers are supported by your OS is to look at the txtsetup.sif file on your CD.
Also look at the mshdc.inf and pnpscsi.inf located in "c:\windows\inf".

---------------------------------------------
Next, a reference TXT.
It was written by RuudBoek
---------------------------------------------
Editing the Mass storage driverpack INI.

Q: What does the entry "ms_count = 1" mean?
A: The number next to the "ms_count =" entry represents the amount of *.sys files that are present in the current section and folder that should be used during the slipstream. This entry can also be used to exclude a driver from all OS'es during slipstreaming.
To do this, simply add a zero next to the "ms_count =" entry.
For example:
"ms_count = 0"

Q: What does the "ms_1_deviceName" entry mean?
A: The "ms_1_deviceName" entry represents the full driver name (Its friendly name).
One driver can often support multiple hardware devices. For example: "IBM ServeRAID 4H Controller" and "IBM ServeRAID 3H/3L Controller" both share the same driver files. The "ms_1_deviceName" entry enables you to specify one name representing all these different hardware devices. This name is displayed during the loading of the Mass Storage drivers for textmode setup. Since this name has no impact on the proper functioning of the driver itself, it is possible to make up a name by yourself. It is however strongly advised to use a name similar to the name that is used by the driver manufacturer.

Q: What does the "ms_1_tag" entry mean?
A: Most of the time the "ms_1_tag" represents the name of the .sys file included in the driver.
This name is used to create the compressed files which are located in the I386 folder (example: SI3124.SY_).
This compressed file is decompressed during Text Mode* part of setup and loaded into memory so that mass storage media is accessible.

*Textmode setup is the blue screen part at the beginning of the installation and it enables you to partition your hard drive.

In some cases there are .sys files present from different driver folders that have the same file names.
They can not be compressed and placed into the I386 folder using the same filename because the resulting compressed files would bear the same filename also. When this occurs a workaround is used. The resulting compressed files get different filenames than the original .sys filename.
The "ms_1_tag" entry enables you to specify unique filenames for filenames that would have otherwise been duplicated during the copy to I386.

TAG NAME MUST BE UNIQUE and 8 DIGITS MAX.

Q: Where can I find the "ms_1_sysFile" entry in my driver?
A:The "ms_1_sysFile" entry represents the name of the .sys file which should always be included in your driver. If there is more then one .sys file present in the driverpackage, please bear in mind that only the BUS driver is relevant. Often you will find .sys files which include the following in their names:

filter, filt, fltr, filtr, etc.
For example: xfilt.sys.

Those .sys files are called filters and are NOT bus drivers. They can therefore be ignored.

Often you will also find .sys files which includes the following in their names:
64
For example: videX64.sys

Most of the time that value means that the .sys file was built for the 64-bit version of Windows XP. Since the DriverPacks Mass Storage only supports the 32-bit version of Windows XP, those .sys files can also be ignored.

Q: What does the "ms_1_hwids" entry mean?
A: The "ms_1_hwids" entry represents all the hardware id's that are associated with the driver.

Q: Where can I find the correct hardware id's for my driver?
A: You can usually find the drivers hardware id's inside the txtsetup.oem file.
It is strongly recommended to always use the HWID's inside the txtsetup.oem file when available. If a txtsetup.oem file is not present you will be forced to look inside the .inf files for the driver IDs.

When looking inside a txtsetup.oem file, first Look for a section with the following in its name: HardwareIds.SCSI
For example:
[HardwareIds.SCSI.Si3112_XP]
id = "PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_31121095", "Si3112"
id = "PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_34238086", "Si3112"
id = "PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_311215D9", "Si3112"
id = "PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_B0021458", "Si3112"

The actual hardwareid's are located in the specified section ([HardwareIds.SCSI.Si3112_XP].
Hardwareid's always start with PCI\... In this example the correct hardwareid's are therefore the following:

PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_31121095
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_34238086
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_311215D9
PCI\VEN_1095&DEV_3112&SUBSYS_B0021458

Simple right! Well, there's more.

When no txtsetup.oem file is present you need to look inside the .inf files of the driver.
In this case open the .inf file(s) and look for a section called [Manufacturer] in that section you should be able to find the name of the section where the HWID's can be found.
For example:

[Manufacturer]
%ITE% = ITE.Mfg

In this example, we will thefore find all the hardwareid's in the following section:
[ITE.Mfg]

Sometimes more than one section is specified underneath [Manufacturer]. Bear in mind that if one of those sections include the value 64 that specific section can be normally be ignored. It most probably represents 64-bit Windows driver which is not currently supported.

The hardware id's themselves are located at the end of each line in the specified sections.
For this example:
[ITE.Mfg]
%ITE.DeviceDesc0% = iteraid, PCI\VEN_1283&DEV_8212&SUBSYS_00011283
%ITE.DeviceDesc0% = iteraid, PCI\VEN_1283&DEV_8212&SUBSYS_00000000

Hardwareid's always start with PCI\... In this example the correct hardwareid's are therefore the following:
PCI\VEN_1283&DEV_8212&SUBSYS_00011283
PCI\VEN_1283&DEV_8212&SUBSYS_00000000

Hardware id's should be added to the "ms_1_hwids" entry; all on one line, with no spaces, and each HWID should be separated by a comma, the complete line should also start with double quotes and end with double quotes.
For example:
ms_1_hwids = "PCI\VEN_1283&DEV_8212&SUBSYS_00011283,PCI\VEN_1283&DEV_8212&SUBSYS_00000000"

Q:What does the entry "ms_1_isBusExtender" mean?
A:The "ms_1_isBusExtender" entry specifies wether the driver is a bus extender or not.

Q:How can I find out if my driver is a bus extender?
A:Open the .inf files which should be included in the driver. Look for a line similar to the following:

LoadOrderGroup = System Bus Extender
If that line is present then your driver is a busextender.

Q:What does the entry "ms_1_exc_skipIfOS" mean?
A:The "ms_1_exc_skipIfOS" entry represents the operating system to which the driver(s) will not be slipstreamed.
For example:
ms_1_exc_skipIfOS= "w2k"
In this example the entry will prevent the specified driver from being slipstreamed into the specified Windows OS.

Q:What does the entry "ms_1_exc_disableIfOS" mean?
A:The "ms_1_exc_disableIfOS" entry represents the operating system in which the driver should not be included during textmode setup.
This feature is currently only needed and only supported for Windows 2000.

For example:
Ms_1_exc_disableIfOS= "w2k"

In this example the entry will prevent the specified driver from being loaded into memory during textmode setup when the OS is Windows 2000. After the slipstream completes the driver will be present in txtsetup.sif and dosnet.inf but the entry will be prefixed by a semi-colon which will cause setup to ignore that line and therefore the driver on that line.

Excluding a driver to be loaded during textmode setup can be quite useful. Windows 2000, for example, is very limited in the amount of memory that can be allocated for loading textmode drivers. So we can easily select some rarely used drivers to be "on hold" for text mode but still available to plug and play in windows afterwards. So far we have only needed to do this for windows 2000 and it is technically only supported for windows 2000. However, it is only a matter of time until this memory limit becomes a factor for XP and eventually 2003.

Q:What does the entry "ms_1_exc_replaceIfOS" mean?
A:The "ms_1_exc_replaceIfOS" entry represents the operating system in which the specified driver should replace an already existing driver.
Some operating systems already contain drivers for textmode setup by default.
For example:
Windows XP contains a driver called "Mylex AcceleRAID 160 Disk Array Controller".
This driver can be found in the I386 folder and it is named dac2w2k.sy_. If you want to overwrite this driver with a newer version you can use the following entry to tell the DPs_Base to overwrite the existing dac2w2k driver:
ms_1_exc_replaceIfOS= "wxp"

The tag name must match the native driver file name, or the native driver won't get replaced.

When Ruud posted this, the project had not yet gone open source.
The info is now available to you.

=============================

Let us go on about Mass storage Drivers.

First, let us mention something about the security catalog file, the CAT:
When one edits a duplicate driver's INF file to add HWIDs, its CAT is no longer valid for all HWIDs.
The supported devices in INF that do not match devices listed in the CAT are not signed when a HWID match occurs.
Yes, a CAT file actually lists HWIDs. Engineers using DDK can edit a CAT, but after that it needs to be submitted and re-signed. Signed drivers are published as "WHQL signed" at manufacturers download sites. We do not use DDK since we would not be successful in getting the drivers re-signed. Note that not all original drivers are WHQL signed and work just fine.

Working on a pack is fun.

When one looks at a driver, you will find that:

The driver.INF has info on its version, the supported HWIDs, and a section in there [sourcediskfiles] lists the files used to make a driver work.
Compare content of the unpacked driver against all "Copyfile" lines.
When you look at these entries, you know which files are essential.
You can then look whether the required files are present.
The NON essential files can be left out to save space, if you wish.

The driver.SYS file also has version info in it, and the internal name can be seen too.
This info about the file is just a right-click away. This information can help you make correct decisions.
One sometimes finds that it has a internal name different to the real name.
A team member found a filename error in an original driver and fixed the issue after he had looked at that.
The supplier had renamed the file so it was "wrong".
Also look at its size.

When you compare a driver against a similar driver (pretty often they use same name), you will want to look at the INF.
Besides HWIDs, version, the files used, one has to compare the rest of the txt in the INF files as well.

You see, if you want to MERGE a driver, then the registry entries have to match as well.
(MERGING means adding the HWIDs of one driver into another driver's INF, so as to not have to use two identical sets of driver.sys files.)
If these registry entries are different while using same GUI Class keys, you can be almost sure merging won't work.
(You can easily spot the likeness and differences.)
If its SYS file has same name but is different in size, you can be almost sure merging won't work. (version)
If the driver.sys files have same version, but the INF have differences in registry entries, you could rename the INF file which contains the smaller number of HWIDs.

There are free utilities like http://winmerge.org/ which can compare folder content and file content.
When you see you CAN merge, you can still choose to not merge lines into the INF already there.
You could rename and ADD the variant INF to the folder, OR you edit and add the HWIDs to the existing driver's INF.
Either way, you will have to add the UNIQUE HWIDs in the corresponding section in DriverPack_MassStorage_wnt5_x86-32.INI.
This information about merging is also true for other drivers (sound drivers, LAN and WLAN were very good examples.)
When you add a renamed driver.INF we know that renaming its CAT (to also add it) means you have to edit the reference to it.
This will at least have the result there is one good CAT and INF in the set, but the other CAT signing probably broke, which is a good reason to choose the INF with the lower number of HWIDs when you rename/merge/edit..

We consider ourselves fortunate when we do not have to merge HWIDs in the mass storage driverpack.

Now, if that driver is NOT an update of those you compared it with, and you want to add it, then you will have to make a new section entry in mass storage INI.
One of the first considerations is the name it will be given for TxtMode.
Look for existing ms_1_tag names and do not use an existing name when you add a driver.
You will have to look at supported HWIDs and compare these with the rest of the pack.

Sometimes, Updated Drivers drop support for older hardware.
When you read its INF and find that new DLL files, extra SYS and extra INF files are required and used (like nodrv.inf), then one can edit out the duplicate HWIDs in the older driver's DriverPack_MassStorage_wnt5_x86-32.INI section, so that only the NEW one will cover these.
You do that to avoid conflicts.
(Otherwise during Txtmode stage of setup, two sys files would get loaded for the same Chip and a BSOD is likely.)
You can also edit the older driver's INF and comment the duplicated HWIDs)
(Sometimes this is a good solution. This is done to avoid a clash during PNP stage which could occur when both are unsigned.)
Of course, you can disable the older one altogether (Do Not Delete. You may have to re-enable at a later date.), but the newer one will sometimes not support some older chip versions and we've seen that old hardware has a tendency to outlive vendor support.

To Illustrate some of this, let's recount a real story.
It happened in Mass storage forum.
An update for LSI was requested, and Jaak took the task.
What could a look at files and the INF tell us?
Old LSI in [L-4] did not use pseudo device.
Then Jaak looked for matching HWIDs to avoid possible conflicts. At first, Jaak forgot to look through ALL drivers and therefore he did not notice there was a DELL using HWIDs this LSI listed.
So, he had looked for double HWIDs only in LSI and found them, but saw he should not edit [L-5] because the last line there told him it was for server.
Because of that oversight, there was an unnoticed DELL driver using HWIDs this updated LSI also listed, and this was pointed out by a gifted member called LSe (his 'nick'.)

LSe wrote:
In PnP driver install phase (about T=38 to T=34 in WXP installation) there is a ranking for each hardware ID to find the best matching driver. Presence/absence of signature (The CAT), version, matching ID (full/generic) and others make for each matching string from a *.inf file a rank value. The driver with the lowest resulting rank value will be installed.
You can see what happened in this phase by studying setupapi.log file in %windir% after the installation.
So for the PnP the presence of more then one matching string is no problem, normally the best will "win".
The problem is the txtmode setup phase. At this stage there is no ranking, only one driver with the same name can be loaded.
So if we want to keep the Dell and the native LSI version separated we must use the older generic version 1.20.18.00 in txtmode. Obviously it also supports the Dell controllers. If there is a Dell controller installed, this older unsigned driver will be replaced in the PnP phase by symmpi.sys 1.21.08.00. If "only" a LSI controller is installed it will be kept in PnP.
If we would use the Dell driver in txtmode an there is only a LSI controller installed, the PnP must downgrade it. I fear this wont work, but I will try out this cenario in the next days.

Jaak replied;
Trying to make txtmode match what PnP will do is what I thought we should do, and it is not easy.
TXTmode uses the mass storage INI, and PNP uses the INF.
Some drivers are unsigned because that sys version supports several OEM INFs and they got merged/added, which broke signing.
After somebody had pointed it out, I realised that when a conflicting signed one with matching generic HWID in INF is left signed (by not removing generics) then one can get BSOD.

Because of this finding, we had to make a choice..
In our example, the OEM Dell driver [D-3] has a valid signature unlike the reference LSI [L-4].
The same Dell HWIDs were suppored in LSI [L-4].
The Dell driver has also a slightly higher version number (1.21.08.00) and a newer date than the original LSI files.
So? What influenced our choice?
If [D-3] is signed, keep it.
If the SYS file size for the one in LSI is different, definatetly keep Dell.
Still more considerations were made.
Is there a choice between unsigned generic versus signed proprietary? Keep signed proprietary.
A choice between Subsys and 'proprietary" subsys? Keep signed 'proprietary" subsys.
The filter (mass INI) must be changed to not use non-signed LSI in [L-4] for hwid signed in [D-3]
One could say that generic HWIDs in signed driver should be kept, and unsigned generics can be tossed away if one has it covered by a signed driver. Then, Dell won. BUT... Jaak decided against.
In some cases one can make an edit to a signed driver's INF and kill the generic in there, while keeping the specified subs. You can do that if this one is proprietary and the other supports a lot more generic and SUB_sys HWIDs as well.
The LSI reference driver was not signed, older, and therefore Jaak edited the DriverPack_MassStorage_wnt5_x86-32.INI for [L-4] so that it did not list DELL's HWIDs.
One "could" go as far as editing its INF as well, but since Dell was newer, it was the DELL's INF that got edited to not support the generic. (Jaak did that because he thinks Dell used a modified LSI chip. Dell, Compaq and other OEMs often use proprietary modifications of chips. And, the SYS they use is most likely specific for that proprietary chip.)
LSI's reference driver can most probably handle the generics better than Dell's prorietary sys-file.
Will this be the best solution?
Time will tell.
(hehe..This was done somewhere in 2006, and that choice seems to have worked rather well.)
====================================

Making a pack perfect is not easy.

A testing version was put on rapidshare by Jaak.
BUT; Jaak had made an error in mass storage INI when he added a driver for servers in [c]
In [C] section, for a driver intended only for SERVER, Ms_1_exc_disableIfOS= "wxp" was used.
This had caused a long list of disabled drivers.

JSe wrote
The problem starts after [AU-3], the first commented out is [C] CPQ32FS2.
Compared to the original 704 there some changes at this point 704 also had
[AU-4] and [AU-5] but no [C].
and have found the problem:
it's the option
ms_1_exc_disableIfOS= "wxp" under the [C] header. From this point on _all_
drivers that follow will be disabled, this seems to be a bug of the Base program. I have replaced this option by
ms_1_exc_skipIfOS = "wxp"

Meanwhile, Jaak had reported what he thought was a bug at the bugtracker..

Because of this error, OverFlow wrote a reply in forum:
Because you don't understand something does not mean there is a bug in the base.
disable was not what you wanted
ms_1_exc_skipIfOS= or set ms_count = 0 are to "Disable" a driver (from
your perspective)
the ms_1_exc_disableIfOS= "wxp" means something totaly different to the Base
program.
"load the driver for plug and play but; in a DISABLEd state during text mode
setup."
We have never needed to do this for any OS except windows 2000.
...

JSe (thinking that was meant for him) then wrote:
Yes, you are right, I did not completly understand this functionality, but please note:
1. It was not me, who used this ms_1_exc_disabledIfOS="wxp", I was only the one who wrote that this option caused the problem of commenting out _all_ drivers, not only that one, that had this option applied that follow this driver.
2. What I still would call a (possible) bug is that an option, regardless if it is usefull or not at the point it had been used acts on all the following drivers. And if you dont like the word bug then let's call this unpredictable behavior we should be aware of if it happens again.
Then Jeff wrote:
I disagree. It does what it was designed to do. It is neither a bug nor unpredictable.
It is used for w2k to prevent drivers from loading into ram to prevent ram from being used up and it does.
We have yet to add enough drivers to find these limits on XP or 2003 and is not needed or supported.
If you put Garbage Into the .inf file you will get Garbage Out (GIGO).
That is not a flaw with the base it's user error. The "meat" virus.
Let's agree it was just not well documented.

And then Jaak wrote
I was unaware of that too, and I made that error in [C]
One could call it "learning pains", and I really think this should be made "more robust" against such "user" error.
I would NOT have posted RUUDBOEK's text had this project not become open-source.
The end user has had the possibility to edit the INI for a while now, and little in depth information was public.
Give me the choice between PM or chat for help... Then I will choose public discussions. Always.

Long time ago, on other boards, some long discussions got summarised, and a summary like that was welcomed.
It came with all relevant links, and all helpful posts (or parts of) that got included were credited to the original poster.
You can bet there are people using snips of posted tips to write their own reference txt.
I am one of those...
---------
So, this is how this txt came to fruition.
We've now collaborated on this summary, and we hope it is informative.

Some quoted text was edited for clarity or grammar.
We're an international bunch, and English is only a second language to many.

We hope this helped you.
Kind regards, Erik, Jaak, Jeff, Jon, Ruud.
=======================

Revision 10, date November 24, 2008

DriverPacks BASE now includes the Stand Alone Driver platform.

simply install DriverPacks per the tutorial and select the SAD option in DriverPacks BASE instead of Disc.
Note: it is not neccessary to have a source OS. That step can be skipped for SAD.

then burn the created DriverPacks.net folder to any local drive (ODD, ThumbDrive, USB HDD, ect...)
Note: Network locations will only work with M2... 

Run DP_Install_Tool.cmd from the DriverPacks.net\ folder and all drivers on the current machine will be updated.

if you wish you can create an ODD with an Autorun.inf to call the .CMD file. 
can you say Automatic updater!

*** Edit ***
New SAD2 utility with NT5/NT6 (Vista/Win7) compatibility is here:
http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic. … 590#p41590

====================================================
ALL INFO BELOW HERE IS FOR REFERENCE AND IS OUT OF DATE as of Sept 2008 DriverPacks BASE 8.09
====================================================

If you have DP_Base version 8.x or newer then see the later post in this topic since DPInst is included.
http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic. … 159#p20159

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OLD DIRECTIONS BELOW ARE FOR MANUAL CREATION OF A 'SEARCHABLE' CD, or SAD Disk

the following directions are here now only for reference and background info

- click link above for up to date directions

- although the info is still all accurate, it is simplified by the DP_Install_Tool.cmd that is now included with DriverPacks BASE and added when the DriverPacks are slipstreamed. the DP_install_Tool automates the directions below. It is also no longer necessary to cab compress the files to make them fit on a CD the tool will extract them from an \OEM\ folder that has been copied to a CD from a DriverPacks slipstreamed source. (it will extract teh 7zip archived packs although this format is not "searchable" it is effective )

-------------------------- Searchable CD directions
this method fits all the main packs on a CD and DOES NOT require extraction from the CD to the local machine

for Manual Driver updates From a searchable ODD

To create a CD we must conserve space and CAB compress the drivers so they will actually fit on a CD
1) Run DriverPacks BASE as normal on any OS source folder useing Method 1 (M1).
    Doing so will create "Source Folder \$OEM$\$1\D\"

2) Burn the \D folder from  "Source Folder \$OEM$\$1\" to a CD.

Notes:

It is not neccessary to select MassStorage Text-Mode for this and it will save a little time if you don't

Method One will cab compress the DriverPacks so they all will fit on a single CD.
     All of the DriverPacks when simply extracted will require about  1.5 GB of disk space.
     All of the DriverPacks when cab compressed by M1 only require about 500 MB of disk space.

The $OEM$\$1\D folder will contain a sub-folder for each type of DriverPack you selected in DriverPacks BASE.
     If you wish you may select individual sub folders of the D\ folder for your "Drivers Only" CD.

-------------------------- Searchable DVD directions
When creating a DVD space is no longer a concern and no sense in wasting time with the cab compression.

for Manual Driver updates From a searchable ODD

1) Extract the packs to a temporary folder

2) Burn the \D folder to a DVD.

---------------------------How to Search your ODD

insert your CD/DVD in the PC and:
1. find the device manager items without correct drivers.
2. click "Update driver" for one of those items
3. click "Install from a list or specific location"
4. checkbox "Search removable media" and click next

-------------------------How to add the One Click update Option...

If you do not wish to manually install the drivers you may, if you wish, use the following method
This is based on info brought to our attention by one of our members - Warm Snow (WsnoW)
It uses the  MS dpinst tool  an excellent redistributable minisetup... TY MS!

1. Download http://3rdpartydriverpacks.thesneaky.co … /DPInst.7z

2. Extract DPINST.exe and DPInst.xml to the same folder as \D

3. To use it simply double click on the DPInst.exe file and click the next button!

.... ahhh curious why i said one click when that is obviously three clicks...

4. for True One Click updateing one must add DPInst.exe to autorun.inf in the root of the disc -

----------------------------How to More add even more Options...

=======
THUMBDRIVE S.A.D.
For thumbdrive with 2Gb or better.
- Really this will make any disk a "drivers only disk" or SAD disk simply copy to that media.
  -  Special note Network locations are not advisable...
     the OS gets a little annoyed when the chipset and or the NIC drivers are being updated,
     this has been known to make the drivers unavailable in the middle of updateing them.

See DVD instructions 1. and 2.  and How to add the One Click update Option 1. and 2.

The D\ folder must be a subfolder of the one that contains the DPINST.exe and DPInst.xml files ! ! !
If you wish to rename the D\ folder you will have to edit the DPInst.XML file,  and hopefully rtfm

-------------------Unnattended Option:

create a .CMD file (or if you dare ... an Autorun.inf) with the following line --->  DPInst.exe /c /s

/c enables logging to the command window (the install is totaly silent without this switch - progress window)
/s enables silent mode (no GUI / Unattended)

Disable or remove any existing Mass Storage Drivers.
UBCD4Win came with many drivers and to avoid conflicts these needed to be disabled.

To disable the included MS drivers...
create a new folder in the UBCD4Win folder called DISABLED then cut and paste
the <UBCD4Win>\drivers\SCSIAdapter folder to the <UBCD4Win>\DISABLED folder.
You can also simply delete this folder if you wish but this would not allow you to use them later if needed.

Newer versions of UBCD4Win Include Bashrat the Sneaky's (Bâshrat the Sneaky) DriverPacks

All versions of BartPE

Extract / install the DriverPacks Base program to a folder that IS NOT in your plugin folder - IE C:\DPsBase\
We will allow the Base program to create our plugin folders because it is critical to proper operation of the MassStorage plugin and also future DriverPacks like LAN and Graphics.

Download the latest Mass Storage DriverPack directly to your DriverPacks folder. IE C:\DPsBase\DriverPacks\
Don't get the other packs right now since they are not (yet) supported and don't need to take up extra space in your plugin.
you dont need to unzip or do anything else to the packs manually.

Run c:\DPsBase\DPs_BASE.exe and select your language on the 'Start' page.
Click the button with the > sign on it (or click on settings) to display the 'Settings' page followed by the 'Location' page
On the location page (see fig1) Select BartPE and "Browse" to your Plugin folder.
note - If you select a valid BartPE Plugin folder the OS: field will change from 'N/A' to 'bartpe'
note - If you do not select a valid location you will not be shown the rest of the settings pages.

Figure 1

Click on DriverPacksâ„¢ in the navigation pane or click on the next button '>' (see fig2)
If the MassStorage DriverPack exists in the C:\DPsBase\DriverPacks folder then MassStorage text mode will automaticaly be selected.

Figure 2

Click on 'Slipstream!'
That's it your done creating your Mass Storage plugin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Afterwards you will have the following new folder under \plugins... ' \plugin\DriverPacks.net\BASE'

DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF THIS FOLDER!!!

"plugin\DriverPacks.net\BASE" is hard-coded into the executable and must not be altered in any way.
Doing so will create problems upgrading to a new MassStorage Pack or adding new packs when they are supported (like LAN)

Run UBCD4WINBUILDER.EXE or PEBuilder.exe and open the "plugins" page.

there should be new plugins (fig3)
"# DriverPacks.net - BASE - Press <CONFIG> to enable drivers or reset DriverPacks plugins"
- this should be set to 'NO' because it is only here to 'configure' plugins it is not part of the build.
"# DriverPacks.net - MassStorage"
- this should be set to yes to enable the MassStorage Plugin and enable the drivers for your build.

Figure 3

If "# DriverPacks.net - MassStorage" is not there or is out of date then select

"# DriverPack - Press <CONFIG> to enable drivers" & press the CONFIG button.

This will setup the base.ini file to your local directory and run the driverpacks base which will generate the mass storage drivers plugin.

You MUST press REFRESH before you will see the new plugin listed in pebuilder.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Help file updated by
Overflow - 2007-11-17

OverFlow - Jeff Herre, code for mass storage plugin for driverpacks
Many thanks to Bâshrat the Sneaky, hilander, cdob, and the ubcd4win team: i could not have done it without you guys