Topic: [req] dynamic driverpack listing

at the current dp-base  it only checks for  a few names....  dp_grafics_A etc...
but to me this is rather un-usefull   and i would rather see way to un-merge this packs to for example chip-specific (nvidia   ati  sis  intel   etc)  packs... 

also, the handling the exeptions  in this case  'sh'could  be handled from a file within each individual package, 

sure this would  make handling the packages a bit more complicated  but it also enables system administrators to better target a driverset incorporated into the iso,
leaving more space for aditional software...

at this time i believe it could be a usefull next step for all driverpacks  ECCEPT the mass-storage pack (witch isn't to big and should be kept for simplicitie's sake just as it was)...

yet maybe this becomes a problem for drivers that mix into more than one vendor,
this is why at the same time it might be usefull to  rename packages to the chipset names of an interface card rather than a vendor name...

an updated wiki could easily provide info  what package to use for what device...
specially usefull for most lan and wlan drivers ....

disclaimer:
Any posts written by me or on my behalf comes strictly with no implicit warenty unless clearly stated otherwise.
Following any advise i might give, is done soly at one's own risk.
Never give away person-identifiable information about yourself unless you absolutely know for sure you can trust the person you give it to...

Re: [req] dynamic driverpack listing

So, am I getting this correctly that you do not want to slipstream all the drivers because of space reasons?

There's only three things I can comment on this:

Firstly, the whole point of the DriverPacks is to have all possible drivers included in the disc.
If you do not want this, you can either delete drivers out of the packs, create your own custom 3rd Party DP or simply integrate that handful of drivers using nLite, for example.

Secondly, you should be able to fit all DriverPacks on a default CD-R (700MB) if you do not use the currently offered 3PDPs (esp. the printer packs).
There's enough stuff on the Win CD that you can remove to gain additional space (for instances language and keyboard layout support for tongues you don't speak at all).

If that is still not enough, move onto DVDs.
I did so myself after having clinged to CDs for way too long.
It really gives you more headroom for everything, and even then, including a shitload of AddOns in my image, I only tax at ~1.2GB for everything.


Of course, smaller packs would decrease the bandwidth usage on the server for our side, but so far, this hasn't been a problem.

As you can see, some packs such as DPG already are split into three packs to allow a seperate entity for the more common consumer cards.

Re: [req] dynamic driverpack listing

The best solution should be a driver manager, IMO.

Marco Ravich
--
>>Forward Agency
In progress we (always) trust.

Re: [req] dynamic driverpack listing

sorry for the long time since last reply, -  but this was the actuall deal,

the whole point of driver packs it not just for 1 cdrom for all hw,  but also (in my opinion)  for simplicity of installing.
if you need to install multible systems in say a corporate inviroment  its really helpfull to build a cdrom that atomates the install for a certain deal..

but in the same time you would want to have sufficient space left on your disks to incorporate other software (like  netframeworks - pdf readers -  zipfile support (i use 7zip). and some other default tools..

if your an experienced user,  you'd know  what your target machine is like...   therefor having a  all nvidia-chipset  cdrom would be of more value than to have  sis via intel and amd  as well.. 

id rather build a set of disk  based on my targets    1 cdrom for  nvidia (chipset grafics  lan sound  etc)    another  one for  amd  (with ati grafics and such).   and one for the rest (intel via sis etc) ...

in the topic its called a per machine  pack,  but id recoment a per  platform  pack instead...  (or even better)  spitting  ALL packages up
for people to select driver sets themselves...   

how unusefull and unpractical is it, to have about   200mb of drivers on your cdrom that youd never use...  (for example if your an amd fan, or perhaps an intel fan, )

disclaimer:
Any posts written by me or on my behalf comes strictly with no implicit warenty unless clearly stated otherwise.
Following any advise i might give, is done soly at one's own risk.
Never give away person-identifiable information about yourself unless you absolutely know for sure you can trust the person you give it to...

Re: [req] dynamic driverpack listing

Welcome back!

Thanks for sharing your ideas, it is always wise to consider all of our options. Let's consider.

DriverPacks primarily targets professional users. Users who could have any machine at anytime in front of them, not the home or individual users supporting themselves and a PC or two (they don't donate wink)... Admins that care for hundreds or thousands or the bench tech who has eight machines on his bench. People who have to work on a POS machine because it's next in line. they have to take what is in front of them wink not what they chose to buy or use just what they are stuck fixing. Sure you can decide you are only going to have Intel at your house... but DriverPacks was not written just for you...

If you want a disc with just nvidia drivers on it please make one... we will even be glad to help you.
We even have a forum for those... We call them 3rd party DriverPack. Anyone can make them - Even you... Please do we might even get some users to give you feedback on them!

No, we are not going to restructure the DriverPacks just for you...
Since you are the only one who has even asked in five years.
Thanks for asking.  - Sorry, No -

Since we target an audience that wants to put their install disc in ANY machine and have it work...
Your ideas would not benefit our target audience nor our primary goal.
In fact it would be detrimental to having all the packs work together. This is the opposite of our goal. You may remember our goal is to support all hardware. not some or a certain machine or a certain chip.

All means all... smile

Why it is not feasible to split them as you recommend...  Many drivers are not compatible with each other.
So we would be forced to put two similar drivers (that cannot coexist) in two separate packs, and if a user were to use both packs that set (pair) of drivers would fail. You would create a situation where you could use one pack or the other but not both. this is because most drivers are very poorly written. Hey your idea looks good on paper but it would take dozens of people months to even get it anywhere close to working. (nothing is impossible but why kill yourself if there is no benefit)


If you believe this is impractical then I will guess that you are not a professional technician, and therefore DriverPacks was not intended for you... and you don't have the life experience to understand why it needs to be as it is. However if you were willing to donate a couple of grand to the project we might reconsider

You CAN do what you want to do... You just have to do it yourself!   
If you need help just ask. We are eager to help you to help yourself!


I have a tool in beta with the testing team right now that may help you. it is a HWIDs based installer...
It extracts only the drivers from the pack that are compatible with the local machine.
By capturing the tools output someone could easily put the drivers in a 3rd party DriverPack.
thus a user like yourself could make their own 3rd party DriverPack of machine specific drivers from the DriverPacks.
So although we don't support your idea directly i think we (will) provide a tool that makes doing what you desire a breeze.

PS RogueSpear suggested per machine packs at one time which is a similar idea to yours but much more practical. It was never followed up on because there will always be an addin device you did not count on wink. It is truly better just to have all the drivers ready to go every time... anything less would be uncivilized!

Your idea is based on the fact that you know waht hardware you have in your machine... Techs never know what is going to be in thier machines wink

PSS CD rom is a dead technology... DVD or bust!

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Re: [req] dynamic driverpack listing

Besides the vast amount of extra space available,
the DVD install is actually faster due to higher transfer rates!
(copying is usually twice as fast...)

wink