Network Unattended installation

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

"Bonkers in Yonkers" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> writes:

> Put in network boot disk, reboot machine, map a drive to
> n:\ ( n:\ = \\dc01\i386$ ) and change to n:\. No
> problems so far.
>
> We then enter winnt /s:\\dc01\i386$ /u:\\dc01\i386$
> unattend.txt /udf:abc1,\\dc01\i386$ unattend.udf. I have
> also entered
> winnt /s:n:\ /u:unattend.txt /udf:abc1,unattend.udf as
> well as
> winnt /s:n:\ /u:n:\unattend.txt /udf:abc1,n:\unattend.udf.

I would use the third one, although I do not think it should matter.

> In each case we are getting an error that the file
> n:\unattend.txt is either not accessible or invalid.
> Here is a copy of the unattend.txt file:

What does "type n:\unattend.txt" say?

> [UserData]
> FullName="Installer"
> OrgName=Company, Inc.

I thought comma was a magic character in these files, so I would put
quotation marks around this OrgName.

> [Identification]
> JoinDomain=mydomain
> DomainAdmin=Administrator
> DomainAdminPassword=xxxxxx

Similarly, depending on what characters are in that password, I would
put quotation marks around it, too.

> Remember, we are running the winnt command because we are
> using a DOS based network boot disk.

You might consider trying my free system at
<http://unattended.sourceforge.net/&gt;.

- Pat

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Patrick,

Made the change to unattend.txt and when I enter "type
unattend.txt" I see the entire document correctly
displayed.

However, now I have another question. When I enter
either of the three commands from the mapped N:\ drive I
am now getting a "An Internal Error has occured. Cannot
find a place for a swap file. Setup will end" error.

I have the same error when I do this to the system with
Windows 2000 already installed, when I fdisk and format
the drive as one partition ( 10.0GB as FAT32 ) and when I
fdisk and format the drive to have two partitions ( 4GB
C: FAT32 and 6GB D: FAT32 ). Assuming that I can resolve
this issue I do not want the drive to be formatted as
FAT32. I want NTFS. Do I need to add a line in the
unattend.txt of "FileSystem=ConvertNTFS"?

Any help is welcome.

Bonkers in Yonkers


PS Nice web site. Will have to give it a shot. We
normally use a bootable CD with the WINNT.SIF file on
it. No problems there but looking for an alternative way.


>-----Original Message-----
>"Bonkers in Yonkers"
<anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> writes:
>
>> Put in network boot disk, reboot machine, map a drive
to
>> n:\ ( n:\ = \\dc01\i386$ ) and change to n:\. No
>> problems so far.
>>
>> We then enter winnt /s:\\dc01\i386$ /u:\\dc01\i386$
>> unattend.txt /udf:abc1,\\dc01\i386$ unattend.udf. I
have
>> also entered
>> winnt /s:n:\ /u:unattend.txt /udf:abc1,unattend.udf as
>> well as
>>
winnt /s:n:\ /u:n:\unattend.txt /udf:abc1,n:\unattend.udf.
>
>I would use the third one, although I do not think it
should matter.
>
>> In each case we are getting an error that the file
>> n:\unattend.txt is either not accessible or invalid.
>> Here is a copy of the unattend.txt file:
>
>What does "type n:\unattend.txt" say?
>
>> [UserData]
>> FullName="Installer"
>> OrgName=Company, Inc.
>
>I thought comma was a magic character in these files, so
I would put
>quotation marks around this OrgName.
>
>> [Identification]
>> JoinDomain=mydomain
>> DomainAdmin=Administrator
>> DomainAdminPassword=xxxxxx
>
>Similarly, depending on what characters are in that
password, I would
>put quotation marks around it, too.
>
>> Remember, we are running the winnt command because we
are
>> using a DOS based network boot disk.
>
>You might consider trying my free system at
><http://unattended.sourceforge.net/&gt;.
>
> - Pat
>.
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

"Bonkers in Yonkers" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> writes:

> However, now I have another question. When I enter
> either of the three commands from the mapped N:\ drive I
> am now getting a "An Internal Error has occured. Cannot
> find a place for a swap file. Setup will end" error.

That means winnt.exe was unable to write to the C:\ drive.

> I have the same error when I do this to the system with
> Windows 2000 already installed, when I fdisk and format
> the drive as one partition ( 10.0GB as FAT32 ) and when I
> fdisk and format the drive to have two partitions ( 4GB
> C: FAT32 and 6GB D: FAT32 ).

What version of DOS are you using? 6.x and lower can only handle
FAT16, not FAT32.

From DOS, you should be able to:

C:\
echo hello > test.txt
type test.txt

If not, then winnt.exe will not work, either.

> Assuming that I can resolve this issue I do not want the drive to be
> formatted as FAT32. I want NTFS. Do I need to add a line in the
> unattend.txt of "FileSystem=ConvertNTFS"?

Yes. That will only apply to the C: drive; you can convert the D:
drive from within Windows itself using the "convert" command (see
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/m...).

Or just create D: as an NTFS partition in the first place, and format
it from within Windows. That is what I usually do.

- Pat
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Pat,

I must admit that I am a bit of a ninny. Part of the
problem was that I failed to make a partition active.
That is going to cause a problem each and every time, no
matter what version of DOS one is using!

But, you were correct. The Network Boot Disk uses an
older version of DOS - do not know which version as I can
not ask him at the moment - so we are stuck with FAT16,
which means 2.0GB and smaller. Not very interesting.

It did work, though. It took a bit longer than the
Bootable CD that we use but it is nice to have another
method. I do like the ability to place the computer in
the OU that we desire. I guess that we could do this
with the CD as well ( winnt.sif ). Really wishing that
we could use RIS, but not currently an option.

Thank you for your insight,

No longer Bonkers in Yonkers

>-----Original Message-----
>"Bonkers in Yonkers"
<anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> writes:
>
>> However, now I have another question. When I enter
>> either of the three commands from the mapped N:\ drive
I
>> am now getting a "An Internal Error has occured.
Cannot
>> find a place for a swap file. Setup will end" error.
>
>That means winnt.exe was unable to write to the C:\
drive.
>
>> I have the same error when I do this to the system
with
>> Windows 2000 already installed, when I fdisk and
format
>> the drive as one partition ( 10.0GB as FAT32 ) and
when I
>> fdisk and format the drive to have two partitions (
4GB
>> C: FAT32 and 6GB D: FAT32 ).
>
>What version of DOS are you using? 6.x and lower can
only handle
>FAT16, not FAT32.
>
>From DOS, you should be able to:
>
> C:\
> echo hello > test.txt
> type test.txt
>
>If not, then winnt.exe will not work, either.
>
>> Assuming that I can resolve this issue I do not want
the drive to be
>> formatted as FAT32. I want NTFS. Do I need to add a
line in the
>> unattend.txt of "FileSystem=ConvertNTFS"?
>
>Yes. That will only apply to the C: drive; you can
convert the D:
>drive from within Windows itself using the "convert"
command (see
>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/m...
ntain/convertfat.mspx).
>
>Or just create D: as an NTFS partition in the first
place, and format
>it from within Windows. That is what I usually do.
>
> - Pat
> http://unattended.sourceforge.net/
>.
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Hi !

You have just to create/format (in one very fast step) a 2GB partition with
AEFDISK (very usefull and available at www.aefdisk.com) and configure this
in your unattend.txt file

[Unattended]
ExtendOemPartition = 1

Hugo



"Bonkers in Yonkers" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> a écrit dans le
message de news:38d901c48f7a$803c8b10$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> Pat,
>
> I must admit that I am a bit of a ninny. Part of the
> problem was that I failed to make a partition active.
> That is going to cause a problem each and every time, no
> matter what version of DOS one is using!
>
> But, you were correct. The Network Boot Disk uses an
> older version of DOS - do not know which version as I can
> not ask him at the moment - so we are stuck with FAT16,
> which means 2.0GB and smaller. Not very interesting.
>
> It did work, though. It took a bit longer than the
> Bootable CD that we use but it is nice to have another
> method. I do like the ability to place the computer in
> the OU that we desire. I guess that we could do this
> with the CD as well ( winnt.sif ). Really wishing that
> we could use RIS, but not currently an option.
>
> Thank you for your insight,
>
> No longer Bonkers in Yonkers
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >"Bonkers in Yonkers"
> <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> writes:
> >
> >> However, now I have another question. When I enter
> >> either of the three commands from the mapped N:\ drive
> I
> >> am now getting a "An Internal Error has occured.
> Cannot
> >> find a place for a swap file. Setup will end" error.
> >
> >That means winnt.exe was unable to write to the C:\
> drive.
> >
> >> I have the same error when I do this to the system
> with
> >> Windows 2000 already installed, when I fdisk and
> format
> >> the drive as one partition ( 10.0GB as FAT32 ) and
> when I
> >> fdisk and format the drive to have two partitions (
> 4GB
> >> C: FAT32 and 6GB D: FAT32 ).
> >
> >What version of DOS are you using? 6.x and lower can
> only handle
> >FAT16, not FAT32.
> >
> >From DOS, you should be able to:
> >
> > C:\
> > echo hello > test.txt
> > type test.txt
> >
> >If not, then winnt.exe will not work, either.
> >
> >> Assuming that I can resolve this issue I do not want
> the drive to be
> >> formatted as FAT32. I want NTFS. Do I need to add a
> line in the
> >> unattend.txt of "FileSystem=ConvertNTFS"?
> >
> >Yes. That will only apply to the C: drive; you can
> convert the D:
> >drive from within Windows itself using the "convert"
> command (see
> >http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/m...
> ntain/convertfat.mspx).
> >
> >Or just create D: as an NTFS partition in the first
> place, and format
> >it from within Windows. That is what I usually do.
> >
> > - Pat
> > http://unattended.sourceforge.net/
> >.
> >

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Have an even better solution. I found the Bart's modular
network boot disk. All issues have been resolved. What
a nice setup that is.

But, thank you to the both of you for your support and
insight.

Yonkers

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi !
>
>You have just to create/format (in one very fast step) a
2GB partition with
>AEFDISK (very usefull and available at www.aefdisk.com)
and configure this
>in your unattend.txt file
>
>[Unattended]
> ExtendOemPartition = 1
>
>Hugo
>
>
>
>"Bonkers in Yonkers"
<anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> a écrit dans le
>message de news:38d901c48f7a$803c8b10$a601280a@phx.gbl...
>> Pat,
>>
>> I must admit that I am a bit of a ninny. Part of the
>> problem was that I failed to make a partition active.
>> That is going to cause a problem each and every time,
no
>> matter what version of DOS one is using!
>>
>> But, you were correct. The Network Boot Disk uses an
>> older version of DOS - do not know which version as I
can
>> not ask him at the moment - so we are stuck with FAT16,
>> which means 2.0GB and smaller. Not very interesting.
>>
>> It did work, though. It took a bit longer than the
>> Bootable CD that we use but it is nice to have another
>> method. I do like the ability to place the computer in
>> the OU that we desire. I guess that we could do this
>> with the CD as well ( winnt.sif ). Really wishing that
>> we could use RIS, but not currently an option.
>>
>> Thank you for your insight,
>>
>> No longer Bonkers in Yonkers
>>
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >"Bonkers in Yonkers"
>> <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> writes:
>> >
>> >> However, now I have another question. When I enter
>> >> either of the three commands from the mapped N:\
drive
>> I
>> >> am now getting a "An Internal Error has occured.
>> Cannot
>> >> find a place for a swap file. Setup will end"
error.
>> >
>> >That means winnt.exe was unable to write to the C:\
>> drive.
>> >
>> >> I have the same error when I do this to the system
>> with
>> >> Windows 2000 already installed, when I fdisk and
>> format
>> >> the drive as one partition ( 10.0GB as FAT32 ) and
>> when I
>> >> fdisk and format the drive to have two partitions (
>> 4GB
>> >> C: FAT32 and 6GB D: FAT32 ).
>> >
>> >What version of DOS are you using? 6.x and lower can
>> only handle
>> >FAT16, not FAT32.
>> >
>> >From DOS, you should be able to:
>> >
>> > C:\
>> > echo hello > test.txt
>> > type test.txt
>> >
>> >If not, then winnt.exe will not work, either.
>> >
>> >> Assuming that I can resolve this issue I do not want
>> the drive to be
>> >> formatted as FAT32. I want NTFS. Do I need to add
a
>> line in the
>> >> unattend.txt of "FileSystem=ConvertNTFS"?
>> >
>> >Yes. That will only apply to the C: drive; you can
>> convert the D:
>> >drive from within Windows itself using the "convert"
>> command (see
>>
>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/m...
>> ntain/convertfat.mspx).
>> >
>> >Or just create D: as an NTFS partition in the first
>> place, and format
>> >it from within Windows. That is what I usually do.
>> >
>> > - Pat
>> > http://unattended.sourceforge.net/
>> >.
>> >
>
>
>.
>