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I wonder if someone could point to me the right direction as this inf problem has been troubling me for a while.

I am using ClickOnce installer to install a prerequisite component.

I'd written a boostrapper package that unconditionally downloads a package (.inf, .cat, dpinst.exe, .bat) to a PC successfully.

The batch file runs the command "dpinst /LM ", the "Device Driver Installation Wizard" automatically pops up, and the "Completing the Device Driver Installation Wizard" says successful.

Next I plug a special usb cable to the PC, then "Found New Hardware" wizard pops up. The problem now comes:

It asks for location of the driver. For PC that has never connected to this special usb cable, it requires me to explicitly specify the location of the .inf and .cat files; otherwise, it can't find them and will fail. (For PC that had used the special usb cable before, it automatically finds it alright.)

I wonder what I am missing that causes the "Found New Hardware" wizard unable to automatically find the .inf and .cat files. It looks like the previous step 'Device Driver Installation" wizard had not installed the .inf/.cat file successfully. When I look into the "c:Windows\Inf" folder, I can't see the associated oem or inf file.

PS. I am testing it on 32-bit Windows XP PC.

Thanks in advance.

user1687864
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  • I would guess it relates to installing it as a legacy mode driver - the found new hardware wizard would probably prefer a signed driver. – Damien_The_Unbeliever Sep 27 '12 at 06:52
  • Thanks Damien. I tried to run the command without 'LM" but I am still running into the same problem. The "Found New Hardware Wizard" can't find the .inf/.cat files. – user1687864 Sep 27 '12 at 07:20
  • I have both the .inf and the .cat file together when I ran the command "dpinst". Does the presence of ".cat" file indicate that the ".inf" file had been signed? – user1687864 Sep 27 '12 at 07:33
  • The installation was seamless in a 32-bit Windows 7 PC. The "Device Manager" indicated that the driver was signed. In a 32-bit Windows XP PC, the "Device Manager" indicated that the driver was not signed. Maybe the ".cat" file had not been used by the "dpinst" in the XP environment. – user1687864 Sep 28 '12 at 01:45

1 Answers1

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I had this same issue with a custom FTDI driver I had created. Very little support on this exact subject though.

What I did find though in my tests, is that in XP DPisnt doesn't actually install the drivers if there isn't hardware to associate it to. Run it with /c and you can see for yourself it fails because no devices match the ID in your INF. Yet if you plug the USB device/cable into your PC first, and just ignore/close the Found New Hardware dialog, NOW install the driver and it will install correctly. At least this is how it worked for me.

I have not come up with a workaround for this problem though, other than explicitly information people to plug the device in prior to installation on XP machines.

Hope it helps in some way..

While-E
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