<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> 1) At first I installed the difxapp tools > - Howerver it is unclear to me if a printer falls under it's > requirements. > > [Snip] > > I assume Printer falls under PlugAndPlay..... > > RJF: That was also my assumption, but as mentioned before I have not > worked with printer drivers and so I am starting from a position of > ignorance! Well I spend the last few weeks on it and am not much more foxy yet. > > 2) then wix2 and wix3 (I have not idea really what one to prefer) > > RJF: WiX2 is considered "Stable", i.e. it is unlikely that any updates > will require you to make significant modifications to your source files. > Rob has stated that WiX3 is getting to that point, but that there may > still be some breaking changes. If you want to ship to customers in the > next 3-6 months, I think I would choose to stay with WiX2. (According to > the documentation, the DIFxApp.wixlib is supported under WiX2 or > later). I'm currently using wix-2 > > RJF: I'm not sure what a co-installer is. If you mean a separate package > to perform part of the installation, then I would certainly hope not. > You may still need a custom action after installing the driver to > actually set up a printer, and if there isn't already one available and > tested by others than I think it would be a very good thing (if > possible) to create one collaboratively for the benefit of the entire > WiX community. AFAIK there is no such thing... Howerver I wanted also to add a special port and Port Monitor > > - Am I expected to write any other special "setup" routine > I can't tell and that makes me aggressive. Why the hell couldn't that > be documented? No don't say check the examples. The examples do not > help the slighest. The give you some .inf file and say use this or > that for installation. > > RJF: I would have to agree. From my brief look at the documentation it > isn't at all clear. Unfortunately every company (including Microsoft) > has limited resources, and I can completely understand why thy might > concentrate their documentation efforts on areas that are important to > more customers. The other possibility is that the people who wrote the > documentation create this type of installation so frequently that they > have failed to mention steps and assumptions which are "trivial" to > them, but not to us. Well maybe that is so but if they wrote such stuff over and over again would it be so terrible hard to have one example included? I just can tell they say use the Print Add Wizzard. Of course that's what End user can and will do but it's not much help if you want an installer doing that all... > > - the mentionin of core drivers has meant to me that I can expect that > the needed files (unidrvxxxx.dll) are installed on any Vista. So I do > not have to provide them in my installer. But that's guess, it's not > stated anywhere I have looked explicitly. So maybe I'm wrong about > this assumption.... > > RJF: That may be true for Vista, but unless you are creating a > constrained Vista only install it's a very bad assumption to make. In this case I'm just interested in VISTA stuff. I'm not going another round just for the fun of it to see wether I can make it work for older Versions..., and well it's not needed because the old installer works for Windows form W95 up to WS2003, so no current need to add Vista. Howerver that installation is just a Dialog box and all the things are installed programmatically. It's easy to understand and easy to extend... > The > basic rule for a robust installation should be to assume almost nothing. > With the exception of the assumption that you are running on a given > version of Microsoft Installer (or later), and that Microsoft Installer > is operating correctly you should explicitly verify other prerequisites, > and minimize dependencies on anything external to the MSI file. That's probably a good idea. And as written I "partially" solved it that way. Howerver that is not what the docs are saying, see e.g http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/206sadcd(VS.80).aspx > 5) Now it's getting realyl messy. After the driver is installed I want > the setup to add a Printer symbol. As written before I can not see how > to achieve that without using a custom action. > > RJF: And it is entirely possible that a custom action is required. > Custom actions should (IMHO) always be linked statically, simply because > there are no guarantees that a particular version of a given runtime (or > even any version) is present on the machine where the installation will > be run. Well I can not see that suggestion anywhere. It's just that I've learned it the "hard" way. > > the comment at the end is very encouriging. Yes I know I have > Installer larger than 3 available, but then tell my why I can not > simply add the proper merge module and are done with it? > > RJF: That is an excellent question. Since you say the custom action was > run after "InstallFiles" in the installation sequence, the files should > have been present. Without looking at the installer log file it is > difficult to confirm that. It is possible that *some* (but not all) of > the files were already on the system in which case the installation of > the remaining files may not actually be completed until after a > reboot. Ok here's the stuff from the installer Action ended 17:23:32: InstallFiles. Return value 1. Action start 17:23:32: MsiProcessDrivers. DIFXAPP: ENTER: ProcessDriverPackages() DIFXAPP: 'Component' is 'c_PrinterDriver' DIFXAPP: Component state 0x2 -> 0x3 DIFXAPP: 'ComponentId' is {F6B9826A-38AF-45A8-A5D8-D20EA29D5A7F} DIFXAPP: 'Flags' is 7 DIFXAPP: component path is Y:\Program Files\Alliance MCA\driver\ Action start 17:23:32: MsiRollbackInstall. Action ended 17:23:32: MsiRollbackInstall. Return value 1. Action start 17:23:32: MsiInstallDrivers. Action ended 17:23:32: MsiInstallDrivers. Return value 1. DIFXAPP: RETURN: ProcessDriverPackages() 0 (0x0) Action ended 17:23:32: MsiProcessDrivers. Return value 1. Action start 17:23:32: ca_c1. Entering Install Info:Trying to remove the old printer if there Printer seems to be there and could be opened Info: Purging the Printer Jobs Info: Jobs purged Info: Going to delete the printer Info: Printer deleted Info: entering deletePort ERROR: failed to remove Port Entering installNewPrinter Entering installNewPrinter ERROR: Installing Port failed ERROR: addPrinterPort failed Entering addNewPrinter Info: Printer installed successfully Leaving Install Action ended 17:23:49: ca_c1. Return value 1. So the order is clear to me. The InstallFiles should have installed all the neede files then the difxapp tools copy the driver into the Driver Store. That's perfectly ok AFAIKT. > (This is just conjecture and hypothesis. Hopefully someone who actually > knows can confirm or deny this). In such a situation I would expect your > custom action to fail, unless it was linked statically. It fails with the error code 3 (some thing with FATAL ERROR ;-(((( > > RJF: When merge modules are added to an installation, the contents of > those merge modules are indeed bound into the main installation file. > This is the intended (and desired) operation because it allows Windows > Installer to handle side-by-side versions of the same assemblies if > necessary. Yes that is as I understand it and why can't they be found? > > RJF: Now you've got it. Using shared libraries *during* installation is > (unless you are very careful) a bad thing. Using shared libraries > *after* installation, on the other hand is usually beneficial. Well let me put in some questions. If DLLs are such a great thing for what good are the side-by-side installs? If I just happen to dig trough my disk an look for unidrv.dll I found not one of it but a few dozen nearly. So obviously every other package brings with it it's own version.... Now enough for it. I guess I'm starting boring quite a few in this list ... Regards Friedrich ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys-and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ WiX-users mailing list WiX-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wix-users
