Firmware files location

My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it starts.
The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
Where should my INF file store these files?

We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the driver
might manage different versions of the firmware.

Yariv.

Alexander
Sun Jan 11 10:19:06 CST 2004

You have to copy these files to System32\Drivers, just where your SYS files
are..

"Yariv" <yarivz@managed-groups.com> wrote in message
news:uKNYzTF2DHA.3496@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it starts.
> The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
> Where should my INF file store these files?
>
> We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the
driver
> might manage different versions of the firmware.
>
> Yariv.
>
>

Yariv
Sun Jan 11 10:55:36 CST 2004

Can the driver pass WHQL when it copies files
other than the driver to the system32\drivers ?

"Alexander Grigoriev" <alegr@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:OmTHl6F2DHA.1740@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> You have to copy these files to System32\Drivers, just where your SYS
files
> are..
>
> "Yariv" <yarivz@managed-groups.com> wrote in message
> news:uKNYzTF2DHA.3496@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> > My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it
starts.
> > The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
> > Where should my INF file store these files?
> >
> > We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the
> driver
> > might manage different versions of the firmware.
> >
> > Yariv.
> >
> >
>
>

Stephan
Sun Jan 11 12:57:03 CST 2004

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 08:19:06 -0800, "Alexander Grigoriev"
<alegr@earthlink.net> wrote:

>You have to copy these files to System32\Drivers, just where your SYS files
>are..

Be sure not to copy anything yourself but let the INF do the copying
for you ("CopyFiles" directive,
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/install/hh/install/inf-format_4oaa.asp).

Stephan

Alexander
Sun Jan 11 15:25:52 CST 2004

Yes.

Win2K HCT used to complain about that for NDIS drivers, but it's obsoleted.

"Yariv" <yarivz@managed-groups.com> wrote in message
news:Os$kIOG2DHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Can the driver pass WHQL when it copies files
> other than the driver to the system32\drivers ?
>
> "Alexander Grigoriev" <alegr@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:OmTHl6F2DHA.1740@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > You have to copy these files to System32\Drivers, just where your SYS
> files
> > are..
> >
> > "Yariv" <yarivz@managed-groups.com> wrote in message
> > news:uKNYzTF2DHA.3496@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> > > My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it
> starts.
> > > The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
> > > Where should my INF file store these files?
> > >
> > > We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the
> > driver
> > > might manage different versions of the firmware.
> > >
> > > Yariv.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Ramboi
Sun Jan 11 15:48:44 CST 2004

Every time your driver starts or every time you installed your driver?
If everytime your driver starts then this should have nothing to do with INF
file because after your driver is installed, a copy of your INF file is
already made by the OS and it's saved under INF folder under the name
OEMxxx.inf etc..

Your driver, when it started, the location where it started from should be
the same location of your Firmware files, in this case "Systems32\drivers".

Ramboi

"Yariv" <yarivz@managed-groups.com> wrote in message
news:uKNYzTF2DHA.3496@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it starts.
> The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
> Where should my INF file store these files?
>
> We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the
driver
> might manage different versions of the firmware.
>
> Yariv.
>
>

Walter
Sun Jan 11 21:39:48 CST 2004

Yariv wrote:
> My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it starts.
> The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
> Where should my INF file store these files?
>
> We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the driver
> might manage different versions of the firmware.

Another possible solution is to store the firmware image as a REG_BINARY
value in the device parameters key. I would provide a driver IOCTL that
would take a buffer containing the whole firmware image and copy it to
the registry (and also download it to the device). You can provide a
co-installer that will initialize the firmware from a file that would
*not* be copied by the INF and would therefore be outside the scope of
the CAT file. Your coinstaller could also provide a property page for
upgrading the firmware.

Keeping the firmware outside the scope of the CAT file has the
overwhelming advantage of letting you upgrade the firmware without
needing to re-WHQL the driver package. The only question is whether 100K
is too much to put in the registry, and someone else can speak to that.

--
Walter Oney, Consulting and Training
Basic and Advanced Driver Programming Seminars
Check out our schedule at http://www.oneysoft.com

Alexander
Sun Jan 11 23:23:00 CST 2004

The coinstaller could also copy the file to System32\Drivers, without need
to load a big blob to the registry.

"Walter Oney" <waltoney@oneysoft.com> wrote in message
news:40021704.B381902D@oneysoft.com...
> Yariv wrote:
> > My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it
starts.
> > The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
> > Where should my INF file store these files?
> >
> > We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the
driver
> > might manage different versions of the firmware.
>
> Another possible solution is to store the firmware image as a REG_BINARY
> value in the device parameters key. I would provide a driver IOCTL that
> would take a buffer containing the whole firmware image and copy it to
> the registry (and also download it to the device). You can provide a
> co-installer that will initialize the firmware from a file that would
> *not* be copied by the INF and would therefore be outside the scope of
> the CAT file. Your coinstaller could also provide a property page for
> upgrading the firmware.
>
> Keeping the firmware outside the scope of the CAT file has the
> overwhelming advantage of letting you upgrade the firmware without
> needing to re-WHQL the driver package. The only question is whether 100K
> is too much to put in the registry, and someone else can speak to that.
>
> --
> Walter Oney, Consulting and Training
> Basic and Advanced Driver Programming Seminars
> Check out our schedule at http://www.oneysoft.com

Yariv
Mon Jan 12 01:03:37 CST 2004

Walter,

> You can provide a co-installer that will initialize the firmware
> from a file that would *not* be copied by the INF and would
> therefore be outside the scope of the CAT file.

Can the co-installer copy that file to the system32/drivers directory?

Yariv.

"Walter Oney" <waltoney@oneysoft.com> wrote in message
news:40021704.B381902D@oneysoft.com...
> Yariv wrote:
> > My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it
starts.
> > The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
> > Where should my INF file store these files?
> >
> > We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the
driver
> > might manage different versions of the firmware.
>
> Another possible solution is to store the firmware image as a REG_BINARY
> value in the device parameters key. I would provide a driver IOCTL that
> would take a buffer containing the whole firmware image and copy it to
> the registry (and also download it to the device). You can provide a
> co-installer that will initialize the firmware from a file that would
> *not* be copied by the INF and would therefore be outside the scope of
> the CAT file. Your coinstaller could also provide a property page for
> upgrading the firmware.
>
> Keeping the firmware outside the scope of the CAT file has the
> overwhelming advantage of letting you upgrade the firmware without
> needing to re-WHQL the driver package. The only question is whether 100K
> is too much to put in the registry, and someone else can speak to that.
>
> --
> Walter Oney, Consulting and Training
> Basic and Advanced Driver Programming Seminars
> Check out our schedule at http://www.oneysoft.com

zmau
Mon Jan 12 06:15:49 CST 2004

"Yariv" <yarivz@managed-groups.com> wrote in message news:<uxw8$nN2DHA.2556@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl>...
> Walter,
>
> > You can provide a co-installer that will initialize the firmware
> > from a file that would *not* be copied by the INF and would
> > therefore be outside the scope of the CAT file.
>
> Can the co-installer copy that file to the system32/drivers directory?
>
> Yariv.

Yes. The co-installer is a dll.

But I am puzzled by a sentence of the first question :
> the driver might manage different versions of the firmware
What do you mean by that ? Do you mean that you want to keep multiple
firmware files on the PC ? In this case, I do not think that the
registery is a good idea, since it is does not seem to me reasonable
to put such 10 files in the registery.
If you do want to keep multiple versions on the PC, you might want to
have some parameter in the regisery saying which firmware to load.
If you want to have only one firmware on the PC, do you plan to let
your customers choose (upon installation) which firmware to copy ?

Bye
Maurice

Yariv
Mon Jan 12 10:58:56 CST 2004

The same driver can manage different firmwares depending
on the specific product.
On a system you will find one firmware that might be upgraded.
Still I am reluctant of putting the firmware in the registry since
it is big (60-100K).
I think that letting the co-installer create that file and put it under
system32/drivers is the right solution.
That way changing the firmware will not require to re-WHQL,
which is a very big advantage.

Yariv.

"Maurice zmau" <zmau@netvision.net.il> wrote in message
news:a4a129d6.0401120415.4606be9f@posting.google.com...
> "Yariv" <yarivz@managed-groups.com> wrote in message
news:<uxw8$nN2DHA.2556@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl>...
> > Walter,
> >
> > > You can provide a co-installer that will initialize the firmware
> > > from a file that would *not* be copied by the INF and would
> > > therefore be outside the scope of the CAT file.
> >
> > Can the co-installer copy that file to the system32/drivers directory?
> >
> > Yariv.
>
> Yes. The co-installer is a dll.
>
> But I am puzzled by a sentence of the first question :
> > the driver might manage different versions of the firmware
> What do you mean by that ? Do you mean that you want to keep multiple
> firmware files on the PC ? In this case, I do not think that the
> registery is a good idea, since it is does not seem to me reasonable
> to put such 10 files in the registery.
> If you do want to keep multiple versions on the PC, you might want to
> have some parameter in the regisery saying which firmware to load.
> If you want to have only one firmware on the PC, do you plan to let
> your customers choose (upon installation) which firmware to copy ?
>
> Bye
> Maurice

Ray
Mon Jan 12 13:01:28 CST 2004

In as much as the HCT is somewhat testing the device as well as the
driver, my personal opinion is that the firmware *should* be in the
scope of the CAT file. Doing otherwise is outside the spirit, if not the
letter, of the WHQL requirements, I would think...

Anyway, you need to be careful about how you do this, too, because
driver rollback can make a hash of any driver that copies necessary
files outside of the INF file if you aren't careful. Make sure to test
the rollback scenario in as many different ways as you can.

Walter Oney wrote:

> Yariv wrote:
>
>>My driver need to write the hardware firmware files every time it starts.
>>The files are a bit big ~100K uncompressed and ~60K compressed.
>>Where should my INF file store these files?
>>
>>We prefer not to couple the firmware files with the driver since the driver
>>might manage different versions of the firmware.
>
>
> Another possible solution is to store the firmware image as a REG_BINARY
> value in the device parameters key. I would provide a driver IOCTL that
> would take a buffer containing the whole firmware image and copy it to
> the registry (and also download it to the device). You can provide a
> co-installer that will initialize the firmware from a file that would
> *not* be copied by the INF and would therefore be outside the scope of
> the CAT file. Your coinstaller could also provide a property page for
> upgrading the firmware.
>
> Keeping the firmware outside the scope of the CAT file has the
> overwhelming advantage of letting you upgrade the firmware without
> needing to re-WHQL the driver package. The only question is whether 100K
> is too much to put in the registry, and someone else can speak to that.
>
> --
> Walter Oney, Consulting and Training
> Basic and Advanced Driver Programming Seminars
> Check out our schedule at http://www.oneysoft.com

--
../ray\..