How to use slipstream argument?

[aaronpriest]

I've been trying most of the afternoon to learn and experiment with the new slipstream commandline argument. I've not found much for documentation on how it works. I've tried it on various combinations of XP, XP 64-bit, Vista, and 2003 Server (host OS and media to be updated) with no success yet. To simplify things, I'm running AutoPatcher from C:\AutoPatcher (just to be sure network drives and pushd weren't an issue) from a slipstream.bat file that says "autopatcher.exe /nolicense /slipstream:C:\Temp\WinCD", where I've copied a CD to. The size and number of files in that folder does not increase after running AutoPatcher with /slipstream so I have no idea what it's actually doing. It is doing something different with that commandline though as it's not updating my local system either. Any tips or advice? :-P

[supermouse]

are you pointing to i386 folder?

[aaronpriest]

are you pointing to i386 folder?

No, I wasn't. Tried that, no change. I also made sure the folders weren't read-only after copying from CD. I'm still thinking it's something that stupid though! :-P

[a178235]

Slipstream does not work for me either with the August 2007 release. No files are updated.

[+theblazingangel MVC]

i personally have no experience slipstreaming patches. all i did with the slipstream instructions for the patches was use the /integrate switch, and point it to 'share:' which is the path the user defined on the command line, like so: "Module:\patch.exe" /quiet /norestart /overwriteoem /integrate:"share:"

if it's me thats messed up the instructions, and i actually have to point them to something within the share, i'll fix it if someone can tell me how.

also, as i said in the blog post / neowin news item, only general patches have had the slipstream instructions added. if anyone knows what the instrucitons need to be for any other module in our releases, just let me know and i'll add them!

edit: perhaps it's the quotes in the instruction? anyone want to modify an apm file and test?

[a178235]

i personally have no experience slipstreaming patches. all i did with the slipstream instructions for the patches was use the /integrate switch, and point it to 'share:' which is the path the user defined on the command line, like so: "Module:\patch.exe" /quiet /norestart /overwriteoem /integrate:"share:"

if it's me thats messed up the instructions, and i actually have to point them to something within the share, i'll fix it if someone can tell me how.

also, as i said in the blog post / neowin news item, only general patches have had the slipstream instructions added. if anyone knows what the instrucitons need to be for any other module in our releases, just let me know and i'll add them!

edit: perhaps it's the quotes in the instruction? anyone want to modify an apm file and test?

This works:

C:\Program Files\AutoPatcher\modules\Critical\KB936021_xp_x86_enu.apm_files>WindowsXP-KB936021-x86-ENU.exe" /quiet /norestart /overwriteoem /integrate:"C:\CDImages\XPCD"

This does not:

AUTOPATCHER.EXE /SLIPSTREAM:C:\CDImages\XPCD

I added /log:C:\ to the [slipstream] section of B936021_xp_x86_enu.apm and no log file was created. When I added log:C:\ to the [installation] section of B936021_xp_x86_enu.apm, a log file was created.

Conclusion:

The /SLIPSTREAM command line switch is not recognized.

AutoPatcher 5.6.81

[+theblazingangel MVC]

i'll send an email to raptor, might take a while for him to respond though...

[a178235]

i'll send an email to raptor, might take a while for him to respond though...

I noticed that autopatcher /? was not displaying the command line help screen. After uninstalling AutoPatcher, rebooting, and installing AutoPatcher, /slipstream is working.

[aaronpriest]

I noticed that autopatcher /? was not displaying the command line help screen. After uninstalling AutoPatcher, rebooting, and installing AutoPatcher, /slipstream is working.

Hmmm... I usually just install AutoPatcher to a network share or my portable drive, not %ProgramFiles%. I wasn't aware it made any registry changes or anything that would require a reboot or a reinstall for a switch to work... ?

[aaronpriest]

Hmmm... I usually just install AutoPatcher to a network share or my portable drive, not %ProgramFiles%. I wasn't aware it made any registry changes or anything that would require a reboot or a reinstall for a switch to work... ?

Well, I verified that autopatcher.exe /? does indeed display a list of options from my portable drive, but just for kicks I reinstalled AutoPatcher to the default C:/Program Files/AutoPatcher directory, rebooted, verified that /? worked, and then attempted the slipstream option again. Still no difference. I can see the checkbox list comes up differently, so I can confirm the /slipstream option is doing something, but it just does not seem to be updating any files or directories ANYWHERE on my hard drive, and definitely not the path I'm pointing it to. I've tried C:\Temp\Win2K3 (the root of the CD image) and C:\Temp\Win2K3\i386, but neither folder gets any files updated. I wish it would generate an error or a detailed log or something to study, just to see what it thought it was doing...

[ProHandyman]

I've done a number of installs of autopatcher after uninstall of older core version. My XP boot partition is D:\.

I have copied the autopatcher directory to the root of my G:\ drive with a separate directory for my XP CD: G:\XPCD Using the cmd G:\autopatcher\autopatcher.exe /slipstream:g:\XPCD\I386 ; once it did nothing even though went threw integration steps, and three times updated my boot partition (Thankfully I have a ghost image, and have made a restore point before each attempt)!

Something is definitely amiss with the slipstream argument.

[ChiefZeke]

Sure would have been nice if all of us users out here in fantasyland had been informed about the /slipstream function/possibility.

Anyway, I've been in the habit of installing AutoPatcher in G:\AutoPatcher and, after reading the comments above, I opened a DOS box and navigated to G:\Autopatcher and tried autopatcher /? and a list of switch options did pop up so I will confirm that it does not have to be installed in \Program Files to at least respond.

No, I have not tried to slipstream anything because there is no readily apparent way to know which items it will work on. Some kind of legend should be developed so as to indicate which updates can be /integrated or /slipstreamed.

I have been known to use the RyanVM integrator to perform this function and have noticed and commented on the fact that AutoPatcher has been known to not recognize updates integrated using RyanVM.

[Bubba Gump]

TheBlazingAngel,

Which of the following module catagories should be able to be slipstreamed by 5.6

Critical - Assume Yes

Non-Critical - Assume Yes

Components - ?

Add-Ons - ?

Tweaks - ?

Thank you.

PS: FYI, since I expect the "tweaks" are not slipstream-able, I started with an out-of-the-box XP-SP2 disk and then used nLite to get rid of a 100 meg of keyboard and extra languages (except english (1033) in my case) files and do some of their included tweaks, and prepare an Unattended answer file, as my new pre-slipstream "starter" XP-SP2 disk.

But Note: Up until Sept / Oct 2006, all AP Criticals & Non-Critical integrated beautifully using nLite; after that it didn't integrate all. While it always only integrated "exe" not "msi" or "components", nLite was of limited value after last September. What October 2006 patch fubared the slipstream process I could not figure out.

[Bubba Gump]

BTW, Why do I have a "Warning Bar" on my post with 0%.

What did I do?

What does this mean?

I'm "in topic"

[+theblazingangel MVC]

currently most critical, most recommended, and a few component updates have slipstream setup instructions. others will have them added if someone can tell me what the instructions should be.

the warning bar is there for everyone, you haven't done anything wrong. you can only see your own, that is unless your a staff member or have special privileges (like me in the autopatcher section) in which case you can see everyones and assign warnings and stuff to people ;)

[Bubba Gump]

currently most critical, most recommended, and a few component updates have slipstream setup instructions. others will have them added if someone can tell me what the instructions should be.

the warning bar is there for everyone, you haven't done anything wrong. you can only see your own, that is unless your a staff member or have special privileges (like me in the autopatcher section) in which case you can see everyones and assign warnings and stuff to people ;)

Thanks, I'll be looking for slipstream info as it develops here.