How can I delete a driver from the Preboot database?

[Solkre]

I'm using Altiris/DS 7.5.  I've imported a collection of pre-boot drivers in which one is apparently bugged or bad.  I don't see an easy way to delete this driver as I do in the DeployAnywhere side of the manager.  How can I remove a driver I no longer want from WinPE?

Thank you.

[SK]

I agree that the DeployAnywhere tab has a delete icon; whereas, the Preboot tab does not.

I wonder if 7.1.2 is also missing the delete function?

[Solkre]

I beleive because it's a different system.  The DeployAnywhere is a feature of Ghost and I believe more apt to manage it's database.  I think the PXE side uses bootwiz and is possibly more complicated.  What I'm asking is how to properly delete a driver from the PreBoot database.  The fact the delete button is missing is planned; the solution is probably a command line to run on the server.

[Migration User]

I'd not even though of the delete button!!  Huh.  Too funny!!

 

It's simple enough to delet drivers from either, and the "reason" to not have the delete button has nothing to do with ghost or bootwiz.  (probably an oversite)

 

Both sets of drivers are readily available on the SMP and both are in folders that can quickly be found and removed by anyone (or the console).

 

Start here:  Program files\Altiris\Deployment

In the BDC folder, you'll find the drives you're looking for under platforms winPE, architecture drivers custom drivers.  Yup - right there exposed in folders.  And yes, you can add them by copying them in to here as well.  Cool eh?

In the DriversDB folder you'll find the DA drivers, same way, just less folders.  Delete what you don't want.  Adding though takes another step - running Driver Manager to get the driver manifest file created.

 

Have fun!

[Brandon]

Thomas,

Which executable is doing the processing when drivers are added through the web console? I noticed when the web console works it doesn't seem to include .exe's from the driver source and it also writes a text file which inventories the files it does add:

[MAIN]
OS=WinPE 4.0
PROCESSOR=X86
NAME=E1D6332
DATE=2014/05/20 22:03 UTC
DRIVERVER=09/06/2013,12.8.33.9427
SOURCE=USER

[FILES]
FILE0=2014/05/20 22:03:34 UTC | 14497 bytes | e1d6332.cat | 
FILE1=2014/05/20 22:03:34 UTC | 3109 bytes | e1d6332.din | 
FILE2=2014/05/20 22:03:34 UTC | 91946 bytes | E1D6332.inf | 1
FILE3=2014/05/20 22:03:34 UTC | 386824 bytes | e1d6332.sys | 12.8.33.9427
FILE4=2014/05/20 22:03:34 UTC | 73480 bytes | e1dmsg.dll | 10.0.155.0
FILE5=2014/05/20 22:03:34 UTC | 28792 bytes | NicCo36.dll | 2.1.2.0
FILE6=2014/05/20 22:03:34 UTC | 83232 bytes | NicInstD.dll | 9.11.0.0

There has to be a command line to do this but I haven't found it yet. If I just copy the files directly then I don't get that txt file. I would think that is important?

[Migration User]

exe's are not supported - ONLY the raw drivers (e.g. sys/inf files).  EXE's have their own logic for installing and there's no currently supported method to get those "in".

That said, you can extract the drivers from the EXE (e.g. 7zip or install and then find the destination location) and then you can use those...

Same thing goes for CAB files and other compressed files.  ONLY the RAW drivers in their most basic forms can be used either by DA or by BW.

[Brandon]

I should have been more clear. By exe I mean one within the extracted driver pack. I have determined some form of Altiris\Deployment\BDC\bootwiz\BootWiz.exe -driver custom -add -os winpe40 must be getting executed, but I haven't been able to narrow down the syntax. If I can determine that then it looks like it can be used to add/list/del preboot drivers when the webconsole isn't working or flat out doesn't have the option (like delete).

[Migration User]

adding and deleting can be done 100% manually using the CUSTOM folders for BootWiz rather than using the console.  The console ONLY adds (or deletes) the folders under CUSTOM for 32/64 bit drivers.  That's it.

When the WIM is assembled by Bootwiz, if you look at the logs, it actually calls DISM to inject the drivers into the WIM, so the syntax is both exposed there in the BW logs, and you can look up the DISM call for it in Technet or something.

That said, neither DISM nor BootWiz will successfully navigate EXE's in a driver.  EXE's are never used as part of adriver as far as I'm aware, but you may know differently.  Drivers are, per MS, sys files, DLL's, etc, not EXE's.  But things change, right?

 

SOOOOOO

 

IF you feel you really have a valid driver and we're not processing it in the console, just make the folder manually in the CUSTOM folders under BootWiz and see if DISM will take it even if BW does not.  :D Worth a try, right?  The logs will show if DISM failed or not on that driver, and if it fails, no big - it goes on anyway...

[Brandon]

There must be some additional step going on because a drivername.txt file shows up with an inventory of the imported files. I guess this isn't critical to the function of the bootdisk?