Two different BDA drivers using same file name
Gingko
I have a problem in trying to install two PCI BDA TV tuners on the same
computer.
The problem is that these tuners have a device driver which has exactly the
same file name (and the same directory path) for each of them.
That is : C:\Windows\system32\3xHybrid.sys
The two TV tuners are somewhat similar, but do not have the same brand.
Their drivers are not compatible between them : I cannot use the driver 1
for the tuner 2 and I cannot use the driver 2 for the tuner 1.
On each install attempt for one tuner, the previous one is overwritten,
either silently or with a warning telling that there is already a more
recent file.
As a result, I can have each of them working, but not both at the same time.
For switching, I need to delete the device driver of the first one and
reinstall the driver for the second one before each tuner swap (actually,
just manually changing the file may sometimes work, but seems to be quite
hazardous and may need to reboot the computer).
I am trying to install this on a computer with Windows XP SP3, but it is
likely that I will have to solve the same problem in Windows Vista x86 SP2
very soon as the computer has dual boot between these two systems.
For the first tuner the 3xHybrid.sys file has a size of 2831232 bytes.
For the second one, the 3xHybrid.sys file has a size of 1121536 bytes.
I am thinking about a way to rename one of the two device drivers. But I
think this will probably need to modify also some of the installer files.
The installer apparently mainly consists of the following files for each of
them :
* 3xHybrid.sys
* 34CoInstaller.dll
* a "XXXXX.cat" file
* a "XXXXX.inf" file
(XXXXX is a name different for each tuner; the 34CoInstaller.dll files are
not likely to be a problem as they are byte for byte identical)
The ".inf" file is a text file, so it should be easy to do a search and
replace inside it.
But this is not true for the ".cat" file.
So I would like to know if there is a way to edit a ".cat" file for renaming
all references to a specific device driver file name inside it ?
Is there anything else that I may want to know about using two device
drivers with the same name or about renaming one of them ?
Best regards,
Gilles
Chris P.
> The ".inf" file is a text file, so it should be easy to do a search and
> replace inside it.
> But this is not true for the ".cat" file.
>
> So I would like to know if there is a way to edit a ".cat" file for renaming
> all references to a specific device driver file name inside it ?
>
> Is there anything else that I may want to know about using two device
> drivers with the same name or about renaming one of them ?
Even if you manage to rename the .sys file you still have an issue with the
driver instance name that gets installed in the registry for the device.
Don't know of a way around that one.
For the .cat file you should just be able to remove the reference to the
CatalogFile from the INF file.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa906236.aspx
--
http://www.chrisnet.net/code.htm
[MS MVP for DirectShow / MediaFoundation]
Gingko
deth7g6aap6v.k...@40tude.net...
> Even if you manage to rename the .sys file you still have an issue with
> the
> driver instance name that gets installed in the registry for the device.
> Don't know of a way around that one.
>
> For the .cat file you should just be able to remove the reference to the
> CatalogFile from the INF file.
Thank you very much for your answer.
I finally succeeded in getting a working clone of the my driver by changing
its name and editing the .inf file.
But I needed to change, not only the name of the file, but also all
"3xHybrid" strings inside it. I also had to modify (by adding the " (mod)"
suffix) whatever looked like a display name (at least one of them needed to
be unique for my modified driver).
I also commented out also strings referring to the ".cat" file
(unfortunately breaking the WHQL certification).
I thought having to do the same for the Windows Vista installation on the
same computer, but it was actually not needed : when booting on Vista, a
driver has automatically been installed for my second card, and this driver
didn't have the same file name as the XP one.
I'm wondering where Microsoft got it : the driver correctly refers to the
manufacturer of my card, but it is not available on this manufacturer's web
site.
Gilles
Chris P.
> I thought having to do the same for the Windows Vista installation on the
> same computer, but it was actually not needed : when booting on Vista, a
> driver has automatically been installed for my second card, and this driver
> didn't have the same file name as the XP one.
> I'm wondering where Microsoft got it : the driver correctly refers to the
> manufacturer of my card, but it is not available on this manufacturer's web
> site.
Unless the driver identifies itself as being written by Microsoft (which in
this case you say it isn't) then it came from the manufacturer. You could
ask the manufacturer to publish this driver in a form that will work on XP,
or if they are unresponsive you might be able to put together an
installation package from the files installed on Vista.
Gingko
> On Fri, 7 Aug 2009 23:11:38 +0200, Gingko wrote:
>
>> I thought having to do the same for the Windows Vista installation on the
>> same computer, but it was actually not needed : when booting on Vista, a
>> driver has automatically been installed for my second card, and this
>> driver
>> didn't have the same file name as the XP one.
>> I'm wondering where Microsoft got it : the driver correctly refers to the
>> manufacturer of my card, but it is not available on this manufacturer's
>> web
>> site.
>
> Unless the driver identifies itself as being written by Microsoft (which
> in
> this case you say it isn't) then it came from the manufacturer. You could
> ask the manufacturer to publish this driver in a form that will work on
> XP,
I opened a ticket with this manufacturer (actually one manufacturer out of
two) about that subject.
I don't know if I will really get an answer as they already told me that the
support for my product has ended for one year.
> or if they are unresponsive you might be able to put together an
> installation package from the files installed on Vista.
How do you think I could do that ?
Can I consider that any driver written for Vista should be able to work on
XP ?
Gingko
Chris P.
> How do you think I could do that ?
> Can I consider that any driver written for Vista should be able to work on
> XP ?
It's not true for all drivers, but for WDM video capture drivers I believe
this is the case. If you have the Vista .inf and all the relevant files
then you can experiment.