Anyway, I “scripted” the install and the resolution settings using standard batch scripting and the REG.exe command. I’ll post the full instructions of how I got this driver to “unattended install” at my blog, http://discoveringcode.blogspot.com either later tonight or tomorrow (but probably tonight).

Regards, and with no thanks to AMD,

Craig S.

P.S. I knew there was a good reason I don’t buy AMD (had no choice in this situation, though ).

Using ATISetup.exe -h 1280 -v 1024 -b 32 -j ddc -install, it supposed to be silent, but a console window appeared, but there was no output, so it’s “silent”, but not SILENT. But hey, that’s better than not silent… .

This time, the resolution still was not set. I don’t know how to get the resolution to stick. I did it once . Also, I realized that al EnableAero.msi does is call C:\Windows\System32\WinSAT.exe. I don’t know if any command line switches were given, but a quick look at the help documentation should determine that, so apparently, there’s no need to “install” EnableAero.msi, you could just script it.

Lastly, this time, HydraVision was still not installed. Just the DD, CIM and CCC. looks like you might have to run InstallManagerApp with /UNATTENDED_INTSALL:..\Packages\Apps\HydraVision with the other switches to make it unattended, or, if you leave HydraVision in the CCC folder, /UNATTENDED_INSTALL:..\Packages\Apps\CCC\HydraVision-Full or /UNATTENDED_INSTALL:..\Packages\Apps\CCC\HydraVision-Full\ccc-hv-full.msi (if you didn’t rename the MSI).

I’ll let you all know how/when I get the resolution settings to stick.

Regards,

Craig.

1) My blog address was incorrectly typed. It should be http://discoveringcode.blogspot.com.

2) I said that the unattended install command that sets the resolution should use setup.exe or InstallManagerApp.exe, but that is not correct, as it did not work. But there is a file called ATISetup.exe. If you run this command without any parameters, it’s command line options are output, which include the DOCUMENTED switches -h, -v, -b, and -j I’ve been talking about. Turns out, I just couldn’t remember where I’d seen them before. Finally, I just tested an unattended install (with fresh OS install) using the following command line: ATISetup.exe -install -output screen -h 1280 -v 1024 -b 32 -j ddc. It installed, but HydraVision was not installed (even with the name-change) and the screen resolution was not set. I do remember I got the screen resolution to stick one time, and IIRC, the command line switches need to be in a particular order. I think in order for HydraVision to be installed, it must not be in the Packages\Apps\CCC\HydraVision-Full folder; instead, it must be pulled out to Packages\Apps. The older Catalyst release had a folder Packges\Apps\HydraVision, so I’m going to test moving HydraVision-Full and renaming it: Packages\Apps\HydraVision and also rename the MSI from ccc-hydravision-full.msi to simply HydraVision.msi, as this is how it was in the older Catalyst release. I’ll report back my results tomorrow (I don’t have time to build the machine yet again today).

Finally, an update: -j can only take two numeric numbers for it’s input (sorry, no 120Hz refresh rates, but most LCDs max out at 75Hz anyway, and, in reality, this value does not matter for LCDs. CRTs, on the other hand, I guess 90Hz will have to do if your CRT supports it ).

Regards,

Craig.

Remebered what the -j undocumented setup.exe/installamanagerapp.exe switch is for:

-j [####|ddc] – #### is the monitor vertical refresh rate, or use DDC/EDID information if the monitor supports DDC/EDID.

I GET IT. Why can’t AMD just document this????!!!

OK, if you run Setup /? you get the following text (from Catalyst 9.4 release):

-INSTALL[-Use /package path] – This will install packages in silent mode.
-USE /package path is optional.
E.g.
1)-INSTALL:will install the whole packages in silent mode.
2)-INSTALL -Use C:\packages\Drivers\:will install the defined packages in silent mode.
-UNINSTALL – This will uninstall all packages in silent mode.

/FORCE_FIRST_RUN – forces the first run wizard each time …

/FORCE_HIDE_FIRST_RUN – forces the first run wizard to hide even if it is the first run. [** Really, this just means that the select language page will not stop the install and ask you to select a language; even if /UNATTENDED_INSTALL is specified this page displays. **]

/INSTALL – run in install mode (this is what a CD autorun could use to run Monet) [** This is a standard installation, same as double-clicking setup.exe **]

/UPDATE – run in uninstall mode (this is what a toolbar or tooltray could use to launch Monet UI)

/UNINSTALL – run in uninstall mode (this is what a toolbar or tooltray could use to launch Monet UI)

/PACKAGE_SELECTION_LISTBOX – … [** More succinctly, instead of using checkboxes to determine what to install, use a multi-select listbox instead) **]

Then there are a whole bunch of tracing options, which are useless to most people and did not provide me any details when I used them.

/PASS_TO_CORE – Will pass any command line in quotes into the core for processing. Example usage /PASS_TO_CORE:”-a -b -c…” … [** Not useful, as any "core" commands are not documented...and what is the "core" anyway?? You will see we don't need this. **]

/UNATTENDED_INSTALL – This puts InstallManagerApp into unattended install mode by using the comma-separated list of files/paths.
E.g.
1)/UNATTENDED_INSTALL:”c:\direc1;c:\direc2\filea.msi;c:\direc3″
2)/UNATTENDED_INSTALL:”c:\drivers”
3)/UNATTENDED_INSTALL:”c:\drivers\graphics_driver.msi”

/UNATTENDED_UNINSTALL – This will uninstall all packages in unattended mode.

/AUTOACCEPT_ALL – This will autoaccept all legal agreements… This option won’t be published. [** Oh, really? hehe. **]

/ON_REBOOT_MESSAGE: – This takes the answer in advance from the user as to whether s/he needs to reboot once complete. Valid s are “YES” or “NO”.

/FORCE_REBOOT – On completion of insall/update/uninstall, force a reboot request to the OS….

/FORCE_CLOSE_WHEN_DONE – This will automatically close the last wizard page on completion. [** Even using /UNATTENDED_INSTALL, the last page waits for a user to click Finish. Is this really unattended install??? **]

There are 3 more switches, but they are not important/relevant at this time.

Note that all comments in [** **] are mine.

Ok, so here’s the rub. As alluded to above, /UNATTENDED_INSTALL is not really unattended. If there’s a newer version of CIM (or is it CCC, not sure, but doesn’t matter), the installer will ask you if you want to download the new version, even when /UNATTENDED_INSTALL is specified. Secondly, the choose language page is always displayed during an unattended install _unless_ you use the /FORCE_HIDE_FIRST_RUN switch, which then the language defaults to English. Thirdly, the final page is always displayed during /UNATTENDED_INSTALL unless you pass the /FORCE_CLOSE_WHEN_DONE switch. Fourthly, it’s probably a good idea to use /AUTOACCEPT_ALL to accept any and all EULAs for an unattended install.

On Vista, the installer does not need to reboot. On XP, that may not be the case, so when using Microsoft Desktop Deployment, you may want to use the /ON_REBOOT_MESSAGE:NO switch.

So, the full command line is one of the following:

setup /UNATTENDED_INSTALL /FORCE_HIDE_FIRST_RUN /FORCE_CLOSE_WHEN_DONE /AUTOACCEPT_ALL /ON_REBOOT_MESSAGE:NO

or the same switches calling Bin{64}\InstallManagerApp.exe.

This will install the driver, CCC, and CIM, at a minimum. However, the installer windows will be displayed on the screen (but the installation is unattended).

There is a “bug” in Catalyst 9.4 in that in the CCC folder there is a HydraVision folder. However, HydraVision will not be installed. That’s because the install manager works in the following ways:

1) If you want something installed with CIM, you must create a folder underneath the Packages\Apps directory that contains the MSI file. The catch is, the folder name and the filename of the MSI file must be the same, e.g. If you have Packages\Apps\HydraVision, the MSI file must be named HydraVision.msi.
2) Catalyst 9.4 does include HydraVision. It in Packages\Apps\CCC\HydraVision-Full, but it’s MSI file is named ccc-hv-full.msi. It is not installed during installation. That’s because, according to InstallManagerApp convention, subfolder MSI’s must be named as follows: Packages\Apps\MyApp\MyFolder would have the MSI myapp-myfolder.msi. So, simply rename ccc-hv-full.msi to ccc-hydravision-full.msi and it will be installed by CIM during an unattended install. (NB: HydraVision will not even appear in the CIM list of apps to install during an attended installation because the file is named incorrectly).

Finally, EnableAero is not included anywhere. So if you’re doing a reinstall on the metal, you will have to manually update your Windows Experience score on Vista. This seems to be an oversight on release 9.4, as there are references to it in the MSI’s, but it is not run nor is it anywhere to be found. I have copied the MSI file from a previous release of Catalyst and placed it in the Packages\Apps folder. It does get installed by Catalyst and solves that problem for a truly remote unattended install. Two minor annoyances are left. Catalyst 9.4 comes with a link to the Blizzard World of Warcraft demo (don’t know which version, don’t care) and installs CatalystRegistration.msi (found in….you guessed it: Packages\Apps\CatalystRegistration). The demo link is a desktop shortuct, that’s it. The registration app is nothing more than nag-ware (for corporate. For home users, you may want to register your product for warranty support.). To stop those installations from occurring, simply delete the folders and the MSI’s they contain: \Packages\Apps\Blizzard and \Packages\Apps\CatalystRegistration.

There is just one problem left, now.

Finally, no matter what, if you use Setup or InstallManagerApp with the “/” switches, you cannot set the video resolution during setup. What this means, is that even after all of that, everything will be installed but when you reboot, you resolution will be 800×600 @ 32-bit color depth (yes, I was mistaken earlier, it is 32-bit color depth, not 16-bit). So you will have to manually set this yourself. However, there is a solution to this!! And this is what we’ve all been waiting for!

There are some undocumented switches to Catalyst Setup (don’t know about InstallManagerApp, but Setup seems to be InstallManagerApp called by another name, so I assume this will work for both), as I’ve alluded to in my previous posts over the last 5 days. They are as follows:

-h [res] – Set the horizontal resolution
-v [res] – Set the vertical resolution
-b [8|16|32] – Set the color-depth
-j [ddc|...] – I can’t remember the other option, but ‘ddc’ tells Catalyst to use the monitor’s ddc/edid feature to get display details, if the monitor supports it (most new LCDs and even the newest (3 – 4 year-old) CRTs do).

If you use the following command, then, you get a truly, unattended install with no GUI being displayed at all and which sets the video resolution:

setup -install -h 1280 -v 1024 -b 32 -j ddc

(install catalyst with a resolution of 1280×1024@32-bit color and use my monitor’s DDC information).

My Packages\Apps folder looks like the following (only the changes I made are shown, everything else is left as what it was in the original 9.4 release):

Packages\Apps
\Blizzard (DELETED)
\CatalystRegistration (DELETED)
\CCC\HydraVision-Full\ccc-hydravision-full.msi (RENAMED from ccc-hv-full.msi)
\EnableAero\EnableAero.msi (COPIED from a previous Cataylst release)

That should do it. Now, why couldn’t AMD just document all of this for us so easily??? In a README or something!!??

Thanks for wasting half a week of my time, AMD.

I will see if I can post the EnableAero.msi file to my blog at http://blogspot.discoveringcode.com tomorrow for anyone who might need this.

Regards,

Craig.

UPDATE: Ok, tried using /PASS_TO_CORE:”-h 1280 -v 1024 -b 32 -j ddc” with InstallManagerApp.exe. It didn’t choke (unlike setup.exe), but apparently these resolution switches definitely aren’t supported by CIM in Catalyst 9.4.

I hoisted HydraVision out of the CCC folder and into the root \Packages\Apps folder, but left the MSI name as ccc-hv-full.msi. It didn’t install. Conversely, I copied EnableAero.msi from an earlier catalyst release and placed it into a folder named EnableAero in the \Packages\Apps folder and it was installed.

I deleted the Blizzard and CatalystRegistration folders from the \Packges\Apps folder and CIM did not complain and (obviously) they weren’t installed.

This leaves one last thing to try, which I had tried before, but this time a bit differently.

Since the older Catalyst release I have from HP supported the resolution switches, I plan on replacing the Bin64 and Config folders of the Catalyst 9.4 release with the release I obtained from HP. The last time I tried this I ran into the problem of Catalyst detecting a newer version and even in unattended mode asking if I wanted to download the new version. As posted previously, if I use the /IGNORE_UPGRADE switch, I should be able to mitigate this problem. This should be able to accomplish everything I’m trying to do.

I just wish AMD would provide a consistent Setup package that took consistent _documented_ switches that would enable you to run EnableAero and install/not install the things you want (without a gazillion command line options) and allow you to specify to the installer what resolution the screen should be set to during installation. This is 2009! MSI is in version 4.5 (maybe even 5 by now??). It is robust enough to use without using some proprietary POS like Monet, or InstallShield or Wise, which arguably, do not create good, valid installers.

Though it’s a bit harder to use than InstallShield and Wise, it’s free–try WiX (wix.sourceforge.net). I create perfect installers that can install drivers and (by now) should be able to chain MSI installations.

Regards,

Craig.

Well, Catalyst 9.4 does include HydraVision, but, I confirmed that it does not install during the install of Catalyst 9.4. So the question is, how to get CIM to install it with the DD and CCC. Also, it seems that EnableAero (which was present in previous Catalyst releases) is present in release 9.4 (from the MSI’s, anyway), but I can’t find the exact binary for it (it’s a custom action that gets run, but AMD doesn’t believe in significant naming conventions, i.e. NewBinary1, NewBinary2, etc. is how they name things…wonderful.) And, because I can’t find the binary for it and it doesn’t run during the installation, I can only assume it really is not there.

There is an undocumented (i.e. not in the /? help of InstallManagerApp or Setup) switch called /IGNORE_UPGRADE, which I assume will stop Catalyst from detecting a newer version of Catalyst, if available, during the unattended install. (Though, an unattended install should ignore that anyway since it is unattended….)

The video resolution switches do not work, however (like they used to in Catalyst 8.5).

I’m going to try hoisting the Hydra installer files out of the CCC folder and into the Packages\Apps root folder and see if that changes the install scenario. I’m also going to lift an older copy of EnableAero.msi and try placing that in the \Packages\Apps folder. Also, regarding the registration nag-ware, I’m going to try deleting the CatalystRegistration folder and the Blizzard folder (who needs trial-ware on a corporate PC? Wish there was a way to tell CIM _NOT_ to install something rather than install this, and this, and this, oh, and that…., e.g. /UNATTENDED_INSTALL:.\Packages\Apps\…;. Then the only problem that wil be unresolved from an unattended point of view is getting the resolution to be set automagically….

Regards,

Craig

I spoke too soon. The installation started with the video resolution switches specified, but when the computer rebooted, the video resolution was re-set to 800×600x16-color. What gives AMD?

In addition to the install not being totally silent, how do you get rid of the annoying “Register Me” popup at the end of the installation??

I don’t think AMD gets small businesses. Not everyone is an HP, you know.

Regards,

Craig.

What’s annoying is that AMD supplys a Setup.exe in the root driver package. This “setup wrapper” does not support the video resolution switches. It seems all Setup.exe does is forward the command line switches/options to the \Bin{64}\InstallManagerApp.exe installer, which does support the video resolution switches I found somewhere on the web. Why AMD does not document these things is beyond me?!

My last gripe regarding Catalyst install is that it detects a newer installation of Catalyst during the setup and asks if you want to upgrade. This occurs even when you specify the /FORCE_HIDE_FIRST_RUN (which merely bypasses the language selection screen), so in reality, this installer really is not silent or unattended. Maybe I need to pass the -install switch to InstallManagerApp? Can anyone confirm? If I can get this driver to completely install unattended, that would be great!

Regards,

Craig.

Anyway, what about the catalyst 9.5 ? ^^

What will be the new features or game optimizations?

see u

Regards,

Craig.

Secondly, Catalyst 9.4 doesn’t include HydraVision, but does include a trial of WarCraft. Why would I want this installed as a business? I managed to take the old setup installer provided with CCC 8.5 (which included HydraVision) and replace the Packages\Drivers folder with the Catalyst 9.4 Packages\Drivers folder and which incuded the Packages\Apps\Hydra folder. This works.

Here’s the real problem: if I run the following, interactively, the installation works. Setup.exe /UNATTENDED_INSTALL /FORCE_HIDE_FIRST_RUN /FORCE_CLOSE_WHEN_DONE /MESSAGE_ON_REBOOT:NO. However, in this driver series, there is no way to stop the driver from changing the video resolution to 800×600 on first reboot. This is stupid. Why can’t the driver use the resolution that Windows was using prior to driver installation?

Now, when I try to run that command from a Windows Script (I’m using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008 to deploy Vista x64), the command gets executed, but nothing installs.

All around, this driver pack is terrible for IT unattended remote installations. I have been scouring the ‘net for documentation because AMD doesn’t have anything on the support website. The documentation that comes with the driver is just as useless.

Is it possible to install this driver unattended and specify the video resolution once installation has been completed? Is there a guide available for download? If not, is there a way to manually repackage these drivers for remote unattended install?

Your help would be greatly appreciated, even if it is only pointing me to other (appropriate and helpful) information, as the existing command line switches are not working for me.

Thanks.

Hope this helps some people
Feedback:
Windows driver is almost excellent!
Linux driver need fixes ! but it have come a long long way from what it was, keep up the great work.
Im a user of crossfire, and is pleased with the performance scaling.

You must have some sort of plans/schedules – can’t you even give us a rough date that you’re aiming for? Even a beta version to test or something?

WHERE IS THE AVIVO 64 PACKAGE YOU PROMISE?

i have rivatuner, in and in crossfire it keeps forgetting the fan settings with every reboot

so a build in fan controller in driver can only be better.

I recently updated to Vista 32 bit, and I was running the 9.3 drivers in XP with no problems. As soon as I hit Vista 32 bit, I am receiving constant driver errors where the display driver would install but the CCC component would not. I then rolled back to older drivers, and the errors continue.

I was directed to the support department, and I have spent a total of five hours in the last week or more with every proposed solution that was provided by your support team to update the drivers successfully. Now, 9.4 still doesn’t work and neither do the other previous versions.

Why is this happening with the install of the driver update 9.4. I am pretty sure everyone can install the display driver, but the catalyst control center does not install; this still doesn’t work even with the link provided by support which they say would install it but had and does not install.

Can we all be wrong? Could it be that there is something in your driver package which is not properly implemented (i.e. program error, defect…).

5400+ Black Edition CPU
MSI K-9 Platinum 580x Crossfire board
ATI 4870 Graphics
Vista 32 Bit

Any solutions for the masses who continue to have these issues with these drivers, particularly the 9.4?

stop acting like a kid and I’ll stop.