[TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

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FrankH
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[TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *FrankH »

There is a wiki article on this topic:
https://www.ghisler.ch/wiki/index.php/How_to_make_installation_fully_automatic%3F
1) nice, thanks for the article
2) Suggestion: please add an example
3) paramter parameter
4) Can one omit parameters? What are the default values?
4a) What does A0H1 do?
5) " L accepts a language number from install.inf, e.g. L2=german"
Please add (a link to) the supported languages, a current INSTALL.INF, or the fact that one can extract INSTALL.INF from the installer.exe
5a) INSTALL.INF in tcmd951x64.exe is not encoded as UTF-8
6) "K=install wincmd.key from the same directory where the installer is located."
My guess, based on experiment (did not attach a debugger): This is incorrect. The installer looks for wincmd.key in the current working directory, not the directory of the installer.
7) Suggestion: Please add a link to the wiki article to the Installation FAQ: https://www.ghisler.com/efaq_inst.htm
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

This old post from "TC9.5x bug reports (English)" deserves some answers. So here we go.
  1. I leave it up to Ghisler to respond to this.
  2. I plan to improve the wiki page. Maybe I'll add it. Anyone with a forum account can do that BTW.
  3. Fixed.
  4. Yes all of them :) The switches H L M G D U W only effect automatic installation. Defaults are:
    A0
    H0
    L1 (English)
    M1 (M)
    G1 (G)
    D1 (D)
    U1 (U)
    W0
    (defaults can be changed in INSTALL.INF)
    4a. Disables auto install if that was made the default in INSTALL.INF
  5. See the answer to question 2.
    5a. Maybe on purpose? See answer to question 1.
  6. You are right, it is incorrect. It is also described this way in HISTORY.TXT:
    HISTORY.TXT wrote: 31.07.16 Added: One more parameter added to installer: /K installs wincmd.key file located in same directory as the installer. Note: All parameters MUST be passed in one group after a single slash (32/64)
    2ghisler(Author)
    How do you want to handle this? I assume you want to keep the behavior as it is for compatibility reasons. Change the wiki and also change HISTORY.TXT so people don't get the wrong idea?
  7. See answer to question 1.
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

Moderator message from: white » 2022-08-30, 19:41 UTC

Moved to TC10.x bugs forum.
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Where is the bug? Just the typo in the Wiki?
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

Either you intended it the way you described in HISTORY.TXT and wiki and it's a bug, or you described it wrong twice.
white wrote: 2022-08-30, 19:39 UTC Change the wiki and also change HISTORY.TXT so people don't get the wrong idea?
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

I think you misunderstand something here. The wiki explanation
K=install wincmd.key from the same directory where the installer is located.
Doesn't mean that you use a parameter
/K=path
It just explains that the parameter K means that a key from the installer directory will be copied.
Maybe I should just change that to:
K: install wincmd.key from the same directory where the installer is located
But then people will think they can use a colon after the K switch. Oh well...

But I don't understand what you mean with changing HISTORY.TXT, the entry is correct?
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

FrankH wrote: 2021-05-11, 11:10 UTC 6) "K=install wincmd.key from the same directory where the installer is located."
My guess, based on experiment (did not attach a debugger): This is incorrect. The installer looks for wincmd.key in the current working directory, not the directory of the installer.
So if current dir is c:\ and you start the installer with c:\downloads\tcmd1051x32_64.exe /K, then the key from the root of drive c: is installed, not from the directory of the installer.
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Sorry, I missed that. It only works when giving the installation file as a parameter. I will fix it.
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

ghisler(Author) wrote: 2022-09-01, 08:25 UTC Sorry, I missed that. It only works when giving the installation file as a parameter. I will fix it.
Confirmed.

While testing I first couldn't get /A to work, it switched to interactive mode and offered to update, even if I also used U or F. I had an installation in c:\totalcmd but cleaned the registry and removed %APPDATA%\GHISLER. After I cleaned up everything it worked again and couldn't reproduce anymore. Is there any situation using the original installers where the /A switch is used but the installer still switches to interactive mode?
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

2white
I have sent you another pre-release version where the key install should be fixed, please try it!
Is there any situation using the original installers where the /A switch is used but the installer still switches to interactive mode?
I have checked my code, it should not happen - the auto-install function is separate, and the installer doesn't fall back to interactive when it fails.
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

ghisler(Author) wrote: 2022-09-01, 11:20 UTC 2white
I have sent you another pre-release version where the key install should be fixed, please try it!
I will check it now.
ghisler(Author) wrote: 2022-09-01, 11:20 UTC
Is there any situation using the original installers where the /A switch is used but the installer still switches to interactive mode?
I have checked my code, it should not happen - the auto-install function is separate, and the installer doesn't fall back to interactive when it fails.
OK, then lets assume I made a mistake. Perhaps used \ instead of /, who knows :)
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

HISTORY.TXT wrote: 01.09.22 Fixed: Installer: Parameter /K made the installer look for the key in the current directory instead of the installer directory (32/64)
Tested OK using TC 10.51.
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

FrankH wrote: 2021-05-11, 11:10 UTC There is a wiki article on this topic:
https://www.ghisler.ch/wiki/index.php/How_to_make_installation_fully_automatic%3F
1) nice, thanks for the article
2) Suggestion: please add an example
3) paramter parameter
4) Can one omit parameters? What are the default values?
4a) What does A0H1 do?
5) " L accepts a language number from install.inf, e.g. L2=german"
Please add (a link to) the supported languages, a current INSTALL.INF, or the fact that one can extract INSTALL.INF from the installer.exe
5a) INSTALL.INF in tcmd951x64.exe is not encoded as UTF-8
6) "K=install wincmd.key from the same directory where the installer is located."
My guess, based on experiment (did not attach a debugger): This is incorrect. The installer looks for wincmd.key in the current working directory, not the directory of the installer.
7) Suggestion: Please add a link to the wiki article to the Installation FAQ: https://www.ghisler.com/efaq_inst.htm
white wrote: 2022-08-30, 19:39 UTC I plan to improve the wiki page. Maybe I'll add it. Anyone with a forum account can do that BTW.
Due to personal circumstances I put the project on hold for a while, but have now updated the wiki page. I've also added an new wiki page https://www.ghisler.ch/wiki/index.php/Installer with lots of information and examples. I'm also planning to create a wiki page on how to create a custom installer, but that's still a work in progress. Enjoy!
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Very nice, thanks a lot!
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Re: [TC 9.51] Auto install ramblings

Post by *white »

I have now also added the wiki page Custom installer and changed the wiki page How to make installation fully automatic? which is now very small.

It remains cumbersome to create a custom self extracting install program. It would be much easier if the zipfromlist command supported a parameter to specify a sfxhead.sfx file, as suggested here.
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