PNP Anonomoly.

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Ricardo - 22 May 2004 16:19 GMT

G'day to all.

Problem!!!
During startup, Plug N Play (or in this instance Plug N PRAY) keeps popping
up with this message:
an error occurred installing the device. a required section was not
found in the INF file.

Errata:
1) Windows 2000 PRO starts up fine (other than the above msg),
2) No errors in the Event Log,
3) Device Mgr is clean - no errors or warnings (no hidden devices are in
error as well),
4) The printer works fine (Fax, Copy, Scan, Print etc.),
5) Latest patches and fixes installed (including the vendor),
6) HP has been very helpful, but at this point they are mystified,
7) The Local and Domain policies allow a 'Silent install of unsigned
drivers') and I am using an ADMIN account to install,
8) All the INF and PNF files are correct and in the INF Directory,
9) I've installed this device onto another WS and checked the registry
entries against each other and they are IDENTICAL.

All is well, BUT this is an ANNOYANCE.

If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

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Ghostrider - 22 May 2004 18:45 GMT

> G'day to all.
>
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance.

Is this an HP "All-in-One" with both an USB and parallel
port capability but set up in this instance for the parallel
port? Or if running satisfactorily from the parallel port,
was the HP's firmwere recently updated?

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Richard Gutery - 22 May 2004 19:00 GMT

HP Officejet t45xi (All in one0. Configed for the Parallel Port, no USB.
Firmware is the lastes (v 4.3.22.1). HP and I have gone over all that stuff.
It's a Window's issue.

I guess what I'm looking for is to eliminate the irroneous PNP startup
process. As stated, the printer works 100% fine. Just a silly Windows
thingy.

btw: HP TS and I uninstalled the printer, removed at the reg entries, nuked
all referrences to HP Office jet (including the dll files and oem.INF/PNF
etc). Nothing has been added to the system (apps, virises, horses and
spyware). I run NAV and Spybot on scheduled basis and the system is as clean
as can be.

> > G'day to all.
> >
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
> port? Or if running satisfactorily from the parallel port,
> was the HP's firmwere recently updated?

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GHalleck - 24 May 2004 00:20 GMT

> HP Officejet t45xi (All in one0. Configed for the Parallel Port, no USB.
> Firmware is the lastes (v 4.3.22.1). HP and I have gone over all that stuff.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> spyware). I run NAV and Spybot on scheduled basis and the system is as clean
> as can be.

Seriously doubt that this is a Windows issue. The device
firmware is the source of the PnP information that is used
by the *.INF file to manage the device installation. All
Windows does is to provide any needed *.DLL file or other
system files thar are needed fo work with calls from the
HP driver. One place where things do get screwed up is
the DMI table for the system bios. But this also depends
on the accuracy of the data from the device itself, i.e.,
firmware version. Might want to consider disabling PnP
OS in the bios setup, clearing all information about the
device in Windows 2000, re-booting and re-installing the
device. HTH.

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Richard Gutery - 24 May 2004 02:34 GMT

Thanks, but NOT. It works fine on three other machines.Please read the
errata in my original post. At that time it was one machine, we've tried two
others.

Also, I mentioned the lastest patches and fixes including the vendors were
on.

But thanks anyways.

> > HP Officejet t45xi (All in one0. Configed for the Parallel Port, no USB.
> > Firmware is the lastes (v 4.3.22.1). HP and I have gone over all that stuff.
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> device in Windows 2000, re-booting and re-installing the
> device. HTH.

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Tritium - 24 May 2004 07:42 GMT

> Thanks, but NOT. It works fine on three other machines.Please read the
> errata in my original post. At that time it was one machine, we've tried two
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> But thanks anyways.

Forget about the 3 other machines unless they are identical
in all respects to the machine that is giving the problem,
similar to identical siblings. Plug and play tends to be
specific to any given machine. And there is much variation
for any one machine for any make/model unless they rolled
down the assembly line together and used parts that also
came off their individual assembly lines together.

You are right --- it is plug and pray. Change some parts
around, e.g., HD and RAM. Clear the CMOS and reflash the
bios. Do a clean install of Windows 2000.

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Richard Gutery - 24 May 2004 19:05 GMT

Yup, all the machines were identical (down to the bios rev, os and sp).

However:

I finally figured it out early this morning. In the registry, there was an
entry to addprint (which is a PNP entry for a new printer - got this from
one of the vendor INF files). The registry URL pointed to the install
directory (where the files were extracted). My best guess is that I deleted
the directory after the initial install, but obviously PNP wasn't finished.

I exploded the install files into the same dir, and now all is well.

I have come up with a new PNP rule. Don't nuke nothin until at least two or
three reboots.

Cheers to all...

> > Thanks, but NOT. It works fine on three other machines.Please read the
> > errata in my original post. At that time it was one machine, we've tried two
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> around, e.g., HD and RAM. Clear the CMOS and reflash the
> bios. Do a clean install of Windows 2000.

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