Idea for the textual setup of ReactOS

[Jonathon Keogh]

This is just an idea - there's no need to go crazy and bombard me with 
reasons why not.

Just a thought, wouldn't it be better to ask for all the data (in the 
textual part of the setup for ReactOS) to be asked and then do all the 
proccessing? At the moment, it goes like so:
* ....
* Ask questions about drives
* Apply drive stuff
* Ask question about location of ReactOS
* Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
* Ask question about booting
* Apply booting stuff
* Reboot PC

Wouldn't it be better to do:
* ....
* Ask questions about drives
* Ask question about location of ReactOS
* Ask question about booting
* Apply drive stuff
* Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
* Apply booting stuff
* Reboot PC

This is just an idea, remember.

Jonny

[Casper Hornstrup]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [e-mail] [mailto:[e-mail]] On Behalf Of Jonathon Keogh
> Sent: 13. oktober 2005 17:32
> To: [e-mail]
> Subject: [ros-dev] Idea for the textual setup of ReactOS
>
> This is just an idea - there's no need to go crazy and bombard me with
> reasons why not.
>
> Just a thought, wouldn't it be better to ask for all the data (in the
> textual part of the setup for ReactOS) to be asked and then do all the
> proccessing? At the moment, it goes like so:
> ....
> Ask questions about drives
> Apply drive stuff
> Ask question about location of ReactOS
> Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> Ask question about booting
> Apply booting stuff
> Reboot PC
>
> Wouldn't it be better to do:
> ....
> Ask questions about drives
> Ask question about location of ReactOS
> Ask question about booting
> Apply drive stuff
> Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> Apply booting stuff
> Reboot PC
>
> This is just an idea, remember.
>
> Jonny

Don't you have any reasons for it being better?

Casper

[Jonathon Keogh]

Casper Hornstrup wrote:
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [e-mail] [mailto:[e-mail]] On Behalf Of Jonathon Keogh
> > Sent: 13. oktober 2005 17:32
> > To: [e-mail]
> > Subject: [ros-dev] Idea for the textual setup of ReactOS
> >
> > This is just an idea - there's no need to go crazy and bombard me with
> > reasons why not.
> >
> > Just a thought, wouldn't it be better to ask for all the data (in the
> > textual part of the setup for ReactOS) to be asked and then do all the
> > proccessing? At the moment, it goes like so:
> > ....
> > Ask questions about drives
> > Apply drive stuff
> > Ask question about location of ReactOS
> > Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> > Ask question about booting
> > Apply booting stuff
> > Reboot PC
> >
> > Wouldn't it be better to do:
> > ....
> > Ask questions about drives
> > Ask question about location of ReactOS
> > Ask question about booting
> > Apply drive stuff
> > Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> > Apply booting stuff
> > Reboot PC
> >
> > This is just an idea, remember.
> >
> > Jonny
>
> Don't you have any reasons for it being better?
>
> Casper
>
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

Sorry that I didn't include that. Well, the reason why is so that it 
makes setup a lot quicker. Not many people sit there and watch the setup 
go along if they're using it on a slow system.

Jonny

[Bernd Blaauw]

Jonathon Keogh schreef:
> ....
> Ask questions about drives
> Ask question about location of ReactOS
> Ask question about booting
> Apply drive stuff
> Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> Apply booting stuff
> Reboot PC

You mean answer all questions as soon as possible, then be done with it 
until ReactOS has installed?

1) Start caching installation files in RAM (as long as CD is the only 
install medium supported, otherwise [2] first )
2) Textmode mass storage drivers for potential destination locations 
(and for source installation medium?)
3) Partitioning
4) Install destination location (disk + location)
5) Boot manager questions
6) Other stuff (VGA, keyboard, language, country etc)
7) Copy files (should be fast when they reside in RAM already)
8) Boot manager stuff (if [7] doesn't hang on systems with 32MB or less, 
bug 703 I think)
8A: disk only (MBR)
8B: diskette only
8C: both A and B (functions as a ROS startup bootdisk, and you can't 
create a FreeLDR diskette from an install ReactOS AFAIK)
8D: something with writing bootsector to a file only.
9) Reboot
> This is just an idea, remember.

Mine also. Idea is to start as early possible with reading the contents 
of a medium that's as slow as a cdrom.
If 32MB is a nice bottom platform for installation ( 0.2x series did 
also install and boot with 20 or 24MB RAM),
then anything above it can act as file copy cache.
.

[Jonathon Keogh]

Bernd Blaauw wrote:
> Jonathon Keogh schreef:
> > ....
> > Ask questions about drives
> > Ask question about location of ReactOS
> > Ask question about booting
> > Apply drive stuff
> > Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> > Apply booting stuff
> > Reboot PC
>
> You mean answer all questions as soon as possible, then be done with 
> it until ReactOS has installed?

Yes, I did :)
> Start caching installation files in RAM (as long as CD is the only
>
> install medium supported, otherwise [2] first )
> 2) Textmode mass storage drivers for potential destination locations 
> (and for source installation medium?)
> 3) Partitioning
> 4) Install destination location (disk + location)
> 5) Boot manager questions
> 6) Other stuff (VGA, keyboard, language, country etc)
> 7) Copy files (should be fast when they reside in RAM already)
> 8) Boot manager stuff (if [7] doesn't hang on systems with 32MB or 
> less, bug 703 I think)
> 8A: disk only (MBR)
> 8B: diskette only
> 8C: both A and B (functions as a ROS startup bootdisk, and you can't 
> create a FreeLDR diskette from an install ReactOS AFAIK)
> 8D: something with writing bootsector to a file only.
> 9) Reboot
> > This is just an idea, remember.
>
> Mine also. Idea is to start as early possible with reading the 
> contents of a medium that's as slow as a cdrom.
> If 32MB is a nice bottom platform for installation ( 0.2x series did 
> also install and boot with 20 or 24MB RAM),
> then anything above it can act as file copy cache.
> .
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

[Richard Campbell]

Err, i'd normally agree with this, but even on slow hardware ReactOS 
setup only takes about 5 minutes, if that :P

Jonathon Keogh wrote:
> Bernd Blaauw wrote:
> > Jonathon Keogh schreef:
> > > ....
> > > Ask questions about drives
> > > Ask question about location of ReactOS
> > > Ask question about booting
> > > Apply drive stuff
> > > Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> > > Apply booting stuff
> > > Reboot PC
> >
> > You mean answer all questions as soon as possible, then be done with 
> > it until ReactOS has installed?
>
> Yes, I did :)
> > Start caching installation files in RAM (as long as CD is the only
> >
> > install medium supported, otherwise [2] first )
> > 2) Textmode mass storage drivers for potential destination locations 
> > (and for source installation medium?)
> > 3) Partitioning
> > 4) Install destination location (disk + location)
> > 5) Boot manager questions
> > 6) Other stuff (VGA, keyboard, language, country etc)
> > 7) Copy files (should be fast when they reside in RAM already)
> > 8) Boot manager stuff (if [7] doesn't hang on systems with 32MB or 
> > less, bug 703 I think)
> > 8A: disk only (MBR)
> > 8B: diskette only
> > 8C: both A and B (functions as a ROS startup bootdisk, and you can't 
> > create a FreeLDR diskette from an install ReactOS AFAIK)
> > 8D: something with writing bootsector to a file only.
> > 9) Reboot
> > > This is just an idea, remember.
> >
> > Mine also. Idea is to start as early possible with reading the 
> > contents of a medium that's as slow as a cdrom.
> > If 32MB is a nice bottom platform for installation ( 0.2x series did 
> > also install and boot with 20 or 24MB RAM),
> > then anything above it can act as file copy cache.
> > .
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ros-dev mailing list
> > [e-mail]
> > http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
>
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

[Jonathon Keogh]

That's why it's just an idea.

Richard Campbell wrote:
> Err, i'd normally agree with this, but even on slow hardware ReactOS 
> setup only takes about 5 minutes, if that :P

[David Hinz]

Jonathon Keogh schrieb:
> Bernd Blaauw wrote:
> > Jonathon Keogh schreef:
> > > ....
> > > Ask questions about drives
> > > Ask question about location of ReactOS
> > > Ask question about booting
> > > Apply drive stuff
> > > Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> > > Apply booting stuff
> > > Reboot PC
> >
> > You mean answer all questions as soon as possible, then be done with 
> > it until ReactOS has installed?
>
> Yes, I did :)
> > Start caching installation files in RAM (as long as CD is the only
> >
> > install medium supported, otherwise [2] first )
> > 2) Textmode mass storage drivers for potential destination locations 
> > (and for source installation medium?)
> > 3) Partitioning
> > 4) Install destination location (disk + location)
> > 5) Boot manager questions
> > 6) Other stuff (VGA, keyboard, language, country etc)
> > 7) Copy files (should be fast when they reside in RAM already)
> > 8) Boot manager stuff (if [7] doesn't hang on systems with 32MB or 
> > less, bug 703 I think)
> > 8A: disk only (MBR)
> > 8B: diskette only
> > 8C: both A and B (functions as a ROS startup bootdisk, and you can't 
> > create a FreeLDR diskette from an install ReactOS AFAIK)
> > 8D: something with writing bootsector to a file only.
> > 9) Reboot
> > > This is just an idea, remember.
> >
> > Mine also. Idea is to start as early possible with reading the 
> > contents of a medium that's as slow as a cdrom.
> > If 32MB is a nice bottom platform for installation ( 0.2x series did 
> > also install and boot with 20 or 24MB RAM),
> > then anything above it can act as file copy cache.
> > .
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ros-dev mailing list
> > [e-mail]
> > http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
>
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

Maybe we should move all parts of setup (including the part after the
reboot) to the beginning of setup.
First all questions will be asked and then ros will be installed.
Just an idea...

Greets,

David Hinz

[Jonathon Keogh]

David Hinz wrote:
> Jonathon Keogh schrieb:
> > Bernd Blaauw wrote:
> > > Jonathon Keogh schreef:
> > > > ....
> > > > Ask questions about drives
> > > > Ask question about location of ReactOS
> > > > Ask question about booting
> > > > Apply drive stuff
> > > > Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> > > > Apply booting stuff
> > > > Reboot PC
> > >
> > > You mean answer all questions as soon as possible, then be done with 
> > > it until ReactOS has installed?
> >
> > Yes, I did :)
> > > Start caching installation files in RAM (as long as CD is the
> > >
> > > only install medium supported, otherwise [2] first )
> > > 2) Textmode mass storage drivers for potential destination locations 
> > > (and for source installation medium?)
> > > 3) Partitioning
> > > 4) Install destination location (disk + location)
> > > 5) Boot manager questions
> > > 6) Other stuff (VGA, keyboard, language, country etc)
> > > 7) Copy files (should be fast when they reside in RAM already)
> > > 8) Boot manager stuff (if [7] doesn't hang on systems with 32MB or 
> > > less, bug 703 I think)
> > > 8A: disk only (MBR)
> > > 8B: diskette only
> > > 8C: both A and B (functions as a ROS startup bootdisk, and you can't 
> > > create a FreeLDR diskette from an install ReactOS AFAIK)
> > > 8D: something with writing bootsector to a file only.
> > > 9) Reboot
> > > > This is just an idea, remember.
> > >
> > > Mine also. Idea is to start as early possible with reading the 
> > > contents of a medium that's as slow as a cdrom.
> > > If 32MB is a nice bottom platform for installation ( 0.2x series did 
> > > also install and boot with 20 or 24MB RAM),
> > > then anything above it can act as file copy cache.
> > > .
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Ros-dev mailing list
> > > [e-mail]
> > > http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
> >
> > Ros-dev mailing list
> > [e-mail]
> > http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
>
> Maybe we should move all parts of setup (including the part after the
> reboot) to the beginning of setup.
> First all questions will be asked and then ros will be installed.
> Just an idea...
>
> Greets,
>
> David Hinz
>
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

That's what I meant.

Jonny

[Magnus Olsen]

U want Plug And Play it is under devloping By Hpoussin and some other
devloper.
then u do not need the installer asking any question about hardware. For now
we
do support Plug and Play.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jonathon Keogh" [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Sent: den 13 October 2005 17:31
Subject: [ros-dev] Idea for the textual setup of ReactOS
> This is just an idea - there's no need to go crazy and bombard me with
> reasons why not.
>
> Just a thought, wouldn't it be better to ask for all the data (in the
> textual part of the setup for ReactOS) to be asked and then do all the
> proccessing? At the moment, it goes like so:
> ....
> Ask questions about drives
> Apply drive stuff
> Ask question about location of ReactOS
> Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> Ask question about booting
> Apply booting stuff
> Reboot PC
>
> Wouldn't it be better to do:
> ....
> Ask questions about drives
> Ask question about location of ReactOS
> Ask question about booting
> Apply drive stuff
> Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> Apply booting stuff
> Reboot PC
>
> This is just an idea, remember.
>
> Jonny
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.14/131 - Release Date:

2005-10-12
>

[Reuben Perelman]

Probably a good idea. Take a look at 
reactos/subsys/system/usetup/usetup.c. What you want would probably take 
a very short time to do.

Jonathon Keogh wrote:
> This is just an idea - there's no need to go crazy and bombard me with 
> reasons why not.
>
> Just a thought, wouldn't it be better to ask for all the data (in the 
> textual part of the setup for ReactOS) to be asked and then do all the 
> proccessing? At the moment, it goes like so:
> ....
> Ask questions about drives
> Apply drive stuff
> Ask question about location of ReactOS
> Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> Ask question about booting
> Apply booting stuff
> Reboot PC
>
> Wouldn't it be better to do:
> ....
> Ask questions about drives
> Ask question about location of ReactOS
> Ask question about booting
> Apply drive stuff
> Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> Apply booting stuff
> Reboot PC
>
> This is just an idea, remember.
>
> Jonny
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

[TwoTailedFox]

Why not do what Linux Does? On CD Boot, Offer a Text-Based, or an
GUI-Interactive Setup Program Choice..

On 10/13/05, Reuben Perelman [e-mail] wrote:
> Probably a good idea. Take a look at
> reactos/subsys/system/usetup/usetup.c. What you want would probably take
> a very short time to do.
>
> Jonathon Keogh wrote:
> > This is just an idea - there's no need to go crazy and bombard me with
> > reasons why not.
> >
> > Just a thought, wouldn't it be better to ask for all the data (in the
> > textual part of the setup for ReactOS) to be asked and then do all the
> > proccessing? At the moment, it goes like so:
> > ....
> > Ask questions about drives
> > Apply drive stuff
> > Ask question about location of ReactOS
> > Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> > Ask question about booting
> > Apply booting stuff
> > Reboot PC
> >
> > Wouldn't it be better to do:
> > ....
> > Ask questions about drives
> > Ask question about location of ReactOS
> > Ask question about booting
> > Apply drive stuff
> > Apply ReactOS location (and copy files)
> > Apply booting stuff
> > Reboot PC
> >
> > This is just an idea, remember.
> >
> > Jonny
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ros-dev mailing list
> > [e-mail]
> > http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
>
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

--
"I had a handle on life, but then it broke"

[Bernd Blaauw]

David Hinz schreef:
> Well, I had this idea some days ago, but until now nobody really liked 
> my idea to create a graphical setup on the base of LiveCD...

Nobody talked about installing from the LiveCD yet. Actually that's 
impossible currently, due to memory constraints and directory troubles.
ReactOS installation cdrom uses the \REACTOS directory on cdrom, and the 
LiveCD does the same thing.
Installed ReactOS also does the same thing. Last limit would be ISO size 
probably.

A real GUI setup program on the installation cdrom might be doable, but 
drifts further away from a nice goal: installation on 80486/16MB systems 
(like Win95)

bring up your ideas in the ReactOS forums, I usually don't get a 
response here on the developers(!) mailinglist either :)

Bernd

[David Hinz]

Bernd Blaauw schrieb:
> David Hinz schreef:
> > Well, I had this idea some days ago, but until now nobody really 
> > liked my idea to create a graphical setup on the base of LiveCD...
>
> Nobody talked about installing from the LiveCD yet. Actually that's 
> impossible currently, due to memory constraints and directory troubles.
> ReactOS installation cdrom uses the \REACTOS directory on cdrom, and 
> the LiveCD does the same thing.
> Installed ReactOS also does the same thing. Last limit would be ISO 
> size probably.
>
> A real GUI setup program on the installation cdrom might be doable, 
> but drifts further away from a nice goal: installation on 80486/16MB 
> systems (like Win95)
>
> bring up your ideas in the ReactOS forums, I usually don't get a 
> response here on the developers(!) mailinglist either :)
>
> Bernd
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

I can't see your problem with the directory names.
I would boot up the ReactOS LiveCD, which would have a fullscreen 
graphic setup instead of the explorer GUI.
So we don't need to implement the graphic subsystem into the setup, we 
just need to create a fullscreen setup app.
Of course I don't want to replace the LiveCD with this, so I don't see 
any problems.

Greets,

David Hinz

[Maarten Bosma]

David Hinz wrote:
> I can't see your problem with the directory names.
> I would boot up the ReactOS LiveCD, which would have a fullscreen 
> graphic setup instead of the explorer GUI.
> So we don't need to implement the graphic subsystem into the setup, we 
> just need to create a fullscreen setup app.
> Of course I don't want to replace the LiveCD with this, so I don't see 
> any problems.

This is allready how setup works but it does not replace the shell 
(explorer.exe) but smss.exe (Session Manager)
so it is more low level. I guess that we get much better performace and 
memory usage that way.  I also have to
say that I think the installer is the least importained thing in the OS.

Maarten Bosma

[David Hinz]

Maarten Bosma schrieb:
> David Hinz wrote:
> > I can't see your problem with the directory names.
> > I would boot up the ReactOS LiveCD, which would have a fullscreen 
> > graphic setup instead of the explorer GUI.
> > So we don't need to implement the graphic subsystem into the setup, 
> > we just need to create a fullscreen setup app.
> > Of course I don't want to replace the LiveCD with this, so I don't 
> > see any problems.
>
> This is allready how setup works but it does not replace the shell 
> (explorer.exe) but smss.exe (Session Manager)
> so it is more low level. I guess that we get much better performace 
> and memory usage that way.  I also have to
> say that I think the installer is the least importained thing in the OS.
>
> Maarten Bosma
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

It is unimportant, but I think as MS introduces such a graphical 
installer in Windows Vista we should at least start thinking about such 
an installer for ReactOS.
At some point we will have to create such an installer, a lot of users 
don't like textmode installers and console, because they think it is 
complicated and without a mouse most computerusers can't work, at least 
they think it is that way.
And I think, it won't be that complicated to create such a setup, as we 
already have a lot of code we can reuse.

Greets,

David Hinz

[David Hinz]

Maarten Bosma schrieb:
> David Hinz wrote:
> > I can't see your problem with the directory names.
> > I would boot up the ReactOS LiveCD, which would have a fullscreen 
> > graphic setup instead of the explorer GUI.
> > So we don't need to implement the graphic subsystem into the setup, 
> > we just need to create a fullscreen setup app.
> > Of course I don't want to replace the LiveCD with this, so I don't 
> > see any problems.
>
> This is allready how setup works but it does not replace the shell 
> (explorer.exe) but smss.exe (Session Manager)
> so it is more low level. I guess that we get much better performace 
> and memory usage that way.  I also have to
> say that I think the installer is the least importained thing in the OS.
>
> Maarten Bosma
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

Sorry, that I write a second response, but there are some additional things:

You say, setup replaces smss.exe, as far as I know this app implements 
the graphic subsystem and the native NT-api.
If we would create a setup that doesn't replace smss.exe, but would 
'replace' csrss.exe I think we could create something that doesn't need 
many resources, but could provide us a GUI. The only problem is, that we 
can't create a setup based on the Win32 api, since we are replacing it 
and so we have to use the native NT-api functions.
This would make the whole thing very complicated.

Greets,

David Hinz

[Robert Köpferl]

That's not really different to how it is implemented, now.
Actually smss is good for managing and startup of sub systems, like 
csrss.exe and csrss.exe + win32k.sys make up the GUI. Thus either write 
a win32-app or just a smsss replacing native app.

I wonder why we do not utilize a win32-app as 1st step setup?

David Hinz wrote:
> Maarten Bosma schrieb:
> > David Hinz wrote:
> > > I can't see your problem with the directory names.
> > > I would boot up the ReactOS LiveCD, which would have a fullscreen 
> > > graphic setup instead of the explorer GUI.
> > > So we don't need to implement the graphic subsystem into the setup, 
> > > we just need to create a fullscreen setup app.
> > > Of course I don't want to replace the LiveCD with this, so I don't 
> > > see any problems.
> >
> > This is allready how setup works but it does not replace the shell 
> > (explorer.exe) but smss.exe (Session Manager)
> > so it is more low level. I guess that we get much better performace 
> > and memory usage that way.  I also have to
> > say that I think the installer is the least importained thing in the OS.
> >
> > Maarten Bosma
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ros-dev mailing list
> > [e-mail]
> > http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
>
> Sorry, that I write a second response, but there are some additional 
> things:
>
> You say, setup replaces smss.exe, as far as I know this app implements 
> the graphic subsystem and the native NT-api.
> If we would create a setup that doesn't replace smss.exe, but would 
> 'replace' csrss.exe I think we could create something that doesn't need 
> many resources, but could provide us a GUI. The only problem is, that we 
> can't create a setup based on the Win32 api, since we are replacing it 
> and so we have to use the native NT-api functions.
> This would make the whole thing very complicated.
>
> Greets,
>
> David Hinz
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

[David Hinz]

Robert Köpferl schrieb:
> That's not really different to how it is implemented, now.
> Actually smss is good for managing and startup of sub systems, like 
> csrss.exe and csrss.exe + win32k.sys make up the GUI. Thus either 
> write a win32-app or just a smsss replacing native app.
>
> I wonder why we do not utilize a win32-app as 1st step setup?
>
> David Hinz wrote:
> > Maarten Bosma schrieb:
> > > David Hinz wrote:
> > > > I can't see your problem with the directory names.
> > > > I would boot up the ReactOS LiveCD, which would have a fullscreen 
> > > > graphic setup instead of the explorer GUI.
> > > > So we don't need to implement the graphic subsystem into the setup, 
> > > > we just need to create a fullscreen setup app.
> > > > Of course I don't want to replace the LiveCD with this, so I don't 
> > > > see any problems.
> > >
> > > This is allready how setup works but it does not replace the shell 
> > > (explorer.exe) but smss.exe (Session Manager)
> > > so it is more low level. I guess that we get much better performace 
> > > and memory usage that way.  I also have to
> > > say that I think the installer is the least importained thing in the 
> > > OS.
> > >
> > > Maarten Bosma
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Ros-dev mailing list
> > > [e-mail]
> > > http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
> >
> > Sorry, that I write a second response, but there are some additional 
> > things:
> >
> > You say, setup replaces smss.exe, as far as I know this app 
> > implements the graphic subsystem and the native NT-api.
> > If we would create a setup that doesn't replace smss.exe, but would 
> > 'replace' csrss.exe I think we could create something that doesn't 
> > need many resources, but could provide us a GUI. The only problem is, 
> > that we can't create a setup based on the Win32 api, since we are 
> > replacing it and so we have to use the native NT-api functions.
> > This would make the whole thing very complicated.
> >
> > Greets,
> >
> > David Hinz
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ros-dev mailing list
> > [e-mail]
> > http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
>
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

Well, then we maybe should just replace explorer.exe by a new setup, 
which includes the old textsetup and the 2nd setup part after reboot in 
one fullscreen app, that first asks all questions, then reboots and is 
ready for work.
But of course we should first concentrate on more important things like 
completing the apis.

Greets,

David Hinz

[Reuben Perelman]

Maarten Bosma wrote:
> David Hinz wrote:
> > I can't see your problem with the directory names.
> > I would boot up the ReactOS LiveCD, which would have a fullscreen 
> > graphic setup instead of the explorer GUI.
> > So we don't need to implement the graphic subsystem into the setup, 
> > we just need to create a fullscreen setup app.
> > Of course I don't want to replace the LiveCD with this, so I don't 
> > see any problems.
>
> This is allready how setup works but it does not replace the shell 
> (explorer.exe) but smss.exe (Session Manager)
> so it is more low level. I guess that we get much better performace 
> and memory usage that way.  I also have to
> say that I think the installer is the least importained thing in the OS.

The non-functional installer is what's keeping me from using ReactOS. 
AllocConsole error means that I can't use reactos if I wanted to. And 
then there is the issue of working with multiple primary partitions. The 
installer has servere problems which should be the top priority for ROS 
right now.
> Maarten Bosma
> _______________________________________________
> Ros-dev mailing list
> [e-mail]
> http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev

[Maarten Bosma]

Hi,

I was talking about how the installer look like not about functionallity.

Maarten Bosma

Reuben Perelman wrote:
> The non-functional installer is what's keeping me from using ReactOS. 
> AllocConsole error means that I can't use reactos if I wanted to. And 
> then there is the issue of working with multiple primary partitions. 
> The installer has servere problems which should be the top priority 
> for ROS right now.

[Alex Ionescu]

Bernd Blaauw wrote:
> David Hinz schreef:
> > Well, I had this idea some days ago, but until now nobody really 
> > liked my idea to create a graphical setup on the base of LiveCD...
>
> Nobody talked about installing from the LiveCD yet. Actually that's 
> impossible currently, due to memory constraints and directory troubles.

I was the one which originally came up with this idea among the 
developers almost a year ago, then Steven came up with it too, and it 
was given more serious thought. It's a very serious thought, since it 
would help us possibly debug more setup-related problems, as using the 
Win32 API is easier and more debugable.

Best regards,
Alex Ionescu