To mount an SDI file so that you can work with it you usually use the utility called sdiloader.exe that comes with the Windows XP Embedded Tools. Where's the fun in that I say!!

Create on of these guys:

Set oSDIMount = CreateObject("SDIAUT.SDIMountedDisks")

And then you can use:
oSDIMount.Add sTempImage
and
oSDIMount.Remove index-1

I've provided an example script so you don't have to do any real coding: MountSDI.vbs (2.22 KB)

Continuing on from my first post Creating SDI Images using VBScript I am going to look at a more complete example here. I've also attached a working script.MakeSDI.vbs (4.76 KB)

Previously we saw that you can create a new SDI image doing the following:
Set oSDIFile = oSDI.CreateImage(sImage, SDICREATENEW)
Now this isn't really all that useful because without a disk blob inside the SDI file you cannot partition and format the SDI file.

Now I'll leave it to someone more knowledgable than myself to explain exactly what a DISK blog is but you create one by using oSDIFile.Blobs.Allocate DISK, nLo, nHi. The signature for Allocate is:

Sub Allocate(ByVal ldwType As Long, ByVal ldwSizeLowPart As Long, [ByVal ldwSizeHighPart As Long])

Confused?? I was but if you take a look in SDIMgr.swf from the Windows XP Embedded Tools you'll be able to extract just the bits you need. I've provided them below and don't forget the example script that is attached.

Enjoy!

When you create an SDI image with the view of using it to create a bootable Windows PE or Bart PE disk one of the steps is to use diskpart or Device Manager to partition and format the image. Recently I tried to automate this process to my own demise. In the diskpart script that I used I had the line select disk 1, which was a terrible idea because when I ran it on another machine it formatted the HDD. Oops!

To get around this I thought I'd ask WMI what the index of my SDI Disk is before running diskpart, the result:

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\CIMV2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery( _
   "SELECT * FROM Win32_DiskDrive WHERE Caption = 'SDIDisk'",,48)

For Each objItem In colItems 
   WScript.Echo "-----------------------------------"
   WScript.Echo "Win32_DiskDrive instance"
   WScript.Echo "-----------------------------------"
   WScript.Echo "Index: " & objItem.Index
   WScript.Echo "Name: " & objItem.Name
   WScript.Echo "Partitions: " & objItem.Partitions
   WScript.Echo "Size: " & objItem.Size
Next

Index is the Property that matches up with the Disk# you see in Device Manager. Keep in mind that if you have a couple of SDI images loaded you'll get them all back. In my script I've used the Partition Property to distinguish between an SDI I have just created and one that I left mounted previously.

I have been using SDI Images to make fast-loading Windows PE and BartPE boot disk using a technique I found over here: http://www.myitforum.com/articles/8/view.asp?id=8832

Typically you need to use SDIMgr.wsf and SDILoader.exe that come with Windows XP Embedded to create SDI file and mount them. This however is not the only way. All you need is a file called sdiaut.dll and of course the SDI driver. If you've installed the Windows XP Embedded tools as per the article above you'll have both of these.

sdiaut.dll is the SDI Automation dll and can be instantiated by like so:

Dim oSDI : Set oSDI = CreateObject("SDIAUT.SDI")

To Create an SDI Image it is as simple as:

Const SDICREATENEW = 1
Dim oSDI : Set oSDI = CreateObject("SDIAUT.SDI")
Dim fs : Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

'Create the SDI File
If fs.FileExists(sImage) Then
   WScript.Echo "File Already Exists deleting..."
   fs.DeleteFile sImage, True
End If

Dim oSDIFile : Set oSDIFile = oSDI.CreateImage(sImage, SDICREATENEW)

WScript.Echo "BootCodeOffset: " & oSDIFile.BootCodeOffset
WScript.Echo "BootCodeSize: " & oSDIFile.BootCodeSize
WScript.Echo "DeviceID: " & oSDIFile.DeviceId
WScript.Echo "DeviceModel: " & oSDIFile.DeviceModel
WScript.Echo "DeviceRole: " & oSDIFile.DeviceRole
WScript.Echo "FilePath: " & oSDIFile.FilePath
WScript.Echo "MDBType: " & oSDIFile.MDBType
WScript.Echo "RuntimeGUID: " & oSDIFile.RuntimeGUID

Set oSDIFile = Nothing ' Close the file

Pretty cool hey!

Spotted this little utility the other day called ShinyPower and it is definately a must have for anyone learning PowerShell. It's over at secretGeek: http://secretgeek.net/shinyPower.asp

From the site: "ShinyPower is a little C# app i wrote to automate browsing PowerShell's help files."