Applies to LANDESK Management Suite 9 SP3 and later
The Hardware-Independent Imaging (HII) Driver Database is created after clicking Save in the HII Driver Repository Manager. It contains information about any devices, operating system versions and architectures the drivers in the HII Driver Repository can be used for. This information is retrieved from the .inf driver files and used to find the correct driver for any given device without requiring access by the client to the entire driver repository.
The Database
The HII Driver Database is a SQLLite database. It is stored in a single file at the root of the Driver Repository and named drivers.db3. The database contains several tables that enumerate inf files, supporting files as well as Device IDs and Compatible IDs. With this information HIIClient is able to determine which driver best matches the hardware found on the device.
During HII the HII Driver Database is downloaded to the client machine and all lookups and driver matching is performed on the client machine. This means that the HII Driver Library (drivers.db3) can be replicated to Preferred Servers and client will simply download the file from their local Preferred Server. This can provide significant savings in bandwidth as well as processing time since the client will match the drivers on their own.
If the HII Driver Library is being replicated to Preferred Servers, make sure that when the HII Driver Library is updated on the HII Driver Repository it is updated on all Preferred Servers. If the client discovers that the HII Driver Library file (drivers.db3) is out of date on the local Preferred Server, it will go back to the original source on the HII Driver Repository for the download.
Incorrect Driver Matching
Some drivers that are poorly written, corrupt or incomplete can result in incorrect matches on devices. For example, a touchpad driver may have a very generic setting that causes it to match any pointing device so it is installed on desktop machines where there is no touchpad. Also, a Windows XP driver may install on a Windows 7 OS and vice versa. When this happens there are a few options.
Remove the Driver
If the driver is not needed at all in the environment, simply remove it from the HII Driver Repository and rebuild the HII Driver Database. If it is needed, review the steps below to help improve the driver matching.
Check Windows
In most cases, drivers that have been improperly matched by LANDESK will also be improperly matched by Windows. To test this, copy the offending driver (and all supporting files) to a test device. Then use Device Manager to try and install the driver. For example, if a touchpad driver is installing improperly, open Device Manager, select the Mouse section (Mouse, Pointing Devices or HID devices) and try to update the driver. Point to the driver in question and see if Windows considers it a valid driver for the device.
If Windows also agrees that this driver should be installed for a device, then there is probably something awry with the driver file. In fact, because LANDESK uses DISM to install drivers for Windows 7 and newer, if the driver is installed, Windows already thought the driver was right. DISM will refuse to install drivers that do not apply to a device. Make sure there isn't an updated or alternative version of the driver that may be better. If there is no alternative that functions better, see below on editing the driver database so that the device doesn't get matched by LANDESK.
If Windows does not install the driver or consider it applicable for a device, please report that to LANDESK Support. Make sure to have the driver and device information available so that LANDESK can make changes and improvements to the driver matching process.
Modify the Database
In some instances it may be necessary to modify the HII Driver Database in order to prevent a certain driver from being installed on some devices. Any SQLLite browser or tool can be used to do this. One example is this open-source SQLite Database Browser.
- Open Device Manager on the affected Device
- Navigate to the device that has been installed improperly, right-click and select Properties
- Select the Details tab
- In the "Property" drop-down, select "Matching device Id" - this is the device ID that was matched for this driver. Often this is a very generic device ID
- Write down or save the Device ID shown
- Open the SQL Lite tool and use it to open drivers.db3 in the HII Driver Repository
- Run the following query to remove the offending device ID from the database:
DELETEFROM devices WHERE device = ‘<DEVICE ID HERE>’ - This must be repeated any time that the HII Driver Database is rebuilt.
Note: This will prevent this device ID from being matched at all on any machine. If only parts of the match need to be removed (Windows 7 driver should not match Windows XP) please contact LANDesk Support for assistance
Authors Note: We know this isn't a good solution. Frankly we thought device vendors would be better about writing drivers for their own hardware. We are working on a better solution, so stay tuned.
For more information about HII please see Hardware Independent Imaging (HII)