Why can't Windows XP setup load my F6 SATA drivers from a floppy?

Question

I'm installing Windows XP onto a SATA drive connected to a SiI3112 PCI-to-SATA controller. For setup to see the drive I need to install the drivers for this device from the F6 menu as it starts up.

I am able to choose the driver from the menu and proceed with setup where my drive is detected and setup begins. But shortly afterwards it tells me that it can't find si3112.sys. This file is on the disk (I tried two known-good disks) and the floppy light even turns on as it accesses the drive. But it still says it can't find the file.

I worked around this issue by slipstreaming the very same driver onto the installation CD with nLite but I don't understand why it wouldn't load from a floppy.

Answer 1

I had a similar experience years ago. I used an USB floppy instead of an internal one. I remembered that there was a restriction by Microsoft as only a few USB floppies models were compatible with the setup program.

But despite even buying such a compatible model I failed.

Answer 2

This error is a result of the disk being created with nLite with the OEM Preinstall option set to Enabled (this is the default behavior).

Setting it to Disabled allows F6 drivers to install and setup to proceed as expected.