Sharp Pen Software

[Scorpio]

Hi All

 

I'm trying to install this on many computers, but there is no command line or options for silent install or MSI for GPO install, I hate it when products sold aimed at education do not make their software for installation on many devices.

 

Does anyone have any scripts or options.

 

Thanks

 

S

[Scorpio]

Im surprised nobody has run into this problem before as I see many recommending these screens in the past. If anyone has any info / tips, would be great to hear.

 

Cheers

 

S

[LeMarchand]

If you start an installation but don't go all the way through, it will create a couple of folders in %TEMP%. One of these has an MSI in the MsiStub folder. Might be worth copying that entire folder and seeing if it will let you push it out as an MSI.

[Scorpio]

Yes, I've tried that doesn't install, also tried switches on the EXE for silent install as a start-up script. Thanks for the input though.

 

Anyone else got anything?

 

Thanks

 

S

[georgeescott]

Don’t have sharp boards myself but happy to have a crack at finding a way to deploy the software. Where can it be downloaded from?

[Scorpio]

Don’t have sharp boards myself but happy to have a crack at finding a way to deploy the software. Where can it be downloaded from?

 

Here you go fella, thanks.

 

https://www.sharp-cee.com/cps/rde/xbcr/documents/documents/Service_Information/Software/PenSoftware_current_version_installer.zip

[georgeescott]

Here you go fella, thanks.

 

https://www.sharp-cee.com/cps/rde/xbcr/documents/documents/Service_Information/Software/PenSoftware_current_version_installer.zip

 

OK, so using UniExtract2 (which bundles Exeinfo PE in), you can scan Setup.exe to determine that it is an InstallShield installer.

 

Googling for "InstallShield silent install" results in their documentation: https://docs.revenera.com/installshield26helplib/helplibrary/InstallShieldSilent.htm, which shows that we're dealing with an InstallScript installer.

 

To silently install it, we first need to create a response file for the installer. You can follow the instructions but basically you run:

Setup.exe -r -f1"C:\path\to\create\install.iss"

 

This will launch the installer, you run it as you normally would and the install.iss file will be created.

 

To install the program silently with our response file, you switch the -r for an -s and pass it the path of the install.iss file. I've tested this in a VM and it's worked silently:

Setup.exe -s -f1"C:\path\to\install.iss"

 

If you wanted to do an uninstall response file, you can do the same process as before, but also add an -x in the commands too.

 

If you're deploying this through something like ConfigMgr, you won't know the absolute path of the install.iss file when it gets copied locally to a workstation, so you need a way to find and pass this to Setup.exe so it can silently install. You could write a batch or PowerShell file to achieve this. Below is a batch file you could use:

@echo off
REM Run Installer
start /wait "" "%~dp0Setup.exe" -s -f1"%~dp0install.iss"

REM Return exit code
exit /B %EXIT_CODE%

 

Hope this helps!

Edited August 3, 2022 by georgeescott

[Scorpio]

Wow, thanks for your efforts on this, most helpful, I will give it a go and see how I get on.

 

Thanks again!

 

S

[lornebooker]

On 03/08/2022 at 00:43, georgeescott said:

 

OK, so using UniExtract2 (which bundles Exeinfo PE in), you can scan Setup.exe to determine that it is an InstallShield installer.

 

Googling for "InstallShield silent install" results in their documentation: https://docs.revenera.com/installshield26helplib/helplibrary/InstallShieldSilent.htm, which shows that we're dealing with an InstallScript installer.

 

To silently install it, we first need to create a response file for the installer. You can follow the instructions but basically you run:

 

Setup.exe -r -f1"C:\path\to\create\install.iss"

 

 

 

This will launch the installer, you run it as you normally would and the install.iss file will be created.

 

To install the program silently with our response file, you switch the -r for an -s and pass it the path of the install.iss file. I've tested this in a VM and it's worked silently:

 

Setup.exe -s -f1"C:\path\to\install.iss"

 

 

 

If you wanted to do an uninstall response file, you can do the same process as before, but also add an -x in the commands too.

 

If you're deploying this through something like ConfigMgr, you won't know the absolute path of the install.iss file when it gets copied locally to a workstation, so you need a way to find and pass this to Setup.exe so it can silently install. You could write a batch or PowerShell file to achieve this. Below is a batch file you could use:

 

@echo off
REM Run Installer
start /wait "" "%~dp0Setup.exe" -s -f1"%~dp0install.iss"

REM Return exit code
exit /B %EXIT_CODE%

 

 

 

Hope this helps!

A few years later but can confirm that this method of installation works perfectly. Thank you!

 

I did have an initial struggle trying to output the file to a network share but switched to the local drive and it outputs as expected.