SOLVED! GM-SI Install problems

mrrsm

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Not certain whether or not this is the right locale for the Topic of (GM) SI Software Installation) but since the Tech 2 AND the SI SW should work Hand In Glove for Diagnostics discoveries and repsonses for repairs... I'll give it a Go:

After the installation of the DVD Autoexec.bat for the GM SI Software to Auto Install via selecting the SI App Desktop Icon, the Firefox Screen cooks awhile in the background and then opens to a Private IP Browser and presents this Message on the Desktop Screen:

(GM LOGO) Service and Parts Operations

The SI Stand-alone application has been installed. You must install the SI Stand-alone data before using the SI Stand-alone application.

The System Hardware and Software are as follows:

RCA Cambio II Tablet
Windows 10 (32 Bit) OS
Single Tablet USB Port fed into a Powered 4 Port USB Extender
Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000 via USB Transceiver
Rioddas Model # ECD89USD USB ODD/HDD Device (External DVD)
GM OEM SI Stand Alone Software on DVD as the Installation Media
Firefox Browser (Latest Update on 04/22/2020)

I've tried using the sub-sets of the individuaL *.exe Apps to attempt to get the Database installed... and they all seem to run and percolate in the background while accessing the DVD Drive repeatedly seeming to be doing something ...but with no success.. So any additonal ideas on what else might work to coax the GM SI App to come alive will be appreciated.
 

Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
Moved under its own thread.

Not sure how your install is but the one I got from the "Dark Side" installed its own VMWare environment to run SI in WinXP and a bastardized version Internet Explorer. It also set up Foxit PDF printer to save PDFs to the XP desktop that you can then copy and paste into the host environment. It's been a while since I installed it and still have it on my old laptop because my new one's SS drive is too small.
 
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mrrsm

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@Mooseman... Dude.... DUDE!!!

It is EXACTLY like you said it would be a few weeks ago... IT IS AWESOME!

I just doped out how to do this ...but instead of using the RCA Cambio II Tablet with Windows 10... I went back to my Old School Installation of The Windows 2000 SP5 Setup on my Dell Precision M65 Work Station as the same Platform I used in the "Proof of Concept" TIS2000 Software installation some months back. THIS Time... I was able to Install the GM eSI Software OEM Dealership DVD ...and I just got it to Run PERFECTLY...

The TRICK was to RE-INSTALL THE APACHE SERVER APPLICATION using the TomCat Executable and BANG... the Offline IP properly Looped back to the Opening HTML Page for the GM eSI Application to correctly Launch in the MSIE Browser ... ONE Screen Refresh of the Browser Later... and it Hooked Up and I was Off To The Races!

MAN... I CANNOT Thank You ENOUGH for that Encouragement!

I just took some 'Quick &Dirty' Screen shots of the Dell Y2K OS Desktop Screen Prints to speed the results up and show some random "Proof Examples" for this Post:

GMESIDVD4INSTALL.jpgGMeSIEXAMPLE0.jpgGMeSIEXAMPLE1.jpgGMeSIEXAMPLE2.jpgGMeSIEXAMPLE3.jpgGMeSIEXAMPLE4.jpgGMeSIEXAMPLE5.jpg

I think we can Mark This One... SOLVED.jpg

Please Note:

The Dell Box I used will NEVER be connected to the Internet... so this entire GMeSI Installation WILL Run ...Totally Off-Line as long as the Large R-Base Files are completely Extracted onto the 'c:/' Drive. Also, assuming this is a Later Version of the Disk I just installed... For $20.00... If you can get this version to install and run...it WILL be worth the aggravation:

eBay "MAKE" Offer:


GMLOGO1.jpg
 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
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Ottawa, ON
Cool. Glad I was able to help, I guess.

What year does yours go up to? Mine only goes up to 2009.

Edit: NVM, I just saw the DVD says up to 2005
 

mrrsm

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This one covers 25 Years ...From 1980:


GMESIFROM1980.jpg

... to 2005:

GMESITO2005.jpg

But I noticed that the inception date for a lot of the main files on the DVD were Time Stamped in 2010... Not sure if that means anything or not... but I'll take this DVD for All that it is Worth since I have a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado and a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer. :>)
 
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coolasice

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Oct 27, 2013
1,019
Northern Maine
I have the VM Version that circulated via torrent for a while installed as a VM in my unraid server so I can access it from anywhere through my VPN. Not sure if yours has the service information from the older years, but mine only has bulletins for the older vehicles <1996. See attached pic for version information.Untitled.png
 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
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Ottawa, ON
Yeah, it's probably the same as mine. I'm gonna have to do something like yours. I have a file server and will have to try to move the VM onto it.
 

coolasice

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Oct 27, 2013
1,019
Northern Maine
Yeah, it's probably the same as mine. I'm gonna have to do something like yours. I have a file server and will have to try to move the VM onto it.
I had a ton of trouble getting it to run after extracting the VM and converting it to an IMG and it had constant crashing until I found out I had to change the Driver within the VM. I used a registry file called "MergeIDE" and I was able to boot the vm on my server no problem.

Only thing I haven't figured out is how to print files from it.
 
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Blckshdw

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Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Only thing I haven't figured out is how to print files from it.

I think I have the same one as you guys. Always have to print it to PDF, which stores to the VM desktop. Then drag 'n drop to my deal desktop, then I've been able to print/email them as needed. A few years ago, I tried to hack the VM settings so I could use Chrome and try to upgrade windows. I got partway there, before eventually screwing up something somewhere and performance tanked so I scrapped it and went back to stock. :sadcry: #ModdersGonnaMod
 

Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
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Ottawa, ON
Is it possible to install and run it over a mapped drive? That could be a slog though especially over wifi.
 

Blckshdw

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Nov 20, 2011
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I'd imagine it's possible, but as slow as it runs directly, I'm sure the lag over a mapped drive would be too irritating. That's what got me screwing around with settings and stuff in the first place :duh:
 

coolasice

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Oct 27, 2013
1,019
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Is it possible to install and run it over a mapped drive? That could be a slog though especially over wifi.
I wouldnt, running the vm from the mapped drive would be super slow. I was able to map a folder into the vm on the server, so now i just print to the server drive and can access from any pc or my phone/tablet in the house or out of the house thanks to my vpn.
 
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mrrsm

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Every once in a while... Dealership Buy-Out Goods come to market on eBay... like this offer among a few other GM Service & Repair Training DVDs that could come in handy... Check out the Power Point Slider on the bottom of this guys eBay Listing for some inexpensive examples:



THIS is a much better Example of what can occasionally be found...A GOLD MINE of Information on Training DVDs:

 
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mrrsm

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@coolasice ...Re: Post #8

You might want to try out this total-html-converter HTML-to-PDF Conversion Application and see if this one will work "Off Line" and has enough speed in the time it takes to convert HTML pages either singly or as multiples over to discreet PDFs that look and behave properly on screen:


...and Check THIS Out... This Dude wrote a Script and posted it here as an Open Source Code HTML to PDF Converter that you might be able to use in your VMWare-Windows Setup... Very Cool:

 
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coolasice

Member
Oct 27, 2013
1,019
Northern Maine
@coolasice ...Re: Post #8

You might want to try out this total-html-converter HTML-to-PDF Conversion Application and see if this one will work "Off Line" and has enough speed in the time it takes to convert HTML pages either singly or as multiples over to discreet PDFs that look and behave properly on screen:


...and Check THIS Out... This Dude wrote a Script and posted it here as an Open Source Code HTML to PDF Converter that you might be able to use in your VMWare-Windows Setup... Very Cool:

Already solved, I created a user share and mapped it to the vm, so within the vm I just print to pdf into that mapped drive and it saves it on the share in the server which I can access from any of my devices.
 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
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Ottawa, ON
I just installed it on an external USB3 drive. The original VMWare Player wouldn't install at all on the host Win10 so I installed the latest version. Works great and super fast except that the screen on this laptop is so much smaller it makes the display so small I have to wear my reading glasses. Then I added a shared folder that shows up in the VM so I print to PDF directly to that folder. Works a treat.

I'm gonna try playing with the display properties or try to increase magnification in IE (the usual CTRL+ didn't work)
 
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coolasice

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Oct 27, 2013
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Northern Maine
I just installed it on an external USB3 drive. The original VMWare Player wouldn't install at all on the host Win10 so I installed the latest version. Works great and super fast except that the screen on this laptop is so much smaller it makes the display so small I have to wear my reading glasses. Then I added a shared folder that shows up in the VM so I print to PDF directly to that folder. Works a treat.

I'm gonna try playing with the display properties or try to increase magnification in IE (the usual CTRL+ didn't work)
you can extract the virtual drive image from the viewer and use regular virtualbox or vmware to run it instead of the viewer. that's how i originally had it on my win10 pc, then converted it to run on the server.
 

Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
I'm good with the way I got it set up. I did get VMWare so good there too. It's just too damned small! Tried all settings, including changing to largest font size in IE and the VM's screen resolution, nada. I need a bigger laptop!
 

mrrsm

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PDF2GO has a pretty rich online "Tool Box" that might hold convenient methods for changing the Shape, Orientation and Fonts of PDFs extracted from your unique VMWare-GM eSI Set Up:


You Two Guys are TOO Clever by Halves... I hope others are reading about how you did these interesting things with SI Data... :ok:
 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
The PDF isn't the problem, it's the screen size on my laptop. Foxit PDF printer that came with the VM image is working fine. My old one was 17" while this one is a 14". I think I need another new laptop for these old eyes!
 
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coolasice

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Oct 27, 2013
1,019
Northern Maine
I think you need to change the screen resolution within the vm system, I have mine changed, and it looks fine on my end. (this is a screenshot from my 14" laptop with the vm in a windowed mode...

Edit: that or you could try setting text size to largest and going into internet explorers setting under accessibility and telling it to ignore font sizes...
 

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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
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Ottawa, ON
Yes, the ignore font sizes worked some. Just the main screen where it asks for year, make, model that the selection dropdowns are still tiny but the rest got bigger.

Tried changing the resolution in the VM and the player just resizes back to the same as before. Also used the biggest font size for windows and it did nothing. I'll try to get to the Windows accessibility settings but this bastardized version has no start menu and can't figure out how to get to the Control Panel.
 
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Blckshdw

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Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
can't figure out how to get to the Control Panel.

Right click on the empty taskbar, and launch the Task Manager. Go to the Processes tab, find and terminate StartKiller. Less than a minute later, windows complained, throws an error, and wants to close Explore.exe, when it reopens Explore, the start button was back and you can get to the expected options from there. :thumbsup:
 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
(As I was typing this, you posted)

Success! Open task manager (right click in task bar>Task Manager), then File>New Task(run...), then type "control" and voilà!, control Panel opens. Then Accessibility Options>Display>select Use High Contrast, then click the Settings button>change the High Contrast Theme. I used High Contrast White (extra large) which was the best option for me. Odd thing though is that some windows don't resize, like in the pic.
High Contrast 1.jpgGM-SI HC.jpg

After @Blckshdw posted the above info, I killed Startkiller and, in msconfig, I disabled it in Startup.

Thanks Carlton :2thumbsup:
 

Blckshdw

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Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
:rotfl: for the life of me, I couldn't remember msconfig last night. My memory is going on me 😥 Glad you got where you needed to, and it's working better.
 
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car2n

Member
Jan 19, 2022
2
el paso texas
Hello I am trying to install the GM Service Information disc this CD I installed it few years ago in another PC but for some reason doesn't install now it stops at the middle of the installation, my CD is not an SI software anyone have an idea, what could be the issue I tryied different ways withou luck, tanks in advance.
 

Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
Is it that ancient version that's been floating around since 2008? If it is, I know that the version of VMWare is so out of date that it won't run. I had to update to the latest version.

Also disable any anti-virus software and it may say that it's not safe and stop it.
 

car2n

Member
Jan 19, 2022
2
el paso texas
Is it that ancient version that's been floating around since 2008? If it is, I know that the version of VMWare is so out of date that it won't run. I had to update to the latest version.

Also disable any anti-virus software and it may say that it's not safe and stop it.
I bought it on ebay some years ago, it might be really outdated, thank you
 

wititune

Member
Sep 18, 2023
2
New Zealand
Just reading this thread while I prepare to install once downloaded. If the SI is anything like the EPC and I would take a guess that it is, all you need to do is turn on IE mode in edge and add the local site address to the IE mode pages and you are away, I have EPC4 running natively on win 11
 
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