[gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Mick]

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Hi All,

I seem to be having problems unpacking a particular wireless driver.  I tried 
both unzip and cabextract and neither will do the deed:
=======================================================
 $ unzip -l wg511v2_3_2.exe 
Archive:  wg511v2_3_2.exe
  End-of-central-directory signature not found.  Either this file is not
  a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive.  In the
  latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
  the last disk(s) of this archive.
note:  wg511v2_3_2.exe may be a plain executable, not an archive
unzip:  cannot find zipfile directory in one of wg511v2_3_2.exe or
        wg511v2_3_2.exe.zip, and cannot find wg511v2_3_2.exe.ZIP, period.

$ cabextract -l wg511v2_3_2.exe 
wg511v2_3_2.exe: no valid cabinets found

All done, errors in processing 1 file(s)
=======================================================

Last time I used cabextract (more than a couple of years now) I don't recall 
having such problems.  How can I troubleshoot this, or how else can I extract 
the .sys files from in there?
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Jesús Guerrero]

On Wed, 9 Sep 2009 22:23:43 +0100, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I seem to be having problems unpacking a particular wireless driver.  I
> tried 
> both unzip and cabextract and neither will do the deed:
> =======================================================
>  $ unzip -l wg511v2_3_2.exe 
> Archive:  wg511v2_3_2.exe
>   End-of-central-directory signature not found.  Either this file is not
>   a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive.  In the
>   latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
>   the last disk(s) of this archive.
> note:  wg511v2_3_2.exe may be a plain executable, not an archive
> unzip:  cannot find zipfile directory in one of wg511v2_3_2.exe or
>         wg511v2_3_2.exe.zip, and cannot find wg511v2_3_2.exe.ZIP,
period.
> 
> $ cabextract -l wg511v2_3_2.exe 
> wg511v2_3_2.exe: no valid cabinets found
> 
> All done, errors in processing 1 file(s)
> =======================================================
> 
> Last time I used cabextract (more than a couple of years now) I don't
> recall 
> having such problems.  How can I troubleshoot this, or how else can I
> extract 
> the .sys files from in there?

The files can be compressed with whatever algorithm. So you can
still try unrar and many others. Failing that, you can still
try to extract it using wine.

-- 
Jesús Guerrero

Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Mittwoch 09 September 2009, Mick wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I seem to be having problems unpacking a particular wireless driver.  I
>  tried both unzip and cabextract and neither will do the deed:
> =======================================================
>  $ unzip -l wg511v2_3_2.exe
> Archive:  wg511v2_3_2.exe
>   End-of-central-directory signature not found.  Either this file is not
>   a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive.  In the
>   latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
>   the last disk(s) of this archive.
> note:  wg511v2_3_2.exe may be a plain executable, not an archive
> unzip:  cannot find zipfile directory in one of wg511v2_3_2.exe or
>         wg511v2_3_2.exe.zip, and cannot find wg511v2_3_2.exe.ZIP, period.
> 
> $ cabextract -l wg511v2_3_2.exe
> wg511v2_3_2.exe: no valid cabinets found
> 
> All done, errors in processing 1 file(s)
> =======================================================
> 
> Last time I used cabextract (more than a couple of years now) I don't
>  recall having such problems.  How can I troubleshoot this, or how else can
>  I extract the .sys files from in there?
> 

what does file says about that file? and doesn't need zip a .zip ending?

Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Paul Hartman]

On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 4:29 PM, Volker Armin Hemmann
<volkerarmin@googlemail.com> wrote:
> On Mittwoch 09 September 2009, Mick wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I seem to be having problems unpacking a particular wireless driver.  I
>>  tried both unzip and cabextract and neither will do the deed:
>> =======================================================
>>  $ unzip -l wg511v2_3_2.exe
>> Archive:  wg511v2_3_2.exe
>>   End-of-central-directory signature not found.  Either this file is not
>>   a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive.  In the
>>   latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
>>   the last disk(s) of this archive.
>> note:  wg511v2_3_2.exe may be a plain executable, not an archive
>> unzip:  cannot find zipfile directory in one of wg511v2_3_2.exe or
>>         wg511v2_3_2.exe.zip, and cannot find wg511v2_3_2.exe.ZIP, period.
>>
>> $ cabextract -l wg511v2_3_2.exe
>> wg511v2_3_2.exe: no valid cabinets found
>>
>> All done, errors in processing 1 file(s)
>> =======================================================
>>
>> Last time I used cabextract (more than a couple of years now) I don't
>>  recall having such problems.  How can I troubleshoot this, or how else can
>>  I extract the .sys files from in there?
>>
>
> what does file says about that file? and doesn't need zip a .zip ending?

Self-extracting ZIP (and other archive format) files from DOS,
Windows, OS/2, etc are usually an executable program with ZIP file
appended. The stub program knows to seek to the end of its executable
data to look for the archive it is to extract and unzip (etc) are able
to detect this stub and bypass it.

I googled the file wg511v2_3_2.exe and downloaded it. It is a
InstallShield program, containing an MSI containing a CAB. AFAIK there
are no Linux programs that are able to unpack -current- versions of
InstallShield.

I am on Windows XP right now (at work), I have unpacked the contents
and can email them to the OP or upload somewhere if you'd like. Let me
know.

Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Mick]

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On Wednesday 09 September 2009, Paul Hartman wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 4:29 PM, Volker Armin Hemmann
>
> <volkerarmin@googlemail.com> wrote:
> > On Mittwoch 09 September 2009, Mick wrote:
> >> Hi All,
> >>
> >> I seem to be having problems unpacking a particular wireless driver.  I
> >>  tried both unzip and cabextract and neither will do the deed:
> >> =======================================================
> >>  $ unzip -l wg511v2_3_2.exe
> >> Archive:  wg511v2_3_2.exe
> >>   End-of-central-directory signature not found.  Either this file is not
> >>   a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive.  In the
> >>   latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
> >>   the last disk(s) of this archive.
> >> note:  wg511v2_3_2.exe may be a plain executable, not an archive
> >> unzip:  cannot find zipfile directory in one of wg511v2_3_2.exe or
> >>         wg511v2_3_2.exe.zip, and cannot find wg511v2_3_2.exe.ZIP,
> >> period.
> >>
> >> $ cabextract -l wg511v2_3_2.exe
> >> wg511v2_3_2.exe: no valid cabinets found
> >>
> >> All done, errors in processing 1 file(s)
> >> =======================================================
> >>
> >> Last time I used cabextract (more than a couple of years now) I don't
> >>  recall having such problems.  How can I troubleshoot this, or how else
> >> can I extract the .sys files from in there?
> >
> > what does file says about that file? and doesn't need zip a .zip ending?

$ file -z wg511v2_3_2.exe 
wg511v2_3_2.exe: MS-DOS executable PE  for MS Windows (GUI) Intel 80386 32-bit

I tried replacing the .exe with .zip but had the same results.

> Self-extracting ZIP (and other archive format) files from DOS,
> Windows, OS/2, etc are usually an executable program with ZIP file
> appended. The stub program knows to seek to the end of its executable
> data to look for the archive it is to extract and unzip (etc) are able
> to detect this stub and bypass it.
>
> I googled the file wg511v2_3_2.exe and downloaded it. It is a
> InstallShield program, containing an MSI containing a CAB. AFAIK there
> are no Linux programs that are able to unpack -current- versions of
> InstallShield.
>
> I am on Windows XP right now (at work), I have unpacked the contents
> and can email them to the OP or upload somewhere if you'd like. Let me
> know.

Thanks Paul!  How do you unpack the contents in WinXP?  If you run the .exe it 
just installs it/them all over the fs, right?

I would be grateful for .sys and .inf files please.  Either email them off 
list or upload them somewhere and let me have a URL to download them.  This 
is where the original .exe came from:

ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/wg511v2_3_2.exe
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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RE: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Adam Carter]

Did you try running the .exe with wine?

Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Mick]

2009/9/10 Adam Carter <Adam.Carter@optus.com.au>:
> Did you try running the .exe with wine?

Thanks Adam, I don't have WINE on this old machine, or the space for
it.  Even if I did - how do I find the files (don't know what their
names are).  Is it a matter of running the .exe so that it installs
and assuming that it does not fail then diff-ing the fs before and
after, or ls -l -a -t to find the latest files which were modified?
-- 
Regards,
Mick

Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Jesús Guerrero]

On Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:17:28 +0100, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com>
wrote:
> 2009/9/10 Adam Carter <Adam.Carter@optus.com.au>:
>> Did you try running the .exe with wine?
> 
> Thanks Adam, I don't have WINE on this old machine, or the space for
> it.  Even if I did - how do I find the files (don't know what their
> names are).  Is it a matter of running the .exe so that it installs
> and assuming that it does not fail then diff-ing the fs before and
> after, or ls -l -a -t to find the latest files which were modified?

Well, the installer itself needs to be decompressed to run. Most windows
installers install the intermediate files in c:\windows\temp (which
usually would be ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/temp. Some others create a
temporal dir under c:\ (~/.wine/drive_c). It's a matter of firing 
up the installer and go looking around there with each step until
you can find them.


By the way, I've tried decompressing the file with 7z and it indeed
extracts 6 files, however I have no idea what they contain. It must
be the pieces that installshield chain together. I have no idea if
it's possible to extract something from there or not. There's a big
file called textually '[DATA]', which is the biggest one, so the
stuff must be there. I guess that's the one containing the compressed
files, the rest of the files must be the exe header and the install
shield control into. However I haven't manager to decompress that
'[DATA]' file using anything.

-- 
Jesús Guerrero

Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Mick]

2009/9/10 Jesús Guerrero <i92guboj@terra.es>:
> On Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:17:28 +0100, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> 2009/9/10 Adam Carter <Adam.Carter@optus.com.au>:
>>> Did you try running the .exe with wine?
>>
>> Thanks Adam, I don't have WINE on this old machine, or the space for
>> it.  Even if I did - how do I find the files (don't know what their
>> names are).  Is it a matter of running the .exe so that it installs
>> and assuming that it does not fail then diff-ing the fs before and
>> after, or ls -l -a -t to find the latest files which were modified?
>
> Well, the installer itself needs to be decompressed to run. Most windows
> installers install the intermediate files in c:\windows\temp (which
> usually would be ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/temp. Some others create a
> temporal dir under c:\ (~/.wine/drive_c). It's a matter of firing
> up the installer and go looking around there with each step until
> you can find them.
>
>
> By the way, I've tried decompressing the file with 7z and it indeed
> extracts 6 files, however I have no idea what they contain.

Hmm ... p7zip does not seem to like it over here - is it different to 7z?

$ p7zip -d wg511v2_3_2.exe
/usr/bin/p7zip: wg511v2_3_2.exe: unknown suffix -- ignored


> It must
> be the pieces that installshield chain together. I have no idea if
> it's possible to extract something from there or not. There's a big
> file called textually '[DATA]', which is the biggest one, so the
> stuff must be there. I guess that's the one containing the compressed
> files, the rest of the files must be the exe header and the install
> shield control into. However I haven't manager to decompress that
> '[DATA]' file using anything.
>
> --
> Jesús Guerrero
>
>



-- 
Regards,
Mick

Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Jesús Guerrero]

On Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:39:11 +0100, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com>
wrote:
> 2009/9/10 Jesús Guerrero <i92guboj@terra.es>:
>> On Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:17:28 +0100, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> 2009/9/10 Adam Carter <Adam.Carter@optus.com.au>:
>>>> Did you try running the .exe with wine?
>>>
>>> Thanks Adam, I don't have WINE on this old machine, or the space for
>>> it.  Even if I did - how do I find the files (don't know what their
>>> names are).  Is it a matter of running the .exe so that it installs
>>> and assuming that it does not fail then diff-ing the fs before and
>>> after, or ls -l -a -t to find the latest files which were modified?
>>
>> Well, the installer itself needs to be decompressed to run. Most
windows
>> installers install the intermediate files in c:\windows\temp (which
>> usually would be ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/temp. Some others create a
>> temporal dir under c:\ (~/.wine/drive_c). It's a matter of firing
>> up the installer and go looking around there with each step until
>> you can find them.
>>
>>
>> By the way, I've tried decompressing the file with 7z and it indeed
>> extracts 6 files, however I have no idea what they contain.
> 
> Hmm ... p7zip does not seem to like it over here - is it different to
7z?
> 
> $ p7zip -d wg511v2_3_2.exe
> /usr/bin/p7zip: wg511v2_3_2.exe: unknown suffix -- ignored

I've used the 7z binary that comes shipped with p7zip-4.65 in Gentoo.
The command I used was

  $ 7z x wg511v2_3_2.exe 

  7-Zip 4.65  Copyright (c) 1999-2009 Igor Pavlov  2009-02-03
  p7zip Version 4.65 (locale=es_ES.utf8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,1 CPU)

  Processing archive: wg511v2_3_2.exe

  Extracting  .text
  Extracting  .rdata
  Extracting  .data
  Extracting  .rsrc
  Extracting  CERTIFICATE
  Extracting  [data-1]

  Everything is Ok

  Files: 6
  Size:       18794632
  Compressed: 18798728

I reviewed the ebuild, just in case, and it doesn't apply any strange
patch so it must be a standard feature. I haven't much experience with
p7zip itself, but it doesn't seem to be quite the same than 7z. 7z serves
as a frontend for many compression algorithms. It can surely open most
compressed formats around.


-- 
Jesús Guerrero

RE: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[David Juhl]

You should be able to unzip it with unzip or p7zip if it is a regular
zip file.  If it is a cabinet file then you need cabextract.

Dave
On Thu, 2009-09-10 at 17:02 +1000, Adam Carter wrote:
> Did you try running the .exe with wine?
> 

Re: [gentoo-user] Unpacking a .exe file

[Paul Hartman]

On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 12:14 AM, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wednesday 09 September 2009, Paul Hartman wrote:
>> I am on Windows XP right now (at work), I have unpacked the contents
>> and can email them to the OP or upload somewhere if you'd like. Let me
>> know.
>
> Thanks Paul!  How do you unpack the contents in WinXP?  If you run the .exe it
> just installs it/them all over the fs, right?

Well, the "easy" way is to run the installer, then while it is open
(waiting for you to click "Next" like all windows installers do)
browse to "c:\Windows\Downloaded Installations\".  The folder names
will just be GUIDs so I will sort by date and fine the most recent
one.  Alternatively you can get InstallShield developer tools which
can often unpack the files. Check out
http://www.lifeasbob.com/2009/07/21/OpenAnInstallshieldCabFile.aspx
for an example (no idea if it works in WINE though).

In the case of your file, that folder contained 3 extracted files, the
most interesting of which was this 10 meg file: "NETGEAR WG511v2
wireless PC card.msi" which is a Windows Installer file.

From there I was able to open the MSI file with 7-Zip, and saw that
the MSI contained a 4-megabyte CAB file. Again used 7-zip to extract
and then open the CAB file and re-zip its contents to a standard ZIP
file for you.

So, in summary, the 4 megabytes of actual files were wrapped in a
Windows Installer wrapped in an InstallShield which inflated the size
from 4mb to 18mb. That's windows drivers for you. :)