Create a Virtual CEPC OS Run-Time Image (Compact 7)

  • Article

3/12/2014

To run Windows Embedded Compact on a virtual CEPC, you must first create an OS design that supports a virtual CEPC. To create an OS design for your virtual CEPC, you perform the tasks described below. Upon completion, you will have an OS run-time image for your OS design that you can load and run in Virtual PC.

Tasks to Create a Virtual CEPC OS Design

  • Task 1: Create a Project for Your OS Design
  • Task 2: Configure Your OS Design
  • Task 3: Add Catalog Items to Your OS Design
  • Task 4: Select a Virtual CEPC Keyboard Driver
  • Task 5: Build Your OS Design

Task 1: Create a Project for Your OS Design

If you do not have an existing Platform Builder project for your OS design, use the following steps to create one.

To create a project for your OS design

  1. In Visual Studio 2008, on the File menu, click New, and then click Project.

  2. In the New Project dialog box, under Project types, select **Platform Builder **.

  3. In the Name box, type a name for your project (for example, "VCEPC").

  4. In the Location box, you can accept the default location %_WINCEROOT%\OSDesigns, or you can browse to a different location.

    Platform Builder will create a new folder for your virtual CEPC OS design at the location you choose.

  5. In the Solution Name box, type the solution name that you want to use or accept the default name that you typed in step 3. Click OK.

Task 2: Configure Your OS Design

After you create a project for your OS design, you configure your OS design through the OS Design Wizard. You start with an OS design template and then add or remove catalog items to build the functionality that you want into your OS design.

To configure your virtual CEPC OS design

  1. After you type a name and location for your project as directed in the previous list of steps, Platform Builder starts the OS Design Wizard. When the Welcome to the OS Design Wizard page appears, click Next.

  2. On the Board Support Packages page, under Select one or more BSPs, select Virtual PC: x86, and then click Next.

  3. If the Core OS page appears, choose Windows Embedded Compact, and then click Next.

  4. On the Design Templates page, you customize your OS design by selecting a design template that best approximates the characteristics of the physical device you want to emulate. The Enterprise Handheld template is a good starting point to use with your virtual CEPC. To create an OS design based on the Enterprise Handheld template, expand Enterprise Device, select Handheld, and then click Next.

    Warning

    If you use a template other than Enterprise Handheld, you may not have all the catalog items required to build a virtual CEPC. For information about how to add catalog items to your design, see Task 3: Add Catalog Items to Your OS Design.

  5. When the OS Design Wizard presents the Applications and Media page, select any additional applications or services that you want to include in your OS design, and then click Next.

  6. On the Networking and Communications page, expand Local Area Network (LAN), and select Wired Local Area Network. Click Next.

  7. When the OS Design Wizard presents the OS Design Project Wizard Complete page, clear the Build the following configuration after I click Finish check box (if it is selected), so that you can build the OS design in a later step. Click Finish.

  8. Platform Builder may display a notification window that explains security warnings that are associated with certain catalog items that are included in your OS design. Click Acknowledge to indicate that you have read and fully understand these warnings.

Task 3: Add Catalog Items to Your OS Design

If there are any additional catalog items that you would like to include in your OS design, you must add them before you build your OS design.

To add catalog items to your OS design

  1. You add new catalog items by using the Catalog Items View. If the Catalog Items View is not visible, follow these steps to make it visible:

    1. In Visual Studio, click the View menu.
    2. Click Other Windows, and then click Catalog Items View.
      The Catalog Items View pane appears in Visual Studio.

  2. In the Catalog Items View pane, select one or more catalog items to include in your OS design. For example, to add the catalog item **Silverlight for Windows Embedded **, follow these steps:

    1. Expand Core OS, expand Windows Embedded Compact, expand Shell and User Interface, and then select **Silverlight for Windows Embedded **.
    2. Select the **Silverlight for Windows Embedded ** catalog item.
    3. On the File menu, click Save All to save your catalog item changes.

Task 4: Select a Virtual CEPC Keyboard Driver

Depending on which version of Windows you are running on your host computer, you must select a specific keyboard driver to include in your OS design. The virtual CEPC will use this driver to communicate with the host computer keyboard.

To select a keyboard driver

  1. In the Catalog Items View pane, expand BSP, Virtual PC : x86, Device Drivers, and then Keyboard.

  2. If your host computer is running Windows 7, select the check box for VCEPC Keyboard driver:WIN7VPC. If your host computer is running Windows Vista or Windows XP, select the check box for VCEPC Keyboard driver:VPC2007.

  3. On the File menu, click Save All to save your changes.

Task 5: Build Your OS Design

At this point, the OS Design Wizard has created your OS design, but it has not yet built an OS image that you can load in Virtual PC.

To build your OS design

  1. In Visual Studio, click the Build menu.

  2. Click Build Solution to build your OS design.

When you build your OS design, Platform Builder compiles and links the modules that go into your OS image. The Visual Studio Output window displays the progress of the build. The build process may take several minutes or more to complete, depending on the speed of your computer.

Platform Builder creates your OS design in the folder %_WINCEROOT%\OSDesigns, using the name of your OS design as the folder name. For example, if you choose the name "VCEPC" for your OS design, Platform Builder creates an OS design folder in the following location:

%_WINCEROOT%\OSDesigns\VCEPC

When the build completes successfully, Platform Builder creates your OS image in your OS design folder. For a release build of "VCEPC", for example, your OS image can be found at the following location:

%_WINCEROOT%\OSDesigns\VCEPC\VCEPC\RelDir\VirtualPC_x86_Release\NK.bin

The next section explains how to configure Virtual PC to load and run this virtual CEPC OS image.

Next Steps

Create a Virtual Machine for a Virtual CEPC

See Also

Concepts

Create and Run a Virtual CEPC