MVP_ATIPEBuilder_V186 media boots but no network connectivity

Walt, welcome to these public User Forums.

If you are trying to use wireless networking for the Acronis rescue media, including the MVP version, then this is not very easy to achieve.

I would recommend using a wired network connection which should work fine with all the different types of rescue media and without the need to inject additional device drivers in most cases.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for responding so quickly, as you can probably I am new to using the forum, and may be making many mistakes in providing the information someone would need to help me.  However, to follow up on your comment, both the computer and NAS are hard wired to the network.  

On my first attempt to build the bootable media, I didn't attempt to inject any additional drivers.  This is where I first saw that there was no network drives.  That's what led me to believe I might be missing a network driver.  So I started looking for network drivers (ignoring anything that looked like it might be related to wireless or bluetooth).

These problems seemed to start when I upgraded to TI 2020.  I don't believe I had these issues with 2019, but I may be wrong about this.

Thanks again for your help, and would very much welcome any additional suggestions.

Walt, thanks for the clarification that this is wired network scenario.

As such, then any of the rescue media should normally detect your Ethernet adapter unless you have something very different to the norm?

All of the rescue media is capable of booting in either UEFI or Legacy boot modes, so not sure why you had issues with the Linux media not startng ATI.  I have used that version across a wide range of old and new computers where it has detected network controllers fine, even working with wireless in some!

For the WinPE media, this is created according to your processor architecture, so mainly will be 64-bit media (which won't work on 32-bit machines).

The first check to make when booted from the rescue media is whether your network adapter has been found and recognised, so open the Network Options panel to check this:

If your network adapter is shown along with an IP address being allocated, then you should be able to access any of the network resources on the same network.

Note: the image above was captured from a VMware virtual machine which uses a different network subnet to where my own NAS etc is located, so cannot show any connections.  If your NAS doesn't show automatically, then try using \\WD-NAS (with the correct name) or else use the IP address in the form \\192.168.0.1 and see if that allows access.

Thanks again Steve, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help!  

I think that we are going down the same path except I ran ipconfig /all from the command prompt and didnt see any network adapters.  Here's what I got:

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : 
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
 

Out of frustration, I took a look at a competing product and ran the same command from the command prompt after booting from their rescue disk and got these results:

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : minint-gthbs78
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 68-05-CA-02-AC-9A
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 0C-54-A5-18-BD-2C
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::cc70:6866:e746:59c%2(Preferred) 
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.4(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, March 05, 2020 12:19:11 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, March 06, 2020 12:19:11 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 34362533
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-25-F3-17-14-0C-54-A5-18-BD-2C
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

This is what I would have expected to get when booting from the Acronis disk.

Finally I rebuilt the rescue media, ensuring that I had the inf file in the list of custom drivers to insert for the  Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller.

The injection said that these drivers were successfully installed, but I'm not sure that I'm seeing the expected .sys files in x:\windows\system32\drivers.

So, I'm not sure why the network adapters are not being detected.

Any thoughts on what to try next?

Thanks!

Finally I rebuilt the rescue media, ensuring that I had the inf file in the list of custom drivers to insert for the  Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller.

Walt, please see forum topic:  Guide to Add Drivers to WinPE Recovery Media - this was written a while back but the principle remains the same.

Skip over the initial information about using dism commands and start with the Tips section for collecting all the necessary files per the .inf file you are dealing with for your ethernet adapter and put these together in a folder that will be used by the MVP builder.

See also forum topic: TI or MVP builder cannot see drives or TI USB external disk -- Win7 Intel RAID where another user needed help to add custom drivers to their rescue media recently.

One of the main things for adding the drivers is to ensure the drivers match the version of ADK (or WinRE) being used in the rescue media build.  True Image, by default, will try to use WinRE (your systems Windows recovery environment).  That "should" already include the local system drivers for the OS.

However, if you are using Windows ADK to build rescue media (advanced option), then you need to make sure the drivers match the ADK being used in the rescue media.  For instance, even on a Windows 7 machine, I will still used Windows 10 ADK (because it's newer and has better driver support 99.99% of the time) so if I do need to include a custom driver, it needs to also be Windows 10.

When adding drivers to Windows ADK, it needs to be a fully extracted version (no .zip files or .exe's).  You can get intel's full NIC driver package from a list of common driver links I put together (they go directly to the manufacturer websites - no third party drivers or anything like that).

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RSVbF5C3ykSGOKnD_vLh3xX6-LxqY8VXp9XZd7MMQrs/

 it links to Intel...

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/22283/Intel-Ethernet-Adapter-Complete-Driver-Pack

extract that and find the right one for your system and you can add that in the default Acronis rescue media builder or the MVP version.

That's assuming that's the issue though... it does seem like the adapter is not being recognized.

Walt, it looks like you have 2 Ethernet adapters: an Intel(R) Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter card and a Realtek (onboard?) adapter.  And it looks like you're using the Realtek adapter.  Is that right?  If so, I wonder if the recovery medium is getting confused by the Intel adapter and somehow is not getting to the Realtek.

Have you tried using the Intel adapter just to see what happens?  You say you've injected the driver for the Intel so maybe it will work.

This is just a feeble guess.

You clearly don't have the driver for either adapter installed properly in the MVP Tool.

Go to Device Manager and look at the properties of each network adapter. Click on the Driver tab and then the Driver details button. This will show you the list of files needed. Then find the proper inf file by clicking on the Details tab and clicking on the drop down arrow next to the Properties line. Scroll down and select inf name to see the inf file. You will find the inf file in C:\Windows\Inf.

This will give you the files that need to be included in the Driver_Custom\x64_Windows_7 folder. Create a separate folder for each driver.

I may not have included the correct inf files, but before I try again, I'm wondering about the dll files I see in the driver list.  Do I copy them into the folder with the inf file for the custom build?

The files for the other adapter are similar, several dll's and a .sys file.  I'm assuming I copy them all to the respective folders for the specific adapter.

Thanks, again!  I'll let you know the results.

Not sure what happened to the screen shots I pasted into my previous post.  Is there a trick to including an image in the post?

Yes, you need the inf file and all the files shown. Another method to see the files needed along with the inf file is to open the inf file with notepad.exe. Then use Edit/Search for SourceDisksFiles. This will bring you to a list of all the necessary files. The sys file is at C:\Windows\System32\drivers and the other files are at C:\Windows\System32.

I suspect you will need the inf file, 3 dll files, a din file and a sys file.

I'm still not seeing any eithernet adapters when I run ipconfig /all.

I've done the following with some interesting results (at least I found them interesting)

1. I copied the .inf files and .dll files to separate folders in the custom drivers folder in preparation to rerun ATIPEBuilder.
2. I reran ATIPEBuilder and created a USB flash drive.
3. Rebooted from the flash drive and ran ipconfig /all which showed no network adapters.
4. I rebooted Windows 7 and I copied the newly created .wim file from the flash drive to c:\temp as described in article A Guide to add drivers to WinPE...  
5. After mounting the image with DISM I ran ran the DISM /get-drivers, and I see the drivers I want to see.

Published Name : oem36.inf
Original File Name : oem91.inf
Inbox : No
Class Name : Net
Provider Name : Intel
Date : 5/26/2015
Version : 12.7.28.0

Published Name : oem37.inf
Original File Name : oem83.inf
Inbox : No
Class Name : Net
Provider Name : Realtek
Date : 4/23/2014
Version : 7.85.423.2014

The versions and dates match what I see under Windows 7.

So it looks like I have the correct drivers in my WinPE image, but it still doesn't work.

Does anyone think that there might be something wrong with the .wim file I'm starting with?

Would the next step be to uninstall TI 2020, redownload it and start over with a clean copy of everything?

Thank you everyone for your help.  Hopefully, I'll be able to help someone else in the future.

That's strange. A bit mismatch between the driver and the WinRE.wim file could cause this.

1. Is your Windows 7 Ultimate system 64 bit?

2. Are you still using the build from WinRE option in the MVP Tool?

3. Boot the recovery media and open regedit.exe. Look at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment. Look on the right for PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE. Is it AMD64 or x86?

Also boot the media and look at PENetwork. The top line has a box with network adapters and a drop down arrow. Is anything listed there?

Could there be a firewall issue with your router causing this?

1. Is your Windows 7 Ultimate system 64 bit?  Yes

2. Are you still using the build from WinRE option in the MVP Tool?  Yes the bootable usb was created with the MVP tool.

3. Boot the recovery media and open regedit.exe. Look at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment. Look on the right for PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE. Is it AMD64 or x86?  

That key was not present in the registry when I boot from the recovery media.  I did check it when I booted from Windows 7 and I found the key there and it was AMD64.

I ran PENetwork in the recovery environment, and both Eithernet adapters where showing up in the dropdown at the top of the window.  No other information was being displayed on the form.

I hope this helps.

Seeing the adapters in PENetwork means the drivers for both adapters are working properly. If the drivers weren't working, you wouldn't see the adapter listed. Use the drop down arrow to select the adapter that has the ethernet cable attached. Look just below the adapter name and see the word State. You will either see a connected icon or a disconnected icon. Which icon do you see?

************ P R O B L E M   S O L V E D  ****************

The adapter with the cable plugged in shows as connected, and clicking on the info button I'm seeing all the correct ip addresses.  The other adapter shows disconnected, as it should.

running ipconfig, I'm seeing the same information as shown in PENetwork.

The only thing that didn't work was the map drive command I supplied to the MVP tool.  I don't even think I needed to map a drive.  Acronis was able to navigate to my NAS via the NAS Devices entry in the file tree.

Thank you very much for sticking with to get this working correctly!!!  Driver problem solved!

Very good.

Walt wrote:

The only thing that didn't work was the map drive command I supplied to the MVP tool.  I don't even think I needed to map a drive.  Acronis was able to navigate to my NAS via the NAS Devices entry in the file tree.

Instead of having the tool execute automatically, you can put a command file in the builder's Extra\x64 directory.  (And tell the builder not to include drive mapping.)  The builder will put the command in the recovery medium's X:\Program Files\Extra directory where you can execute it manually.  That may show you why it's failing.  And you will avoid pause in initialization that the initialization inserts when doing the mapping.  (At least it used to.  I haven't had it include the mapping for many releases of the builder.)

As you've found out, ATI doesn't need to have the drive(s) mapped, but if mapping makes you life easier there's not reason not to get it working.