31 replies to this topic

[sbaeder]

Thanx for quick replay.

I understand about x64 Win7 but I just wondering can I make a x64 Win7PE_SE under x86 HostOS...

Yes - you just have to have the right "source"...but in general for a PE, (IMHO) there isn't much need for the x64 bit version unless you have somethig very specific that needs the 64 bit environment...

You explain about drivers, but what is the better way? I just need a Win7 with support for chipsets, LAN, WLAN and mass storage and because of using administrative tools and sometimes internet, these drivers needs to load before autodetect...
What is better way?

I don't think one is better or worse than the other. My own personal preference is to have the chipset and mass storage in the DISM integration, that way they always are there when it boots. MOST of the LAN drivers are also already available - or you could also add one or two specific ones if you need to as a part of the PENetwork or even the DISM approach.

On the other hand, how often do you really boot up on a machine that didn't have the LAN or needed the WAN drivers? Maybe you also want the sound or other things as well. Making it so that they are NOT part of the WIM saves RAM space and also time on a boot when they aren't needed. You can then manually run the process for DPInst, that uses the packed drivers right from driverpacks.net. The process unpacks the compressed file, then run DPInst...THEN the HW should have a driver and you can still re-run PENetworks...

So, it's really a personal choice. If you only are going to do the PE on a limited set of HW, then make sure that those drivers are in the DISM folder, and you're all set. If you think you might need other HW from time to time, then something like I have done is a good compromise between space and having them available when needed.

I am just confuse with new look... is there some part of site with scripts or do I need to use search to find it?

Not sure about this question, but I *think* the answer is YES. There are a lot of different areas here. Even in the section on WinBuilder based projects, there are things related to the project organization, and others related to the scripting...Do some searching looking for other possible scripts that might already exist for the tools you want. If not, try looking at some of the scripts for similar tools, and seeing if you can adapt one to meet your needs...Or ask for help when you need it!

Thanks
Scott

[gnikolic]

Thanx Scoot!

A relly good information.

[Ohad Malichi]

Hi guys!

I'm new to this forum but I share the same booting-world passion you do and I'm really glad I'm not alone!

Anyways, I must ask - I have been trying to use Win7PE_SE (a very cool project BTW) and I have some problems / questions:

1) Am I the only one who noticed that loading PENETWORK under VMWARE HANGS THE VM when it uses Intel's E1000 NIC Driver???
The default driver is from AMD (and there is an addon for it in the project which works normally) BUT vmware can emulate 3 kinds of NICs and not just one!
How can I Add the rest?
PENetwork recognizes the NIC (E1000) without adding a specific driver but it causes the VM to hang.
Ideas?

2) I tried to add nt6 (vista/7) DriverPacks LAN drivers to the build but I see that the script only copies the drivers to the root of the CD. I want to integrate them into the boot.wim file so that penetwork will find and install them automatically on-demand. How can I do that?

3) What about removable devices management capabilities? Will the PE OS work like a real one?

THANKS!

[RoyM]

Hi Ohad Malichi
I have noticed that PENetwork will hang Virtualbox in x86 or x64, usually restarting VM will fix problem.
Also if you have made errors in PENetwork.ini you will also see this problem.
In network and sharing center, I set the Virtual Box Host-Only Ethernet Adapter has to static IP
In PENetwork, use profileeditor to set profile to same IP used above.
In Virtualbox I use bridged adapter for Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
with adapter type Intel Pro/1000 MT Desktop (8254OEM)
This setup works 99% of the time, occasionaly PENetwork will will lock VM though. Restarting VM Fixes Problem.
If you have additional information regarding your setup, please share info
RoyM

[Ohad Malichi]

Thanks for replying!

I didn't try Virtual Box and in VMWARE rebooting won't fix this problem. No matter how many times I tried, if the NIC was set on E1000, PENetwork hangs upon load (right after it discovers the NIC type). That happens only with the above NIC type.

I want to create a general engine so if one driver hangs that's a problem for me.

Also - I don't want to use static ip settings since I'm using DHCP (I want to use 7pe to setup real pcs using Ghost via PXE).

Anyway, what I did for now (and it worked so far on a hp 8100 pc - before these steps PENETWORK didn't recognize the LAN NIC at all) is:

1) Downloaded the latest LAN Drivers for NT6 (Vista/7) from DriverPacks.
2) Decompressed them into a temp dir
3) Used the built-in search feature in Win 7 to extract all of the inf files and put them in a single dir.
4) Same for all of the sys files, overwriting similar files.
5) Used the built-in "Manual wim mount tool" in Winbuilder for the SE project (in the "debug" dir inside the project) to copy the files above to boot.wim of my project (inf files went to windows\inf & sys files went to windows\system32\drivers for a x86 build).

And BTW - USB devices work great as much as I saw so far - Plug and Play.

[sbaeder]

2) I tried to add nt6 (vista/7) DriverPacks LAN drivers to the build but I see that the script only copies the drivers to the root of the CD. I want to integrate them into the boot.wim file so that penetwork will find and install them automatically on-demand. How can I do that?

Actually, there are 2 ways (scripts) to integrate drivers, so look at both of them. One of them uses the DPINST process to load them at boot time. The *OTHER* (the one you want) integrates them all into the image in expanded form. So you can use the driver packs as is, but all you have to do is expand them so that they can be processed when building the image.

I typically do that for the LAN and Mass Storage drivers, and put some of the other things I want to have accessible in the one that uses the compressed packs at run time (if I click on the menu selection to process them :-)

3) What about removable devices management capabilities? Will the PE OS work like a real one?

Not sure 100% what you mean here - i.e. can it add a flash drive and recognize it? Or for any sort of USB/removable item???Again, a lot depends on what you have loaded into the OS when it boots (or available to be post loaded after you boot.

[abir_ncr]

Hello!

I'm building a win7PE SE x32 , I'm trying to load drivers at startup but it does not work!  Selecting the option "load" at startup for the "Driver Integration" script and for the Driver Package Installer script has not solved the problem.