Guide to Creating 32 or 64 Bit WinPE Recovery Media with WiFi Support

Mustang, thank you for another great tutorial! Made it sticky :) 

Hello,

I followed the tutorial. After boot, I get the following errors:

wlancfg.dl not found.

wlan add profile command not found.

Why is the dll missing? Can you help?

Can you tell me what is the build number of the WinRE.wim you used? Does it match the build number of ADK you used? If it does match, what are the build numbers? Some versions of WinPE and WinRE have errors in them.

Did the wlansvc start? You can tell by opening a command prompt in WinPE and entering:

net start wlansvc

The system will give you a response. It will tell you either the service is already running, the service is starting or give you an error message.

I found the problem. I think you're using WinRE from build 1607. There is a problem with that version of WinRE. The netsh command is missing the wlan option. I tested with buld 1607. The error messages are the same as what you have reported. You'll need to use a version of WinRE earlier than build 1607.

You can get teh ADK for build 1511 here:

https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/windows-assessment-deployment-kit

You'll need to get WinRE.wim from an installation DVD from build 1511.

Hello Mustang,

You're right. I was using WinRE from build 1607. I downloaded an iso for build 1511 and retrieved WinRE.wim. This solved the missing DLL issue. However, I now receive the following error on the Add Profile command:

"There is no wireless interface on the system"

The Add Profile command functions correctly on the windows system. I added the follwing to the AddDrivers.ini file:

folder1="c:\Program Files (x86)\Edimax Wireless LAN Drive\Driver" 

Is this correct? Should driver1= contain any data?

Thank you very much for your assistance.

There's no need for anything in driver1= as long as your folder in folder1 has the complete driver for the wireless adapter. Most wireless adapters also depend on the netvwifibus driver in addition to the driver for the hardware. Does the driver folder contain netvwifibus.inf and vwifibus.sys? 

No. 

Put those two files in the drivers folder and try again. You can tell if they are needed by opening the inf file for the wifi adapter and seeing if netvwifibus in mentioned in the include section.

Hi Mustang,

netvwifibus.inf is mentioned in the inf file of the adapter. I put both files in the Driver folder, but the result is the same...no wireless interface on the system.

The following is a section of the inf file:

;;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
;; EnGenius/Edimax customized installation
;;----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[CustWEP8192su.ndi.NT]
AddReg            = RTL8192su.os61.reg, RTL8192su.common.reg, RTLWLAN.reg, WEPinGmode.reg, 11nWirelessMode.reg
Include         = netvwifibus.inf
Needs        = VWiFiBus.CopyFiles
Characteristics    = 0x84
BusType            = 15 
CopyFiles        = RTL8192su.CopyFiles
*IfType            = 71            ; IF_TYPE_IEEE80211
*MediaType        = 16            ; NdisMediumNative802_11
*PhysicalMediaType    = 9          ; NdisPhysicalMediumNative802_11

[CustWEP8192su.ndi.NT.Services]
AddService        = RTL8192su, 2, RTL8192su.nt61.Service, RTL8192su.nt61.EventLog
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.Services

[CustWEP8192su.ndi.NT.HW]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs     = VWiFiBus.PnPFilterRegistration

==============================

Maybe the files should be placed in the system environment. Just a guess...I am not familiar with these issues.

How should I proceed? 

Your problem is clearly that the proper drivers are not being installed in WinPE. You haven't mentioned if you are building 32 or 64 bit MustangPE. You need to provide the proper drivers (32 or 64 bit) that match the version of MustangPE you're building.

Look at this guide for help with the drivers:

https://forum.acronis.com/forum/100770

I have a unique system that the wifi and nic are attached via the internal usb controller (Asus T200). I haven't had any luck with wifi on that one. Definitely driver issue but despite using Double driver and dism driver export it also says no wireless device found and it also takes a good 5 minutes for the PE to try and load all the drivers up so it's a pain to troubleshoot. Definitely not as easy on some systems and I only have the default Microsoft  winre so it's been tough. For this one I just use the nic and if you don't have a nic you can try a usb to Ethernet adapter or maybe a different USB external wifi adapter... good luck but hopes it gives you some consolation if you can't get yours working either.

I have a unique system that the wifi and nic are attached via the internal usb controller (Asus T200). I haven't had any luck with wifi on that one. Definitely driver issue but despite using Double driver and dism driver export it also says no wireless device found and it also takes a good 5 minutes for the PE to try and load all the drivers up so it's a pain to troubleshoot. Definitely not as easy on some systems and I only have the default Microsoft  winre so it's been tough. For this one I just use the nic and if you don't have a nic you can try a usb to Ethernet adapter or maybe a different USB external wifi adapter... good luck but hopes it gives you some consolation if you can't get yours working either.

Hello Mustang,

Thank you for pointing me to the missing link. The add profile command worked fine and I was able to access the Acronis cloud. 

 Thanks very much for your help.

You're welcome. Thanks for reporting back that you got it working.

Hi

Using Acronis True Image 2017. I am trying to make a bootable USB Stick.

In ATI I have Clicked on Rescue Media Builder.

I clicked Winpe-based Media with acronis plugin (as I did not have the ADK it was automatical downloaded and installed )

I select the usb Drive and click Proceed it begins but when it gets to updating regional settings it is stuck there.

can you help?

M9Space,

This stickyThread is primarily for a third party WinPE tool supplied by Mustang (MustangPE)...

It sounds like you are having issues with the WinPE builder directly in Acronis.  I would contact technical support directly and work with them as you have support with your product and if you run into issues they can't resolve, try posting in your own thread in the 2017 forum.

That said, they're probably going to want do know...

What OS build are using (Windows X build ??? - use winver or system information to get the full version)

What ADK did you install - it's listed in control panel - windows 10 ADK would be ideal as it is newer and can be installed on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 machines

What version of Acronis 2017 do you have installed - it's listed in control panel and/or in the app?

What is your system default language? Win PE only offers languagues for some countries (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/commercialize/manufacture/desktop/available-language-packs-for-windows).  Is your default languague one of the supported ones?  Do you see that language pack in C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\WinPE_OCs   (10 could be 8 or 8.1 if you used an older ADK)

Did you reboot your system after installing windows ADK - that might be needed as well - if you didn't use Windows 10 ADK, i'd remove the older version, reinstall Windows 10 ADK (1511 would be my choice over 1607 - links are down below) - make sure to install by right clicking the installer and "run as administrator" - do this always to ensure full admin permissions, even if logged in as an administrator already.