Error 0xc0000017 on boot time (Win8.1 32bit Tablet, 1 GB RAM)

Hi there,

first of all: thanks for the awesome tools you are providing!

Of course I registered because I stumpled upon a problem, I was not able to resolve by myself; so I'd like to ask you for help.

Situation is as follows: I want to have a PE environment to be able to backup the data on a tablet. Specs are:
Model: Trekstor SurfTab wintron 7.0
OS: 32 bit; deleted Win10 for in favor of Win8.1 (for reasons of better privacy protection)
CPU: Intel Atom Z3735G
UEFI: 32 bit (!) though the CPU is 64 bit; secureboot and fastboot disabled; no legacy/CSM/BIOS mode available
RAM: 1 GB
HDD: 16 GB Flash

I tried out several other Live OSes. Most do not work because the boot in BIOS/Legacy/CSM mode, other do have UEFI boot, but only 64 bit. But I could seamless install Win8.1 32 bit. So I tried to build the Win8.1SE with the most recent software provided here, which was successful. However on boot time, I received Error 0xc0000017 (Ramdisk device creation failed due to insufficient memory).

I had following attemps to solve the problem:
Set "Build" > "2 - Shell & Config" > "FWBF cache size" to minimum (128 MB)
Deactivated "Tweaks" > "ImDisk Ramdrive"
and finally disable all deactivatable options (except for "StartIsBackPlus" and "Create ISO").

Problem persists. Do you have any suggestions/ideas?
Thanks in advance!

That Tablet supports 32Bit (x86 UEFI)

So use x86 OS Media for your build...

Set a USB device as your first boot device in your BIOS settings

Yes, I used Win8.1 32-bit version as source for the build. With 64-bit media the memory stick is not detected as bootable by the UEFI. I select to boot from USB (Win8.1SE 32-bit), that is when I receive the the error message.

I used Rufus to write the ISO file to a memory stick: GPT for UEFI, FAT32

Hi

What is the size of the bootable ISO ?. Also what is the size of "boot.wim" inside "Sources" folder ?.

The ISO file is 711 MB, the boot.wim is 456 MB on the memory stick\sources.

Do I guess correctly, that the sum must not exceed 1 GB? How could I (further) reduce their sizes then?

I used Rufus to write the ISO file to a memory stick: GPT for UEFI, FAT32

Does your builder have an issue writing to USB ???

Select BCDW as your Bootloader in main Configuration
and select Copy to USB-Device BCD BootMGR in writeMedia..

Thanks. I did do this, and now it got a step further: No ramdisk error anymore, however now the error code is 0x000000f (A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed.). I'll try with the standard options of the builder enabled again and googling the new error code.

A shame, I can't find the edit button. Here's the update:
With standard options (except for BCDW as Bootloader and USB-Device BCD BootMGR, disabled RamDrive and minimal (128 MB) FBWF cache size) again I received the 0xc0000017 error. I then disabled all the "final" and "other OS" scripts (except for the ISO creation) and left the others untouched. This results in 0x000000f again. Googling the error code revealed that for some people the hard disk was broken. This is not my case, especially because I am booting from a USB device (which perfectly boots the Win8.1 setup on the tablet and any other thing on my laptop). However, when booting a different backup software (AOMEI) on the tablet, it couldn't find C: - CloneZilla on the contrary did. I remain puzzled. I try with including device specific drivers again. ...tomorrow.

 Thanks for your ideas so far.

Best,
cabroncito

Hi

A 0x000000f error message can be the result of missing "\boot\boot.sdi" file. Also i would say that 456 MB sized WIM is quiet large for 1 GB RAM. If possible, reduce the size of WIM by -

 - Deselect all unnecessary apps - ie, "Opera" if you don't need to browse internet from PE.

 - Deselect unnecessary components - ie, bitlocker, network support (if internet is not required)

 - Extra drivers like Original display driver, original Net drivers, Audio support etc.

 - Set compression level to "Maximum" in "Final-->Post config" script.

This did the trick! Maximum compression of the .wim file was not yet sufficient, but removing bitlocker, flash and opera was enough. Got even enough space to integrate small specific drivers and finally got the even the touchscreen to work correctly (tough I do miss the onscreen keyboard - seems not to be part of the SE system). I further removed some components (PENetwork, Ms Viewer, MSI installer, Wordpad), Apps (Portable, Office), original drivers (audio, network, USB3), disable beautiful explorer, other language files and keyboards. File sizes of .iso and .wim decreased from 380/330 MB to 320/280 BM now. However, the taskmanager in the PE system still shows only 120 MB of available memory ( 10 MB free, 120 MB in cache). Are there other ways to further increase this value? If not (or not without crippling the system too much), no worries: I am very thankful that now the SE system now is running. I can work with it.
By chance, do you already have a solution for the onscreen keyboard? Would be perfect then.

Referring to 0x000000f: boot.sdi file was there, surprisingly the .wim file was missing.

Again, thanks a lot for resolving the 0xc0000017 with me.

cabroncito, nice to see your problems were solved!
I must admit I haven't read this complete topic, just the last part about minimizing memory use. This reminded me of my own findings on low-RAM notebooks (1gb). The 320mb boot.wim you mention sounds very familiar, this is also my 8.1SE wim size.

Not sure if this is helpful, but have you also considered Win8PESE? This is still my favourite on these 1gb laptops, mainly because its low memory usage: the boot.wim is 252mb. I must admit I don't even know if this would run on your tablet?
Of course, Win7PESE is even smaller: 160mb in my case.
For comparison:
Win7PESE32: Wim=160mb, boot=60 seconds, memory used=375mb, memory load=37%
Win8PESE64: Wim=252mb, boot=65s, used=545mb, load=53%
Win8.1SE64: Wim=320mb, boot=90s, used=746mb, load=73%
Win10PESE64: Wim=326mb, boot=80s, used=658mb, load=64%

Like yourself, I also used to have very "strange" and exotic error messages when using too much "stuff" in my PE on low-RAM systems... 

I haven't considered, yet, a different Windows version; it didn't come to my mind that older versions need less memory. But it sounds definitely like a good idea to try in case I get in trouble with too little free RAM - at least trying a different Win8 Version. For Win7 I'm afraid that I won't find drivers for the tablet. Anyhow, as for now I am happy with the 8.1 version since it serves the purpose I expect it to do: Backing up the hard drive, even with little free RAM left.

About the virtual keyboard: I found a portable working version of an onscreen keyboard: FreeVK. The one from portableApps unfortunately didn't start on the tablet; maybe its resolution (1024px) is too low.

Summarizing: Just perfect now! Thanks again for this tool and all your help, and sorry if this thing turned out trivial and wasted your time. I know you guys do not have much. But remember you made someone (who was quite frustrated already about all the not working (better: not on 32bit UEFI working) liveOSes out there) very happy.

FreeVK. The one from portableApps unfortunately didn't start on the tablet; maybe its resolution (1024px) is too low.

Try
\Downloads\AppYGS\Accessibility\FreeVK

there are also other keyboard options under
\Downloads\AppYGS\Accessibility\


ps: avoid using portableApps when not required on pe.