Win 8.1SE PE/OS Problem

I can't be the only guy with this problem.  When I build this project as PE in RAM, I have no ability to access network shares.   I get an error Server service is not started.  I start Server, and get the error "Network name not found"..   

However, when I build OS in RAM, the network works fine, _BUT_, when using Diskpart, or Disk Management, when you attempt to create a partition, it freezes.  Same with diskpart.

Built using the Enterprise 8.1 Eval, and 8.1 OEM Media.   

I can't be the only one with this problem.  Did it with a straight 8.1SE pure download, as well as my custom one which has been working except wtih the above two problems for some time.   

Any thoughts?   

I did not notice that with the OS in RAM building, it works well here with diskpart or disk managment!
And I do not really use the PE mode, with the locked taskbar. Have you tried with PENetwork ?
Have you already tried with Win8pese, to see if it freezes too ?

I have tried with PEnetwork yes.  Win8pese does not do it.  With or without PENETWORK the network does not go with PE in RAM.  What build environment are you using to make yours/  OS Ver/Source Ver? 

So update.  I found the error caused by Diskpart.  it's caused by the Generic Volume driver in the Device Manager having a code38 on it.   So the build for OS in RAM causes this but PE in RAM doesn't.   Any other thoughts?

So update.  I found the error caused by Diskpart.  it's caused by the Generic Volume driver in the Device Manager having a code38 on it.   So the build for OS in RAM causes this but PE in RAM doesn't.   Any other thoughts?

No idea on that, it's strange, I let you Watch. Win8.1, PE or OS use the same driver store 

What build environment are you using to make yours/  OS Ver/Source Ver? 

I use win8.1se OS in ram with Win8.1 update 1 source or win8pese with Windows 8 source in both 32/64bit architectures.
And I still use win7pese and Gena beside them.

I'm having exactly the same problem with diskparting - I've actually been trying to find the root cause of it for some time.

Whenever I use disk part or use the same functions within disk management, its able to clean the disk but then stops working. I then get the Volume driver issue you're describing. Building using OS in RAM...

This is pretty much a dealbreaker for us and no idea what to do :/

If I build a complete 'vanilla' WIM with all default options using the same win8.1 source it's fine.

Any ideas would be great...

Like for me it seems to work for most people, I would have had other message before 
I can not reproduce and thus help . I let you watch what happens with drivers.
Also, give more detail about your hardware to have a chance to be helped by someone.

Using Volume License Windows 8.1 x86 source by the way.

I think I have managed to fix the issue. If I have the 'Run all Programs from RAM' option selected in the "Build -> CD Drive X: Y:" section then diskpart stops functioning. If I deselect this, and then manually go through all my programs and select "Run from RAM" then diskpart starts working perfectly again.

Hope that helps...

Even more strange, "Run All program from RAM" or Not, the core with diskpart and disk management are already in RAM 
On the base, there is only some external apps which are outside boot.wim.

give more detail about your hardware

Have you tried on other PC, with an other USB stick/disk ?

Im just doing another rebuild to confirm my assumption about the "run all programs from RAM" i'll update you and let you know.

Hardware: Tried on various Dell laptops, and a couple of lenovo's and all had the same issue with the disk partitioning. Everything else seems ok!

Oh and I've been using two different USB sticks using WIM booting rather than ISOs.

Tried a few different Windows 8.1 including a real OEM version..  Still no dice..    Running on a modern CoreI7.  Images don't work in Virtualbox or PXE load.  Disabled the CD Drive plugin, then removed it.   Weird....

Update.  Fresh load of 8.1 32 bit on my I7, fresh download of 8.1SE project.

What happens with diskpart, if you delete and re-create the same partition it will work.  Clean the drive, and create a couple different size partitions and it hangs..  Wierd. Does it on when booted from PXE, USB and Virtualbox.   

Here it works fine in real computer:
Decrease the size of a partition, create a new one with the free space, delete it then expand the sire of the initial partition. no worries here 
What is really strange, is that I have no feedback on that before and thus for almost a year.
I can only suggest you to use a disk management software or to try with Win8pese instead of Win8.1SE.
Good luck 

Update!

So I think I've found the cause of the issue (for me anyway).

The diskpart issue where it fails during the create partition phase appears to happen if I remove the USB stick once the OS has fully booted. If I leave the USB stick in, diskpart runs succesfully, and I can clean/partition/format etc... If I then remove the bootable usb and try to run the diskpart command again, specifically, "create partition primary" it will then stall, and show a 'generic volume' error in the storage volumes section of device manager. It may also present an error to do with the MMC snap-in not being refreshed.

I've tested this several times using the boot wim and the ISO with a virtual CD drive and the behaviour is the same - it's fine with the bootable media still attached, but creating a partition with it removed causes the diskpart fault.

This is using vanilla settings or custom settings - both have the same effect.

Tested on a Dell E3440.

Odd.   I do most of my testing in Oracle Virtual Box.   Loaded using an ISO.  I do my other tests with a USB stick and load off PXE. 

If OS in RAM won't work, then I'm back to PE in RAM.   Anyone have the same network problems I did?

Should note I've been doing PE since BartPE, VistaPE, Win7 PE, Win7Se, etc etc.   I know my way around Winbuilder, and have these all launching from PXE, with working Secure Boot..    Still just a puzzle.

Been looking at this issue for a long time now and haven't been able to resolve this diskpart problem. gizmoshq, if you happen to get anywhere with this do let me know as unfortunately I may have to abandon this project as diskpart is vital to the build :(

It seems keeping the USB stick in is the only way I can get it to work. I'm actually still getting the issue when using a virtual CD-ROM with the iso (Zalman portable HDD in ODD mode).

Thanks!

Hello,

I've had this problem as well (I first saw it when testing inside a VM, but noticed that I also couldn't create a partition with diskpart if PXE booting WinPE or if we removed the flash drive), so I've been looking into this problem, and I think I have a solution/work-around. 

I noticed that the problem only seemed to occur if I had one disk, and as long as I had more than one recognized disk on the computer when I started running commands with diskpart, it would work fine to partition a drive.  The thought then occurred to me - what would happen if I just created and attached a VHD at runtime, so that diskpart would see more than one disk when I went to partition my physical disk?  So, I created a fixed VHD in Windows that was only 3 MB in size, then created a primary partition on it and formatted it with FAT.  I then copied that into my project so that it would always be under X:\Windows\fakedisk.vhd at runtime.

After I created the VHD (after testing this out, it appeared that it does require a partition, but doesn't necessary have to be formatted - I simply did so that Windows wouldn't give the annoying format disk prompt every time WinPE loaded), I created a text file under X:\Windows\System32 named addvhd.txt, and added these lines to it:

select vdisk file=X:\Windows\fakedisk.vhd
attach vdisk
exit

I then had my launch script (which runs as soon as the desktop in WinPE loads) run this command: diskpart /s X:\Windows\System32\addvhd.txt

I verified that it worked on several laptops that only had one HDD (which I previously could not partition if I PXE booted or removed the flash drive) which did not have a flash drive present, and I could then partition the disk as I normally could.

I'm still unsure of what the root cause would be, and why this is not an issue when building a PE in RAM but not an OS in RAM, but this was a good work-around for me, and should be fairly easy to implement.  You could even probably create the VHD on the fly and attach it, but I included the VHD already partitioned/formatted as I desired in my build so that it would take slightly less time.

I hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any questions.

Hi meerschaum,

I feel this is a very nice solution 

I know this from old times, a friend ( fxscrpt ) called this technique "keep disk.sys alive" on GenaXP (by a second disk ;) )
 (it was not happening on w2003 ... a difference between server and user editions )
   you made one more drop, it doesn't happen when OS in RAM 


shortly:
Since it is a known thing from very old times, and very similar workaround you made 
I feel it would be nice if Chris put this feature on SE (plugin checkbox whatever ;), smallest disk image :) ) 
ps: Maybe you can give any letter you want with  HKLM\TMP_SYSTEM\MountedDevices ;)



and meerschaum,

If you have time ;) try to replace disk.sys with a server edition, see if this changes result (server 2008 or 2012 or ..., you know better)