Using wimlib add WinRE.wim to install.wim

[asdddsa101]

I use wimlib-imagex to add WinRE.wim to install.wim with the following command

Code: Select all

wimlib-imagex.exe update D:\install.wim 1 --command="add 'D:\WinRE.wim' '\Windows\System32\Recovery\WinRE.wim'"

Put the updated install.wim back in the ISO. Boot from ISO. After clicking "install now", it will display that "Windows cannot find the Microsoft Software License Terms. Make sure the installation sources are valid and restart the installation".

I use DISM to mount install.wim, and also place WinRE.wim in the \Windows\System32\Recovery directory. Save and unmount the image. This way will not cause the above problems.

Is this a wimlib bug, or am I missing some command parameter? I tried adding "--check" or "--rebuild", neither solved it.
I really like using wimlib, especially editing wim files. No need to mount, very convenient and fast. How can i fix this?

The above problem only occurs on the install.wim of Windows 8
Win7, Win8.1 and Win10 don't have this problem.

[asdddsa101]

I found that this problem does not only occur when adding winre.wim. I use the "wimlib-imagex.exe update" command to add any files to install.wim, and the produced install.wim will have an error that the license terms cannot be found during installation. I haven't found a solution until now.

Of course, the above problems still only appear on the install.wim of Windows 8.0. It has been mentioned in the previous message.

[asdddsa101]

I feel like Windows 8 has a grudge against wimlib-imagex. I apply the original unmodified install.wim.
Recaptured it with "DISM /capture-image" command, no issue, works good.
Recaptured it with "wimlib-imagex capture" command, the problem occurs (Windows cannot find the Microsoft Software License Terms).

[asdddsa101]

For more detailed errors, I have reported them on MDL forum.
https://forums.mydigitallife.net/thread ... 8-0.87200/

[synchronicity]

I haven't heard of anyone having this problem before, sorry. Which version of wimlib-imagex are you using? Have you tried using an earlier version to see if there was a regression? Maybe try 1.13.5 or earlier.

[asdddsa101]

I haven't heard of anyone having this problem before, sorry. Which version of wimlib-imagex are you using? Have you tried using an earlier version to see if there was a regression? Maybe try 1.13.5 or earlier.

I used v1.14.1, I also tried v1.14.2 Beta, both have this problem.

Thanks, as you said. I just tested it. v1.8.0 was the last one that worked fine ("wimlib-imagex update" command). Started getting errors from v1.8.1.
I use v1.8.0 to execute the "wimlib-imagex split" command on Windows 8 install.wim, but there will still be an error that the license terms cannot be found.

Can you fix it in a future version? (v1.14.2)

[synchronicity]

Thanks for bisecting the problem to between v1.8.0 and v1.8.1! Unfortunately I still don't know what to fix. There were actually a lot of changes between those versions. Also, this was over 8 years ago. You could try to bisect further, but you'd need to do your own builds, which would be hard because it's such an old version.

An alternative is that I could take a look at the differences between the good file created by v1.8.0 and the bad file created by v1.8.1. You'd need to upload the full files to somewhere I can access, though. Would there be any way for you to demonstrate the problem with smaller files? What happens if you use 'wimcapture' to create a WIM of a small directory, then try to apply it with DISM (on the problematic Windows 8)? Does that fail too?

[synchronicity]

BTW, though wimlib does aim to be fully compatible with Microsoft's WIM software (WIMGAPI), it's maybe worth mentioning Microsoft's support policy on Windows 8:

Support for RTM editions of Windows 8 ended on January 12, 2016, and with the exception of Windows Embedded 8 Standard users, all users are required to install the Windows 8.1 update.

So you might want to reconsider using the original Windows 8. It's never fun dealing with issues like this, where the likely conclusion will be that WIM files must be written in a certain way to work around a bug in a specific version of WIMGAPI, even though it was already fixed in WIMGAPI many years ago...

[asdddsa101]

Thanks for bisecting the problem to between v1.8.0 and v1.8.1! Unfortunately I still don't know what to fix. There were actually a lot of changes between those versions. Also, this was over 8 years ago. You could try to bisect further, but you'd need to do your own builds, which would be hard because it's such an old version.

An alternative is that I could take a look at the differences between the good file created by v1.8.0 and the bad file created by v1.8.1. You'd need to upload the full files to somewhere I can access, though. Would there be any way for you to demonstrate the problem with smaller files? What happens if you use 'wimcapture' to create a WIM of a small directory, then try to apply it with DISM (on the problematic Windows 8)? Does that fail too?

Original unmodified en_windows_8_x64_dvd_915440.iso I download here.
https://dl.os.click/OS/NT6.2/9200.16384 ... 1689998806

[asdddsa101]

You'd need to upload the full files to somewhere I can access, though.

If I upload. you will need to download two files, the original and the unmodified. This can cause trouble for you. If you don't have the original ISO, you can use the link above to download and extract install.wim. A similar effect can be achieved by adding a random file to install.wim using the "wimlib-imagex update" command by yourself.