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PE Builder does not see USB

ajcajc
edited April 2016 in AOMEI Products Support

Trying to create a bootable usb but whatever usb I put in, PE Builder does not recognize it "No Supported USB Devices".  Windows sees them fine.


Tried uninstalling/reinstalling software - no luck.


Just Trying to create with default settings - not adding anything.


Win 7 Pro 32 bit system

Comments

  • edited April 2016

    computer make and model? PEBuilder version? does the computer have usb2 oder usb3 (in latter case try other port). Chipset type if known, or processor type? Not all USB are the same, VIA comes to mind.

  • Usually, it will intergrade all the driver in the your computer when you create the it.

    But if you cannot see the USB, maybe you need to create it again.

    And when you create it, you need to add the USB driver by manually.

    Sorry for the inconvenience.

  • ajcajc
    edited April 2016

    Peter13feb:

    Computer - Dell Latitude E6410

    Core Duo P8400

    Pe Builder 1.5

    Only Usb 2.0 (tried all 3 ports)

    Tried 3 USB flash drives (Centon, Verbatim, SanDisk)

    Not familiar with VIA


    admin:

    I can't see the usb when I am trying to create the ampe.  The usb dropdown window says "No supported USB Devices"


  • edited April 2016

    Comes to mind this:

    1) This laptop has 2 USB2 ports and 1 USB3 port. I suggest deinstalling the USB ports in the device manager. This is in the control panel Device Manager, part USB, the devices are eXtendible Host controller and Enhanced Host controller.

    Deinstallation can be done without fear. After Deinstallation use Detect New Devices from the Actions menu (unsure how in english) to reinstall. No reboot required usually.

    2) The stick must already be connected when you start PE Builder. You might format (quick) from My Computer it in advance but it should not be needed.

    VIA is not an issue as it does have Intel USB chip, not VIA USB chip (it is all integrated)


    here is a driver update from dell, but its symptoms do not match what you describe.

    http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=5JFFN&fileId=3413567123&osCode=W764&productCode=latitude-e6440-laptop&languageCode=EN&categoryId=CS

  • Does the USB need to be formatted a certain way?  FAT32, NTFS ?

  • ajcajc
    edited April 2016

    Also, If I remove the usb's from device manager and let them rediscover, won't the same drivers be installed again?  I am not having any problem with them outside of the PE application.

  • edited April 2016

    How to create a bootable stick the easy way:

    Format the stick as FAT32 (default). Create an ISO in PEBuilder. Mount the ISO (I'm not sure if it exists in Windows 7, please try with a right click), this makes a virtual CDROM. Copy the ISO contents to the stick. Boot into the stick to verify. . I just verified that this simple method works. It was not even necessary to show hidden files and folders because all folders and files were visible.  


    Answer to your questions: #5 no, #6 yes but driver is re-initialized. In #8 FAT32 is preferred to cover all situations.

  • "I can't see the usb when I am trying to create the ampe.  The usb dropdown window says "No supported USB Devices" " Maybe you need to dowload one from the website.

  • Download what from what website ??

  • ajcajc
    edited April 2016

    tried creating an iso and using Rufus to create the stick (no option to mount the iso on right click).  Created the stick but would not boot.


    Is this software this PE Builder software still in beta?  I gave up on it and moved on to Ghost and was able to create a Ghost PE USB without issue.

  • edited April 2016

    ajc wrote in #10: >>tried creating an iso and using Rufus

    I will also try with Rufus, applying the knowledge I have gained below.


    How to create a bootable stick the easy way, see #7

    Format the
    stick as FAT32 (default). Create an ISO in PEBuilder. Mount the ISO (I'm
    not sure if it exists in Windows 7, please try with a right click),
    this makes a virtual CDROM. Copy the ISO contents (that is the virtual CDROM contents) to the stick. Boot
    into the stick to verify.


    + I tried a bit more and I was not accurate:

    The stick has to be properly partitioned as MBR (sticks can be MBR-partioned like disks, or organized like floppies), and my first test happened to be right.

    A stick can be made MBR-partitioned using diskpart, the partition set active, and then MBR and PBR bootsectors written using bootsect. Or BootIce will do it, apply the partioning style and write the MBR and PBR boot sectors, and  activate the partition. After doing that either way, the contents of ISO can be put onto the stick, and it boots as well as the ISO would do. (One test of mine today did boot as UEFI but did not boot as MBR, it seemed the ISO used for this particular test was plain wrong for MBR).


    + Another stable variant is to create a Windows Repair USB stick. After doing this, only \sources\boot.wim has to be replaced by boot.wim from the ISO.

  • The only issue that I could verify is that the stick has to be connected before you start PE Builder.

  • I appreciate the help but really, I needed to move on, should not be this complicated.  I've used and reused the sticks elsewhere and there are no issues.


    Thanks for all the help, I'll try a later version of the software when it comes out. 

  • edited April 2016

    I doubt a newer version will help you: I found that the Dell Latitude E6410 came mostly with Windows 7 64 bit (but yours is 32bit), so it must be specific issues on your machine. Actually the E6410 is a very broad range of CPUs, various port options including USB2, USB3, combined USB/eSATA, Firewire, and 32bit or 64bit OS therefore it is hard to tell really.

    In addition PE Builder is advanced, because it includes Windows Explorer instead of just the command shell. Adding Windows Explorer to PE is very involved. This contradicts a newer version of PE Builder soon.

    I created a stick with Rufus, your #10 proposition and it failed to boot. I then fixed the "boot things" with BootIce using my knowledge from #11 (kept all the ISO contents of the stick right as it were), and it booted. The logic behind BootIce is understandable, whereas Rufus seems magic, its options are not clearly understandable, and do not match my knowledge of the startup process whereas BootIce matches, and BootIce GUI can be replicated with the official partdisk and bootsect tools.


    Ghost (also your #10) is a different product class. Once it was a end-user backup solution, but that has long gone.

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