Recovery Media only detects WiFi adapters

[TroyResources]

Hi Forum, my first post.

If this has already been answered then please point me in right direction.
Great little product, and works a treat. Here comes the however.

On three separate brands of laptops, it on picks up the WiFi adapter and not the Ethernet adapter.

Anyone else come across this as yet?

Cheers,

ShadesOfBlack

[Vitaliy S.]

Do you see any un-configured drivers in the device management snap-in?

[TroyResources]

@ Vitaliy S. Yes in device management I did indeed see un-configured Ethernet device

[Vitaliy S.]

I believe this is the issue. Can you make sure these drivers are properly installed and then try again?

[TroyResources]

@Vitaliy S. hi mate, I can confirm drivers are installed since the backup to Veeam Backup and Replication backup repository was done over Ethernet. WiFi was not connect on two laptops and on one it was disabled via hardware switch.

Seems really weird, laptops were also tested docked and un-docked, same outcome.

Happy to try another route as if tests go well looking to role this out to execs world wide.

[Dima P.]

Hi,
Sorry for being late but it’s still not quite clear could you please clarify if the issue with wifi adapter persists only while recovery media is booted or you have the same issue while running the regular windows.

[TroyResources]

@Dima P and Vitaliy S,

Hi Guys, thanks for feed back thus far.
I'm preparing a few test laptops to isolate where this seems to be happening.
Test being done:
Clean install Windows 7 Pro 64bit, added on Ethernet driver.
After installing Veeam Endpoint Backup, the first task done was Create Recovery Media.
Worked as expect when booting from USB, only had to load/install driver for Ethernet from the menu.
Added Sonicwall NetExtender SLL, again CRM created, worked fine with CRM.
Install WiFi Drivers create CRM, state shows as online and Ethernet as before shows as install driver, but it does successfully load as before.

*Seems strange from technical point of view why WiFi driver appears online and Ethernet state is install driver.*
I'd love to take some screen grabs to clarify text, is this possible?

To be clear, initial working laptops that have correct manufacturer Ethernet and WiFi drivers installed and fully operational.
Laptops connect to network happily via Ethernet or WiFi.

CRM created, full backup done to Veeam backup repository.
Laptop formatted to test bare metal recovery only to find only WiFi drivers available and no Ethernet drivers.
Ethernet card appeared as unknown device with no drivers.

And in closing we have a winner/culprit. (SONY VIAO)
All HP laptops work fine in regards to either being currently in use or newly installed.

The SONY VIAO RealTEK drivers are not detected even thought they are installed.
In test I formatted the SONY, reinstalled from scratch using drivers from Sony and upon CRM being created it did NOT detect the RealTEK Ethernet driver.

End of the day not huge issue as only have a few within the company, standard being HP.

Just useful for you guys to be aware about.

[Dima P.]

shades0fblack,
Perfect! Thanks for the detailed explanation. By the way, I am still interested if this VIAO network adapter could be loaded manually via Load Driver tool while booted with Recovery Media

[TroyResources]

@Dima P. Most welcome. In device management un-configured Ethernet device showed.
After digging around on Realtek website and finding compatible drivers then yes I was able to shoe horn the driver in.

Still leaves why Ethernet driver was unrecognised and not loaded onto the CRM.
However as with any software Vendor cannot always be able to test every type of system and configuration.

Cheers

[Dima P.]

shadesofblack,

yes I was able to shoe horn the driver in

Glad you nailed it! While I agree that it’s almost impossible to automate everything (just because there are tons of devices out there) – I am glad we still got you covered providing the ability to load the needed driver manually