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massgravel / Microsoft-Activation-Scripts

Open-source Windows and Office activator featuring HWID, Ohook, KMS38, and Online KMS activation methods, along with advanced troubleshooting.
https://massgrave.dev
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Questions about Windows 10 21H2 IoT/non-IoT LTSC installation + ei.cfg and pid.txt files configuration. #547

Closed Waingro24 closed 2 months ago

Waingro24 commented 2 months ago

During the installation of Windows 10 21H2 IoT Enterprise LTSC (from massgrave.dev), in the screen that appears immediately after choosing the language, you are asked to choose the version of Windows to install.

Right there I get a screen that says "No images are available", not allowing me to proceed.

The following is a screenshot of the situation.

IMG_20240826_140037.png

This is probably due to the fact that my laptop already has an OEM key for Windows 10 Home and because of this the installer automatically excludes all versions that do not match the one the OEM key is binded to.

I think I might have found the solution to the problem but I'm not sure if it works: create an "ei.cfg" file and put it into the "sources" folder of the Windows ISO.

The contents of this file, based on what I have read and adjusted to my specific case, should be as follows.

[EditionID] Enterprise [Channel] Retail [VL] 0

In addition, it is possibile to also create a "pid.txt" file to insert in the same "sources" folder that will automate the process of inserting the product key.

In my case it should contain:

[PID] Value=QPM6N-7J2WJ-P88HH-P3YRH-YY74H

Now I would like to ask you some questions.

  1. Is the content of the two files correct? (based on my specific case and edition)

  2. The [Channel] should be Retail or OEM in order to be activated by HWID?

  3. What is the volume license [VL]? And in my case it should be set to 1 or 0?

  4. Is the pid.txt file necessary? If I don't use it, will I still be asked to enter a product key (even a generic one)?

The ISOs for Windows 10 IoT LTSC 2021 are available only in English. On the website is stated that if I want to use a different language I have to first install the non-IoT one and later change the product key to the IoT one.

  1. At what exact moment should I do the operation I just talked about? Should I change the product key the first time it is asked during the installation or when the installation is already complete?

  2. Can I do the process I just talked about by installing the non-IoT version and creating the pid.txt file containing the key for the IoT version?

  3. What would be the difference if I install the IoT version directly and then add the language pack? Could this cause problems?

  4. These two files should be named in upper case or it doesn't matter?

  5. Can I use both an autounattend.xml and ei.cfg file or the installer will ignore one of them?

  6. To modify the initial ISO, is it enough to simply mount it and add the two files in the sources folder or do I have to use a specific tool for this?

For the installation I am using Ventoy (if that could help answering some of my questions).

Waingro24 commented 2 months ago

I don't know why but the formatting of the content of the two files does not appear well, the content remains correct. However this is the correct formatting.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-setup-edition-configuration-and-product-id-files--eicfg-and-pidtxt?view=windows-11

WindowsAddict commented 2 months ago

@Waingro24

You mentioned that you used Ventoy, it's possible that it's somehow causing that issue where that image is not appearing as per your screenshot, otherwise Home license in the motherboard won't cause the setup to throw that error.

You can use this universal ei,cfg format, which will work on any Windows version and edition (except the new installer in Windows 11 24H2, which is not accepting ei.cfg at all due to some bug.)

[Channel]
NoKeyChannel

PID format

[PID]
Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Where XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX is the product key.

You can pick ei.efg or PID or both. ei.cfg will allow you to see the edition list while installing Windows, and PID.txt will directly install that edition which key you used.

5, 6 You can install key when Windows is installed, or you can install key at setupcomplete.cmd stage. PID.txt won't work because Iot edition is not included in the ISO index, it will be available when Windows is installed.

7, avoid language packs if you can, use ISO in that language if possible.

8, shouldn't matter.

9, I think you can use both, not fully sure though.

10, use this tool https://massgrave.dev/oem-folder#edit-iso-file

Waingro24 commented 2 months ago

So there is no need to include [EditionID] Enterprise and [VL] 0 in the ei.cfg file?

Also could you explain better when should I switch the key from non-IoT to IoT? Will I be prompted to do so before/during the installation or only when the installation is finished by myself?

thecatontheceiling commented 2 months ago

Exactly.

MAS will autoswitch the edition to IoT once you run HWID option

Waingro24 commented 2 months ago

I know it is possible to change the key after the installation, I was asking if it was possible to do so before/during it.

thecatontheceiling commented 2 months ago

Why would you want to do that...?

If you want to choose an edition to install just do that in the windows installer.

If the windows installer doesn't manage to find the editions then inserting random keys during installation won't help

Waingro24 commented 2 months ago

The ISOs for Windows 10 IoT LTSC 2021 are available only in English. On the website is stated that if I want to use a different language I have to first install the non-IoT one and later change the product key to the IoT one.

Also @WindowsAddict said that it is better to avoid installing additional language packs for some reason.

WindowsAddict commented 2 months ago

@Waingro24 As mentioned, you can't use the Iot Enterprise LTSC key in PID.txt in non-English LTSC ISO because the IoT edition doesn't exist in the index.

In this case, if you want to automate the process of installing IoT edition with non-English ISO, the easiest way would be to use setupcomple.cmd file.

\sources\$OEM$\$$\Setup\Scripts\SetupComplete.cmd"

Create these folders and that file in ISO and add the below command in that file.

powershell "(([WMISEARCHER]'SELECT Version FROM SoftwareLicensingService').Get()).InstallProductKey('QPM6N-7J2WJ-P88HH-P3YRH-YY74H')"

Now when Windows installation is finished, you will see it's installed as IoT enterprise edition.

If you aren't looking for such automation, you can just manually install the IoT edition key when install is finished.

Waingro24 commented 2 months ago

@WindowsAddict

  1. The [Channel] should be Retail or OEM in order to be activated by HWID?

  2. What is the volume license [VL]? And in my case it should be set to 1 or 0?

  3. Since Ventoy takes care of making the ISO bootable there is no need to use the guide you pointed me to, right?

  4. So, as I said before, to modify the initial ISO, I just need to mount it, add the two files in the sources folder, unmount it and paste the ISO into Ventoy?

WindowsAddict commented 2 months ago

@Waingro24

1,2 don't bother with that, just use the universal ei.cfg I shared.

3, Ventoy doesn't make iso's or allow you to edit iso's. It just boots ISO when installing.

4, To edit the ISO file, you need tools, simple mounting of ISO won't allow you to edit it. Use the guide I shared.

Waingro24 commented 2 months ago

Will it still work if I used "mkisofs" to rebuild the ISO image?

WindowsAddict commented 2 months ago

Try and see.

Waingro24 commented 2 months ago

Ok, I won't bother you anymore about this topic.