WinPE 2.0 (Vista) Network Initialization with API

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I've found a really strange issue with network configuration in Win PE 2.0
(Vista version).

We need to support a situation where the network cable is connected AFTER
the system has booted. In a normal system this would be no problem -
however, in WinPE the system is unable to use this connection unless it is
present at boot time.

I've spend a long time investigating the issue and figured out that the
problem can be worked around at the command line by using DevCon to
disable/enable the network card (it is already enabled). After this
everything works fine. I need to find a way of doing this from code. I can't
quite figure out what state the network is in - I suspected that the device
may be disabled (not true) or the network interface Admin Disabled (via
SetIfEntry) which is also not true. I also wondered if IP was not bound to
the interface (not true). It seems that everything is correct - the system
just cannot handle the media insertion event (or ignores it).

What is really strange though is what the APIs report. When the system is in
this initial state GetInterfaceInfo and GetAdaptersInfo will NOT return any
information about the interface (reporting instead that all interfaces are
disabled) but GetNumberOfInterfaces and GetIfTable both report the expected
information and that the network interfaces are active.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what state the network is in when PE is
first booted (with no cable present) or a better way of 'waking' it rather
than disable/enable the device after the cable has been connected?

James



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