From fce4b77bd6cd09606c82a6d7898dd9e26791e5ea Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: sysadmin <sysadmin@silverlined.dev>
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:14:08 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix(collector): launch via Setup\CmdLine (was bypassed) +
 WinPE diagnostics

The boot.wim Setup\CmdLine override (legacy-Setup forcing) is authoritative over
winpeshl.ini, so it launched setup.exe directly and the collector never ran -- the
VM went straight to the old sm-bootstrap unattended install. Repoint Setup\CmdLine
at the collector (cmd /c X:\sm\Start-Collector.cmd); the collector still launches the
legacy X:\sources\setup.exe itself. Add wpeinit + an on-screen banner, and write any
collector/WinForms-load failure to X:\sm\collector-error.txt shown on the console
before falling back, so we can diagnose WinForms-in-WinPE.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 windows/collector/Collector.ps1       |  5 ++++-
 windows/collector/Start-Collector.cmd | 19 +++++++++++++++----
 windows/installer/build.ps1           |  9 +++++++--
 3 files changed, 26 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/windows/collector/Collector.ps1 b/windows/collector/Collector.ps1
index 1d2ae25..0580d21 100644
--- a/windows/collector/Collector.ps1
+++ b/windows/collector/Collector.ps1
@@ -250,6 +250,9 @@ try {
     [Environment]::Exit(1)
 }
 catch {
-    # Any failure -> exit 1 so Start-Collector.cmd falls back to the default answer file.
+    # Any failure (e.g. WinForms can't load in WinPE) -> log it where Start-Collector.cmd
+    # can show it on the console, then exit 1 so the wrapper falls back to the default answer file.
+    try { ($_ | Out-String) | Set-Content 'X:\sm\collector-error.txt' -Encoding ASCII } catch {}
+    Write-Host ('Collector error: ' + ($_ | Out-String))
     [Environment]::Exit(1)
 }
diff --git a/windows/collector/Start-Collector.cmd b/windows/collector/Start-Collector.cmd
index 68e639a..10f0d66 100644
--- a/windows/collector/Start-Collector.cmd
+++ b/windows/collector/Start-Collector.cmd
@@ -1,15 +1,26 @@
 @echo off
 set "SETUP=X:\sources\setup.exe"
 if not exist "%SETUP%" set "SETUP=X:\setup.exe"
-REM WinPE entry point. SM_UNATTENDED=1 -> skip the UI and launch Setup with the default
-REM answer file (used by CI / non-interactive builds).
+REM WinPE entry point (launched via Setup\CmdLine). SM_UNATTENDED=1 -> skip the UI and
+REM launch Setup with the default answer file (used by CI / non-interactive builds).
 if "%SM_UNATTENDED%"=="1" (
   start /wait "%SETUP%" /unattend:X:\autounattend.xml
   exit /b 0
 )
+REM Initialise WinPE (a Setup\CmdLine launch can bypass the normal startnet/wpeinit).
+wpeinit
+echo ============================================
+echo   SilverMetal pre-config collector
+echo ============================================
+del /f /q X:\sm\collector-error.txt 2>nul
 powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File X:\sm\Collector.ps1
-if errorlevel 1 (
-  REM Collector failed or was cancelled -> fall back to the default answer file so install still proceeds.
+set RC=%errorlevel%
+if %RC% GEQ 1 (
+  echo.
+  echo   Collector exited with code %RC% -- falling back to default unattended install.
+  if exist X:\sm\collector-error.txt type X:\sm\collector-error.txt
+  echo   (pausing ~25s so this is readable on the console)
+  ping -n 26 127.0.0.1 >nul
   start /wait "%SETUP%" /unattend:X:\autounattend.xml
 )
 exit /b 0
diff --git a/windows/installer/build.ps1 b/windows/installer/build.ps1
index 6ae6410..bbf7d7c 100644
--- a/windows/installer/build.ps1
+++ b/windows/installer/build.ps1
@@ -130,8 +130,13 @@ function Invoke-ForceLegacySetup {
         Copy-Item (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot '..\collector\*') $smDir -Recurse -Force
         Copy-Item (Join-Path $smDir 'winpeshl.ini') (Join-Path $bootmnt 'Windows\System32\winpeshl.ini') -Force
         Write-Host "   staged collector to boot.wim \sm\ + winpeshl.ini"
-        $setup = if (Test-Path (Join-Path $bootmnt 'sources\setup.exe')) { 'X:\sources\setup.exe' } else { 'X:\setup.exe' }
-        $cmdline = "$setup /unattend:X:\autounattend.xml"
+        # Setup\CmdLine is the WinPE setup-image shell launch and is AUTHORITATIVE over
+        # winpeshl.ini -- point it at the SilverMetal collector so the pre-config UI runs
+        # FIRST. The collector then launches the LEGACY setup.exe itself (X:\sources\setup.exe,
+        # preserving the legacy-Setup bypass) with its generated answer file, or falls back to
+        # the default autounattend.xml on cancel/error. (Pointing Setup\CmdLine straight at
+        # setup.exe bypassed the collector entirely -- it won over winpeshl.ini.)
+        $cmdline = "cmd /c X:\sm\Start-Collector.cmd"
         $hive = Join-Path $bootmnt 'Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM'
         & reg load 'HKLM\SM_BOOT' $hive | Out-Null
         try {