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Solved
SCCM 2012 OS deployment PXE boot rebooting without error
Posted on 2014-12-11
Problem:
Power device on
Press F12 to PXE boot from NIC
Obtains IP from DHCP range and can see bootfile name
Loads into PXE environment
Loads Windows Settings
Flashes something about Network Configuration/Initialisati
Troubleshooting:
My first thought is NIC drivers, have added and removed various x86 and x64 drivers for XP, W7 and Vista into the boot images and driver pool for reference.
Checked permissions/security and have added a service account that has appropriate access to all locations it could be referencing.
Plenty of forums online advise to enable F8 for troubleshooting as they point towards a NIC driver/network issue, however I cannot get this functionality to work, and get the attached error which may mean that the Distribution Points are not updating properly, so the drivers/configuration are not filtering through. I am stuck as to what could be causing this.
Environment:
SCCM 2012 R2 running on Server 2012 with SQL 2012 on same VM
Dell Optiplex 960 with 4GB RAM - migrating from Windows XP 32 bit to Windows 7 64 bit
Successfully created boundary pointing to correct OUs in AD
Desktops appear in Devices under Assets and Compliance
Created specific Device Collection for W7 Deployment, placed desktop in this container
Created default x86 and x64 boot images
Captured Operating System Image in the form of WIM from syspreped desktop
Created Task Sequence with default settings (will customise when get process to this stage)
Created new Configuration Manager Client Package with default settings
Using W8 AIK files as recommended online
Distributed content to Distribution Points for availability
Create DHCP scope options 66 and 67
Power device on
Press F12 to PXE boot from NIC
Obtains IP from DHCP range and can see bootfile name
Loads into PXE environment
Loads Windows Settings
Flashes something about Network Configuration/Initialisati
Troubleshooting:
My first thought is NIC drivers, have added and removed various x86 and x64 drivers for XP, W7 and Vista into the boot images and driver pool for reference.
Checked permissions/security and have added a service account that has appropriate access to all locations it could be referencing.
Plenty of forums online advise to enable F8 for troubleshooting as they point towards a NIC driver/network issue, however I cannot get this functionality to work, and get the attached error which may mean that the Distribution Points are not updating properly, so the drivers/configuration are not filtering through. I am stuck as to what could be causing this.
Environment:
SCCM 2012 R2 running on Server 2012 with SQL 2012 on same VM
Dell Optiplex 960 with 4GB RAM - migrating from Windows XP 32 bit to Windows 7 64 bit
Successfully created boundary pointing to correct OUs in AD
Desktops appear in Devices under Assets and Compliance
Created specific Device Collection for W7 Deployment, placed desktop in this container
Created default x86 and x64 boot images
Captured Operating System Image in the form of WIM from syspreped desktop
Created Task Sequence with default settings (will customise when get process to this stage)
Created new Configuration Manager Client Package with default settings
Using W8 AIK files as recommended online
Distributed content to Distribution Points for availability
Create DHCP scope options 66 and 67
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11 Comments
Active today
Only network and Storage devices need to be included in the boot wim. You can remove soundmax etc and in fact add the single driver needed (for testing purpose).
In fact the error is when trying to enable F8. Try enabling f8 without any drivers and see.
In fact the error is when trying to enable F8. Try enabling f8 without any drivers and see.
Thank you for your response, Nagendra.
By removing all the drivers from the boot wim, I can now get a command prompt.
I type ipconfig and can see an IP address after the message 'Windows Starting Up' so it would appear that I am not looking in the correct area as I thought it was NIC drivers, or could it still be the case?
I can type diskpart and see the disk and partitions properly.
Alistair
By removing all the drivers from the boot wim, I can now get a command prompt.
I type ipconfig and can see an IP address after the message 'Windows Starting Up' so it would appear that I am not looking in the correct area as I thought it was NIC drivers, or could it still be the case?
I can type diskpart and see the disk and partitions properly.
Alistair
An update having now been able to open a command prompt...
I am able to deploy an image using imagex commands, so the WIM is good, network connectivity is correct, and appropriate permissions are in place.
It still reboots if I leave it to attempt to pick up and run the task sequence.
Have had no drivers present, just NIC, NIC and storage, every driver possible, for x86 and 64bit XP W7 and Vista.
I am able to deploy an image using imagex commands, so the WIM is good, network connectivity is correct, and appropriate permissions are in place.
It still reboots if I leave it to attempt to pick up and run the task sequence.
Have had no drivers present, just NIC, NIC and storage, every driver possible, for x86 and 64bit XP W7 and Vista.
Active today
I would start by making a fresh task sequence with no programs installed.
But in your case you need to watch the smsts.log. Generally, when the command prompt is open, Task Sequence will not reboot the machine and you can read the log. Do not use notepad etc to read SCCM logs as it does not refresh the contents.
You need to use a log viewer called cmtrace.exe . This is located on x:\sms\bin\x64\cmtrace.exe
You need to open smsts.log and smsts.lo_ files in it. This file is moved in many places as it is moved at certain stages. A brief description is here.
http://richardbalsley.com/location-of-smsts-log-when-using-configuration-manager-operating-system-deployment
"
Windows PE before HDD format: x:\windows\temp\smstslog\s
Windows PE after HDD format: x:\smstslog\smsts.log and copied to c:\_SMSTaskSequence\Logs\S
Full version Windows before SCCM agent installed: c:\_SMSTaskSequence\Logs\S
Full version Windows after SCCM agent installed: c:\windows\system32\ccm\lo
Full version Windows (x64) after SCCM agent installed: c:\windows\sysWOW64\ccm\lo
After Task Sequence has finished running: c:\windows\system32\ccm\lo
After Task Sequence has finished running (x64): c:\windows\sysWOW64\ccm\lo
"
You may be able to copy this file to a USB or a network location if it has some errors that don't seem to be very obvious.
But in your case you need to watch the smsts.log. Generally, when the command prompt is open, Task Sequence will not reboot the machine and you can read the log. Do not use notepad etc to read SCCM logs as it does not refresh the contents.
You need to use a log viewer called cmtrace.exe . This is located on x:\sms\bin\x64\cmtrace.exe
You need to open smsts.log and smsts.lo_ files in it. This file is moved in many places as it is moved at certain stages. A brief description is here.
http://richardbalsley.com/location-of-smsts-log-when-using-configuration-manager-operating-system-deployment
"
Windows PE before HDD format: x:\windows\temp\smstslog\s
Windows PE after HDD format: x:\smstslog\smsts.log and copied to c:\_SMSTaskSequence\Logs\S
Full version Windows before SCCM agent installed: c:\_SMSTaskSequence\Logs\S
Full version Windows after SCCM agent installed: c:\windows\system32\ccm\lo
Full version Windows (x64) after SCCM agent installed: c:\windows\sysWOW64\ccm\lo
After Task Sequence has finished running: c:\windows\system32\ccm\lo
After Task Sequence has finished running (x64): c:\windows\sysWOW64\ccm\lo
"
You may be able to copy this file to a USB or a network location if it has some errors that don't seem to be very obvious.
Thank you for your response.
I finally figured it out last night, having gained access to the command prompt. I was able to find the log file and better understand what was going on. It was struggling to locate the content as I had missed adding the server in the Main Boundary Properties.
As soon as I added the server into the section on the references tab, the task sequence process came alive on the device, hooray!
So I have learnt that you cannot update the Distributions Points with too many things at once, the trick was to add a little and it was successful. Due to that not updating, I couldn't get a command prompt to read the log file to figure out the fix.
Thanks for your time,
Alistair
I finally figured it out last night, having gained access to the command prompt. I was able to find the log file and better understand what was going on. It was struggling to locate the content as I had missed adding the server in the Main Boundary Properties.
As soon as I added the server into the section on the references tab, the task sequence process came alive on the device, hooray!
So I have learnt that you cannot update the Distributions Points with too many things at once, the trick was to add a little and it was successful. Due to that not updating, I couldn't get a command prompt to read the log file to figure out the fix.
Thanks for your time,
Alistair
I've requested that this question be closed as follows:
Accepted answer: 0 points for PKFIOM's comment #a40495708
for the following reason:
Once part of the functionality came alive, I was able to progress with the troubleshooting to fix the problem.
Accepted answer: 0 points for PKFIOM's comment #a40495708
for the following reason:
Once part of the functionality came alive, I was able to progress with the troubleshooting to fix the problem.
Active today
I explained how to enable F8 by removing drivers.
I then explained how to and where to find the log files. I can see that you have thanked me but have not given any points.
I then explained how to and where to find the log files. I can see that you have thanked me but have not given any points.
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