RedDR

I created a driver package with the nic driver and targeted that directly at the machine during the TS, seems to be moving forward. Plug n Pray, pfft.

Ahh, laptops and their drivers. Sometimes simple things are the hardest ... I have a laptop HP 6560b and trying to do a basic deploy and capture. It boots the PE environment and fails, so grabbed the driver and added it to the boot image, all good. I imported the driver also. When it reboots and "setup is preparing your computer your computer for 1st use" around the point its going to capture it, the TS dies. I hit an F8 and ipconfig, its blank. I crank up trace32 for the smsts.log and there is an entry about no adapter. are there any suggestions on where i can look into this further? ta

Gday I'm struggling with a few machines here In short, these machines were built, rebuilt and formatted. Now it comes time to rebuild them again, yet everytime i PXE boot them, im getting the error of. The details below show the information relating the the PXE boot request for this computer. Please provide these details to your Windows Deployment Services Administrator so that this request can be approved. and then bombs out. In the SMS_PXE_SERVICE_POINT i can see. THE SMS PXE Service Point instructed device to boot normally since it has no PXE advertisements assigned. So this is good in a way. Ive advertised my TS to All Unknown computers. So this means that my computer is known to SCCM. This is the problem bit. All the reports ive run on MAC Address and GUID return nothing. I cannot find this machine at all anywhere. I dont have the computername. Ive tried - Creating many reports with custom code (im not that good at this and possibly doing this wrong) - readvertised the TS - restarted wds - rebuilt the wds by removing pxe service point, remove wds, restart, reinstall, etc. What would be very helpful is to have a list of ALL computers with their mac, guid, just a straight report showing me everything. For the life of me i cant find this computer!

Im about to deploy a new image to 200 kiosk machines. So ive already sysprep'd and captured an image, created a task sequence and ready to go. Just curious on how I would retain the old computername, I want a fully automated process. These machines will have the mandatory advertisement at midnight and by the morning, they will be ready to go. Ive written scripts before to prompt, interrogate wmi and the like, but just curious on how to do this. Do I set the OSDComputername variable? Or _SMSTSMachinename ? Rather than trial and error this untill I get it right, thought I would whack a quick post. This is not a R2 installation The clients are already in SCCM as advanced clients. Any help would be great before I embark on the trial and error. edit: NEvermind .. trialed and errored it .. Set Task Sequence Variable Task Sequence Variable: computername Value: _SMSTSMachineName

Just want to check that im on the right track here. Basically looking at a new site that wants total management of all SOE and MOE. Like most people, the less management and the most impact is what is being aimed for. At the end of the day, the goal is to have all software installed or removed by dropping computer accounts in OU's Building the initial SOE is a requirement too. So im deploying bare XP or W7 to the tin, and getting all the drivers with the assistance of you guys with thininstaller!! Everything is MSI'd, so piece of cake for the install and uninstall. So ive come to a point where I drop an bare image on the tin then ..... Is the best approach to automatically whack the computer account in all the AD groups (or ill use nested groups) and let the image build itself when it feels like it .. (all computer account would be in the default SOE group) OR Is it better to build all the SOE applications at the time of the TS does it really matter? I guess im concerned that i wont be able to uninstall the software, but I cant see why not, (just advertise the uninstall program to the uninstall collection) I currently have groups SCCM Adobe XXX SCCM Microsoft Office SCCM Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 SCCM Standard Operating Environment etc for all applications (the SCCM Standard Operating Environment..... group is in the soe applications i have determined, like adobe and office,etc) I have created 4 collections (as per the guide) Adobe Reader Install Adobe Remove Adobe Currently Installed - Adobe I just want to check and hear any problems with this approach, so effectively i want the machines to completely build themselves by being dropped into an AD Group. Now, ill have to write a quick VBS to drop the computer account into the AD group so it can build itself post task sequence (if i dont get the TS to do the software installs) Any thoughts would be great .... am i making this more complicated that it needs to be?

thanks man, ill give it a crack in the comming weeks if im back at that site .. but ill try it anyway as im curious on this

Ive played around with a lot of this .. My experience is Helper addresses, helpder addresses, helpder addrressesssssss, put them everywhere for both the sccm and dhcp. Over and Over again I get this due to the comms guys saying "its been done" .. but when i hassel them, its been done kinda except the sccm. Dont muck with WDS at all, remove pxe, remove wds, restart, configure wds without transport (dont touch it after config) and install PXE again. There is a specific article on this somewhere. A small suggestion which everyone will shoot me over (but i love it), advertise it to all unknown computers and delete your imported record completely from all systems collection, restart the WDS service to clear the cache. Make sure you dont have the advertisement as mandatory, check this over and over, because .. you screw that up and BLIP all your machines will enforce your TS. This process basically resets everything back to being 'just installed' .. advertising to everything sccm doesnt know about to eliminate any hickups on the sccm side of things... This is how I test both sccm and network PXE issues, then go back and lock down the advertisements....BE CAREFUL

Right .. the problem with this rubbish is totally misleading error messages .. till you wake up at 3:30 am thinking .. I wonder if the permissions on the share are ok? Too many cooks in the kitchen. It was a permissions error on the share .. no access .. All working now! Onto the next batch of errors now ... client errors, packaging vs2010 errors .. its endless

Just when i think its all ok .. I SWEAR IT WAS WORKING, but now its dead in the ass. Ive spent all day trying to narrow this down. In short, works fine when the OS (Win 7 x86) is up and running Doesnt work in the TS With the 422225M I had to whack an ethernet driver on the boot image because it needed it. Which is the only driver in SCCM. I tried out the .NET framework suggestions mentioned above, but I just noticed the version mismatch. (didnt work for me anyway) Whats concerning me is the statement in the log --- "The database file wasn't found, or is not valid in \\PTHSVRSCCM01\Drivers_Lenovo\ message:The specified network name is no longer available" Which is a load of rubbish .. the server is there and stable, and the xml file is there, and it works outside of the TS Ive tried it on IP Ive tried it on different models of lenovo Ive tried batch filing it Ive tried packaging it Im about to try a red hot poker in its eyeball .. I cant believe its giving me such a hard time .. and i definately saw it work once .. but ive made so many changes .. any light would be fantastic.... (partial logs below) Update Log from c:\ThinInst\logs Error 1: Info 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.CommandLine.CommandLineParameters.SearchForUpdates() Message: Notify method: INSTALL Severe 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.Sdk.SuSdk.StartApplication() Message: Application runs with the framework: 2.0.50727.4927 Info 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.Engine.DataBase.InitializeDataBase() Message: Initializing the DataBase from file: updates.ser Error 2: Info 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.Engine.Process.HelpCenterIndexRepositoryProcess.PreProcess() Message: 'Share name' to use: \\PTHSVRSCCM01\Drivers_Lenovo\ Info 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.Engine.Task.Task.Start() Message: Executing the StartProcess HelpCenterIndexRepositoryProcess Info 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvt.LocalRepositoryDatabase.LocalRepositoryDatabaseManager.GetDescriptors(String shareName, String mtm, String os, String oslang, String agent, Boolean bValidateLocalRepository) Message: Received data -> ShareName: \\PTHSVRSCCM01\Drivers_Lenovo\, Agent: Info 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.Engine.Process.HelpCenterIndexRepositoryProcess.LaunchEgather() Message: Launching Egather Info 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.Egather.EgatherManager.GetEgatherParser(String type) Message: Running egather complete..... Info 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvt.LocalRepositoryDatabase.LocalRepositoryDatabaseManager.GetDescrips(String shareName, String mtm, String os, String oslang, String agent, Boolean bValidateLocalRepository) Message: No database.xml file found. The application will start searching folders for updates. Severe 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvt.LocalRepositoryDatabase.LocalRepositoryDatabaseManager.GetDescrips(String shareName, String mtm, String os, String oslang, String agent, Boolean bValidateLocalRepository) Message: The database file wasn't found, or is not valid in \\PTHSVRSCCM01\Drivers_Lenovo\ message:The specified network name is no longer available. Severe 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvt.LocalRepositoryDatabase.LocalRepositoryDatabaseManager.GetDescriptors(String shareName, String mtm, String os, String oslang, String agent, Boolean bValidateLocalRepository) Message: An exception occurred when getting descriptors from \\PTHSVRSCCM01\Drivers_Lenovo\ Severe 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.Engine.Process.HelpCenterIndexRepositoryProcess._Start() Message: An enception ocurred while getting the candidate updates list from the local repository Severe 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.Engine.Task.Task.StartExecution() Message: An error occurred while the task: ApplicableUpdatesTask executed the process: HelpCenterIndexRepositoryProcessthe message from exception isThe database file wasn't found, or is not valid Exception: Message: The database file wasn't found, or is not valid Type: Tvt.Helpcenter.LocalRepositoryIndexProcessor.LocalRepositoryDatabaseException at Tvsu.Engine.Task.Task.Start() at Tvsu.Engine.Task.Task.StartExecution() Severe 2010-11-09 , 05:31:16 at Tvsu.CommandLine.CommandLineParameters.StartCommanLineParameters(String[] arguments) Message: Error on command line parameters Exception: Message: The database file wasn't found, or is not valid Type: Tvt.Helpcenter.LocalRepositoryIndexProcessor.LocalRepositoryDatabaseException at Tvsu.Engine.Task.Task.StartExecution() at Tvsu.Sdk.SuSdk.GetApplicableUpdates(searchingFolderDelegate spd, showErrMsgDelegate sed) at Tvsu.CommandLine.CommandLineParameters.SearchForUpdates() at Tvsu.CommandLine.CommandLineParameters.StartCommanLineParameters(String[] arguments)

The solution was to pay attention, slow down, take care in what im doing, stop trying to work so quick. Id modified the vbs, updated the distribution point, but kicked off the deployment of a machine right away, If I had of waited just 5 minutes, it would have gone through successfully. The DP was upset. So double, triple checked and hit it again, went through beautifully. The code works fine Ok, onto packaging some apps

Nevermind, im an idiot ..

Geez, im a roll with all these asking Questions!!! Heres my latest. Ive written a vbs script to pull out the bios make and serial number as thats the naming convention here. So basically Grabs Make and Serial Strips make down to 4 chars Combines the two Asks the user is this ok? If its ok .. continue on If its not .. get them to input Now .. the script works great, but when i whack it in the TS and get it to run, the input dialog boxis hidden behind the TS (Installation Progress) window. Seems the TS window is set to Always on Top or something like that I tried to hide this window just for that task by Set ProgressUI = CreateObject(“Microsoft.SMS.TsProgressUI”) ProgressUI.CloseProgressDialog No good. Heres my script, any thoughts on how I can achieve this? It would be great just to hide that window for that specific task so the user can do this. ---------------- Set ProgressUI = CreateObject(“Microsoft.SMS.TsProgressUI”) ProgressUI.CloseProgressDialog Dim objWMI : Set objWMI = GetObject("winmgmts:") Dim colSettingsComp : Set colSettingsComp = objWMI.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_ComputerSystem") Dim colSettingsBios : Set colSettingsBios = objWMI.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_BIOS") Dim objComputer, strModel, strSerial, strComputerName For each objComputer in colSettingsComp strModel = objComputer.Model Next For Each objComputer in colSettingsBios strSerial = objComputer.SerialNumber Next strComputerName = Left(strModel,4) & strSerial If MsgBox ("Is this computername Correct? " & strComputername, vbYesNo) = vbNo then strComputerName = InputBox("Please correct the computer name" & (Chr(13) & Chr(10)) & (Chr(13) & Chr(10)) & "The computer name is the first 4 numbers of the model and serial number combined","Confirmation Required",strComputerName) if strComputerName = "" then strComputerName = Left(strModel,4) & strSerial End If 'MsgBox ("This is the computer name being set " & strComputername) set env = CreateObject("Microsoft.SMS.TSEnvironment") env("OSDComputerName") = strComputerName

While im here fixing my own problems with thininstall, id thought i would post again. I gave Creating Task Sequence Media a crack to see if its cool. I have a customer that is remote and will want an SOE at some stage, so would be great to whack it on a bootable dvd and send to him. The creation process was fine and got the disk burnt. What I did notice when testing is that none of the drivers got installed, the TS did its thing, installed the OS and all applications (15) but ZERO drivers were installed ... I had a quick hunt but couldnt find anything, ill give it another go when i have time, but if anyone has seen this, would be great. AND Im not being funny or anything, but why is everyone creating and capturing a reference image? My experience has been around building the whole system from scratch, no wim images, just a straight install like a user was sitting there clicking next next next. Why does everyone bother with maintaining a library of images? Why not just deploy straight from the original ISO? I can understand if there is NO driver support and its easier to whack all drivers in and image that up .. but there is .. Isnt it cleaner to install from scratch everytime and automate the installations? Im assuming that creating a image would be faster to deploy? but with GB networks these days, is that an issue? Maybe if you had to deploy 1000 machines within 2 days? I built a straight Win7 Ent x64 with Office 2010 x64, adobe reader, flash, shock, java, and a bunch of little apps. Deployment was 30minutes via PXE. 1.5 hours over 10meg riverbed wan accel. It was just a thought ... not a flame or anything .. just curious.

Looks like water did the trick! .. splash that on a few machines and im off home! NAH .. two things .. i was only checking for Critical Updates with a -C and im an idiot with Update Retriever .. gotta set all packages from test to Active Thanks for letting me rant

Awesome thanks man Ive been smashing it for the last 2 days and havent had much luck. Ive got it to a point and wondering if anyone can shed some light .. im betting its easy but the coffee headache is preventing me from seeing it. 2 Tasks has been created as per screenshots Both kick off and the TS goes through all ok. I can see a c:\lenovo\thininstall folder .. so they are running. When checking to see if the drivers have been installed, they havent. So after much digging, I ran this on the workstation just to shortcut me rebuilding machines all the time for testing. thininstaller.exe /CM -search C -action LIST and I get the error - No packages applicable for your system were found. The make and model of machine im using is a Lenovo MT-M 7359 -D7M So back to Update retriever I go In Update Retriever I can see I have a MT of 7359, OS of Windows 7 and Language of English (Ive also done the same thing with a Lenovo Thinkstation E20 M222 25M, so there is something overall wrong here) Ive checked the local logs on the machines in the c:\lenovo\thininstaller\logs\bla bla bla ... After checking all of these I can see the following. Info 2010-11-04 , 02:21:17 at Tvsu.Engine.Process.HelloProcess.Start() Message: MTM is: 422225M Info 2010-11-04 , 02:21:17 at Tvsu.Engine.Process.HelloProcess.Start() Message: Data to be set in the Environment Manager to use with Quest: QOS (Quest OS): Windows 7 QOSLang (Quest language): EN MTM: 422225M Info 2010-11-04 , 02:21:17 at Tvsu.Engine.Task.Task.Start() Message: Executing the PostProcess HelloProcess I can see the MTM as 42225M ... unsure of that? So im not sure here .. I cant add a 422225M into Update Retriever as it only wants a 4222 and likewise with the 7359, could this be the discrepancy? MY server share is full of packages .. so they have downloaded them .. and they exist .. 09/02/2010 04:11 PM <DIR> 5cjy63usa 11/03/2010 03:22 PM <DIR> 5cjy66usa 11/04/2010 11:14 AM <DIR> 5jjy50usa 09/02/2010 04:10 PM <DIR> a1chp06us17 09/02/2010 04:04 PM <DIR> a1mie01us17_ps2 09/02/2010 04:14 PM <DIR> a1mie01us17_usb 09/02/2010 04:04 PM <DIR> a1par08us13 09/02/2010 04:12 PM <DIR> a1rau07us17 09/02/2010 04:11 PM <DIR> a3amt09us17_heci 09/02/2010 04:11 PM <DIR> a3amt09us17_lms 11/04/2010 11:14 AM <DIR> b2vdo11us13 11/04/2010 11:17 AM <DIR> b2vdo11us14 ....etc So i think the crux of this is a mismatch between what it thinks it is ... and what it actually is .. but how i nut that out is evading me at the moment. time to dilute coffee with water Any help on this would be awesome .. thanks