Problem PXE Booting 2008 R2 Servers

[Scott S]

Well it doesn't actually matter what OS the server is. Maybe it's the hardware on the server that is causing me issues. I need to deploy Windows 2008 R2 to Dell Poweredge R710 servers.

 

I've uploaded the NIC drivers to the Boot image files for both x86 and x64. When I do a PXE boot on the server it does find my WDS server and does recieve the boot file to boot up. After it downloads via tftp if then configures nic and storage settings. But right after that (right before the password screen usually prompts) the server just reboots with no errors.

 

I've looked at my SMSPXE logs on the WDS server and it doesn't report any errors. SCCM doesn't report any errors as well. I keep thinking it's something to do with the NIC drivers. Or possible the Storage drivers? How do I verify the storage drivers are actually getting pulled to the machine?

 

It just kind of strange to me, because every other machine i've imaged all have booted up flawless with an exception of importing NIC drivers every once in a while. But i've never seen a machine just reboot in WinPE without any warning.

 

Thank you for all your help.. it's greatly appreciated.

[anyweb]

if you are trying to deploy server 2008 R2 then sccm needs sp2 release candidate installed, so is the sp2 rc installed ? I have deployed server 2008 R2 using the very same steps in my deploy windows 7 guide, works just fine... if you want roles and features working via the task sequence then simply integrate MDT 2010 which is now final

[Scott S]

Thanks for the reply.. You think that would have something to do with these server rebooting during the WinPE phase. Right after WinPE says it's going to start windows (right before the pxe password is prompted) the server just reboots without warning.

 

Hopefully these updates will take care of that issue?

 

Well regardless you're still saying I need to upgrade to SP2 and MDT 2010 to get 2008 R2 deployed right?

[anyweb]

yup you need it, and remember it\s in Release candidate phase right now, so not supported

 

but it works...

[dshorr]

I'm experiencing the same issue on a M610; I'm running MDT 2010 but not SMS. I was able to install 2008 R2 from the DVD so it should have all of the necessary drivers. One possible solution is a BIOS update; the latest version supports 2008 R2.

 

Dave

[dshorr]

The BIOS and RAID updates didn't fix it. If you press F8 at the solution accelerators screen, a command prompt window appears and the reboot doesn't occur. The hard drive and network are accessible so the builtin drivers are working.

 

Dave

[anyweb]

post the smsts.log file here and we'll take a look

[dshorr]

I emailed the MS deployment team blog and was helped by Tim Mintner. The problem was a leftover minint folder; after deleting the folder, the deployment worked. No drivers needed to be added to the boot image; I had tried the monolithic Broadcom drivers to no avail.

[Rafiq]

Hi mate where did u find the minint folder. My machine is dell poweredge r710 and running server 2019 and in VMware 6.7