Hi,
I am currently doing a 2003/xp rollout for approx 40 servers and 800 workstations.

Up until now, I have had a test environment on IBM netvista PCS (various models) which have been running 2003 with RIS, which boot to windows PE, then run a custom hta which i've written, then kick off an automated install, based on the input.

This worked well for all workstations, but when booting to the network on a x345 server (intel pro1000MT dual nic, ServeRaid5i), the RIS part would load ok, then PE would start (dos screen with the bar) but get stuck at the "please wait" text just before the GUI loads.

To get around this, i just made a PE boot CD, alot slower, and doesnt allow formatting of the drives nicely (as it uses D: for itself)

Now, the production servers have rocked up, i've put in my DG/GC and then a RIS server, now even workstations are experiencing the same issue (stuck at the dos mode "please wait" bit just before the GUI)

The only thing that has changed from test to production is that the RIS server is now a X345 with dual nics, instead of a workstation (with a single nic, as in the test environment)

Is anywone aware of of any issues with dual nics and windows PE booting with RIS?
Also, anyone have any idea what causes PE to hang just before the GUI, while the DOS screen says "please wait"

FYI -
1) I do not believe it is network, as PE loads the network drivers after the GUI starts
2) I do not believe its mass storage as the workstations are IDE

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've worked on this for the past few months (along with the rest of the AD stuff) and to have it fall over at this step would be terrible, so any suggestions or help would mean alot.

Thanks.

I have worked with RIS for the better part of 2 years. Are you saying that you have created an image to boot to Windows PE or are you simply refering to the "text mode" of the setup as PE? Other things I would like to know. Is your RIS server also your domain controller? If it is not, then what service pack is on your domain controller? Are the NICs on the new PCs gigabit NICs? Have you attempted to add drivers to the image? Are you booting using PXE or a RIS boot disk? Are your PCs on the same subnet as the RIS server and if not then are the helper addresses in the router correctly? Have there been any recent changes to the ACLs in any of your equipment? (RIS uses many different ports, including TFTP and if any of these are blocked for any reason sometimes it will just lock and not give an error)

I think that will do it

1) no, it boots to PE (PE 1.2 with WSH and HTA support to be precise, build with windows 2003 files)
2) Ris server is a DC (not a GC, + Infrastructure master & DNS)
3) 2003 RTM, no patches
4) yes, Intel Pro 1000MT's (there is a special inf to use for these with ris on the intel site, PE however is set to use the normal driver)
5) yes, have added appropriate files into \inf, \system32 and \system32\drivers
6) yes, same subnet
7) no ports blocked, no vlans, no qos, to tagging etc etc :-) nothing
8) booting from PXE, that bit works fine.

1.) I am quite interested in how you did this.... care to give me some info?
2.) OK
3.) There was a problem with DCs that were 2000 < SP4. They would lock up or BSOD every time. There is a Q article on it, but it's not important for your situation
4.) OK
5.) Do you also have these files in a directory that is pointed to from your SIF?
6.) OK
7.) OK
8.) OK

1) The process is fully documented, i was quite happy with it - up until now! But yes, ill be happy to post it onto the board, i would hoever like it to be complete first
It is in the WinPE doco as to how to get it to work with RIS BTW.

5) I have not modified the txtsetup.sif at all. However basically in my test environment (where this works) i hadnt modified it either - so i figured it should work (silly me!)

Bascially

Test environment = RIS on a workstation - Builds workstations ok, servers not ok
Production = Ris on Server - builds nothing (hangs at "please wait")

Boot of CD (same build of PE as on server), works fine... so im not quite sure what it is.

when you use the CD image does it install the network drivers? (are they installed when completed?)

Also... if you are interested, one of the main reasons that I started my own website was specifically to bring some of the less known information about RIS to everyone else. There are also items I have posted that are not ANYWHERE else on the web or in any documentation. Feel free to drop by my site (link in signature) and check it out and let me know what you think.

yes, when using the CD image the network drivers are installed successully.

Will do.

I have logged a call with ms pss about this as well.... and the response i got was "whats windows PE" - which i was expecting.

The lack of logging in PE is really s***ting me off.

Can you give a little more of a detailed description of exactly when it happens? Maybe the method you use to run this image and approx times each takes? I am trying to get a better understanding to better help.

when it works the ris boot process takes approx 10 seconds, after entering the details manually, the build process then takes approx 20 mins for a workstation and 25 minutes for a server (depending on DC, apps etc)

Exactly when it happens is a tough one to explain

1) Boot to network
2) enter ris authentication (other screens are auto-enetered)
3) Dos type screen "starting windows preinstallation environment" comes up, with a progress bar
4) the progress bar gets to the end
5) normally the GUI would now come up
6) instead, "please wait" is displayed where it previous said "starting windows preinstallation environment"
7) it just sits there... i have left it on overnight just to check that something really slow isnt happening - and nup, next morning, still at the same screen.

Im pretty sure its a winPe issue, but it works when used off of CD.... so more likely a winPe when used with RIS issue.

Have you attempted to copy the working image on the test server to the production server? Be sure to start and stop your BINL service (if you haven't done this since you added drivers then that may very well be the issue as well)

yes, am just in the process of doing that now, they were created (the ris portion) by the same script, so they SHOULD be the same, but we shall see.

Please let me know. I am sorry that I could not offer much more help that that. Sometimes you just screw an image and you have to redo it.

well, is now working.

I ended up rebuilding my winPE image (based on 2003) from scratch, then putting the appropriate raid/network drivers into the PE bit, and appropriate nmetwork drivers into the RIS bit.

Had to rename nete1000.inf & net1000.sys, as they are the supplied drivers with 2003 for intel 1000 NIC's.

Im back to where i was before though - i can build workstations, which have either intel pro 100VE's or intel pro 1000's in them... but not an x345 which has a intel pro 1000MT dual port in it - when the drivers for all intel 1000 cards are exactly the same!

So yer, still getting the hanging at the end of DOS mode PE boot on the servers.

Not quite sure what went wrong with my scripted ris install - but i've now re-scripted it with the rebuilt file structure and re-tested.

Anyway, i still have the call logged with ms, so ill see what they can come up with.

I have the same problem when tryning to pxe boot Dell PE2550/2650 servers with Broadcom 570x Gigabit NIC. After textmode PE hangs, when it says please wait.

And it works fine on ordinary workstations. And if I use a PE boot CD everything works smoothly...

I've talked to Dell, but it seems like they doesn't know to much about WinPE, yet.

This is very frustrating!

T.

I would be very interested in how you've got your RIS & PE setup.

Something like this would be very useful for use at my work.

If you could share some info about your hard work it'd be greatly appreciated


Thanks

Hi, there.
I am not sure if this is going to help, but here goes a suggestion.
I have been working on ADS, WinPE and RIS, one of the problems that I encountered in the beginning was also very similar to yours. 2003 server does not support Intel Pro 1000 drivers, so I copied the drivers to the right place on my server. I haven't had any more problems since then.

Oh almost forgot, In WinPE I added the drivers as well

To add extra NIC drivers to the WinPE CD or the image file, the files need to be copied into specific places:

1. All *.inf files should be copied into the i386\inf folder
2. All *.sys files should be copied into the i386\system32\drivers folder
3. The *.cat file should be copied into the i386\WinSxS\Manifests folder
4. The other files should be copied into the i386\system32 folder

Hi Guys,

We seem to be having the same problem with a Dell 1750 with dual gb Broadcom NICs.

Well I am not sure if it is the NICs or the PERC 4/Di RAID Controller.
Thing just hangs at the "Please Wait" screen, very useful debug information.
Couple of Question
Is this information about the .cat file documented anywhere? This is the first I have heard of this.

verukins, have you had any more success ?
Has Anyone been able to get this working on servers with similar configuration?

Cheers
Darren

One other question.

Has anyone ever got RIS->WinPE to work in a device with SCSI drives. Run this up on a lot of systems, but they have all been IDE. The two we have had problems with (a dell and a compaq) both have SCSI Raid ???

Just looking for ideas of what to try next.

Thanks
Darren

sorry for the long delay in reply - we've been rolling out.

No, i havent had any more success, i did log a call with MS about it, it got escalated to the premier team 3 weeks ago, i sent the guy a copy of my PE build and havent heard back - after repeated calls, and after forking out $300AU for the call. MS are just thieve's... but oh well.

For the moment i am just going with the CD-boot based PE build, it still works, it just takes lonbger and needs the extra step of creating drives (otherwise PE takes D: drive for itself)

It wouldnt surprise me at all if you right about the SCSI thing, but somehow i dont think this one will be solved anytime soon.

Hopefully ms will pull their finger out and release the next version of PE soon which was promised in november 2003.

If they could just address the CD boot drive letter, WMI support and driver support PE would be a fantastic product for building SOE's.

verukins,

I know what that is like.

We have been doing a bit of research, and we believe it is an issue with the multi-processor HAL. Hope to have a bit more information in the morning. All this time looking at the NIC and SCSI drivers put us off the track.

Good Luck

Cheers
Darren

Well it seems it is HAL related. I think MS may be hinting this in the Support Article 814199

We found that for our servers if we added the following lines to the reminst.sif file it worked for new machines. As this hard codes the HAL, it did break the install on our older machines though.

[Unattended]
OemPreinstall=yes
ComputerType = "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC"

I did try the hotfix mentioned in the article and it did not work. I have not spent much time on it as all machines needed for this job use the same HAL.



Maybe you could ask for your money back, as it seems like a bug?

Cheers
Darren

I've had the same problem with the MN32SLI motherboard and the trick was that the mobo had two NIC's on-board. Plugging it into the other NIC resulted in the system booting successfully -- successfully meaning it booted WinPE and got past the "Starting Windows Preinstallation Environment".