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MDT and Macs running Bootcamp – worked in MDT 2010, now does not in MDT 2012

Answered MDT and Macs running Bootcamp – worked in MDT 2010, now does not in MDT 2012

  • Wednesday, April 25, 2012 4:17 PM
     
     
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    I haven’t been able to find much info on this so I thought I would try here and see if anyone can help.  We’ve been using MDT 2010 for the last couple of years to install Windows 7 on Macintosh’s running Bootcamp and it’s been working fine.  We recently upgraded to MDT 2012 and the same process we used to use for this does not work anymore and I would like to find out how to make it work on 2012.  Here’s how the process works: 

    First, setup Bootcamp on the Mac.  This creates another partition on the Mac for the Windows OS (partition 3 for MAC OS 10.6 and lower, partition 4 for OS 10.7 Lion because of the recovery partition).  Unfortunately Bootcamp cannot create NTFS partitions so it formats it as FAT32.

    We then create a standard client task sequence using MDT and the Windows 7 source files (not a custom image) and give it a name to make it obvious it’s for Mac’s – “Windows 7 for Macintosh running Bootcamp”.  We edit that task sequence and disable the built in “Format and Partition Disk” step since we don’t need to create the partition, only format it as NTFS.  We then create a custom diskpart.txt file called BootCamp_Lion.txt with the following contents:

    SELECT DISK 0

    SELECT PARTITION 4

    FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK OVERRIDE

    We place this file in the “Extra directory to add” location we’ve specified in the Win PE Customization section so it is located on the root of X:\ when it boots into Win PE.  We then add a command line to the task sequence:  diskpart.exe /s x:\BootCamp_Lion.txt  to format the existing bootcamp partition as NTFS.  Then in the “Install Operating System” step we set it to apply to a specific disk and partition – Disk 0, Partition 4.  This installs Windows 7 on the Bootcamp partition and leaves the Mac OS intact and has been working fine in MDT 2010.  Now with MDT 2012, the task sequence starts fine, formats the partition, installs Win 7, but when it comes up in the full OS for the first time I get the error “Unable to find the SMS Task Sequencer.  The deployment will not proceed.”  And the task sequence stops.  I know the partitioning part has changed in 2012 and have read that you can get this error if you deploy to something other than disk 0, partition 1 but I’m wondering if I can accomplish the same thing that I used to have working in 2012.  Is there a different way I can do this?  Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Robb

     

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  • Friday, April 27, 2012 1:52 PM
     
     
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    Hi Robb

    I think it's not related directly to partitioning.
    Please check in your Deployment Share \Tools\x86 or x64 if the file "TsmBootstrap.exe" does exist.
    I had a similar issue when upgrading from MDT2012 B1, several .exe etc. have been missing there.

    If missing you can try copy them from the your MDT Installation Directory\Templates\Distribution\Tools, but I recommend following:

    - close Workbench and WAIK Tools if open
    - Rename Distribution Share and MDT Installation Directory
    - Start MDT2012 Install and choose remove, then start again and reinstall (I recommend use C:\MDT for App and C:\DS shared as DS$)
    - recreate everything, you can use the old directories for os, drivers, package and applications to import in the new wizard.
    - do not manually copy files over except $oem$ and your own scripts, bootstrap.ini and customsettings.ini
    - recreate task sequence etc., you may compare against old file

    another check:
    check as environment var DeployRoot in bootstrap.ini has been set, i.e. \\yourserver\ds$
    If you get the error, don't click on ok, edit  C:\MiniNT\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf on the failed client on line ~348 with:
    msgbox oEnvironment.Item("DeployRoot")
    and rerun directly. if you get empty message, then this is your problem

    good luck



    • Edited by U2 Pas Friday, April 27, 2012 2:54 PM
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  • Wednesday, May 02, 2012 6:47 AM
     
     
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    I'm getting the same issues.

    Have been using MDT 2010 for a while now and we using BootCamp at most of our sites and we used to have the Custom Mac Script added to a Task Sequence to image iMacs with MDT on BootCamp and had no issues.

    Since moving to MDT 2012 the same process works but after imaging and when it logs in to complete post installation tasks like installing applications and etc and cleanup tasks it fails on BootCamp Machines. Get unable to start/find task sequencer? 

    Have another task that is used for Windows NetBook Devices that is almost the same as the BootCamp one besides the Drive Partitioning and Installing to Partition and works fine post installation tasks complete OK.

    Any ideas why MDT2012 will not working with Task Sequences in BootCamp?

    Hopefully have can get urgent response as we are currently in production thinking it would work just like mdt 2010.

    regards,

    Shane

     
  • Thursday, May 03, 2012 12:42 PM
     
     
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    Hi Shane

    please check in Task Sequence as under the section "Preinstall" - "New Computer only" the original step "Format and Partition Disk" is NOT deactivated.
    If you do your own formatting, just put your formatting step after the original one, but do not deactivate the original one.

    In this original step several environment variables get set, and if you disable it one issue is as the tsmbootstrap could not be found anymore after reboot and DeployRoot points to local drive instead UNC path.

    regards
    U2 Pas

     
  • Thursday, May 03, 2012 11:41 PM
     
     
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    Hi 

    Will give that a go. But won't that format and partition stuff up the partition tables on the Mac if We have the original Format and Partition Task?

    Regards,
    Shane

     
  • Monday, May 07, 2012 7:22 PM
     
     
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    So I’ve spent the last few days re-installing MDT 2012 from scratch and completely rebuilding the distribution share as suggested and it did NOT fix the problem.  I also tried not deactivating the original “Format and Partition Disk” step as suggested and this not only does not work but also blows away the Mac partition and OS.  Unless there is a way to make the “Format and Partition Disk” step NOT create a partition and simply format an existing one, keeping that step activated is not an option when deploying to Bootcamp.  Is there no way to disable that step and deploy to an existing partition?  If not, that seems like a severe decrease in functionality from prior versions of MDT and prevents us from using MDT to deploy windows to Macs running Bootcamp.  Has anyone been successful in using MDT 2012 with Bootcamp on MAC OS 10.7?  Any help would be appreciated.

    Regards,

    Robb


    • Edited by rsanders68 Monday, May 07, 2012 7:37 PM
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  • Tuesday, May 15, 2012 9:12 AM
     
     
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    Hi Robb

    I am sorry this did not help you...
    Could you maybe post the failed part and some lines above from bdd.log ?

     
  • Thursday, May 17, 2012 11:09 PM
     
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    Hi Guys

    I have been having the same problem.

    What I have done to get around it is

    1. add a custom command as we all did in MDT 2010 to format partition 3 or 4 depending on the version of OSX
    2. don’t disable the Format and Partition Disk task but tick in create active partition then remove the partition properties and then click on options and check continue on error
    3. then under install operating system change the partition that you want to have windows installed on

    Once the deployment has completed you will receive the message that deployment has completed but with one error

    Hope this helps

    Regards

    Matthew

    • Proposed As Answer by Hoody1 Thursday, May 17, 2012 11:09 PM
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  • Friday, May 18, 2012 12:28 AM
     
     
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    Sounds good, this'll work!
     
  • Monday, June 04, 2012 4:50 PM
     
     
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    Rsanders68,

    I'm having the same issue.  Did adding the Format and Partition disk work for you?

    Matthew

     
  • Monday, June 04, 2012 7:03 PM
     
     
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    Yes!   Thank you guys SOOO Much.   I placed the Format and Partition Disk BEFORE my custommacformat command and it no longer errors out on me!
     
  • Friday, June 08, 2012 12:32 AM
     
     
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    Hello everyone, 

    I've been lurking around here for a while working on automating my Mac Windows deployments & I'm just having no luck. 

    I'm using MDT2012 & I've followed these steps to a T & several variations however I run into the same errors everytime.

    It goes through the whole task sequence & formats the partition successfully. It makes it all the way to 100% of the install os task but when it goes to reboot I get:

    FAILURE (5615): False: Boot Drive was not found, required?
    litetouch deployment failed, return code = -2147467259 0x80004005
    Failed to run the action: Install Operating System
    Unknown error (error: 000015EF; Source: Unknown)
    The execution of the group (Install has Failed and the execution has been aborted. an action failed. 
    Operation aborted (Error:80004004; Source: Windows)
    Failed to run the last action: Install Operating System. Execution of task sequence failed.
    Unknown error (error:000015EF; Source: Unknown)
    Task Sequence Engine Failed! Code: enExecutionFail
    Task sequence execution failed with error code 80004005

    It seems the drive is formatting properly because when I reboot to mac OS the bootcamp partition reads as NTFS & all the windows files from the install are there it just doesnt appear bootable. 

    Please let me know what other info you may need, Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

     
  • Monday, August 13, 2012 2:39 PM
     
     
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    Hello everyone, 

    I've been lurking around here for a while working on automating my Mac Windows deployments & I'm just having no luck. 

    I'm using MDT2012 & I've followed these steps to a T & several variations however I run into the same errors everytime.

    It goes through the whole task sequence & formats the partition successfully. It makes it all the way to 100% of the install os task but when it goes to reboot I get:

    FAILURE (5615): False: Boot Drive was not found, required?
    litetouch deployment failed, return code = -2147467259 0x80004005
    Failed to run the action: Install Operating System
    Unknown error (error: 000015EF; Source: Unknown)
    The execution of the group (Install has Failed and the execution has been aborted. an action failed. 
    Operation aborted (Error:80004004; Source: Windows)
    Failed to run the last action: Install Operating System. Execution of task sequence failed.
    Unknown error (error:000015EF; Source: Unknown)
    Task Sequence Engine Failed! Code: enExecutionFail
    Task sequence execution failed with error code 80004005

    It seems the drive is formatting properly because when I reboot to mac OS the bootcamp partition reads as NTFS & all the windows files from the install are there it just doesnt appear bootable. 

    Please let me know what other info you may need, Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

    I'm having exactly the same problem. Did you get anywhere with this?

     
  • Thursday, August 23, 2012 8:51 PM
     
     
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    unfortunately I havent made any progress. I got distracted by "priority" projects & just now picked this back up. 

    I'm currently looking for some way to manually mark this partition as bootable. I'll post back here if I have any success. 

     
  • Friday, August 24, 2012 12:13 AM
     
     
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    I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!! (yes im that excited)

    I added the command "ACTIVE" to the end of my partitioning script before the "EXIT" command & it appears to have worked. My Mac partition was not erased & windows was able to boot. Now I am running into the SMS task sequencer error in Windows but I'll take a look at that tomorrow, I feel like the hard part is done!

    EDIT: BTW I had tried the active command at the time of my original post. I think the difference now is Update 1

    • Edited by jcc6655 Friday, August 24, 2012 12:26 AM
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  • Monday, September 24, 2012 7:54 PM
     
     
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    I'm on MDT 2012 Update 1 and this was working fine on MDT 2012 RC1 with the solution that Hoody1 gave for keeping Format and Partition Disk enabled and using the custom command line:

    SELECT disk 0
    SELECT partition 4
    FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL=”Bootcamp” QUICK
    EXIT

    It gets to the point in the task right after "applying operating system" to running dism.exe and then restarts, but instead of loading back into the Windows install, it stays at a black screen with blinking cursor. So it does not continue on to actually install the OS. No errors on screen or in BDD.log. And again this worked fine in MDT 2012 RC1.  I did try jcc6655's solution with adding "Active" to the above command, but same result. Any suggestions?

     
  • Tuesday, September 25, 2012 3:44 PM
     
     
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    I'm now having the exact same problem as RotHead.  I got it working with 2012 RC1 but now since upgrading to Update 1 and integrating the WADK, I get the same thing - it gets to the point of restarting into the OS and then sits at a black screen with a blinking cursor.  I wasn't sure if it was Update 1 or if it was the WADK that broke it.  I've also tried the other suggestions in this thread with no luck.  Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
     
  • Wednesday, September 26, 2012 4:21 PM
     
     
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    The problem actually turned out to be with the MacBook Pro itself. To resolve, I had to install Windows from scratch (not from MDT) on Boot Camp. I then removed Boot Camp and started over with a new Boot Camp with the image and all went well. I have seen simular issues with our Dell's, issues with image not proceeding, and installing Windows from scratch has resolved those as well. So right now using the image on Boot Camp with MDT version 6.1.2369.0 is working fine on Lion and Mountain Lion.
    • Proposed As Answer by RotHead Thursday, October 04, 2012 12:18 AM
    • Unproposed As Answer by RotHead Thursday, October 04, 2012 12:18 AM
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  • Friday, October 05, 2012 1:12 PM
     
     
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    I'm having the exact same issue.  It's almost like it isn't making the partition bootable...  I've tried changing my custom format to say active at the bottom but no luck.  I will have to revert to 2012 PRIOR to update if we can't get this fixed.
     
  • Wednesday, October 10, 2012 3:31 PM
     
     
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    I've had this problem as well.  I've even made new TS's with these settings to test it out, and I get exactly the same results.  The partition is not marked as bootable, despite using the ACTIVE switch in diskpart.  The only difference between this and my other TS's is that BootCamp is basically a multi-boot UEFI configuration.  It worked fine under MDT 2010 Upd1, so I may have to roll back until this is straightened out.
     
  • Monday, November 12, 2012 2:46 PM
     
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    Here is what I ended up doing, and it is working for me. I took what Hoody1's steps, added an ACTIVE to the diskpart file. I then added some commands to the task sequence after the "Install Operating System" command. There are 5 commands that I have set to run after the OS is installed, but before it goes into the next phase. Add these all by adding a "Run Command Line" for each, or you can make a batch file. Add them in this order in the command box:

    1.  bootrec /fixmbr

    2. bootrec /fixboot

    3. bootrec /rebuildbcd

    4. bootsect /nt60 C: /mbr

    5. bcdboot c:\windows

    What mine looks like:

    This is what worked for me. It's a bit of shotgun blast approach, so feel free to tweak and tell me what is necessary or unnecessary. I haven't had time to fully test everything. I wanted to share it to hopefully save someone some time.

    • Proposed As Answer by gwwild11 Monday, November 12, 2012 2:47 PM
    • Marked As Answer by rsanders68 Thursday, November 29, 2012 7:51 PM
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  • Thursday, November 29, 2012 7:51 PM
     
     
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    Thank you gwwild11, that worked for me as well.  I didn't use all the commands, I ended up only using command 1 and command 5 in your list and it seems to be working fine for me now.  Many thanks!
     
  • Thursday, December 20, 2012 12:07 AM
     
     
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    gwwild11, I was wondering if you could provide a little clarification.  I tried following Hoody1's steps, but don't understand what was meant by, "don’t disable the Format and Partition Disk task but tick in create active partition then remove the partition properties and then click on options and check continue on error."  Would it be possible for you to post the exact contents of your DiskPartMac.txt, and a screenshot of your Format and Partition Disk settings?  Thanks!


     
  • Tuesday, January 15, 2013 10:23 PM
     
     
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    Like I mentioned in another thread regarding this problem (sorry for crossposting, but i think this can be helpful for some people) here is another solution I have figured out:

    - edit your customsettings.ini and add a "Subsection=%make%"
    - we want every Mac to be formated by our diskpart txt file and not repartitioned bei the TaskSequence, so we add in our subsection:
    [Apple Inc.]
    DONOTFORMATANDPARTITION=YES

    This will execute the Format and Partition Step in our TS, but will not part the disk again. By just skipping the Format and Partition Step, some variable in the MDT Scripts will not be set properly, the workaround with adding an empty Part Step is also a solution, but i think the way mentioned above is a bit smarter, because no error will be shown, wenn the TS completed :-)