MDT 2010 External Media, Attempting to image a Dell XPS 13
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Wednesday, April 04, 2012 5:43 PMI've been banging my head against this one for a couple days.
I'm attempting to build a media deploy on a USB key as there is no builtin Ethernet port on this laptop to allow for PXE booting.
I have the laptop plugged into a Targus USB dock. I added the USB controller drivers to the PE environment but cannot get it to connect to the Deployment share after it successfully boots to the USB key. Confirmed by attempting to perform a net use from the command line and can't
The strange thing is, the docking station is being recognized in the PE environment because the USB key is booting fine when plugged into the dock.
Is there a way to deploy my WIM image from the USB key offline and not have it want to call home to the MDT/WDS server? I have Drivers/TaskSequence/OS all added to the Media on the USB key so I don't really get why it still needs to connect to the Deployment share.
Thanks for any help!
All Replies
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Wednesday, April 04, 2012 8:15 PM
Did you simply copy the deployment share onto a usb stick? Or did you actually create this using the workbench in the advanced configuration > media menu?
If you build a media deployment from the workbench,it will use different config files that will not point to unc paths and run everything locally.
Kind regards,
Stephan Schwarz
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How to configure Windows RE/OEM Recovery Partition with MDT -
Wednesday, April 04, 2012 8:53 PM
I created the media via the workbench, then manually copied over what it created to my USB key. I tried different selection profiles, finally just settling on 'Everything'
The key works on another laptop with a healthy network connection, I just can't get it to boot and work and point at the local USB key on my laptop without a network.
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 2:56 PM
Hi Starz,
Please see my blog below for instructions on performing a partially automated deployment on the XPS 13 via flash drive.
This process does not connect your device to a deployment share, instead it runs the deployment from the flash drive.
http://zakstech.blogspot.com/2012/04/mdt-2010-almost-automated-dell-xps-13.html
As noted several times in my post, the only part which is not automated is joining it to a wireless network once it launches Windows for the first time. You may be able to work around this by adding drivers for the Targus dock to your deployment. If this works properly then it would perform the domain join task through the Targus NIC and not WiFi.
Zak
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 3:54 PM
Hi Zak
- Windows PE x64 Components
- Selection Profile: Win PE Drivers(Dell provides a cab with all current Windows PE drivers for their systems. I have a separate selection profile for those drivers suited for this purpose.)
This is the one piece I think that is stalling me, Do you have a link for this? I normally add the NIC drivers to my PE drivers selection profile. Can you confirm which drivers are needed here?
Thanks,
- Windows PE x64 Components
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 3:58 PM
No Cabs on Techcentre yet but keep an eye out for them on;
Also take a look at the Dell Techcentre link for Deploying the Dell XPS 13 in the Enterprise.
S
- Edited by somahony73 Thursday, April 05, 2012 3:59 PM
- Edited by somahony73 Thursday, April 05, 2012 4:01 PM Update
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 4:14 PM
As somahony posted, his first link has the cab files I spoke of, they are the first downloads on the page.
Unfortunately, those cab files do not supply any XPS 13 drivers as of yet. Although, in the video in the second link they mention they intend to add the XPS 13 drivers in the future due to the demand for these laptops in the enterprise.
I have one of the Targus docks, I am going to play around with it and see if I can incorporate it into my deployment to work around the domain join wireless issue.
Zak
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 4:30 PM
Thanks for the info!
So at the moment I have it booting the USB key and I'm finding the task sequence. The Task Sequence initiates.
My question is why at the "Install Operating System" stage in the Task Sequence does it error out after it doesn't find a Network Adaptor?
So I'm very close but still the TS is trying to call home.
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 4:43 PM
Will the Latitude 13, work for the Ultrabook 13?
So no idea why the Install Operating System step would error because of now network adaptor hey?
Thanks,
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 4:52 PMBah, attention to detail, deleting last post.
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 5:31 PM
I've given up for now.. Which is vexing...
I'm in a time crunch and have just started a fresh install of Windows on this laptop, I will build it from scratch as there is only one of these very sleek but frustrating units in my organization.
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Thursday, April 05, 2012 7:03 PM
So I got there. I had to import the original source files of Windows 7 into the external media. My XPS 13 is imaging away right now.. :))))
Thanks for the help!
- Marked As Answer by StarsAB Thursday, April 05, 2012 7:04 PM
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Wednesday, May 02, 2012 3:07 PMStars, can you give a step by step of how you imported the original source files onto the USB?
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012 4:02 PM
What I've been doing is booting from the USB 2.0 port (left side) with my flash drive, when I'm prompted that the server can't be found over the network I plug in my USB network adapter (drivers were added to MDT prior) give it a few seconds while it initializes the network and then I hit retry. At that point the flash drive is no longer needed and it's business as usual.
That said when I have time I'm going to work on a better way. If you have a SQL server you can use the Make/Model option in MDT (Refer to: Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Samples Guide: By Make and Model) to deploy targeted drivers that must be installed using their installer such as the Intel Smart Connect.
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