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Problems Deploying 2008 non R2 without setup.exe

Answered Problems Deploying 2008 non R2 without setup.exe

  • Saturday, August 25, 2012 9:34 PM
     
     
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    Hello,

    SUMMARY:

    I am running into an issue with a newly linked MDT 2012 deployment share. I have selectively replicated only custom wim files that were previously captured from my main share to the linked deployment share to save space. Since I did not replicate the source operating system files, there is no setup.exe available in the linked deployment share. Windows 2003 and 2008 R2 OSs all install fine with imagex on the linked deployment share, but the 2008 non R2 versions do not.

    THE PROBLEM:

    Windows 2008 non R2 (32bit specifically) editions do not make it past the first reboot after the wim is fully applied. I receive the boot error:

    ####
    BOOTMGR is missing
    Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart
    ####

    What I have tried:

    1. I temporarily replicated the source OS files (including setup.exe) for one of the 2008 non R2 editions and the install works fine. So I know it is not a problem with the custom wim file or linked share, but related to the fact that imagex is being used and not setup.exe

    2. I have tried building a new custom wim from source files on the main share. The custom wims were initially built in MDT 2010, but I have since upgraded to MDT 2012 on the main share. So I figured maybe I need to rebuild using the latest MDT 2012 tools to get a proper custom image, then replicate that new wim to the linked deployment share. Even with a new custom wim generated with the latest MDT 2012 tools and a new task sequence to deploy the custom wim I run into the same issue.

    3. I have tried as recommended by (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/nl/configmgrosd/thread/23da1ccc-ebfa-4cca-8e8f-94ab3cb01d2b) to boot from the install CD and try to repair startup just to see if it would help. Unfortunately, the repair startup option does not show up. So, I tried the command line suggestions in that same post:

    BOOTREC /FIXMBR and press Enter
    BOOTREC /FIXBOOT and press Enter.
    BOOTREC /SCANOS and press Enter.
    BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD and press Enter.

    None of these fixed the issue.

    4. I also tried "X:\Windows\system32\bcdboot.exe C:\Windows" at the command prompt, but after that I get a new boot error "A disk read error occurred"

    At this point I am at a complete loss. I know I can just waste the space on the linked deployment share and replicate all 2008 non r2 source files (which includes setup.exe), but eventually I will need to upgrade to MDT 2012 update 1 which will make imagex the default. I am worried I will run into the same issue then, so I would appreciate any insight into figuring this out.

    I managed to get the logs of of the C: drive, so I have the whole set of logs in C:\\MININT\OSDLOGS as well as the smsts.log. I have added only the BDD and smsts logs to pastebin, but I can paste any other logs from OSDLOGS if requested. I did not see any obvious errors in these logs.

    BDD.log http://pastebin.com/NFEFWPVn
    smsts.log http://pastebin.com/TRxnNPTb

    I also still have the problematic install image available which I can pull files or gather further information from if necessary.

    ADDITIONAL INFO:

    - I am using a single x86 boot wim for PE since MDT 2012 now allows for cross platform deployments
    - Deployments are run with MDT 2012 in combination with WDS/PXE
    - I recently upgraded the main share from MDT 2010 to MDT 2012, the new linked deployment share is brand new and running mdt 2012 of course.

    Regards,

    Darren

     

All Replies

  • Sunday, August 26, 2012 1:45 AM
     
     
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    Is it possible that you have multiple active partitions on the machine?

    MDT should be running BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 to create the necessary boot sector, then BCDBOOT to create a BCD entry for the OS.  After rebooting, BOOTMGR should be loaded from the active partition, it will find the BCD entry, then boot the OS.

    In the case where there are multiple active partitions, the BCD and boot files might be placed on the wrong partition.  If that happens, the above commands can be executed manually.  Be aware when running BCDBOOT that the drive may not be C:\Windows, it's more likely to be D:\Windows while in Windows PE.

    Thanks,
    -Michael Niehaus
    Senior Product Marketing Manager, Windows Deployment
    http://blogs.technet.com/mniehaus
    mniehaus@microsoft.com

     
  • Sunday, August 26, 2012 2:39 AM
     
     
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    I also suspected the partitioning scheme and have confirmed that there is only one active partition. I basically have both my sysprep/capture TS and my custom wim TS set to format only 1 partition, C:, using 100% of the available space. This is generally the default settings for the format and partition section of the standard server TS. I also have the "Create Extra Active Partition" unchecked. I use F8 to get a command prompt before, during and after the initial sysprep/capture routine to make sure this is the case. I did the same for the custom wim deployment, and there is always just one active partition C. I also have DoNotCreateExtraPartition=YES in my CustomSettings.ini.

    I am starting to think this is a bug with MDT 2012, using imagex to deploy vista/2008 without setup.exe just doesn't seem to work. I just tried to build a new image from source using the install.wim from the windows 2008 DVD with no setup.exe and that failed in the same manner. So I can neither sysprep/capture nor deploy a custom wim of Windows 2008 non R2 editions without the full set of source files (namely setup.exe) available in the DS.

    I think there is just something that setup.exe does for vista/2008 installs that is not being done with imagex installs via MDT 2012. I searched this forum before making this post, but I did miss this post just yesterday that seems to deal with the same issue.

    I would be real interested to know if anyone else has been able to get 2008 non R2 editions to install without setup.exe.

    Thank you for your reply,

    Darren

     
  • Sunday, August 26, 2012 3:15 AM
     
     Answered
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    I believe we fixed a bug related to this.  Can you try it with MDT 2012 Update 1?

    Thanks,
    -Michael Niehaus
    Senior Product Marketing Manager, Windows Deployment
    http://blogs.technet.com/mniehaus
    mniehaus@microsoft.com

    • Marked As Answer by dlofstedt Sunday, August 26, 2012 6:24 AM
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  • Sunday, August 26, 2012 6:24 AM
     
     
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    Thank you Michael,

    I can confirm that updating to MDT 2012 Update 1 resolved this issue. I was able to successfully sysprep/cature a Windows 2008 image and then deploy that custom wim with imagex. To think I was worried about updating because of an issue that the update itself resolved...

    Regards,
    Darren