Issues with SCCM 2012 and Multiple Desktop OSD

I have an issue with imaging and SCCM 2012. I have been using SCCM for a while to image computers when needed and it is working to an extent. The problem I am having is that when we try to image more than one computers at a time it starts acting freaky. Basically this is the process I go through. 

1. Power on machine and get to Boot Selection Screen. 

2. Choose Network Boot, wait for notification and press F12

3. All seems to go well, progress bar shows it is loading sometimes it will hang up and reboot here and other times it will continue on and I get the Win Server logo (Server is on Win 2012).

4. White SCCM window comes up and notification says please wait, system is starting. That stays about 30 seconds and then goes away. Sometimes it will go on in the process and give me the password screen and sometimes it lock up and go to this screen. (Link Below)

http://goo.gl/BX3fwT         (This is the screen capture of my error message)

After fighting this issue multiple times on many different machines, I think to myself "Self" if I was a Dell 780 Desktop, why would I cause Justin so many problems? I think well most likely because I don't have the correct drivers for me to communicate properly with the mother ship (AKA: Server)

So I do some research and find the WIN PE driver pack for the DEll 780 and add them to the SCCM Server and inject them into the Boot image, I update the distribution point to include the drivers and give it another shot. NO GO......  :(

This is the freaky part. If I am imaging just one single desktop or Laptop, this process goes off without a hitch, even before injecting any drivers. It only seems to occur if I am trying to image more than one computer at a time. Even funnier thing is that it will sometimes do two machines fine and then sometimes it wont. I have never been able to do more than two at a time without experiencing any problems. 

Best Part about it is that on a machine that is giving the error message that I linked above, if I reboot it and no other machines are actively imaging, it will work without any problems. 

I am sorry about the length of this, but felt it was better to include as many details as possible to help narrow down the issue. Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide. 


January 16th, 2014 3:13pm

Hello,

Maybe you have some network problem ? You say that the problem come when you try to deploy to more than one computer. 

Can you verify if your switch have some errors on interfaces ?

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January 16th, 2014 4:14pm

First Of all I would do a deployment to a virtual machine (through Hyper-v on your machine) to double check the actual deployment is fine. This eliminates the troubleshooting of network Drivers.

If that works then the problem could either be switch Related or you could have an issue with Multicast. (it sounds like Multicast Night Not be enabled for some of your OS Images)

I would check would be to make sure Multicast is enabled on the Distribution Point and the OS image file.

  • go to DP  > Properties > Multicast Tab > Enable Multicast
  • Operating Systems > OS Images > Properties > Distribution settings > Allow this package to be transferred via Multicast.
  • this will cut your Network Usage down massively (for Multiple deployments)
January 16th, 2014 5:12pm

Definitely sounds like a network issue or hardware issue on the system hosting your DP. Have you ever examined the stats on the port or the NIC on the DP?

Have you ever examined the smsts.log file on a system that gets rebooted? If you have command prompt support enabled in a boot image, press F8 at the beginning of WinPE to get a command-prompt windows. Once the command-prompt window is up, WinPE will not reboot even if the task sequence calls for a reboot thus allowing you to examine the smsts.log.

Also, there's no such thing as a Dell Driver pack for WinPE that is specific to a single model. The model specific driver packs contain *all* of the drivers for a full windows install and should *not* be injected into your boot image. The only thing a boot image ever needs are the NIC drivers and storage drivers if *and only if* the boot image doesn't already contain a suitably driver to allow the basic operations that happen during the PE phase of a TS. Dell does provide drivers packs for WinPE, but these are not specific to any model, they are specific to the PE version and only contain NIC and storage drivers although generally, I recommend against using thse unless, as mentioned, a suitable driver isn't already in the boot image.

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January 16th, 2014 6:20pm

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