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Troubleshooting WinPE and task sequence issues

Some common WinPE and task sequence issues are presented along with information about how to troubleshoot them.

WinPE never starts the task sequence​

Check the SMSTS.LOG file at X:\windows\temp\smstslog\smsts.log. If a package never downloaded, it is likely that you do not have the appropriate network drivers installed, which prevents the server from communicating with Configuration Manager.

Check your driver catalog to ensure that you have the right network drivers available and installed in the boot image, and update the boot image to your distribution points.

Additional network or storage drivers might be needed in the boot image to enable the WinPE boot to function correctly. Add those through Drivers in the Operating System Deployment node.

The right drivers have been added to the boot image, but are not loading​

The original boot.wim file (WinPE boot image) created whenConfiguration Manager was installed is copied and modified with Lenovo specific drivers and other files. Your task sequences that use the Lenovo XClarity Integrator Deployment Pack must use this boot image, or the tools might not work properly.

Check to make sure the image into which you loaded the drivers is the same image being used by the task sequence.

This error is common for administrators who maintain multiple boot images.

Servers will not boot using PXE​

PXE is an extension of DHCP, which uses a broadcast type of communication. Broadcast communication uses standard timeout values that are not readily changeable. As a result, a computer waits for a default timeframe to receive a DHCP or PXE response before timing out and causing a failure condition.

Each time a server is rebooted, it must renegotiate the connection to the switch. Some network switches arrive configured with default settings that might incur connectivity delays. That is, the settings on the switch might cause a DHCP orPXE timeout because they fail to negotiate a connection in time.

One of the features that can be affected by this issue is Spanning Tree Protocol (STP). STP is a protocol that prevents loops and provides redundancy within a network. A networking device using this algorithm might experience some latency as it collects information about other network devices. During this period, servers might boot to PXE and time out while waiting for a response from Windows Deployment Services. Disable the STP or enable PortFast on end-node ports for the target server to prevent such occurrences. Refer to the manufacturer's user guide for further information.

Another feature that can be affected by this issue is the EtherChannel or Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP). EtherChannel allows multiple links between devices to act as one fast link that shares the load between the links. Running the EtherChannel Protocol in automatic mode can cause a connectivity delay of up to 15 seconds. To eliminate the delay, either switch to a manual mode or turn off this feature.

Speed and duplex negotiation can also play a role in negotiation time outs. If auto-negotiation on the switch is set to off, and the server is not configured to that speed and duplex setting, the switch will not negotiate with that server.

For more information, see the Cisco Web site and the following Cisco documents:

Default boot order does not allowPXE to boot when a valid drive exists​

When an active partition is created on a hard drive, it automatically becomes a bootable device if a valid operating system has been installed. If your PXE NIC comes after the hard drive in the boot order, the hard drive tries to boot before PXE and boots to Windows, or causes an Invalid System Partition error if Windows is not installed.

To resolve this issue, be sure that PXE is placed before the hard drive in the boot order. Keep in mind that even ifPXE is first in the boot order, the computer does not actually boot to PXE unless Configuration Manager has a task sequence for it to run.

Task sequence fails with Failed to Download Policy and code 0x80093102 or 0x80004005​

This error code typically refers to a certificate validation issue.

The SMSTS.LOG file will show an entry with the following text:
CryptDecryptMessage ( &DecryptParams, pbEncrypted, nEncryptedSize, 0, &nPlainSize, 0 ), HRESULT=80093102
or
no cert available for policy decoding
Possible causes are:
  • Misconfiguration of your domain or a site server, such as DNS not pointing to the site server, or the site server not specifying a valid FQDN (which is referred to by the DNS listing).

    If your site server does not specify a FQDN (and only specifies the NETBIOS name), and your DNS server refers to the FQDN, a faulty lookup might cause this error.

  • The certificate being used for PXE and boot media.

    Check the certificates under the Site Settings node and see if any certificates are blocked or missing. Open the certificates and ensure that they are actually installed into the certificate store. If not, install them.

If these actions do not work, remove the package from the distribution point (through Manage Distribution Points) and add the package again to regenerate the package hash.

Task sequence fails with Failed to Download Policy and code 0x80004005​

This error code typically refers to a certificate validation issue.

The
SMSTS.LOG
file will show an entry with the following text:
failed to download policy

Check the certificates under the Site Settings node to if any certificates are blocked or missing. Open the certificates to ensure that the certificates are installed into the certificate store. If not, install the certificates.

Task sequence fails because the package is not downloading​

In WinPE, the default option Download content locally when needed by running task sequence does not work. When inWinPE, the task sequence engine ignores (and fail) all actions that have packages set for this option.

Set all packages needed for use in WinPEto Access content directly from a distribution point when needed by the running task sequence.

Task sequence does not run again even after clearing thePXE advertisement​

You must set the advertisement to Always rerun so that any time you reset the PXE advertisement, the advertisement is applied to the computer regardless of whether it ran the task sequence before.

Task sequences fail or act incorrectly after an upgrade​

When upgrading from a previous version of this product, existing task sequences using custom actions are not automatically updated.

To function correctly, open each task sequence action that uses a custom action in an editor. Add a . to the description and remove it to enable the Apply button. Click Apply to refresh the properties of the custom action and save any new automatic data or formatting that is required to function with the new version.

Files and logs are not returned from the client​

A number of issues can prevent the task sequence from returning files or logs from the client.

Among the possible issues that might prevent the task sequence from returning files or logs from the client are:
  • Failure of the client-side script prior to the file copy, which is usually evident in the log file.

    Repeat the task and press F8 during the task to get to a command prompt, if you selected the check box for Enable command support on the boot image properties > Windows PE page.

    Then open the SMSTS.LOG file. The location varies. InWinPE viaPXE, the location is at X:\Windows\Temp\Smstslog\smsts.log.

  • Malformed XML in the Lenovo XClarity Integrator Deployment Pack configuration file. Correct the XML file according to the original format.
  • The command being run has an error but exits with code 0.

    This can occur when a severe error is encountered in the script while the script is set to ignore errors and use programmatic error handling. The error handling did not catch the same error.

    Report such issues to the Lenovo support site, as described in Getting help and technical assistance.

  • The task sequence cannot access the share or mapped drive that is the target drive for copying the files or logs. Ensure that the network is connected and that the user ID and Password that are required to access the share are correct.

Logs are returned but not output files​

A number of issues can prevent the task sequence from returning output files while allowing the task sequence to return log files.

Among the possible causes for the task sequence not returning output files from the client are:
  • No return file parameters are specified in the configuration XML.
  • Return file parameters in the configuration XML are incorrect.
  • An error is occurring with the operation of the utility that generates the output file.
  • A null variable is causing an error in the file name of the file to be returned.

Task steps do not automatically change after a change is made to the configuration XML file​

If you change the configuration XML file, previously existing task steps do not automatically change unless you edit them.

To fix the existing task steps, open the task sequence editor and make a minor edit to each custom action step in the sequence. For example, you can add a period to the description and then delete it to enable the Apply button. Click Apply. The task sequence steps are now saved with the automatically updated information from the new XML file.

Task sequence fails at Apply Operating System with Failed to make volume X: bootable​

This issue is indicated by log content similar to the following text:
MakeVolumeBootable( pszVolume ), 
HRESULT=80004005 
(e:\nts_sms_fre\sms\client\osdeployment\applyos\installcommon.cpp,759)

Failed to make volume E:\ bootable. 
Please ensure that you have set an active partition on the boot 
disk before installing the operating system.

Unspecified error (Error: 80004005; Source: Windows)

ConfigureBootVolume(targetVolume), 
HRESULT=80004005 
(e:\nts_sms_fre\sms\client\osdeployment\applyos\applyos.cpp,326)

Process completed with exit code 2147500037

Several problems can cause this error.

This issue can be related to two different scenarios:
  • If you are using a Format & Partition action in your task sequence to partition the hard drives, make sure that you select the check box for Make this the boot partition on one of the partitions.

    If you do not make a drive bootable and the computer has only the single drive, the task sequence engine automatically makes one of the partitions the boot partition. But if there are multiple drives, the task sequence engine cannot determine which drive should be bootable, and you see this error.

  • If you upgraded from the Configuration Manager RTM to SP1, you might have a problem if both hard drives are completely raw. If you have never partitioned the drives, a known bug in Windows PE prevents Windows PE from determining the drive where it was booted, and you see this error.

    This situation is likely on a server with a RAID controller where you have just formed two or more RAID sets. The new RAID sets are completely raw because they have never existed before.

    The only workaround to the problem of multiple raw drives is to manually boot into Windows PE and run diskpart to partition at least one of the drives. Then run the task sequence again. The task sequence should work.

    The known problem with Windows PE is fixed in Windows Vista SP1 and hence in the Windows PE that is derived from Vista SP1.

How to tell if your boot images are upgraded to Vista SP1
Boot image properties contain an identifier for OS Version.
Perform the following procedure to see the version ofWinPE in your boot images:
  1. Click Computer Management > Operating System Deployment > Boot Images > Lenovo Deployment.
  2. Right-click the boot image and select Properties.
  3. Click Images.
  4. Check the OS Version property for a value of 6.0.6001.18000 or greater.
What to do if your boot images are not upgraded to Vista SP1
You can manually re-create your boot images using the Windows AIK and following the steps listed inMicrosoft System Center – How to Add a Boot Image to Configuration Manager.
If your Configuration Manager processes permit, you might find it easier to remove the old boot image packages using the Admin Console, delete the files in the
OSD\boot
directories, and rerun the SP1 upgrade installation.
How to tell if WAIK was upgraded to Vista SP1
  1. Click Start > Run; then run the Regedit command.
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ComponentStudio.
  3. There should be a single key under this key, which is named with the number of the Windows AIK version.
    Note
    Only one version of Windows AIK can be installed. However, an uninstall operation might have failed to remove the registry key.

    In such a case, the registry key with the highest version number should be the correct version number.

What to do if Windows AIK was not upgraded to Vista SP1
Configuration Manager is supposed to automatically upgrade the Windows AIK version during an upgrade to Configuration Manager SP1. If that did not occur, try manually uninstalling Windows AIK and rerunning the Configuration Manager SP1 upgrade.

To download Windows AIK, see the Microsoft System Center – Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 page.

System environment variables are not carried over to the next action in the task sequence​

When a task sequence runs, commands run in a command shell. When the task ends, so does the command shell environment, which causes the loss of any system variables that are defined in the task.

To pass variables between tasks, set the variables as Task Sequence variables, Collection variables, or Machine variables.