Sysprep issues

[Audiofight]

Alright.

I am attempting to use sysprep to universalize our workstation images where I work.

I started developing the "base image" on a Dell GX50 workstation w/ 20GB hard drive. Obviously, using the "ExtendOemPartition" line in the sysprep.ini file to expand the image to fill the workstations/laptops that have 40GB hard drives.

Everything was working great at first. I was able to move the image from the GX50 to a GX60 workstation and even over to both the D600 and D610 laptops.

After doing some additional work, I somehow corrupted the image I was working with and had to start over. I think it was a Windows Hotfix not playing well with an app or configuration.

Anyhow, after a fresh install of WinXP, I try to use sysprep and now I get either a black screen and hard locked or a flicker of a BSOD before it powers down on any other machine (desktop or laptop). I began to think it was the HAL that was being loaded due to some Google searches.

As of today, the image will just enter an infinite loop rebooting itself when the Mini-setup would normally start.

Does anyone have any suggestions how this could be fixed? Possibly what line(s) in the sysprep are causing the issue. Which HAL should I install that will work with both the desktop and laptop platforms (ACPI PC.....maybe?)?

 

[IamElectro]

We were using sysprep in some of our labs and not having much luck in creating a reliable image that would run on a machine other than the one it was created. We never could get a straight answer from microsoft or symantec on this issue.

The ExtendOemPartition line in sysprep.ini has never given us issues although I know that it only works properly with NTFS formated drives. We use the ExtendOemPartition = 1 to span the entire drive.

It is hard to tell your exact issue without knowing what the BSOD error is.

For us sysprep has been a lot of trial and error. My only suggestion would be to experiment by only installing Windows with no other software and experiment with sysprep settings until you get favorable results.


There are a few issues with sysprep we came across.
1. You should always have a virgin image to update "this image should never be syspreped" if an image is been syspreped more than 2 times it starts to corrupt the registry.
2. The image should never be built on a laptop that is intended to go on a desktop. "There are issues with the power settings in the registry" To be quite honest we have never been able to get an image to go from desktop to laptop and work properly.
3. If you are using DHCP be sure and strip the IP address from the registry before syspreping and then creating the image."It is in the registry 3-4 times"
4. The mass?storage controllers must be identical between the reference and destination computers.
5. Machines with different BIOS versions also causes issues.
6. The master machine and destination machines should have compatable HALs.


In our imaging lab we have been testing UIU "Universal Imaging Utility" by Binary Research This software is quite exspensive but has had favorable results for us. A fully functional demo is available for download.

We had one odd issue with UIU. We built an image on an old gx400 with 20gig HD. We were able send the image to any machinein or testing enviroment and it worked perfectly but it would never work when we tried to put it back on a gx400. "Binary Research could not give us an answer on this issue"

Even with the UIU software desktop to laptop images would run but seemed to have issues with the power settings.
We have accepted at this point we need a seperate image for desktops and laptops.


The Dell machines in our labs consist of 30 gx240s, 200 gx270s, 65 gx620s and 25 d600s.

 

[GeekDrew]

IamElectro covered the highlights of any imaging process. I've used both sysprep and ZenImaging without too many problems with either one of them. My standard install included Windows, MS Office, GroupWise, and some other assorted programs that were common to my organization. Just make sure that the reference computer remains a reference computer... I usually imaged the reference to a server before I ran sysprep... that way if sysprep failed, I could image the reference back down, figure out where the fault was, and the machine would never even know that sysprep had ever even been executed.

I worked mainly with Compaq DPEPs, Dell several hundred gx260, 30 or so gx270, and a hundred or so gx280s. We also had some IBM ThinkPad laptops and Gateway Solo laptops. In general, I would only send an image to a machine if the image had been created on a reference machine with identical (or at least nearly identical) specs. The slightest variation, especially in key places, can cause unexpected havoc.

 

[IamElectro]

Originally posted by: GeekDrew

In general, I would only send an image to a machine if the image had been created on a reference machine with identical (or at least nearly identical) specs. The slightest variation, especially in key places, can cause unexpected havoc.

We maintain 4 student labs on a college campus, and this is where we stand in our labs nothing else was stable enough for us to put into a production enviroment. Like GeekDrew said and I had mentioned earlier it is important to backup the image before syspreping it.

I would like to add that some of our issues with sysprep may fall back on some of our images were older images that may have been syspreped prior to imaging without a master/virgin copy. These images were started before I worked here.

Test your sysprep images thoroughly before rolling them into a production enviroment. We put ours on a couple of machines in the lab that student employees use so they have a tendency to be used heavily and for a variety of tasks for at least 3-4 days. For us if anything flakey is going to pop up it shows up quickly.

 

[rmrf]

I worked for a company that used sysprep/ghost for imaging computers, and we would take each machine that could be found on the network, and create an image specifically for that machine.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: rmrf
I worked for a company that used sysprep/ghost for imaging computers, and we would take each machine that could be found on the network, and create an image specifically for that machine.

Using modern (Win2k and later) versions of Sysprep, this is no longer necessary.

The OP's problems probably have a lot to do with the HAL. Sysprep can pnp new hardware easily, but it can't image across HALs. In English, that means machines that show the same thing under Device Manager's COMPUTER icon will work fine with the same image (assuming you put in the right drivers and the box can boot) but if it's different, you'll get BSODs.

So:
1. Image PCs with the same HAL. Every time you get a new PC type, build it manually and figure out what the HAL is.
2. Learn about the Sysprep switches. support.microsoft.com has great articles on Sysprep. Hint: You don't need the full PnP switch; it's for PCs with ISA boards. Seen one of those lately?
3. Use the latest version for your operating system. If you have SP2 or SP1, get the version that goes with that particular servicepack.
4. You can put all the drivers you want into the sysprep directory, and with a little .inf massaging you can get Sysprep, during the PnP phase, to recognize all of those devices when it goes thru mini-setup. This works very, very well - there's no reason to have one image per PC type anymore; that's obsolete.
5. You can tell it to do all kinds of things in addition to this - auto-join domains, run an update.bat commandline with a dozen other commands, etc.
6. Get familiar with -BMSD switch too, which will head off any bootup issues you might have. Switch back to standard PCI IDE controller on the original image when booting, and put in any non-standard drivers into the image (with bmsd).

There's no issue in using the same image with laptops and desktops - one thing some people do is make WMI calls to figure out what hardware they're on, and then install utilities and such from there, but plenty of people don't even do that - they ONLY install the basic driver functionality, all of which will PnP flawlessly. In other words, the difference between installing just a driver so that a MiniPCI 802.11b card works in a laptop, vs. installing that driver *plus* the vendor's wireless utility (rather than using XP's built-in wireless utilities). I suggest the former, not the latter, for simplicity's sake and because it's far easier to support.

If you have a specific question, ask away.

 

[Audiofight]

I had no stability issues with the original image (the one that worked)

I was to the point of setting up the driver heirarchy and setting up the naming script. Somewhere in the 90% complete vacinity.

There aren't any mass-storage controllers other than all Intel chipset mobos with 1 IDE hard disk.

This image will not be used for servers of any kind, just 845/865/915 chipsets.

I am starting to point blame at the wrong HAL running on the desktop as well as the test image being sysprep'ed about 12 times (maybe corrupted registry?).

I am going to give a fresh install of WinXP a try (no other software until it works)

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Audiofight
I had no stability issues with the original image (the one that worked)

I was to the point of setting up the driver heirarchy and setting up the naming script. Somewhere in the 90% complete vacinity.

There aren't any mass-storage controllers other than all Intel chipset mobos with 1 IDE hard disk.

This image will not be used for servers of any kind, just 845/865/915 chipsets.

I am starting to point blame at the wrong HAL running on the desktop as well as the test image being sysprep'ed about 12 times (maybe corrupted registry?).

I am going to give a fresh install of WinXP a try (no other software until it works)

It's wise to start from a fresh install of XP when building Sysprep images.

It's wise to use unattend.txt to set up that fresh install so you *know* and can repeat *exactly* how it was set up every time, including in six months when you need to redo it.

It's wise to put the standard PCI IDE chipset into the base image immediately before you shut down for the last time (ie immediately before you run Sysprep and Sysprep shuts down the box for Ghosting), or else get familiar with the -BMSD switch.

 

[Genx87]

Everytime we built a new image and sysprep'd it for a different model we would create the base image from a fresh install.

I think you are playing with fire by installing a model's image on a different model.

 

[Audiofight]

According to Microsoft, sysprep is used for precisely that effect.......to make an image that is compatible with multiple hardware platforms.

The original image was a fresh, ground-up image. So is this image that I am working with now. I gave up on installing all the other software until I can get plain ol WinXP to move from one computer to the next.

If I have to build multiple images for multiple computers, sysprep is a big waste of time. I already have a couple hundred images stored on the image server at work. I am just sick of trying to sift through them to find out I have an image built with the software I want exactly but the wrong hardware platform. I waste hours everyday trying to configure an image to work for the application it is needed for.

With 2200 users, a more centralized image will suite our purpose.

I had it working fine........I am beginning to suspect that the original GX50 computers were based on the old 810 chipset, but the newer ones started using the 815 before the GX60 came out.

The only difference I can find between the working image and the failed images is a change in the physical computer (2 different GX50s).

The Intel IDE/Chipset drivers are universal from the 815 - 915 chipsets. All the inf files are included and automatically install the needed files without issue. I think the older 810 driver that is bundled with WinXP is my culprit.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Audiofight
According to Microsoft, sysprep is used for precisely that effect.......to make an image that is compatible with multiple hardware platforms.

The original image was a fresh, ground-up image. So is this image that I am working with now. I gave up on installing all the other software until I can get plain ol WinXP to move from one computer to the next.

If I have to build multiple images for multiple computers, sysprep is a big waste of time. I already have a couple hundred images stored on the image server at work. I am just sick of trying to sift through them to find out I have an image built with the software I want exactly but the wrong hardware platform. I waste hours everyday trying to configure an image to work for the application it is needed for.

With 2200 users, a more centralized image will suite our purpose.

I had it working fine........I am beginning to suspect that the original GX50 computers were based on the old 810 chipset, but the newer ones started using the 815 before the GX60 came out.

The only difference I can find between the working image and the failed images is a change in the physical computer (2 different GX50s).

The Intel IDE/Chipset drivers are universal from the 815 - 915 chipsets. All the inf files are included and automatically install the needed files without issue. I think the older 810 driver that is bundled with WinXP is my culprit.

*Again*, read up on Sysprep, use the "PCI Standard IDE Disk" when you shut it down for the last time during the final running of Sysprep prior to Ghosting, and use BMSD switch to build a mass storage device list. Microsoft has first-class documentation on *all* of this; read it.

If you sysprep something and then don't use BMSD or don't have PCI Standard IDE disk selected as the IDE disk controller driver, and another PC requires a different hard disk controller, you're out of luck. Read the Sysprep docs! Ref.chm is your friend - it's all there.

I promise you that what you are doing can easily be done - it can be done well, corrrectly, with a minimum of hassle and time.

If you have a specific question, ask away. For now, keep trying with just the XP image, and use -BMSD to build the drivers list, then sysprep it, then try that ghost image on a few PCs with different controllers *but make sure they have the same HAL*.

You read my bits above about the HAL, right?

Let me know how I can help. Sysprep works very, very well.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Everytime we built a new image and sysprep'd it for a different model we would create the base image from a fresh install.

I think you are playing with fire by installing a model's image on a different model.

Why do you think he's playing with fire? That's what Sysprep is explicitly designed to do. Have you read the Sysprep documentation?

 

[Audiofight]

All the systems use the same HAL.......I made sure that the desktops are set to the use the same one the laptops due. That was a lesson I learned when this all worked a month ago.

I will work on the BSMD switch tomorrow and hopefully I can start moving it around again.

 

[dclive]

You don't want to hard-set any HALs. You aren't, are you? You're just letting the install progress normally and then confirming that under Computer in Device Manager they're all the same?

 

[Brazen]

Frankly, I gave up on imaging. I use Active Directory/Group Policy to push out our standard set of applications and settings.

 

[dclive]

Sure, but how does the core XP OS get onto the machine in the first place? RIS/RIPREP is another good choice...

 

[Brazen]

I made an unattended answer file and install from CD. I had set up a RIS server, but it takes too long and too much bandwidth, so we never use it.

 

[dclive]

You might try RIPREP. It takes bandwidth, true, but it takes considerably less time. Think of it as Sysprep via PXE boot and you've got the idea.

 

[Brazen]

duly noted

 

[djdrastic]

Wow I'm not sure how you got the first base image to work on notebook pc's . I've really had some bad experiences , with RISsing to notebooks . You would need to do RIS for every UNIQUE computer [aka different HAL ] otherwise you may have some problems

 

[BT7990]

We use sysprep where I work and have 1 image for 5 workstations (1 HP's - VL400, Dell - GX150, 260, 270, 280) and 4 laptops (C600, C610, D600, D610).

The base was built on the HP VL400. The SysprepMassStorage line has all the possible chipsets and the OemPnPDriversPath points to drivers which are unpacked and in a separate dir's.

When we get a new model, out comes the VLi8, Drivers aded, inf changes for the drivers and mass storage device. run sysprep (no restart). take a ghost image - push the image to the new model. 9 of 10 times it works.

Info I found when building is to start with the lowest or oldest chipset to build the image on.
Spent a few weeks building and testing, but is worth the effort. Also had to dig for info on the web, as there is not a lot of documentation out there.

If you need a copy of the inf file or links (mostly Dell hdware related), im me.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: djdrastic
Wow I'm not sure how you got the first base image to work on notebook pc's . I've really had some bad experiences , with RISsing to notebooks . You would need to do RIS for every UNIQUE computer [aka different HAL ] otherwise you may have some problems

You mean RIS or RIPREP? RIS buids a unique install every time it splashes down, so there are no HAL issues whatsoever with it. RIPREP, on a Win2000 RIS server, will show you ALL images, even ones that don't match your HAL, so the problem you mention could happen. Suggestion: Control your HALs better (label them in the image, for example) or switch to a 2003 RIS server.

 

[acemcmac]

I don't have any of these problems. I use ghost 9 and sysprep... Check mini-setup and click re-seal..... am I missing something?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: acemcmac
I don't have any of these problems. I use ghost 9 and sysprep... Check mini-setup and click re-seal..... am I missing something?

If you try to put that image on a machine with a different HAL, you will have issues, but aside from that, Sysprep works great.

 

[Audiofight]

Hahaha

I changed the IDE controller drive from the Intel driver to the "Standard PC IDE Controller driver" and it took right off.

I am changing the HAL on the desktop to the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface PC

That is what the laptops like. The reason my image worked a month ago was because I was using a GX60 that doesn't have built-in WinXP support. After removing the pre-installed driver, it worked like a champ.

Now, I have to finish tweaking the OemPnpDriversPath so it will find my drivers and then I should be all set (maybe get it to run our automatic naming script at the end)