Problems with certain NICs and a RIS-based Windows XP installation

Posted on By Mark Wilson

After my hard disk failure last month, I decided to resurrect a project that I had shelved some time ago – implementing an unattended setup for my PCs at home. I have a variety of computers from HP (Compaq), IBM and Dell, which makes things slightly more complicated than it might otherwise be (although not impossible), so this was an opportunity to implement some of the business desktop deployment (BDD) technologies that I practise at work to implement a standard operating environment (SOE) and allow me to rebuild PCs at will.

My previous experience with unattended installations has largely been on the server side, basically amending and appending OEM installation scripts (e.g. Compaq/HP SmartStart or the HP ProLiant Essentials Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP)). This time I had a plethora of drivers to consider, and a limited (zero) budget. To allow for a repeatable, customisable, build I decided not to use any imaging technologies but instead to create a standard unattended setup, including all the drivers needed for the various PCs and a common set of applications. One thing I could rely on the presence of was Pre-boot eXecution Environment (PXE)-enabled workstations, so I set up and configured Microsoft Remote Installation Services (RIS) to serve my Windows XP + SP2 installation “image” (not really an image, but that’s the RIS terminology).

Incidentally, the most complete resource for information on creating unattended builds that I am aware of is the Microsoft Software Forum Network’s “Creating the Ultimate Unattended XP CD”. Although CD based, this gives much of the information needed for a successful RIS-based installation.

Everything was looking good until I tried to perform a PXE network service boot and connect to the RIS server. I could see that my DHCP server was issuing IP addresses to clients but they received an error:

PXE-E53: No Boot Filename Received

Basically, the PXE clients couldn’t find the RIS server. DHCP was being served from an ADSL router and I couldn’t find any way to configure the router to redirect PXE clients. Logically, interaction between the PXE client, the DHCP server and the RIS server should not have been affected by the router because PXE uses DHCP broadcast requests and all the computers were all on the same subnet but once DHCP was migrated to the RIS server, the error disappeared and the RIS Client Installation Wizard ran as expected. Since then, I’ve found Microsoft PSS’ Technical Guide to Remote Installation Services, which suggests various troubleshooting actions but for now it works, so maybe I’ll investigate further some other time.

The next issue was that Windows XP setup failed as the network drivers for the Broadcom BC570x NIC in my Dell Latitude D600 were not available from the Windows XP installation source:

The operating system image you selected does not contain the necessary drivers for your network adapter. Try selecting a different operating system image. If the problem persists, contact your administrator. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

Microsoft state that a hot fix is required to resolve this issue; however the Broadcom driver FAQ gives an alternative resolution which involves editing the B57WIN32.INF setup information file. I didn’t want to do this as it would break the digital signature and I would prefer to construct the build using signed drivers only. Instead, I used the latest drivers (v7.86) from Broadcom rather than the Dell-packaged version and once I had integrated the network drivers with the RIS installation source, deleted any instances of precompiled setup information (.PNF) files and restarted the Boot Information Negotiation Layer service, I was able to commence my unattended Windows setup.

This time, a new error halted text-mode setup:

File b57w2k.sys caused an unexpected error (21) at line 3788 in d:\xpsprtm\base\boot\setup\setup.c. Press any key to continue.

Some posts in the Bink.nu and MSFN forums led me to a solution for this by copying the Windows 2000 version of the drivers (B57W2K.SYS) to the Windows XP installation source \i386 folder alongside the Windows XP driver (B57XP32.SYS) and the setup information file (B57WIN32.INF).

Once the Dell PC was working, I had the same issue with an IBM ThinkPad T40 with an Intel PRO/100 VE card and so it seems logical to assume that this issue may apply to a variety of NICs.

For the BC570x, a Windows User Group (Nordic) article which discusses integration of Intel and Broadcom drivers with RIS images suggests rewriting the B57WIN32.INF file to replace all references to B57W2K.SYS with B57XP32.SYS, but again, I avoided this to prevent issues with unsigned drivers. Intel’s solution to installing PRO/100 or PRO/1000 NICs via RIS requires a further download but I got it working by applying the same resolution as for the Broadcom drivers – i.e. using IBM’s distribution of the Intel drivers (v7.0.28.0) and including the Windows 2000 E100BNT5.SYS driver in the Windows XP installation source \i386 folder for text-mode setup.

I should point out that it was only necessary to add these network drivers to the \i386 folder on the Windows XP installation source in order to use the NIC to copy files during setup and it is still necessary to add OEM device drivers to the Windows XP installation source for all undetected devices in order to allow the drivers to be used during the plug and play (PnP) section of setup.

After a couple of days downloading, integrating and testing drivers, my RIS-based Windows XP installation works for all of my computers and now I can focus on the finer points of the build, tuning the Windows XP installation and adding applications to my SOE.

More problems with a Dell Latitude D600

Posted on By Mark Wilson

Last weekend, I walked into my home office to see the notebook PC that I use for work (a Dell Latitude D600) rebooting and reporting that it couldn’t find its primary hard disk. Not good news.

I tried freezing the disk (see also 200 ways to revive a hard drive) but to no avail. The drive just would not spin up.

Thankfully, I had a backup (although not as recent as it should have been), and I had supplied my current client with a CD with most of my recent work, with the remaining items still being retrievable from my e-mail (I frequently tell people not to use e-mail as a filing system, but I sure am glad that I still had all of those attachments there…). It seems that all I lost was the correct time/date stamp on some files and my meeting notes from Microsoft Office OneNote.

From talking to colleagues, this is not the first time this has happened – we have had at least three of these PCs suffer the same fate, on top of my nightmare experience getting the Bluetooth card replaced in the same machine earlier this year (which seems to be another common fault). I do understand my IT Manager when he tells me why we buy Dell (good specification at reduced price relative to HP, IBM, Toshiba, etc.), but if we also take into account my lost time, then maybe the overall cost is more expensive that it first appears.

Why the EU’s sanctions against Microsoft are wrong

Posted on By Mark Wilson

I don’t normally bother to read about Microsoft’s latest legal battle when yet another competitor cries out that nobody buys their product because it’s free/cheaper/better/more widely available* (*delete as appropriate) from Microsoft, but yesterday’s rejection of Microsoft’s appeal against European Union sanctions concerns me greatly.

Forget the €497m fine – Microsoft can afford it!

Forget the trade secrets – Microsoft’s crown jewels are Windows and Office – most of that source code is still safely locked up in Redmond. Besides which, perhaps we’ll get a better quality of third-party software if it works more closely with Windows.

What worries me is that Microsoft has been forced to ship a version of Windows without Media Player.

It may sound inconsequential but its the wider ramifications of this ruling that concern me. Last week, Microsoft bought an anti-spyware company. Many believe that this sort of technology should be bundled with the operating system (more so than a media player), but this latest legal ruling in Brussels means that Microsoft now needs to be wary when including any new technologies in Windows, just in case a competitor cries foul.

The unbundling of Windows Media Player achieves nothing – those of us who use it will go and download it from Windows Update instead. Real Networks are upset because they only have a tiny proportion of the market. Boo hoo! Apple’s proprietary iTunes service is tied to the iPod meaning that they have a huge percentage of the portable digital music market sewn up, but as far as I am aware no-one is challenging them in court for that (only for charging more for downloads in the UK than elsewhere in Europe). My past experience of RealPlayer is that it is unstable, that I can’t download it without giving away my e-mail address and that it keeps popping up messages on my desktop. I only use it at all because I need it for certain websites that only offer digital media content in RealPlayer format (i.e. the BBC Radio Player). That is the crux of this issue – consumers will use whatever player they need to access their content, be that Apple QuickTime Player, Real Networks RealPlayer or Microsoft Windows Media Player – it often depends on the technologies used by the website serving the content, not what is bundled with the operating system.

Symantec and Veritas to merge

Posted on By Mark Wilson

December seems to be the month for high-profile corporate takeovers in the IT world!

A couple of weeks back IBM sold its PC business.

Then last week Microsoft bought an anti-spyware company.

Now I’ve read that Symantec and Veritas are to merge in a $13.5bn deal.

I regularly recommend Veritas’ BackupExec suite of products to corporate clients because it is so well integrated with the Microsoft platform – indeed, the Backup utility for Windows (NTBackup) is actually a cut-down version of BackupExec. Let’s just hope that the new company will be as quick to embrace new Microsoft technologies as Veritas has been in the past.

Microsoft buys Giant Company

Posted on By Mark Wilson

Back in August I posted a blog entry about the what you should know about spyware article on the Microsoft website. The article has since been replaced but I was interested to read about Microsoft’s purchase of Giant Company – a leading provider of anti-spyware and anti-spam software.

Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows includes some information on Giant AntiSpyware as well as comment on Microsoft’s plans for the product, but this is the clearest indication yet as to how Microsoft is planning to integrate anti-spyware capabilities into Windows – something that some industry commentators criticised Windows XP Service Pack 2 for not addressing.

Restoring data in Outlook Express

Posted on By Mark Wilson

I don’t use Outlook Express personally, but I recently rebuilt my father-in-law’s PC and imported his settings from the old disk. I didn’t have a clue where Outlook Express stored its data, but came across an article on the iOpus website about backing up Outlook Express. The old system was non-functional, so I didn’t follow the whole article, but it gave me the information I needed to find all the .DBX files with the mail data and the .WAB address book file.

Get Windows XP and Office 2003 in Welsh

Posted on By Mark Wilson

(I went to Uni’ in Wales, so I feel duty bound to publicise this for my Welsh-speaking friends!)

Microsoft have worked with the Welsh Language Board to develop two new Welsh-language interface packs – one for Windows XP and another for Office 2003. They are free to download, and enable Welsh speakers to work more easily in their chosen language whether at home, in business or in education.

To find out more, visit the Welsh pages on the Microsoft UK website.

Best practices for maintaining your computer at work

Posted on By Mark Wilson

A couple of years back, I worked as a Project Manager in the IT department for a major fashion design, marketing and retail company. My main project provided a standard desktop operating environment, along with replacement mail and directory services, across Europe, vastly improving the overall reliability of the IT platform and the resultant user experience.

Being a retailer, our IT infrastructure budget was not huge, and it seemed that I was forever explaining why we “locked down” the desktop, and why we could not support users’ own devices on our network, be they notebooks, PDAs, or mobile phones (synchronising with our PCs). We had corporate standards, and they were set for good reasons (mainly supportability and reliability). It really didn’t help when senior executives started to buy Blackberry devices and expected them to work with our e-mail servers (and when the IT Director’s view was one of “just make it work”… but without an associated budget). Another bugbear was educating users not to open suspicious e-mails and attachments. On top of that, our users were spread across Europe, and there were cultural and legal differences which affected the way in which users considered “ownership” of their PCs and associated data (whether work PCs should be available for personal use, etc.).

Now Microsoft has published a document which would have been a really useful summary for my users (8 ways to help maintain your computer and devices at work). It may be a bit “high level”, but it is written for end users and it raises some valid points.

Actually, I think that the whole Microsoft At Work section of the Microsoft website is worth a look, with articles including:

I recommend that anyone who uses a computer at home or work, or who is responsible for supporting users in their daily IT activities should take a look.