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So we just received some T5810's from Dell i am working on building a task sequence for in SCCM 2007. I am having trouble getting the correct drivers loaded for the image to install. I think i have narrowed it down to 4 drivers, (can anyone confirm?):

  • Intel® C600+/C220+ series chipset SATA RAID Controller SCSIAdapter 4.0.0.1040
  • Intel® Ethernet Connection I217-LM Net 12.11.77.1
  • Intel® USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller USB 3.0.0.20
  • Intel® USB 3.0 Root Hub USB 3.0.0.20

For some reason i can get WinPE to load into memory and download the task sequence from the DP (IP address is valid and diskpart shows the partitions) but then once it reboots i get an error "...memory could not be written" and i lose the IP and storage controller. I am not sure what i am doing wrong but i am losing the drivers somewhere or i have the wrong drivers altogether.

Thanks for any help -jason

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  • What WinPE version and what target OS version?
    – blaughw
    Mar 13, 2015 at 21:20
  • I have answered two questions in recent past that might be related: | serverfault.com/a/656685/255009 | serverfault.com/a/649516/255009 |
    – blaughw
    Mar 13, 2015 at 21:26
  • sorry forgot to mention that. I am using strictly 64bit drivers and boot image. we deploy Win7 64 bit Ent. I am using WinPE version 3. thats interesting about the KMDF hotfix. i have read about it before but never thought much about it since our other models seems to image without issue (T3600, T3610) with similar hardware. i will give it a try. thanks for the tip! -jason
    – Jason
    Mar 14, 2015 at 0:33

2 Answers 2

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The best way to get Dell drivers for SCCM is to use the Dell Enterprise Cab Website. That goes for the WinPE as well as the clients themselves.

Find your specific version of WinPE on that site, download the drivers and load them onto the WinPE disc. That 'should' cover all models (servers and workstations) that Dell deems compatible w/ that version of WinPE. Yes, you can get fancy and pick and choose the drivers, but you may find yourself back here w/ the same problem for a different model, and the driver cab for WinPE isn't even that big anyway.

Also, don't forget that you can use a 64-bit WinPE image to install 32 bit and 64 bit machines, but a 32 bit WinPE will only install a 32 bit base image.

Update

I didn't realize these were Precision workstations, which were notoriously difficult to get working with SCCM. The main culprit of my problems w/ Precisions stemmed from the RAID drivers, so be sure the Storage Controller drivers are loaded into WinPE as well. I can't remember if those were already in the WinPE cab from Dell, or if I had to add them after the fact, but you will need those if your Precisions will be coming w/ RAID. You could probably get by by disabling RAID or switching the SATA port that your disk is plugged into (if you only had one hard drive which happened to be plugged into the SATA RAID port), but that kinda defeats the purpose of zero touch, so I went through the pain of getting it to work b/c I'm sorta OCD like that, but YMMV.

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  • Thanks for the info BigHomie. I have struggled with the Precision series due to RAID, exactly as you stated. The CAB files from Dell sure are awesome and yes they do include the RAID drivers. I too am OCD and would like to get these to work out of the box. i know it can be done, i just have to figure out how. I do have the RAID driver and the I217 NIC driver in the winpe. like i said, it works at first but after the reboot i lose them. i will try the KMDF hotfix today and see if that helps!
    – Jason
    Mar 16, 2015 at 11:52
  • @Jason I used to have that problem as well, w/ different Dell models. Let me ask you, is there a possibility your task sequence reboots into a different WinPE image? Even the slightest possibility? Logs will confirm btw
    – MDMoore313
    Mar 16, 2015 at 12:28
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BigHomie is "sorta" correct. You have to use the 32BIT drivers. 32 bit drivers can work in 32 & 64 bit boot environments (but NOT the other way around). 64 Bit drivers will NOT work on 32 bit machines boot enrivonments. Since the boot environment is 32 bit you have to use the 32 bit storage drivers for WinPE.

Anyhow, I fixed this issue by loading the 32 bit storage drivers into the boot.wim and all is well now.

Hope this helps someone.

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