Blank screen after WDS PXE boot ??

[mikkydoos]

Hi All,

 

I wonder if anyone has come across this problem when using Windows Deployment Server on 2012....

 

Trying to install Windows 7 from an image.

 

My boot images are fine.

My install images are fine.

 

I've got loads of machines (some legacy BIOS some UEFI), that when I PXE boot, they obtain an IP address, but then fail to load WDS client... i.e. the screen where you choose your boot image... just a black screen.

 

I've also got loads of other PC's that behave normally, load the WDS client and install images fine.

Same server, same images.

 

I've tried BIOS updates, fiddling with WDS server etc etc but cant find a solution.

Usually if I turn off some UEFI features such as the OS options and enable Legacy LAN I can get them to boot.

 

 

 

Any ideas ???

 

 

 

Cheers all

[Colindean2000]

This may sound crazy but have you tried turning the monitor off and on at this point? We have some 19" AOC screens which go to a black screen when loading this page... Turning them off then on again inexplicably rights the black screen

[LeMarchand]

When I had that problem suitable network card drivers needed injecting into the boot image. Thankfully it's not something I've had to do more than 2 or 3 times.

[eddyc]

This may sound crazy but have you tried turning the monitor off and on at this point? We have some 19" AOC screens which go to a black screen when loading this page... Turning them off then on again inexplicably rights the black screen

 

I've also seen this on some HP monitors, the text appears to be off the top of the visable area of the screen so a power cycle or an "auto adjust" on the monitor has resolved this for me in the past.

[mikkydoos]

Lol yep done that. ; )

[Colindean2000]

Did you figure this one out?

[mikkydoos]

No, its something in the BIOS I think. But I've got machines that PXE booted a year ago and aren't now. But my WDS server has changed.

 

Still working on it !!

[Griff]

You might have already tried but I had a similar issue (could of been same cannot remember) and I ended up re-installing WDS and using a fresh boot.wim

[mikkydoos]

Boot.wim is fresh, just not reinstalled. Havent got the time at the mo'. Its a VM so I suppose I could give it a go.

 

Also most of my machines work, even new UEFI ones. Weird!

Edited November 21, 2014 by mikkydoos

[Duke5A]

Where did you get the boot WIM from? I've noticed newer versions of boot WIMs don't like older hardware and I have to keep a list of them handy.

 

Windows 7 = 6.1.x

Windows 8 = 6.2.x

Windows 8.1 = 6.3.x

Windows 10 = 6.4.x

 

Also, these WIMs get progressively bigger with each new version; you need enough RAM in the machine to shove these entire images into memory and still have enough left over to work with.

[mikkydoos]

Off a Win7 SP1 Disc. And I'm booting to Windows 7. Loads of RAM. Its a VM in a powerhouse machine.