[sccm 2012] PXE NBP File Load Issue

[Planehazza]

Got a weird one. A lot of our Dell machines, particularly 3060 and 3080 will not get past "NBP file downloaded successfully...". After that, when it would then start to pull down the boot wim, it loads either Windows boot manager or system diagnostics.

 

HOWEVER, and this is the weird part... if the existing OS on the device already has the SCCM client install and I add it to a device collection that has the task sequence deployed to it, the device PXE boots just fine.

 

I don't think it's NIC drivers, as it's not even getting to the PXE BE yet; it can't even load the wim file UNLESS the SCCM client has been added to collection that has the task seq. deployed to it.

 

Any ideas on where to look please?

Edited August 21, 2023 by Planehazza

[mrbios]

Try tweaking the these two registry values:

https://ccmexec.com/2016/09/tweaking-pxe-boot-times-in-configuration-manager-1606/ - old version they're talking about, but i think the settings are still relevant. I found in the past some NICs didn't like certain settings and wouldn't download the boot image.

[Planehazza]

Try tweaking the these two registry values:

https://ccmexec.com/2016/09/tweaking-pxe-boot-times-in-configuration-manager-1606/ - old version they're talking about, but i think the settings are still relevant. I found in the past some NICs didn't like certain settings and wouldn't download the boot image.

 

Thanks for this. I've just added the keys and used the default values before restarting WDS service. No joy We have just had new switches put in so I'll double check with my NM that the IP Helpers are in and correct, however we have imaged successfully in this room since then.

 

I'm going to bounce SCCM DP server for this site and see what happens...

[Planehazza]

Progress. Something in SCCM isn't liking 'known' devices. I've deleted the PCs from SCCM (so the MAC isn't of a known device) and changed the WDS PXE response to accept known and unknown without approval. It's working for now, so will investigate later. Second last week of the hols and all that...

[Planehazza]

Yeah it won't PXE boot beyond loading NBP file if the device is a known device in SCCM. removing it allows the PXE boot and deployment. This isn't a setting on the task sequence as it's not getting that far, and it's not a WDS setting as that's already set to allow all devices (this is WDS known/unknown, not SCCM anyway).

 

Where would I find the settings to resolve this issue?

[Steve21]

That sounds like it's working as expected.

 

HOWEVER, and this is the weird part... if the existing OS on the device already has the SCCM client install and I add it to a device collection that has the task sequence deployed to it, the device PXE boots just fine.

 

Your device collection needs to have a TS set as "Available" for it to be able to PXE boot.

 

Clients without a record/client automatically are added into the "All Unknown Computers" collection which is where I assume your TS is currently set to be available in.

 

But once they're registered/cliented they need to have a different collection with the TS available to be able to PXE boot again. So for example we have an "All Workstations" which our TS is available on. This then allows them to PXE even if known.

 

So for example:

 

UnknownPC = All Unknown Computers collection = PXEable

KnownPC (Within a collection with TS available) = PXEable

KnownPC (Within a collection without a TS available) = NotPXEable

 

If you want to test it, just set the TS as available to the collection it's in (Using either option that includes PXE not the Only Config Manager one) - (DO NOT set required else it'll auto boot and wipe them all )

 

Steve