Laptop not booting from PXE

[Little-Miss]

Hi, ive just had a Toshiba laptop returned after being repaired.

 

I'm trying to image it but am getting the error "PXE-E55 Proxy DHCP Service did not reply to request on port 4011".

 

Ive gone through the process on another workstation and it works fine....

 

Im stuck! lol

[Martin]

Have you tried the working workstation and the Toshiba laptop on the same physical bit of network cable?

 

Do you have MAC address specific settings or options enabled in DHCP?

 

Can you check if the Tosh NIC is actually working (activity light, ping from the laptop etc.)?

 

mb

[Little-Miss]

Right,

not a cable issue (phew!)

This is a system that was in place before me and ive never had to add mac addresses to anything since ive added new hardware, so i think thats a no...

NIC can ping my servers and give me internet access....

[aerospacemango]

This may seem a bit simplistic, but............

 

Are you sure your image server is switched on?

 

Our WDS sometimes gets a blue-screen, which we don't notice until we actually want to deploy an OS.

 

or................

 

Check the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DHCP server of the non working PC if you still have a Windows install left on it, against the PXE boot of a working one.

[Little-Miss]

Simple is fine! Sometimes you overlook the obvious...

 

Server is alive and kicking, will compare settings now.

[pete]

a) If you have spanning tree turned on, is portfast enabled on the switch you're connected to?

b) Is the Bios on the laptop up-to-date?

 

The biggest cause of netbooting wierdness here is portfast being off.

[Little-Miss]

Ok a is where i fall into the catergory of learning network manager...

Our switches are mangaged remotely. This is the first time i've had this problem.

I have just updated the BIOS but that doesnt seem to have helped

[Little-Miss]

I lie! The laptop is trying to contact the wrong server i think....

 

Laptop DHCP is **.***.***.55 which is DC

Working workstation **.***.***.52 which is the image server...

 

What does that mean!?

[Martin]

The PXE packet (from the laptop) is broadcast over the network and any DHCP server can respond. The DHCP "Offer" can include information about where the PXE server is (via for example Option 60 and Option 43). The client will then try to boot from the specified server.

 

If the DHCP server doesn't tell the client where to go, any PXE-server can reply to the original PXE request directly.

 

Assuming that you only have one DHCP server, can you check which Options are set?

 

mb

[Geoff]

It means the DHCP lease information the laptop is recieving is wrong. Specifically the TFTP server address. This information is given out by the DHCP server, so check whats happening on that. I would imagine you have different client classes setup and you simply have to move the Laptop MAC from your 'default' client class into the one for your PXE clients.

[Martin]

Oh, and what is your PXE/imaging server? Does it have a maximum number of clients licence or maintain a list of known clients?

 

mb

[Geoff]

Are there any relevant logs you can post?

[Little-Miss]

Argh my head!!

 

i think ive found the options that you were talking about. 60 is ticked (classID)?

 

When i say image server, it has different roles but its where i image from.

 

The rest, i have no idea...

 

This laptop has been on the network before it went to be repaired. So whats changed with the network?

[Martin]

Option 60 normally means "go back to the DHCP server to get the image to boot from", which is what your laptop is trying to do (and thus getting no response).

 

So we need to find out why your workstation is finding the correct PXE server!

 

When you are PXE-booting, try pressing the key just before the system boots and check the address of the DHCP server and the boot server in the preboot screen.

 

Compare these for the laptop and workstation and make sure that they are both getting DHCP addresses from the same server.

 

If they are, then it has to be some DHCP setting that needs tweaking.

 

mb

[Geoff]

Option 60 should list the PXE boot server. Either via IP or hostname (some PXE Stacks don't have the brains for DNS though).

[Little-Miss]

Ok, excuse my ignorance...*blush*

 

PXE - You say it should list the name or IP, it doesnt, just says PXEClient...should there be more?

Martin - Don't quite understand what IP's you are looking for. The one im getting from the PXE Boot failiure is the wrong server to where i ghost from...

 

Is this not a dodgy NIC problem?

[Little-Miss]

ARGH!.......

[Martin]

Ok, excuse my ignorance...*blush*

 

PXE - You say it should list the name or IP, it doesnt, just says PXEClient...should there be more?

 

If your DHCP has Option 60 set to "PXEClient", when a computer tries to PXE-Boot the DHCP Server will reply with an IP address (for the client) and the client will then try to go back to the DHCP server to (try too) load the PXE image (Ghost).

 

Martin - Don't quite understand what IP's you are looking for. The one im getting from the PXE Boot failiure is the wrong server to where i ghost from...

 

Yup, and this is probably because Option 60 has been set (for this client). If you remove Option 60 the Ghost server should hopefully respond to the client, but you need to understand why Option 60 was set in the first place - because it could break something else

 

The wierd this is that your workstation does not appear to be getting an Option 60 - so could it be in a different DHCP scope?

 

mb

[Little-Miss]

just for the pure hell of it i've plugged in another laptop into exactly the same cable etc...

 

That took me to the PXE menu without issue. Subnet is the same etc. Again the only thing thats different is the faulty one is showing a different DHCP address....

[Little-Miss]

help?

[daveyboy]

Little-Miss, probably not - but.

 

When the laptop boots do you have a 'ctrl-a' (or some key combo) for PXE boot options before it tries for an ip address? if it does, check these settings against another, good laptop that gets to the PXE menu.

 

You never know......

[Little-Miss]

'fraid not...

[daveyboy]

If you can plug in another laptop and it works, then this does suggest the problem is with the repaired laptop. There must be a difference in the two. maybe settings, but keep trying to find any differences. Look closely at the boot process and look in manual /search google for any PXE boot options / key combos for menus.

 

Keep going Girl...

[azrael78]

I'd bet cash that the problem is literally either:

 

1) BIOS configuration

2) Dodgy NIC

 

As we've ruled out that it can't be the servers, switches, cables and damned near everything in between.

I'm leaning toward the BIOS as #2 will require you to send it back... again.

 

Have a look in Vistas' control panel for the Toshiba BIOS utility, unfortunately I don't have one here to check otherwise I could tell you exactly what to look at and what to change

 

Az

[Martin]

It sounds as if your (failing) laptop is being sent different information from the DHCP server to that for the working clients.

 

Can you PXE-boot the Tosh and note all IP addresses that appear in the preboot screen - there should be three. Press the key to, er, pause things.

 

After the DHCP twirly propeller completes, it should show a "Client IP" and a "DHCP IP" (or similar wording). I expect the "DHCP IP" will be the **.***.***.55 one for your DC?

 

There should then be a third "Server IP" address which is where it is trying to PXE-boot from, which should be your Ghost server but will probably be your DC because you have Option 60 set.

 

If that is the case, and other clients can PXE-boot OK, then there probably is something in your DHCP configuration that is specific to the failing Tosh.

 

Also, double-check that there are no rogue DHCP or PXE servers on the network.

 

mb