PXE-E32 TFTP open timeout problems

[duderank]

I am experiencing PXE-E32 TFTP open timeout problems with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. A problem that has resulted in me having to hard re-boot my machine up to 20 times in order to load my version of WDS

 

A diagnostic scan reveals the problem as DHCP Server failiure within the network adaptor.

 

Re-installing the Drivers for the Realtek RTL8139/810x family fast ethernet NIC has proven unsuccessful.

 

Can anyone who has experienced this problem with this self same machine and OS please provide me with a simple step by step guide to overcoming this problem?

 

Thanking you in advance

[SYNACK]

XP MCE is quite a rare system to be deployed over PXE, especially now. What kind of server side setup is present to host WDS?

[duderank]

XP MCE is quite a rare system to be deployed over PXE, especially now. What kind of server side setup is present to host WDS?

 

Thanks for responding so quickly. I have to say that I'm not computer savvy enough to answer your question. I've pretty much been suddenly hit with this thing for the first time and didn't know what else to do but get on a forum and hope for the best!

[SYNACK]

Perhaps an explanation of what you are trying to achieve. WDS (Windows Deployment Services) is usually used to completely reinstall a computer over the network from a pre-prepared image.

 

It works by first booting a small copy of Windows into memory called Windows PE. It sounds like it is failing while trying to get this image into the computers memory.

 

Are you having issues with the machine that it needs reinstalling?

[duderank]

Perhaps an explanation of what you are trying to achieve. WDS (Windows Deployment Services) is usually used to completely reinstall a computer over the network from a pre-prepared image.

 

It works by first booting a small copy of Windows into memory called Windows PE. It sounds like it is failing while trying to get this image into the computers memory.

 

Are you having issues with the machine that it needs reinstalling?

 

No, not really. Everything's been fine up to now apart from a couple of months ago when version 3 of Flash Get caused a lot of crashes to occur till it was removed, leaving behind something Comodo identified as Suspicious@#38fnkve7qfoes before quarantining it.

 

All of this timeout business has just happened in the last week.

.

[SYNACK]

It may just be that you need to go into the bios and set the boot order to hard drive first so it does not try and boot to the network if you are not trying to reinstall it. If it is still unable to contact the network at all in Windows then some malware may have damaged the network stack.

[SYNACK]

http://tips4pc.com/articles/computer%20troubleshooting/how_to_get_into_your_bios_and_ch.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_6788056_change-default-boot-order.html

 

How to reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

Edited August 26, 2012 by SYNACK

[duderank]

How to get into your BIOS and change settings | Computer Tips

How to Change the Default Boot Order | eHow.com

 

How to reset Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

 

Thanks for all of this information. All the best.

[duderank]

Looked into changing the boot order in Windows. Right clicked "My Computer", selected "Properties". Clicked on "Advanced","Settings", "Startup and Recovery" as prompted, then asked to choose the desired boot system from a list on the drop-down menu. Found there to be two, but both identical. Both reading Windows XP MCE.

 

Just a wild idea and probably completely wrong, but could one of these possibly be false and the DHCP Server be trying to communicate with a "Phantom" version of my OS. Or am I completely barking up the wrong tree right now, while desperately clutching at straws!

[clareq]

You need to be in the BIOS to change the boot order - usually when you start your machine you will get a message "press for setup". Its usually F2, Del or Esc.