Perfecting my SysPrep image

[Blitzrommel]

So I'm now a local hero in my corporation's IT Department because I eliminated the need for 14 different images... We're pretty much an all-dell shop with relatively new hardware (5 years or less)... The majority of our desktops are the GX270, GX280 and GX620, and the bulk of our laptops include the D600, D610 and D620. We have a few D400s and C400 (retiring these), and some D800, D810, D820s. All other machines are neglible.

After I shoot an image on a GX280, D400, D610, or D620, it freezes during the start of the mini-setup. If I shut down the machine and reboot, it continues with no problem. Anyone know what's up with this? I suspect it's the setup of the video drivers, since the GX280 and D610 use the same (Intel 915G) driver, but I'm not sure. Anyone run into this? It by no means brings my operations to a halt, it's just an annoyance that kinda hurts the minimal-touch environment I'm trying to create (Ya know, set it and forget it)...

 

[zeplar]

Can't say I've had that problem, my only sysprep problem stems from incorrect HAL being loaded. The C840 is the only recent model that has that problem.

I'll just toss out several ideas: Update BIOS, use latest Intel chipset drivers, create the image on a problem model, check for log files to help determine the exact step it's freezing on.

Our current inventory includes GX200, Dim 4400 and 4500, C840, GX260, GX280, GX620, D400, D600, D610, D810, but most have ATI or NVIDIA. I think around the GX260 or GX280, I had to change my sysprep.inf to detect HALs if I wanted it to autodetect Hyperthreading or multiple cores. The majority of drivers I use in my OemPnPDriversPath are from manufacturer's sites rather than Dell.

 

[BuGaLoU]

This isnt much help but I pretty much have the exact same environment with a sysprep image and this never happens to me. That would lead me to believe it is a driver issue.

 

[Blitzrommel]

Thanks for the reply. All of our machines, excluding the D820 and D600, have Intel video... Would you mind shooting over your sysprep.inf file? I'm just curious to see what you put in for your HAL detection since that's another minor issue I discovered; the D620 is dual-core and has the ACPI PC HAL installed since that's what was on the image; and I can't upgrade it to the ACPI Multiprocessor because of the different dll.

EDIT: BuGaLoU, what drivers did you use for the components (Dell or manufacturer)? I used a combination; though most came from Dell (especially the audio and video).

 

[BuGaLoU]

Thanks for the reply. All of our machines, excluding the D820 and D600, have Intel video... Would you mind shooting over your sysprep.inf file? I'm just curious to see what you put in for your HAL detection since that's another minor issue I discovered; the D620 is dual-core and has the ACPI PC HAL installed since that's what was on the image; and I can't upgrade it to the ACPI Multiprocessor because of the different dll.

EDIT: BuGaLoU, what drivers did you use for the components (Dell or manufacturer)? I used a combination; though most came from Dell (especially the audio and video).

All Dell drivers with the exception of 3rd party non-dell components we sometimes use (wireless nics, etc).


Here is my sysprep file, with the good stuff starred out.

;SetupMgrTag
[Unattended]
    InstallFilesPath=C:\sysprep\i386
    TargetPath=\WINDOWS
    ExtendOEMPartition=1
    OemSkipEula=Yes
    DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

OemPnPDriversPath=%systemRoot%\inf;Drivers\Chip\150;Drivers\Chip\260;Drivers\Chip\270;Drivers\Chip\280;Drivers\Chip\520;Drivers\Audio\150;Drivers\Audio\260;Drivers\Audio\270;Drivers\Audio\280;Drivers\Audio\520;Drivers\Audio\L600;Drivers\Audio\L610;Drivers\Nic\150;Drivers\Nic\260;Drivers\Nic\270;Drivers\Nic\280;Drivers\NIC\520;Drivers\Nic\L600;Driver\Nic\L610;Drivers\Nic\IntelPro100;Drivers\Nic\IntelPro1000;Drivers\Video\150;Drivers\Video\260;Drivers\Video\270;Drivers\Video\280;Drivers\Video\520;Driver\Video\L600;Drivers\Video\L610;Drivers\Video\Intel_Graphics\Win2000;Drivers\Wireless\l610;Drivers\PCMCIA\L600;Drivers\PCMCIA\L610;Drivers\Modem\L600;Drivers\Modem\L610;Drivers\Modem\L420or620;Drivers\Audio\L420or620;;Drivers\Nic\L420or620;;Drivers\Video\L420or620;;Drivers\chip\L420;;Drivers\PCMCIA\L420or620;;Drivers\Chip\L620;

[GuiUnattended]
    EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
    OEMSkipRegional=1
    OEMDuplicatorstring="********"
    AdminPassword="********"
    TimeZone=20
    OemSkipWelcome=1

[UserData]
    ProductKey=*******
    FullName="********"
    OrgName="********"
    ComputerName=*

[TapiLocation]
    CountryCode=1
    Dialing=Tone
    AreaCode=662

[Identification]
    JoinDomain=domain.org
    DomainAdmin=*****
    DomainAdminPassword=*****

[Networking]
    InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

[Branding]
    BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes

[Sysprep]
    BuildMassStorageSection=Yes

[Proxy]
    Proxy_Enable=0
    Use_Same_Proxy=0

[GuiRunOnce]
    Command0=C:\Installs\Setup.bat

Hope this helps.

 

[zeplar]

I don't know if it's the right way, but I use a line like this:

[Unattended]
UpdateUPHAL = "ACPIAPIC_UP,%SystemDrive%\Drivers\Hal\hal.inf"

with the hal.inf and all the hal dll files in that directory.

There was another forum poster that used scripts to detect and install the correct HAL, can't recall if it was through boot.ini. But you can change HALs post-minisetup in a variety of ways.

 

[Blitzrommel]

Hmm, I'll have to investigate that; although I won't be back in work for two weeks. Go vacation!