Deployment Solution

Hello all,

 

I'm trying to pxe boot a tablet connected to a docking and get the following error pxe-e07 network device error. Although before receiving this error the device gets an ip and can find our pxe server, it just crashes on the above error and reboots. We're using 6.9 sp 6.

Anyone encountered this issue and foud a solution for it?

 

Kind regards,

 

Mace

I've got two descriptions recorded for this: PXE-E07: Network device error. Network device could not be initialized or had some other unexpected failure. PXE-E07: PCI BIOS calls not supported. This message should not be seen in a production BIOS. PCI BIOS must have PCI BIOS services. I know that Surface Pro 2 tablets need their own USB Ethernet Adapter to PXE boot, other manufacturer's won't work.

Hey Andy,

 

Thank you for the reply. The tablet we are using is a HP Elitpad 1000 with its own specific HP docking for ethernet connection.

 

Kind regards,

 

Mace

Is there a BIOS update available?

I might be recalling incorrectly here... but how many PXE options do you have? If might be that the PXE buffer size being sent to the PXE booting client is overflowing.

To see if that's the case, whittle your server temporarily down to ONE PXE image boot option, and make the name for this option really small.

If the problem goes away, then you know it's a buffer size issue.

*If* this is the case you can resolve by,

1. You might find that BIOS upgrades (as Andy suggests) can fix this
2. I've even found that downgrades do the trick rather well ;-)
3. Re-hash your PXE option strings to bring your total string length to an acceptable (and unknown until you find it) limit
4. Have a USB pen configured with the boot files to resolve issues with off clients like this.

Kind Regards,
Ian./

The BIOS was my first guess also but still no luck after upgrading.

 

We have 3 pxe options at the moment. I will try to bring it down to 1 on monday but none of the other machines (laptops/desktops) have this issue. Booting to the pxe menus works just fine with them.

 

Kind regards,

Mace

Hi Mace,

The PXE string length is very model BIOS version specific. And of course, I might be wrong. When this has been the case I've simply brought it up with the vendor and then the next bios revision has resolved the issue.

Incidently, this is one of the reasons why we moved from zero-touch imaging to USB stick based deployments.

Kind Regards,
Ian./

wel have been playing around for a bit now. Reducing to 1 short pxe boot option didn't resolve the problem.

Tried to the put my pxe config on a usb stick but that didn't work as well. The usb stick didn't even show as a bootable device.

Aparantly the tablet bios doesn't support legacy only uefi. So i thought it maybe couldn't boot if bios was uefi only. So I tested this on 1 of our newer laptops which has both choses. When I chose uefi only on this laptop pxe booted just fine so it was supported.

No I have found some workaround, when I put the folder EFI from the windows ADK files on the root of the usb stick I can boot to pxe and the devices is shown in my deployment console.

Any idea how i can get this to werk now to boot from the network in pxe?

 

Kind regards,

 

Mace

Justy checking.... but are you using 64-bit WinPE 4 here? I'm thinking that if your server is an upgrade you still might not have moved off your old WinPE images.

From the DS6.9 SP6 release notes,

Deployment Solution 6.9SP6 now supports the following for the UEFI client (64-bit only) computers:

1) Booting the UEFI computers in the 64-bit preboot environment using the WinPE4.0 preboot image
2) Imaging the UEFI computers using the Ghost imaging tool
3) Installing the Windows OS on the UEFI computers using the scripted OS install task

We still have both running, x86 and x64.

So if I want this to work I should remove everything x86 related?

 

Kind regards,

 

Mace

Hi Mace,

For this specific PXE error I would raise a case with both HP and Symantec. You might find (as Andy suggests) that the dock isn't supported for PXE boot and a specific adapter needs to be purchased.

My point about the x64 preboot was specifically for the scenario that you want to get moving with the USB stick method. If you do that, just make sure you use the 64-bit preboot as that's what DS6.9 officially supports here.

Sorry I can't be more help (I don't have this machine in my environment). 

Hi Ian,

 

Ok, already thanks a lot for trying to help me a bit further. Tried raising this question at the HP forum but nobody replied so at least you are a lot more helpful :-).

 

As mentioned above I finally made it work with the usb stick, I copied the EFI folder from the windows adk files to the root of the stick and it pxe booted and appeared in my deployment console.

 

Will try to test a bit further aswel to get it network booted.

 

Kind regard,

 

Mace

Hi Mace, any luck?

Hi Ian,

 

Thanks for asking but unfortunatly not, that is by network cable.

 

Pxe booting over USB is working like a charm now so we are going with this workaround to keep our timeframe and get the tablets installed in time.

 

I think the tablet/docking micht be the problem and isn't compatible to pxe boot this way. Earlier this week we received a new model of hybrid devices and that one pxe booted just fine over the network cable.

 

Kind regards,

 

Mace

Marking answer here a split solution between Andy's comment on USB NIC and Mace's response that using the doc just doesn't seem to work.

Hi Ian,

 

Ok thanks sounds good to me.

 

Kind regards,

 

Maarten