Ghost Solution Suite

I'm using the Unicast server (ucservice.exe) on a Win2K3 server, attempting to restore a WinXP image to a target PC. The target PC and the source PC are the same type. During both the image creation and restoration, the ImageCenter client was unable to see the server to store (create) or pull (restore) the image. The PXE boot process worked fine, and I was able to modify the autoexec.bat file in the sample unicast VFD so that when browsing for a *.PQI file ("Open Image File" dialog box) the "Drives:" drop-down showed the relative path to the image file. I tried different combinations of full paths and partial/relative path names in the "imagedir:" switch with ucservice.exe on the server and in the VFD autoexec.bat file. Nothing has worked for remote access to a PQI file on the server. Can anyone help out? Thanks!

Hi Lee,

There are couple of things you can check. Unicast service should work in 2k3 servers, unless it is a very specific issue with something like security configurations.

Could you check if the unicast service started in the server, from services?
If so, try running it using /logfile switch, specifying the full path of the logfile.

For example, ucservice /imagedir c:\test /logfile c:\test\log.txt.

This would give you more information about the unicast service.

If it seems to be OK, one other issues could be the client network driver. Could you check if it gives any error messages while booting?

Krish

Krish, thanks for the response. Let me clarify what's going on. I'm able to start the ucservice.exe on the server and PXE boot the client. The client shows an image menu, and I pick the "Unicast a pqi image" option. Then DR-DOS starts, but it shows this error:

MS-DOS LAN Manager v2.1 Netbind
Error 41: Unable to bind

Then it continues, starting the mouse driver, etc. Then it starts ImageCenter 5.0, I click on Restore Image, and on the Select Image File screen I click "Browse." This opens the Open Image File dialog box, where I click the Drives drop-down, and click on "\\. \imgserv\<ipaddress\drive\path\imagename.pqi>. This gives the error popup that says "<full pathname> is not accessible. The device is not ready."

I've tried different combinations of full and partial pathnames on the commandline (/imagedir switch) and in the autoexec.bat file in the VFD, but nothing works.
While starting ucservice.exe from the command line, I used the logfile switch and the log showed that the service had been started, but gave no info on why the ImageCenter client couldn't browse for the PQI image on the server. Then I tried running the Symantec Unicast Image Server from Services, but with no result on the client. Then I tried starting ucservice.exe from the command line while running the service in Services, but the second instance of ucservice.exe crashed within a couple of seconds and the logfile showed a "Bind call failed for Listen Socket" error (and the client still can't browse for the PQI image).

I'm using the UNDI network driver. The client pulls the VFD and starts ImageCenter from the server, which leads me to believe that the client network driver is working. However, the "Error 41: Unable to bind" concerns me, and may explain why I can't browse a DOS path from the client. Any ideas?

thanks,
Lee

Hi Lee,

Yes, as you suspected the root cause is in the DOS message you have seen. 'unable to bind' usually indicate that the it could not successfully install the network drivers. For example if you use the wrong network driver, this is the message you receive.

I have seen this before when using the sample image in PXE server; Did you use that by any chance? The sample may not be suitable for all the environments, could you try creating a Unicast boot disk from Boot disk builder?
If you select the 'Virtual boot disk file', it will create a file that can be directly used with the Symantec PXE server.

Krish

OK, I finally talked to Symantec tech support, and it's GAME OVER for Unicast server and ImageCenter client. Those pieces of software don't actually work for restoring images to computers, and the DeployCenter user's manual is wrong for saying that they do. Very disappointing, and I've wasted a lot of time on it. The good news is that David from tech support gave me two alternatives that work. Thanks anyway for your help.

- Lee

I couldn't get Imagecenter to work with Unicast server because they don't work. !

I'm facing a similar problem.

I have PowerCast Server installed on a Win XP machine. I created a unicast disk, to connect to it.

But i get your same error message, but i see no error while DOS loads the drivers.

Can you post what solution you got working?