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  • 1.  GSS 1.0 not responding to Clients

    Posted Aug 04, 2007 09:03 PM
    I am baving a problem with GSS v1.0, ghosting Dell Optiplex 745s.
     
    We created an image with Sysprep and rolled it out to 100 systems.  The source image was on the domain.  The ghost server is on a Domain controller that is also running DNS and DHCP.
     
    The clients get addresses from DHCP, just fine when in XP.
     
    But when I run a clone and configuration job on these systems, they reboot to the virtual partition and load PC-DOS, but they then display a message saying the the client was unable to connect to a DHCP server, and cannot procede.  This is odd, since the very next message is the client with a valid IP address and the multicast port number, polling the Ghost server.  The Ghost server does not respond to the clients.
     
    If we use Ctrl+C to exit the virtual partition then we can reboot to the old XP installation and release and renew addresses normally.

    Message Edited by FPSTech on 08-04-200706:12 PM



  • 2.  RE: GSS 1.0 not responding to Clients

    Posted Aug 06, 2007 02:51 AM
    Hi,

    Yes, the behavior is somewhat strange, since ngctdos should boot the machine back to Windows if network driver is not initialized properly.

    Do you use the latest version of Braodcom driver for Dell 745? I think previous versions did not work with 745 (there is couple of fourm posts).

    While in DOS, instead of Ctrl+C, if you press Ctrl+X and exit to DOS and run ngctdos.exe again, does it connect to the server?

    Krish


  • 3.  RE: GSS 1.0 not responding to Clients

    Posted Aug 06, 2007 09:14 AM
    Yes, I have the latest Broadcom Drivers.
     
    Using Ctrl-X and ngctdos.exe starts the Client polling again, but there is still no response from the server.  When the clients start polling again they are using different IP addresses (still valid DHCP addresses)  than they had before, with the same multicast port number.
     


  • 4.  RE: GSS 1.0 not responding to Clients

    Posted Aug 06, 2007 09:27 AM
    Also,
     
    Clients are taking a very long time to appear as connected in the console, new clients take an hour or more to show up in the default container.
     
    Clients that have run a job, show the disconnected icon in the console.  If I go to those clients and hold down CTRL-G  and put the mouse pointer in the upper left hand corner to display the Systray Ghost Client Applet, then it shows as disconnected for a very long time.  Opening the debug window will show an occasional poll with no response.
     
    Eventually (Hours later) the server will, for no apparent reason, start acknowledging.


  • 5.  RE: GSS 1.0 not responding to Clients

    Posted Aug 08, 2007 02:06 AM
    Hi,

    It looks like the network setup in the client side is OK. Probably it is not related to 745 but the subnet they are in. In case if you do not have this problem with the other systems, are these Dell 745s in a different subnet/network?

    Every time ngctdos.exe starts, it request an IP address. Usually DHCP gives the same address, but I am not sure why you get a different one. Still this should not be a problem but not the typical behavior. I have seen this happen when the DHCP address space is almost utilized.

    Taking long time to show up in Console means that client fails to find the Console. Client uses multicast, WINS and broadcast to find the Console in that order. Could you see if multicasting is enabled in your network? If it is not, do the client and server both register in the same WINS server?

    Krish