Mysterious 3rd Party Update Errors in WindowsUpdate.Log File

Question

I have enabled 3rd Party Updates for Lenovo and HP and in a separate environment, Dell. Updates deploy more or less as expected but I get errors in the WindowsUpdate.log for any machine, not just the machines targeted.
On a daily basis, I am seeing well over a thousand errors appearing in the WindowsUpdate.Log file on not just the targeted Lenovo/HP/Dell machines but also various VMs and other machines including my main Server 2019 physical machine.
All errors reference UniqueUpdateIDs of 3rd Party Updates and almost all are metadata-only (blue icon in MEM).
The error [8004100E] relates to the WMI namespace missing but that would be expected on non-Lenovo or non-Dell machines so don't see why this is showing up as a failure. Incidentally, this error happens even when the machine is a Lenovo (haven't tested on a Dell yet).

1. Why are these happening on machines that aren't even targeted?
2. Why am I getting these "failures" for updates that are metadata?
3. Happy to log a bug report but would like confirmation this isn't expected. There are many other people with this issue on other forums but most are unanswered or don't provide a credible answer.

My environment is MEM 1910 with SQL 2019 but have also seen the issue on ConfigMgr 1810 with SQL 2016.

Typical errors below.

2020/04/16 08:04:50.8586780 6164  5892  EEHandler       *FAILED* [8004100E]   EE: ConnectServer for namespace Root\Lenovo\drivers  
2020/04/16 08:04:50.8586841 6164  5892  EEHandler       *FAILED* [8004100E] Method failed [COperatorTreeNode::Evaluate:390]  
2020/04/16 08:04:50.8586889 6164  5892  Agent           *FAILED* [8004100E] Evaluate Installed rule, updateId = {<!-- -->{B5455020-0AA7-4B11-8746-0C2CD7D48DFD}.1}  
2020/04/16 08:04:50.8683930 6164  5892  EEHandler       *FAILED* [8004100E]   EE: ConnectServer for namespace Root\Lenovo\drivers  
2020/04/16 08:04:50.8684154 6164  5892  EEHandler       *FAILED* [8004100E] Method failed [COperatorTreeNode::Evaluate:390]  
2020/04/16 08:04:50.8684202 6164  5892  Agent           *FAILED* [8004100E] Evaluate Installed rule, updateId = {<!-- -->{54302520-8B01-46BC-889B-804C7FCC1FCE}.1}  
2020/04/16 08:04:50.8695780 6164  5892  EEHandler       *FAILED* [8004100E]   EE: ConnectServer for namespace Root\Lenovo\drivers  

Answer 1

Hi @Sardo

Yes. Essentially this is to be expected. Not great but there you are. Here is the question I posted on Technet:

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/521c45d1-803a-4aea-88bd-7296cc0b19bf/mysterious-3rd-party-update-errors-in-windowsupdatelog-file?forum=ConfigMgrCompliance

Hope this puts your mind at rest.

Thanks

Simon

Answer 2

QnA currently supports the products listed in right-hand pane (more to be added) Better to reach out to subject matter experts in dedicated forums over here.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-update

(please don't forget to mark helpful replies as answer)

Answer 3

Should I use Technet Forum then? I was under the impression everything had to be posted here now.

Answer 4

Yes, I'd try the forum I linked or possibly this one as well.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=win10itprogeneral

not all MSDN/TechNet forums have migrated yet.

(please don't forget to mark helpful replies as answer)

Answer 5

Hi @Simon Bond . Did you ever get an answer to your issue? Did you post it somewhere else? I'm having the exact issue you were and am at a loss to figure it out yet.