SCCM Driver Boot Image Injection

Question

Has anyone else had issues with SCCM 2509 where you inject boot image drivers into your boot image and then they do not load when WinPE boots? We can connect a USB NIC and it grabs the driver since it is baked into the NIC but our WinPE drivers for the boot image are not detected and seems like they don't even exist? For reference, we have updated to the newest ADK (WinPE add on installed too)

Any help would be much appreciated

Answer 1

If you upgraded ADK to the latest version (10.28000.X), it's not compatible with Configuration Manager 2509:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/intune/configmgr/core/plan-design/configs/support-for-windows-adk

You will need to downgrade ADK.

Answer 2

It sounds like you're experiencing issues with the drivers not loading in WinPE after injecting them into your boot image in SCCM 2509. Here are some troubleshooting steps and considerations that might help:

1. Driver Compatibility: Ensure that the drivers you are injecting are compatible with the version of WinPE you are using. Sometimes, drivers meant for different versions of Windows may not work correctly in WinPE.
2. Driver Injection Process: Make sure you are following the correct process for injecting drivers into the boot image. You can use the DISM tool to add drivers to your boot.wim file. Ensure that you are injecting only the necessary drivers, such as network adapter and mass storage drivers, as other drivers may not be required.
3. Check Boot Image Properties: Verify that the boot image properties in SCCM are correctly configured. Specifically, ensure that the option Deploy this boot image from the PXE-enabled distribution point is checked.
4. Log Files: Review the SMSTS.log file located in C:\Windows\temp\SMSTS during the WinPE boot process. This log can provide insights into whether the drivers are being loaded and if there are any errors related to driver loading.
5. Driver Group Configuration: When configuring the Windows PE image in the Deployment Workbench, consider creating a dedicated driver group that contains only network adapter and storage drivers. This can help avoid conflicts with other drivers that may be included in the image.
6. Testing with USB NIC: Since you mentioned that a USB NIC works, it may indicate that the drivers for the built-in NIC are not correctly injected or recognized. Ensure that the drivers for the built-in NIC are included and properly configured in the boot image.

By following these steps, you should be able to troubleshoot the driver loading issues in your SCCM boot image.

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References:

• Advanced troubleshooting for PXE boot issues in Configuration Manager
• Limitations of $WinPeDriver$ when used in conjunction with other driver injection methods
• Troubleshooting Reference for the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit