MDT Invalid Unattend when applying drivers

Question

So I have MDT set up and it works just fine. I have one task sequence to build the image and another to deploy the built image. I can deploy both of these just fine, EXCEPT when I try to inject drivers.

I need to inject drivers into a few machines whos ethernet cards don't work by default.

When I try to inject drivers, and it injects exactly one driver, I get an error during deployment, right after it finishes applying the image and would start to run dism.

About to run command: dism.exe /Image:E:\ /Apply-Unattend:E:\Windows\Panther\Unattend.xml /ScratchDir:E:\MININT\Scratch LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:16 AM    0 (0x0000)
Command has been started (process ID 3000)  LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:16 AM    0 (0x0000)
  Console > Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool   LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:17 AM    0 (0x0000)
  Console > Version: 10.0.22000.1    LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:17 AM    0 (0x0000)
  Console > Image Version: 10.0.19042.1348   LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:17 AM    0 (0x0000)
  Console > Error: 1465  LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:17 AM    0 (0x0000)
  Console > The unattended answer file contains formatting errors.   LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:17 AM    0 (0x0000)
  Console > Specific information about the formatting issues can be found in the log file. Use Windows SIM to validate the answer file and then try the operation again with a valid answer file.    LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:18 AM    0 (0x0000)
  Console > The DISM log file can be found at X:\windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log  LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:18 AM    0 (0x0000)
Return code from command = 1465 LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:18 AM    0 (0x0000)
FAILURE ( 5627 ): 1465: Run DISM.exe    LTIApply    12/7/2021 9:28:18 AM    0 (0x0000)

Looking at the dism log, I can see the error

2021-12-07 10:01:10, Error                 DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 ------Unattend setting error / warning------ - CUnattendManager::UnattendDumpSetting
2021-12-07 10:01:10, Error                 DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 Error code = 0x800705b9 - CUnattendManager::UnattendDumpSetting
2021-12-07 10:01:10, Info                  DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 File path = [E:\Windows\Panther\Unattend.xml] - CUnattendManager::UnattendDumpSetting
2021-12-07 10:01:10, Info                  DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 Line number = 171 - CUnattendManager::UnattendDumpSetting
2021-12-07 10:01:10, Info                  DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 Column number = 12 - CUnattendManager::UnattendDumpSetting
2021-12-07 10:01:10, Info                  DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 -------------------------------------------- - CUnattendManager::UnattendDumpSetting
2021-12-07 10:01:10, Error                 DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 onecore\base\ntsetup\opktools\dism\providers\unattendprovider\dll\unattendmanager.cpp:419 - CUnattendManager::Apply(hr:0x800705b9)
2021-12-07 10:01:10, Error                 DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 onecore\base\ntsetup\opktools\dism\providers\unattendprovider\dll\unattendmanager.cpp:712 - CUnattendManager::InternalExecuteCmdLine(hr:0x800705b9)
2021-12-07 10:01:10, Error                 DISM   DISM Unattend Manager: PID=488 TID=1316 onecore\base\ntsetup\opktools\dism\providers\unattendprovider\dll\unattendmanager.cpp:663 - CUnattendManager::ExecuteCmdLine(hr:0x800705b9)

On like 171 is the part that's injected via MDT, where it has a section like

[Unattended]
OemPnPDriversPath=";\Drivers\Mouse\ETD_24.21.44.1_5820AB3B8C64874B83991A06957F1C358F90C91F7AC1C6AAB9A9E6B7EBF3355E"

And that's where it says the error is.

So how can I properly inject drivers? The version of Windows Im trying to install is W10-x64 21H2.

Answer 1

Hello @cclloyd

By the error 0x800705b9 = "Windows was unable to parse the requested XML data" it would seem that there is an issue exactly with loading the driver. Have you checked if that driver is signed ?

You can find other troubleshootings here: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/2cc1d2ab-f6df-482e-8fca-e2a44a906b84/oempnpdriverspath-not-working?forum=winserversetup

Reference article to add drivers: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/deployment/add-oem-plug-play-drivers

Hope this helps with your query,

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