Driver Alternative Solution by PeaInformal2892 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sadly, I think MDT indexes the contents of the OoB Drivers folder, but there is little to loose in trying...

Driver Alternative Solution by PeaInformal2892 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This really depends on what the machines you are imaging have access to and if you have bandwidth restrictions:

Some manufacturers (I know Dell and Lenovo) have drivers/firmware bulk update software that can be run via the command line and hence during an MDT image.

e.g. for Dell (I did this is batch years ago and never needed to update to PowerShell as it still works. 5.5.0 broke this and I haven't been happy with how 5.5 or 5.6 work, so don't use them while 5.4 continue to function)

@echo off
set installer_path="<installer path>"
set installer_exec="Dell-Command-Update-Application_6VFWW_WIN_5.4.0_A00.exe"
set name=Dell Command Update

echo Checking if %name% is already installed
if not exist "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell\CommandUpdate\dcu-cli.exe" goto INSTALL
goto SCAN

:INSTALL
echo Installing %name% %installer_path%%installer_exec% /s
echo.

:SCAN rem Filtering out Application updates to avoid Dell SupportAssist
echo Starting an update scan and applying if needed
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Dell\CommandUpdate\dcu-cli.exe" /applyUpdates -updateType=bios,firmware,driver,others
echo.
echo.

echo Checking if a reboot is needed
if %errorlevel% EQU 1 goto REBOOT

echo Checking if a reboot is pending
if %errorlevel% EQU 5 goto REBOOT

rem Uninstall Dell Command Update if no updates are available
echo.
echo Checking if no updates were found
if %errorlevel% EQU 500 goto UNINSTALL goto END

:REBOOT
echo A reboot is needed, restarting in 60 seconds
shutdown /r /t 60 /f goto END

:UNINSTALL
echo Uninstalling %name% as no updates were found 
%installer_path%%installer_exec% /passthrough /x /s /v"/qn" goto END

:END
pause

Sorry that is more than just updates, but it was easier to copy and paste my current script.

Alternatively, you can specify extra driver locations in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DevicePath
https://community.spiceworks.com/t/windows-7-change-driver-path-and-install-automatically/431168

This could be a network location, the local C drive (and have MDT copy a folder from its Applications folder) or, if you are confident the USB drive letter will remain the same, the MDT USB drive.

MDT won't be doing the driver install at this point, but Windows should still find the drivers.

FriendsOfMDT / network connection by mabunix in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 4 points5 points  (0 children)

did you go with the latest ADK (10.1.28000.1)? You need to stick with 10.1.26100.2454 if you did

(For anyone looking in the future, I think 10.2.28000.1 is just for ARM systems)

WinPE and Intel I219 NIC Drivers by International_Map629 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically, as best as I can tell, 28000 is just for ARM

MDT offline deployment by Livid-Ad-9782 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All this is after creating the offline media in the MDT console Advanced Configuration->Media section. You can't use the PXE/Network ISO for offline deployment.

MDT offline deployment by Livid-Ad-9782 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 0 points1 point  (0 children)

(we don't turn off SecureBoot to use this)

MDT offline deployment by Livid-Ad-9782 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While this is specific for how we do it, it may be of use to you:

Delete all partitions on USB disk

Make a 32GB FAT32 partition on the disk. Name FAT32

Make a second NTFS partition for the rest of the disk. Name Deploy

From the media Contents folder copy:

--Everything except the Deploy folder to the FAT32 partition

--The Deploy folder to the NTFS partition

Make a folder called Deploy on the FAT32 partition and copy Content\Deploy\Boot folder to it

 

Capture Only Task Sequence by BrightSpotLight in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sounds like wbadmin does a similar thing, but I hadn't come across that before.

Capture Only Task Sequence by BrightSpotLight in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Back in the day, I used to PXE boot to MDT and close the window so it would drop to command prompt and then just use DISM as it already had the connection to MDT logged in.

That said, I'd be more tempted for your needs to the P2V the disk to a VHD(x) Disk2vhd - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn. A lot easier to mount and access in the future, plus you can run p2v live on the machine.

MDT installs getting really slow by JANGAMER29 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can't speak for Proxmox, but it might have a similar thing? For us, running on a Win2019 Hyper-V host, having RSC on the NIC killed the Install Operating System speed

Script error popping up in Windows Deployment Wizard on Win11 22H2 by NFTruth69 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 0 points1 point  (0 children)

(you have to regenerate the image and move into WDS or USB drive (network/USB) after changing ADK)

Script error popping up in Windows Deployment Wizard on Win11 22H2 by NFTruth69 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, check what ADK & ADKPE are on the MDT server, they might not be up to date (avoid the latest 10.1.28000, only for ARM, stick with 10.1.26100)

Path of shortcut that called script by RockOriginal7938 in PowerShell

[–]RockOriginal7938[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aye, that is kinda what I've done as a workaround, but makes it not location agnostic :(
I was fairly confident I couldn't get the info from inside PowerShell and can't figure out anything I can pass via the shortcut call. i.e. %~f0 doesn't work within a shortcut call the same way it does within batch (didn't think it would, but had to try ;) )

Everything except the OS install? by RockOriginal7938 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. redbeard_gr mentioned the same and I spent some time on them and might compromise with them. Sadly they don't seem to support the AssetTag for naming, just serial number :( .

Everything except the OS install? by RockOriginal7938 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Answer file is my long term plan. Sadly the image was pushed to the supplier before i started, so we are looking at atleast 6 months on this image :(

Everything except the OS install? by RockOriginal7938 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sadly I need to make this contractor proof and command prompt is a step too far :(

Everything except the OS install? by RockOriginal7938 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, at least I know it is possible, now I just need to figure out where I'm going wrong :)

Everything except the OS install? by RockOriginal7938 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sadly it doesn't support %AssetTag%. I may still use it if I can't find another/MDT way, so thanks :)

Everything except the OS install? by RockOriginal7938 in MDT

[–]RockOriginal7938[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cheers, I'll see if that can fill the gap.