Sysprep Image and Notebooks (XP SP2)

[_jd_]

All of my (Ghost) images are based on XP SP2, are prepared with sysprep and have a fairly robust set of signed drivers. I've also configured sysprep to apply the multiprocessor HAL by default but to switch to the ACPIAPIC_UP HAL as an alternative (configured in sysprep.inf not via some custom scripting). For our standard fleet (13 desktops and 3 notebooks), this configuration works well - the P4 HT/C2D machines get the MP HAL and the rest get the UP HAL.

I'm not sure why, but the image frequently fails to boot on non-standard notebooks including: Dell's (Inspiron 1100, etc), Toshiba's (M2, etc), etc and the occasional desktop (usually Dell's... GX240/GX260 works fine but 4400 has been a problem). Even tho they're not part of our fleet, I see no reason why most of these systems shouldn't boot. Most of the problematic systems are either P4/P4-M or Centrino systems and typically use an Intel chipset and video. Nothing terribly shocking. I had one machine come in the other day with an ATI chipset but i'm not surprised it didn't boot as the drivers are not embedded. Granted, some of newer Intel stuff uses SATA and Intel's appropriate controller, but I embedded support for Intel's Matrix Storage some time ago.

If I resort to an unattended on these machines then they boot without issue. This is the same unattended used to build my images and it uses the same driver set. So, aside from the odd sound or modem driver I know that most of the required core drivers are already available in my image and that they *should* boot. Even the HAL configuration defined in my image agrees with what HAL is installed post-unattended.

So, any thoughts on how to improve my odds with these non-booting systems? It would certainly save some time for those on the front-line. I've confirmed that the image does indeed land on the target system without error but the OS never tries to load... so not setup*.log files to review.

Thanks.

[_jd_]

Looks like the Toshiba A100 won't boot post-clone either... it's a C2D model with Intel 945GM, much like the notebooks in our standard fleet that boot without issue. I did a quick overview of the drivers available from Toshiba and identified no core drivers that my image is lacking. I will do a base unattended today and do a closer review of what gets installed and what doesn't.

[IcemanND]

do you get BSOD or does it just hang at first/second boot?

[_jd_]

Hey...

No BSOD or error messages after cloning. The system passes POST then goes to a black screen... never even gets to mini-setup. I can't get to safe mode via F8 either. Being that the system hasn't completed mini-setup tho I expect safe mode isn't even option anyway.

I have the A100 on the bench now and just got around to reviewing the unattended. The only device not installed post-unattended was the modem. All other devices were installed from the drivers embedded in the unattended and the driver files for those devices are list as being signed. So, I suspect this just a case of a missing driver as my images are built from the same unattended and use the same driver set.

I'm thinking that something is missing from the [sysprepMassStorage] section of my sysprep.inf. This is where I had to hack in support for Intel's Matrix Storage Technology to support some of the newer SATA-based systems we were ordering. The Intel SATA controller used in the A100 has IDs of VEN_8086&DEV_27C4, which doesn't relate to the Storage Matrix controller and isn't in my sysprep.inf. It's identified by XP as "Intel® 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controler - 27C4" and is using a signed driver from Intel.

I will identify the specific drivers used by this device and add a corresponding entry to sysprep.inf... we'll see how that goes.

[_jd_]

Well, I made some progress...

After adding an entry to my sysprep.inf for the device listed above the A100 booted and ran mini-setup without issue. I went through all of the Intel drivers I embedded in my images/unattended and identified a total of 14 IDE/SATA controllers that were not listed in sysprep.inf. I will adding them today and I expect that will improve our odds with imaging notebooks.

I find it interesting that an number of ICH6/ICH7/ICH8 Ultra ATA/SATA controllers don't fall under the Intel Matrix Storage Technology umbrella.