Problem with Dell Precision T3500

[Migration User]

 Have some of these that I need to image/manage. Just upgraded to Solution Suite 2.5 and used the Boot Wizard to create a boot cd with WinPE. Worked fine with some older Optiplex GX620 machines. Did not work with the Precision. I tried  static and dhcp assigned addresses. In both cases the machine is using 127.0.0.1. I checked by choosing peer to peer connection. I also tried PC-DOS and the machine gets stuck and will not boot. As a last resort I disabled the onboard NIC and installed an Intel NIC card. Ghost worked fine with the Intel card. The Precision onboard NIC is a Broadcom NetExtreme 57xx which is also the same chip that's used in the Optiplex, so I don't think it's a problem with a missing driver. Any suggestions or other things to try. Thanks.

[Migration User]

Yeah, sounds like there's no driver for the Precision T3500 onboard NIC.  If you download the network driver (or have it available somewhere) then you can add it into ghost's WinPE using Ghost Boot Wizard.  Click on 'Edit...' next to Windows PE on the starting screen and then 'Edit...' again after selecting the WinPE you want to modify.  You can then add the driver and select it for that version of Windows PE.

Note that GSS 2.5 ships with two variations of Windows PE.  The default is tailored to boot in machines with 256MB RAM and up, however there is another include 'WinPE-512' that includes more drivers but needs 512MB of RAM.  If you haven't already, you could try WinPE-512 as it may already have the driver that you need.   You can do this by clicking on 'Edit...' next to Windows PE on the starting screen, then selecting 'WinPE-512' and pressing OK.  Then you can create the boot media as before.

Cheers, Robert.

[Migration User]

 I tried WInPE-512 too and it didn't work either. Thing is it the onboard NIC is listed as Broadcom NetExtreme 57xx which is the same as the Optiplex GX620 which boots fine with the smaller version of WinPE. The other different behavior that I notice is that when I use a disk with DHCP with the Optiplex I get a 169.x.x.x address when there is no dhcp server. The Precision always shows 127.0.0.1 with dhcp or static. If I want to try and load drivers to I use the XP drivers or NDIS?

Thanks, Stephen

[Migration User]

Good that you've tried WinPE-512 already - it was worth a try - though a pity it didn't include the driver. 

Unfortunately the same model number is often used even though an updated driver might be required.  Hence the GX620 Broadcom NetExtreme 57xx model might be fine but the specific PCI device (vendor and device code) of the Precision NetExtreme 57xx may not be supported.  I've bumped into this a few times before.

Sounds like it's worth trying to download the NIC driver for the Precision (or alternately an updated Broadcom NetExtreme 57xx driver) and add that to WinPE using Ghost Boot Wizard.  With luck that will be enough to get the network up and running in WinPE on the Precision T3500.

Cheers, Robert.

[Migration User]

Make sure that you download the windows Vista version of that driver.

[Migration User]

 Got it to work. I updated to the latest version of Ghost and added the latest Vista driver from the Dell website. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Migration User]

I am running Ghost 11.5.0.2113 and have tried Vista and XP as well as DOS but nothing seems to work.  Do I need to update my version to another version?
Thanks
Scott

[Migration User]

I'd recommend live updating to the latest build (2266).  There have been some improvements in Ghost Boot Wizard in driver handling for winpe since 2113.

[Migration User]

Hi all,

I have been having a problem with booting the Precision T3500 as well.  Neither the WinPE or PC-Dos boot usb's appear to have the currect (aka: most current) driver for the broadcom nic card. 

I contact Symantec and we resolved the problem.  My issue was that I was using the correct driver,  but apparently adding it incorrectly. Here is what we did to ge tit to work. I am using ghost Enterprise, 2.5 (11.5.1.2266).

-identify your specific network card.  Broadcom does not make this easy.  Follow these instructions.
http://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet_nic/determine_driver.php
-Download the correct driver for your network card and uncompress them. 
NOTE: Make sure you download the Windows Vista 32bit drivers, since WinPE is build on Vista.

-Start the Ghost boot wizard
-Edit WinPE
-Copy WinPE (you want to copy this, so you always have the base WinPE to build from if needed).
-Click edit
-Add new driver  (browse and select the broadcom downloaded file. Make sure there is an .inf file in it). 
NOTE:  the driver will be listed as what ever you name it. I named mine Precision t3500.
-This will add the driver to the WinPE build
-IMPORTANT - you need to add the driver twice to actually add it to the winPE image. Edit WInPE and make sure you driver is added.

I didn this by memory, so here is the document the tech sent me.  He syas that also explains the process in detail, but I figured I'd try and recount the steps for you.

I know have a usb key that can boot my t3500's and life cna go on. 

Good luck.

http://service1.symantec.com/support/on-technology.nsf/854fa02b4f5013678825731a007d06af/e4c1aea6046866e288257444007f9333?OpenDocument