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Knowledge Base

Error message when you start a PXE client to connect to a WDS server on a Windows Server 2003 SP1-based computer: "WdsClient: An error occurred while starting networking"

Article ID: 923834

Article Last Modified on 7/25/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, when used with:
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition for Itanium-Based Systems

SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario. You start a Pre-boot execution Environment (PXE) client to connect to a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1)-based computer. This computer is running Windows Deployment Service (WDS). In this scenario, you receive an error message that resembles the following:

WdsClient: An error occurred while starting networking: a matching network card driver was not found in this image. Please have your Administrator add the network driver for this machine to the Windows PE image on the Windows Deployment Services server.

CAUSE

This issue occurs if the WDS boot image does not contain a network driver for your third-party network adapter.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

Find the network driver that is missing from the WDS boot image. To do this, follow these steps:
1. When you receive the error message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section, press SHIFT+F10 to open a command prompt.
2. At the command prompt, type the following command:
  
  Notepad.exe x:\Windows\INF\setupapi.app.log
3. In the Setupapi.app.log file that is displayed, locate the section that identifies the Plug and Play ID (PnPID) of the third-party network adapter. For example, "DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV - PCI\VEN_10B7&DEV_9200&SUBSYS_010D1028" is the section that identifies the PnPID of the network adapter in the following Setupapi.app.log file:
```
>>>  [DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV - PCI\VEN_10B7&DEV_9200&SUBSYS_010D1028&REV_78\4&19FD8D60&0&60F0]
>>>  Section start 2006/05/05 12:42:59.281
      cmd: X:\Sources\setup.exe 
     dvi: No class installer for 'Ethernet Controller'
     dvi: No CoInstallers found
     dvi: Default installer: Enter
     dvi:      {Select Best Driver}
!    dvi:           Selecting driver failed(0xe0000228)
     dvi:      {Select Best Driver - exit(0xe0000228)}
!    dvi: Default installer: failed!
!    dvi: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.
<<<  Section end 2006/05/05 12:42:59.296
<<<  [Exit status: FAILURE(0xe0000228)]
```
4. Locate the correct driver for the network adapter that you identified in step 1c. Then, copy the driver onto a floppy disk or onto a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive.
Manually load the network driver, and then verify that it is the correct driver. To do this, follow these steps:
1. At a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
  
  drvload driver.inf
  
  Notes
  - Driver.inf is the name of the third-party network driver.
  - You have to specify the full path and the name of the driver. For example, if Driver.inf is on a CD, and the CD drive is drive D, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
    
    drvload.exe d:\Folder\Driver.inf
2. Type wpeutil InitializeNetwork, and then press ENTER.
3. To verify network connectivity, type ipconfig /all.
  
  Note The ipconfig /all command generates a detailed configuration report for all interfaces that include any remote access adapters.
Update the WDS boot image to include the new third-party network driver. To do this, follow these steps.

Note The following procedure assumes that the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) is installed on the WDS server. If the Windows AIK is not installed on the WDS server, you can perform the same procedure on another computer that does have the Windows AIK installed. Then, map a network drive to the WDS server.
1. On the WDS server, click Start, click Run, type wdsmgmt.msc, and then press OK.
2. Under your WDS server, double-click Boot images.
3. Right-click the boot image that you want, and then click Disable.
4. Right-click the same boot image, click Properties, and then click General.
5. Note the name and location of the boot image that is displayed in the File name box.
6. At a command prompt, type the following:
  
  C:\program files\windows aik\tools\petools\copype.cmd x86 c:\windowspe-x86
  Note Keep this command prompt window open for the next step.
  Imagex /info Drive:\remoteinstall\boot\x86\images\boot.wim
  
  Notes
  - Drive:\remoteinstall represents the path at which the Remoteinstall folder is installed.
  - Boot.wim is the name of the boot image.
7. Note the boot index number of the bootable image that is displayed. To identify the boot index number, locate the line that contains "boot index: X."
  
  Note X is the boot index number. The number indicates that image number X is marked as bootable and that the image is to be updated. The second image is the default image that you would typically modify. However, always verify which image is marked as bootable.
8. At a command prompt, type the following:
  
  Imagex /mountrw Drive:\remoteinstall\boot\x86\images\boot.wim 2 mount
  peimg /inf=driver.inf mount\Windows
  imagex /unmount /commit mount
  
  Notes
  - Drive:\remoteinstall represents the path at which the Remoteinstall folder is installed.
  - Driver.inf is the name of the third-party driver.
  - The Imagex /mountrw command mounts the specified image, with read/write permissions, to the specified directory.
Enable the boot image on the WDS server. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On the WDS server, click Start, click Run, type wdsmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
2. Under WDS server, double-click Boot images.
3. Right-click the boot image that you want, and then click Enable.

Notes

Any errors that are generated when you follow these steps have standard Win32 error codes. For more information about Win32 error codes, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;EN-US;KBHOWTO
Back up the boot image before you mount it in step 3h.

Keywords: kbtshoot kberrmsg kbprb KB923834

Microsoft KB Archive/923834

Contents

Error message when you start a PXE client to connect to a WDS server on a Windows Server 2003 SP1-based computer: "WdsClient: An error occurred while starting networking"

SYMPTOMS

CAUSE

RESOLUTION