Dell 7000 series laptops pxe booting

[george1421]

@The-Dealman Just to confirm this is a dell 7000 using the built in network interface (or via a port replicator)?

From a functioning windows system of this type, can you tell me the vendor ID and device ID of this network adapter? You can see this in the device manager -> <network device> -> Properties -> hardware IDs.

There is something on on here that I don’t understand. The 7220 should get an IP address here.

[sidebar] What we did by waiting 30 seconds and then attempting to pull a dhcp address is to test to see if spanning tree was blocking the target computer from getting an IP address. 30 seconds is long enough for standard spanning tree to start forwarding data.

[The Dealman]

@george1421 No spanning tree enable on this network. Here is the Hardware ID info

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N-_V4eoJUOzo-CSwcoG_jS6aIb3jGcpN/view?usp=sharing

[george1421]

@The-Dealman Is that the usb-c to ethernet dongle?

model DBQBCBC064
ref: https://www.staples.com/Dell-DBQBCBC064-USB-Type-C-to-Ethernet-Network-Adapter/product_IM13F8416?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:IM13F8416&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=IM13F8416&KPID=IM13F8416&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzrvswsW06wIVUb7ACh09JQVbEAQYAiABEgJfz_D_BwE

[The Dealman]

@george1421 Yes it is usb-c. It’s one of these https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-docking-station-wd19-180w/apd/210-ariq/pc-accessories

[george1421]

@The-Dealman ok its a wd19. I know those work with a 7400. I have one of those in front of me now (both wd19 and 7400), let me look at the bios settings. now.

[george1421]

@george1421 In the 7400 firmware System Configuration->Thunderbolt configuration

Thunderbolt: Checked
Enable Thunderbolt Boot: checked
No Security: Checked

Secure boot->Secure boot: disabled

General ->Advanced boot options -> enable uefi network stack: enabled.

These are probably right because you are getting into ipxe. I’m going to pxe boot using this dock to see if I can duplicate the same error you see.

[george1421]

@The-Dealman on a 7400 using a wd19 it pxe boots right into the FOG ipxe menu. So what’s unique about your installation?

Is this a new FOG installation where you have never pxe booted into the iPXE menu before? OR is this the first uefi system you are tying to image?

[The Dealman]

@george1421 Yes your settings match what i have

[The Dealman]

@george1421 said in Dell 7000 series laptops pxe booting:

@The-Dealman on a 7400 using a wd19 it pxe boots right into the FOG ipxe menu. So what’s unique about your installation?

Is this a new FOG installation where you have never pxe booted into the iPXE menu before? OR is this the first uefi system you are tying to image?

Yes to both questions here.

[george1421]

@The-Dealman Ok since this is a new fog install we really can’t rule out anything here. Since the FOG server and the target computer are on the same subnet, lets grab a pcap (packet capture) to see exactly what the target computer is being told during pxe booting. https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/9673/when-dhcp-pxe-booting-process-goes-bad-and-you-have-no-clue

Upload the pcap to the FOG Forum, or a file share site and either post the link here to DM me the link and I’ll take a look at it. Usually PXE booting fails before this point in the process so something is happening that we don’t understand yet.

Also be aware there IS a firmware update for the WD19 docks. Also make sure the firmware is up to date on the computer too.

[The Dealman]

@george1421 I have tested the pxe booting process on a desktop system using the undionly.kpxe and it works without issue. So something is not right the uefi pxe process and these 7410 laptops with the WD19 docking stations.

[george1421]

@The-Dealman Do know enough to say its uefi booting or uefi pxe booting with these specific hardware?

On the computer that bios boots using undionly.kpxe can you switch that computer over to uefi mode and pxe boot with ipxe.efi?

Edit: OK I see you updated your post while I was writing mine. Lets get a pcap of that pxe booting process. But I’m leaning towards a firmware issue on the laptop then.

Edit 2: We are still not dead in the water, we can boot right into FOS LInux from a usb stick bypassing iPXE if needed.

[The Dealman]

@george1421 said in Dell 7000 series laptops pxe booting:

On the computer that bios boots using undionly.kpxe can you switch that computer over to uefi mode and pxe boot with ipxe.efi?

I’ll try that now. It’s a optiplex 3010

[The Dealman]

@george1421 said in Dell 7000 series laptops pxe booting:

On the computer that bios boots using undionly.kpxe can you switch that computer over to uefi mode and pxe boot with ipxe.efi?

On the optiplex 3010 when i try the uefi network boot it just goes to black screen the kicks back to the One-Time Boot Menu.

[george1421]

@The-Dealman Did you change the boot file to ipxe.efi? That sounds like you tried to boot a bios boot loader.

[The Dealman]

@george1421 Yes i changed the boot file ipxe.efi if you want i can post a video of what i saw.

[george1421]

@The-Dealman Again, lets get a pcap to see what its being told.

Also secure boot is off?

[The Dealman]

@george1421 said in Dell 7000 series laptops pxe booting:

@The-Dealman Again, lets get a pcap to see what its being told.

Also secure boot is off?

Yes secure boot is off.

For the pcap, are these instructions accurate? https://wiki.fogproject.org/wiki/index.php?title=TCPDump

[george1421]

@The-Dealman The ones I link to before are exactly what is needed. https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/9673/when-dhcp-pxe-booting-process-goes-bad-and-you-have-no-clue

[The Dealman]

@george1421 Okay i must have missed that link the first time. I’ll give that a try and post the results