Why some hotfixes aren’t added to OS Packages

This week after downloading a series of hotfixes I realized that there werer 2 hotfixes that I was not be able to publish on the OS Packages section of MDT Workbench.

After some Technet help the problem was that 2 of the 27 hotfixes were not correctly downloaded and no error appear on the Workbench console.

ZTI ERROR – Unhandled error returned by ZTIPatches: Object required (424)

Ok…

This is a very strange behavior that I need to take a deep investigation because I really can’t understand it.

I’ve been using the same unattend.xml file for testing purposes for a long time, but…this weekend I’ve haded some hotfixes to the OS Packages section, via the MDT Workbench.

After updating my Deployment Point, I’ve started the installation and almost immediately after starting the deploy, I got an error called:

<code>ZTI ERROR – Unhandled error returned by ZTIPatches: Object required (424)</code>

Because the only thing I’ve done was the insertion of hotfixes I’ve took them all except one. The error persisted! A very strange thing…

Looking closer to the bdd.log, located on C:\Minint\SMSOSD\OSDLOGS\, I’ve noticed an error with something like:

<code>Invalid character (…)</code>

I’ve googled it a little and someone was having a similar problem because of the use of a Norwegian character. After a search on my unattend I’ve realized I was using the name of the enterprise where I work, with a special character:
Espírito instead of Espirito.

After updated my deployment point…here we go again…everything works fine!

The really strange thing here it’s…why the hll does this just happened after adding hotfixes?

MDT 2008 Update 1: Why isn’t the version showing up

After updating your MDT 2008 to Update 1, you may notice that when you click on the Help -> About, the version number it’s still the some previous to Update 1.

This may happen because of cached dll’s.

For solving this issue:
.: Open Registry Editor
.: Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\MuiCache\@C:\Program Files\Microsoft Deployment Toolkit\Bin\Microsoft.BDD.WorkbenchResources.dll,-105
.: Delete this key
.: Restart the machine

After this, you’ll notice that now you have the correct version showing up.

Deployment Workbench – Update vs. Update (Files Only)

As you may notice when using Deployment Workbench on MDT 2008, after you’ve made some changes to your installation you need to update your deployment points, because the changes you’ve made on your “local machine” need to be replicated/published to your deployment points.

When updating (right-clicking on the deployment point), you have 2 options to choose:
update and update (files only).

if you’ve made any changes involving Windows PE (like change your CustomSettings.ini or adding network drivers) you’ll need to use Update option.

For all the rest you should use Update (files only) option.

P.S.: If for any reason the Update (files only) didn’t work and Update did…please let me know about that.

 

MDT 2008 – Upgrading

I’ve downloaded MDT 2008 last Thrusday, and I wanted to test it right way.

But, I had some Task Sequences and some rules for CustomSettings.ini and Bootstrap.ini already made, so, does this still work after upgrading?

And the answer is a redundante and heavy YES!

After upgrading all tasks and rules were working correctly, and the only pass needed is:

- Open Deployment Workbench
- Right-click Distribution Share
- Select “Upgrade Distribution Share”

The Distribution Share is automatically updated with the new scripts and everything works just nice!