[Solved][wimboot] Dell Optiplex 7440AIO hangs at startup with UEFI

[blanalex]

I have a new model of computer, Dell Optiplex 7440 All-in-One desktops and they won't boot in WinPE in UEFI mode. In legacy mode, they boot just fine. Other computers boot fine too in UEFI mode. The files download normally and control is passed over to Windows. The Windows splash screen (well, the Dell logo since Windows reads the logo from DMI) appears but there's no "spinner" underneath it and nothing else happens. I have to reset to turn off the computer by holding the power button for a few seconds.

I've tried with 6 or 8 computers of the same model, both with the factory firmware (1.3.7, I think) or the latest available for download (1.4.7). I'm running the current wimboot version (2.5.2) and tried with older versions I have at hand: 2.1.0 and 2.4.1.

The exact same WinPE image boots fine from a USB drive

Here's my iPXE script:

Code:

<%
. ($pwd.path + "\common.ps1")
%>
#!ipxe
set wimboot-path http://server/wimboot
kernel ${wimboot-path}/wimboot-2.5.2 gui
imgfetch --name BCD               ${wimboot-path}/bcd                BCD
imgfetch --name boot.sdi          ${wimboot-path}/boot.sdi           boot.sdi
imgfetch --name wgl4_boot.ttf     ${wimboot-path}/wgl4_boot.ttf      wgl4_boot.ttf
imgfetch --name segmono_boot.ttf  ${wimboot-path}/segmono_boot.ttf   segmono_boot.ttf
imgfetch --name segoe_slboot.ttf  ${wimboot-path}/segoe_slboot.ttf   segoe_slboot.ttf
imgfetch --name segoen_slboot.ttf ${wimboot-path}/segoen_slboot.ttf  segoen_slboot.ttf
imgfetch --name boot.wim ${wimboot-path}/SCCM-WinPE10-x64.wim        boot.wim

boot

If I add a pause to wimboot I get this:

Code:

Command line: "wimboot-2.5.2 gui pause"
Using wimboot-2.5.2 via 0x93b69a48 len 0xa600
Using BCD via 0x93b69ae8 len 0x40000
...found BCD
Using boot.sdi via 0x93b69b88 len 0x3060000
Using wgl4_boot.ttf via 0x93b69d88 len 0xb95c
Using segmono_boot.ttf via 0x93b69e28 len 0x8cb4
Using segoe_slboot.ttf via 0x93b69ec8 len 0x12e5c
Using segoen_slboot.ttf via 0x93b69f68 len 0x12d20
Using boot.wim via 0x93b6a248 len 0x1632a7ad
...found WIM file boot.wim
...found file "\Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.efi"
Using BOOTX64.EFI via 0x93ae4a00 len 0x11af60
...extracted \Windows\Boot\EFI\bootmgfw.efi
Read BOOTX64.EFI
Loaded BOOTX64.EFI
Press any key to continue booting...

EDIT: Solved; switched from snponly.efi to ipxe.efi (all-drivers)

[blanalex]

I switched from snponly.efi (x86_64) to all-drivers.efi (x86_64) and it works now! It solved another problem I was having with a Dell Latitude 3350. With the Realtek 8168 in UEFI, iPXE-snponly shows 01-01-01-01-01-01 as the MAC address.

[mcb30]

(2016-07-06 19:02)blanalex Wrote:  I switched from snponly.efi (x86_64) to all-drivers.efi (x86_64) and it works now! It solved another problem I was having with a Dell Latitude 3350. With the Realtek 8168 in UEFI, iPXE-snponly shows 01-01-01-01-01-01 as the MAC address.

Awesome; glad you got it working with ipxe.efi!

On a related note: one (of the very few) advantages of UEFI is that the all-drivers build (ipxe.efi) still has the capability to fall back to using an SNP or NII driver if no native iPXE driver exists. This is an improvement on the BIOS equivalent ipxe.pxe, which generally cannot fall back to using an UNDI driver.

Michael

[pxe_curious]

Just something else I wanted to mention and this thread seems appropriate:

Getting a blank screen when UEFI booting a machine that boots just fine using legacy BIOS firmware? Specifically I am talking Windows 7/Server 2008 R2.

Check your firmware settings to see if there is an option to enable the loading of Legacy Video ROM Options. Sometimes this might be referred to as UEFI BIOS Compatibility Support Module (CSM).

UEFI uses graphics output protocol (GOP) which Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 does not support.

I have run into this with WinPE images as well as Windows Server 2008 R2 installs on Dell 13G server hardware. WinPE 10 and Server 2012 R2 support GOP and work fine.