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Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 29. Mar 2021, 23:41
by Wout E
Hello everyone,

Im a student and for a project I need to create an automated way to roll out clients using MDT and WSUS on a domain member server. I have a domain controller (with DHCP and DNS server) and a member server with MDT and WSUS on it. I followed this guide from Microsoft docs. (Can't post urls yet)

deploy-windows-mdt/prepare-for-windows-deployment-with-mdt

My domain is called CoronaPrj.local.

I followed all the steps and finished the 'Create a Windows 10 reference image' page

/deploy-windows-mdt/create-a-windows-10-reference-image

I don't have a hyper-v server tho so I figured I would just make a new VM in Virtualbox with the boot image I got from MDT after doing the 'update deployment share'.

When booting this, it opens the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and I can choose to capture an image.It starts installing the OS and the applications which i've added. After about 45 min of this, the last things I see are 'Running action: Execute Sysprep' and 'Running action: Apply Windows PE (BCD)'. It then reboots the VM and after the 'Loading files...' is done, I get a fatal error.

I don't see a captured image in my 'Capture' folder in MDT. I've been looking for a solution for 2 days now but I can't seem to figure out where the problem is. Inspecting the log with CMTrace doesn't help me either, as I have no clue what it means.

If anyone has a clue what I could be doing wrong or how to fix this issue, that would be wonderful. Log of VM is attached. (Only last 120 KB as I can't post the whole 450 KB file)

Thanks in advance.

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 29. Mar 2021, 23:45
by scottgus1
That log snippet appears to be the end of the log, after all the important stuff has happened.

Zipped logs fit. :wink:

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 29. Mar 2021, 23:56
by Wout E
That log snippet appears to be the end of the log, after all the important stuff has happened.

Zipped logs fit. :wink:
My bad, didn't think of that!

Here should be the zipped log

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 30. Mar 2021, 00:17
by scottgus1
Thanks! The set-up of the VM looks OK.

The VM had several reboots from the CD-Rom:
00:00:07.513764 VMMDev: Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from CD-ROM...
00:10:54.481243 VMMDev: Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from CD-ROM...
00:31:11.045505 VMMDev: Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from CD-ROM...
00:35:59.472679 VMMDev: Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from CD-ROM...
00:37:48.259001 VMMDev: Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from CD-ROM...
00:39:42.544782 VMMDev: Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from CD-ROM...
00:52:09.649071 VMMDev: Guest Log: BIOS: Booting from CD-ROM...
The last reboot very quickly went to Guru Meditation over a Triple-Fault, which is Virtualbox's ultimate "I don't know why the OS tried to do that, I give up." Were each of these reboots part of your process?

So far I cannot see why the VM triple-faulted. Forum gurus might be able to say why.

One thing I do see is the VM has 3D acceleration enabled in the VM's Video settings. This requires Guest Additions installed in the OS, which can't happen until the OS is fully installed. You can turn 3D off.

The triple-fault could have been a fluke. Does the VM keep going if you restart it? Or does it keep guru-meditating? If it does, and you start the whole process over with a fresh new VM, does the new VM guru-meditate at the same place in the process?

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 30. Mar 2021, 00:26
by Wout E
he last reboot very quickly went to Guru Meditation over a Triple-Fault, which is Virtualbox's ultimate "I don't know why the OS tried to do that, I give up." Were each of these reboots part of your process?
No, as shown in the picture in the attachment, there is only 1 restart after the Execute Sysprep and Apply Windows PE (BCD) actions.
The triple-fault could have been a fluke. Does the VM keep going if you restart it? Or does it keep guru-meditating?
It keeps guru-meditating. Should I try it with 3D-acceleration disabled?
If it does, and you start the whole process over with a fresh new VM, does the new VM guru-meditate at the same place in the process?
I can try it again but i've tried it about 2 times with different deployment rules and as far as I know it guru-meditates as the same place. After the Sysprep and Apply Windows PE actions.

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 30. Mar 2021, 00:40
by scottgus1
Yes, try it without 3D. Also try a fresh VM without 3D from the beginning. After that, I am not certain what else to do.

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 30. Mar 2021, 00:44
by Wout E
I will try that.

Could a problem with my WSUS server be the problem? Im brand new to this and im still quite confused as to how its supposed to work.

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 30. Mar 2021, 02:16
by Wout E
scottgus1 wrote:Yes, try it without 3D. Also try a fresh VM without 3D from the beginning. After that, I am not certain what else to do.
Still got the guru-meditation when 3D was turned off (as a new VM)

Attached log again. I don't think my WSUS server is working correctly yet, could this be part of the problem? Or would it just download the the updates from the internet if it can't reach the WSUS server?

Also, is there a way to check whats going on during the image capture process? Its a long (45-60min) process and gives very little info apart form the occasional 'Running Action...'. A sort of debug mode?
For the longest time its actually stuck on the windows 'Getting ready' screen, not sure if that gives more info.

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 30. Mar 2021, 02:32
by fth0
scottgus1 wrote:So far I cannot see why the VM triple-faulted. Forum gurus might be able to say why.
I analyzed a very similar case half a year ago, but AFAIK it wasn't solved despite me triggering the appropriate VirtualBox developer. Read Windows 10 Enterprise 2004 crashing in virtualbox after reboot for details.

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 30. Mar 2021, 17:21
by scottgus1
fth0, that does look like a very similar if not the same situation.

Wout E, take a look at fth0's link, There were some ideas presented that might help.

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 3. Apr 2021, 14:37
by Wout E
I've looked into the other posts but nothing really that helped me out.

Re: Creating a Windows 10 reference image using MDT - fatal error - need help

Posted: 3. Apr 2021, 18:06
by scottgus1
Thanks for trying the links. Regrettably I am at a loss for further ideas. We'll need an MDT guru on this one.