Unattended IBW stops at initial setup screen

Question

I am having an issue that seems to be tied to certain hardware when trying to deploy an unattended answer file.

Bootable USB Setup:  First I setup my USB stick has the full distribution share on it.  I then copy over the unattended answer file (AutoUnattend.xml). 

Working device: I plug in the bootable USB with my distribution share and my unattended answer file.  I then apply power to my hardware.  The hardware boots directly from the USB as expected and auto launches the setup.  After x amount of time goes by, I have the full image installed with no problems.

Non-working device:  I plug in the bootable USB with my distribution share and my unattended answer file.  I then apply power to my hardware.  The hardware boots directly from the USB, however the setup does not auto launch.  The IBW comes up directly to the setup screen where it asks a user to "Deploy and Answer file" or "Create..."  I connect a mouse, however the mouse is not recognizes.  I connect a keyboard with the same problem.  The major difference that I am aware of is that the non-working device is a USB 3.0, and the working device is USB 2.0. 

Can anyone tell me if this is a limitation of IBW?  It really doesn't seem like it should be. 

I am somewhat stumped on this issue right now!  I have verified that Legacy USB support is enabled in the BIOS.  Also, I have booted a WinXP boot USB and connected a keyboard, and that seems to work just fine.  The DOS prompt comes up, and I can enter in commands from the Keyboard.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

If you are creating a custom answer file in ICE, why not have ICE build the custom IBW disk?

When the IBW disk comes up to the two options rather than executing the unattend file, most situations I have seen, the issue is that the installer gets confussed on teh drive letters and cannot fine the unattend file.

-Sean

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www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com / Book Author - Pro Guide to WES 7, XP Embedded Advanced, Pro Guide to POS for .NET

Answer 2

The main reason I was using a full DS vs a custom IBW disk is for development purposes.  I have not completely locked down the WES7 image for my product yet, and it is faster to swap Answer files on the IBW disk than completely rebuild a custom IBW disk.  I will create custom IBW disk and post my results.

Answer 3

I tried the custom IBW disk, however it also booted up to the Setup screen where it asks the user to "Deploy an answer file" or "Setup..."  Does anyone have an idea why IBW would behave differently on different hardware?  I would just attach a keyboard or mouse and select an answer file, but the target hardware won't recognize them after IBW has launched for some reason.

Answer 4

I get a similar issue sometimes too. "Create IBW from Answerfile" is the correct way to go though. It takes about 5 minutes on my PC to make a new IBW. (it helps that I have an SSD ^^) 

Sometimes it boots and off it goes, others it stops with the deploy, seemingly it depends on the weather. Normally when installing it helps to have a keyboard/mouse connected "just in case." as the true hands-off install appears to be a dream still.

I have a standard kit I use for all installs, its a usb hub with mouse/keyboard + space for the USB boot device. Even using this same kit every time, I do sometimes get the "Deploy..." message!

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