Binding drivers to a WinPE deployment engine

When WinPE does not contain the drivers that you need for a specific target, you must bind these drivers to the WinPE deployment engine to deploy the target.

1. Check the compatibility of your WinPE deployment engine.
   1. Go to Server > Advanced features > Deployment engine.
   2. To view the details of the deployment engine, you have two options.
      • Double-click a deployment engine.
      • Select a deployment engine, and then select View engine details in the contextual menu.
   3. Go to the section Network and mass storage drivers. A check is performed while the page is loading. This can take a few minutes. By default, checks are performed only on network and disk drivers.

      If drivers are missing, or are not bound, or if several drivers are bound for the same device, the following information is provided.

      Indicates a missing critical driver, or a critical driver of the wrong architecture.

      Indicates that a missing non-critical driver, or a non-critical driver of the wrong architecture.

      Indicates that a required driver is present on the OS deployment server, but that it is not bound.

      Indicates that there are several drivers bound for the same device, or that there is a binding with a driver that is not known as compatible.

      You can expand the line to get more information.

      • For drivers missing on the OS deployment server, you find a suggestion of where to look for it, including, if available, a download link and the exact directory within the downloaded archive where the driver can be found.
      • When drivers are present on the OS deployment server, you find suggestions of which driver to bind, in order of preference. If multiple drivers are known to possibly work for a device, the best choice is listed first. The choice is explained in the advice text, which first recommends the use of device-specific drivers, that is, drivers that have been specifically designed for the given hardware device. Then compatible device drivers, that match the device family, are recommended, even if they are not an exact rebranded variant (for example, as second choice, an Adaptec driver of the same family as an IBM® ServerRaid adapter, if it is based on the same chipset). Finally, as third choice, generic drivers, for example, Microsoft generic AHCI driver for any AHCI controller, are recommended.

      If no error is found, you do not need to modify the bindings.

2. Modify the driver bindings of the WinPE deployment engine. There are two ways to perform this.
   • Use a wizard.
     1. Click Fix Drivers.
     2. Follow the instructions in the wizard. After having selected a target model, you must select one of these options:

        Automatically fix issues that can be fixed for this model.

        Fixes all issues that can be automatically fixed. Such issues include, for example, a missing binding to an existing driver, multiple bindings for a device, or removing a driver tagged for another operating system.

        Manually fix issues for this model.

        Presents you with each issue in turn. Ways to solve the issue, when available, are proposed.

        Automatically bind drivers for this model.

        Erases every existing binding. New bindings are then automatically added.

        Copy driver bindings for this model from a similar engine.

        Copies all the bindings from a selected source engine to the current engine.

        Reset all drivers bindings for this model.

        Erases all the driver bindings, and does not create any new binding.

   • Edit the bindings manually, using the driver binding grid.
     1. Click Edit engine's driver bindings on the Engine details page.

        A grid is loaded.

        Columns represent target models known to the OS deployment server and matching the patterns provided for the WinPE deployment engine. They can be expanded to view their network and mass storage devices, if a PCI inventory has been performed.

        The first line represents the WinPE deployment engine. Other lines represent software module folders in the OS deployment server. They can be expanded to view individual drivers. If a driver can be used only for 32-bit or 64-bit machines, a superscript x86 or x86-64 mark is written next to the driver name. If you do not find the drivers that you need in the list provided, create software modules for your drivers.

     2. (Optional) To obtain a summary of the errors and warnings, click the link provided above the grid. This helps you locate the problematic areas in the driver grid.
     3. Expand the columns of problematic target models to view the individual network and mass storage devices.
     4. Expand software module folders containing drivers to view the individual drivers.
        Figure 1. Driver binding grid

        

        A cell with a green background indicates that driver information corresponds to the device. The quality of the drivers that can be selected is illustrated by the intensity of the green background: the best drivers are in intense green, the family drivers are in standard green, and the generic drivers are in pale green.

        A cell with an orange background indicates either that the driver is not a PCI driver, or that there is no compatibility information available for the driver.

        A cell with a green check mark indicates that the driver is bound to the WinPE deployment engine for use with the specific target model and device.

     5. Click a green or orange background cell to add or remove bindings.

        It is not possible to bind or unbind drivers from the WinPE deployment engine itself, because they are built-in drivers.

        You should have one, and only one, check mark per column, indicating that you have one and only one driver for each device.

     6. When you have finished modifying the bindings, click Save.
     7. To return to the Image details page, click Back.

        Potential problems with the image are recomputed, allowing you to check if your modifications have solved the detected problems.