Hi We've come across a problem with a batch of Dell GX620's that has us stumped. We have 3 machines that PXE boot to the SCCM server and load WinPE ok but at the point where the display would normally switch to the SCCM screen and ask for a password the display goes blank but the monitor power stays on (green light). It only happens on 3 machines though which has us scratching our heads now. We've done the usual stuff like check the BIOS settings, different monitors etc but it still doesn't display. Can anyone point me in the right direction to getting the SCCM screens to display? Thanks

set the video settings in the bios to 8m (default 1m ?) make sure bios is the latest version and try again My step by step SCCM Guides I'm on Twitter > ncbrady

Thanks for your reply. The onboard video is set to 8m. These boxes also have an ATI graphics card which is set as the main video. I tried using the onboard video but still no good. The system finishes downloading winpe.wim from the distribution point and then goes to a black screen with a flashing cursor in the top left corner which disappears after a few seconds. Then nothing happens at all but the monitor stays turned on. I've tried adding the drivers for the network card and chipset to WinPE but that made no difference. The BIOS is the latest version. Any other suggestions would be gratefully received!

Thanks for your reply. The onboard video is set to 8m. These boxes also have an ATI graphics card which is set as the main video. I tried using the onboard video but still. The system finishes downloading winpe.wim from the distribution point and then goes to a black screen with a flashing cursor in the top left corner which disappears after a few seconds. Then nothing happens at all but the monitor stays turned on. I've tried adding the drivers for the network card and chipset to WinPE but that made no difference. The BIOS is the latest version. Any other suggestions would be gratefully received!

are you using sccm 2007 sp2 ? what os are you trying to deploy ? have you tried to reset the bios to its default settings, removing the ati video card My step by step SCCM Guides I'm on Twitter > ncbrady

We're using SCCM 2007 SP2 and the OS is Windows 7 Enterprise. We've had no problems with running the OSD task sequence before this and strangely it only affects a few computers of the same type. I removed the ATI card and still got the problem. Also default BIOS settings didn't help :-( I'm trying to figure out at the point that winpe.wim has finished downloading what does the process look for next? HDD?

could be the SATA settings in the bios, can you check how they are for these 3 in comparison to the working systems My step by step SCCM Guides I'm on Twitter > ncbrady

Yes everything looks the same. I think I have tried every combination of BIOS settings now. One thing I notice is that onec winpe.wim has finished loading and it switches to a blank screen after a few seconds the fan cpu fan speed ramps up and then the keyboard and mouse lights go out. I haven't seen anything like this before :-)

This model is too old. I suggest you contact Dell and ask if this model supports WinPE and if there is any updates you need to install. Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. ”

Thanks for your help with this along the way - I think we have figured out the problem now. It was a case of looking too hard for a technical solution when the actual problem was staring us in the face..... After having no luck with WinPE through WDS I put a Windows 7 DVD in the machine and found the same problem i.e. it crashed after the WinPE download. I tied a Vista DVD and the same thing happened but on the BSOD there was a reference to memory. We checked the physical memory and there was 4.5GB in 2 matched pairs of 2GB and 2 matched pairs of 256MB of a different speed. We pulled these and WinPE / WDS and SCCM worked fine :-) The odd thing is we installed XP on the PC when we first had problems in order to update the BIOS and the memory mismatch made no difference to the XP installation...