Monthly Archives: January 2012

Deploy Intel AMT/HECI/SOL Drivers Using System Center Configuration Manager

This post describes how I deployed the Intel AMT/HECI/SOL Drivers using System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).

I was deploying the drivers to Dell OptiPlex desktops and Latitude laptops, so I downloaded the drivers from http://support.euro.dell.com/ .  The drivers download as compressed files, so I extract them using 7-zip http://www.7-zip.org/.  This leaves you with a set of files like those below.

In the screenshot above you’ll see setup.cmd batch file.  This is the secret to deploying the drivers using SCCM.  The Intel documentation states that you can run setup.exe -s to silently install the drivers.  However, when I created a software distribution package and set it to run setup.exe -s the drivers never installed and the installer routine exited due to an invalid command option.  What you need to do is create a batch file which calls setup.exe -s and point the software package as the batch file, e.g.

\\SCCMSERVER\SoftwareDistribution\Packages\755_HECI_Driver\setup.exe -s

 

Advertisement

Update Dell BIOS During Operating System Deployment Using System Center Configuration Manager

As part of an Intel AMT deployment I needed to update the BIOS on our Dell OptiPlex desktops and Latitude laptops.  I created a package to run the BIOS update and added this to the operating system task sequence.

Firstly, download the BIOS update from Dell technical support http://support.euro.dell.com/support/  The BIOS file will be named something like 0755-A21.exe .  This is the A21 BIOS revision for the Dell OptiPlex 755.

Next, in System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) create a standard software package.  Set the command line to the BIOS file followed by -NOREBOOT –NOPAUSE .  This enables the BIOS update to run silently and without rebooting the system.  I additionally set the package to run “whether or not a user is logged on” using the setting on the Environment tab.

Go to your operating system deployment task sequence and choose Add -> General -> Install Software.  Select the BIOS update package.  Next, click into the Options tab and click “Add Condition” and select “Query WMI”  and enter SELECT SMBIOSBIOSVersion From Win32_BIOS WHERE SMBIOSBIOSVersion < “A21” Replace A21 with the BIOS version you’re using for the update.  This WMI Query ensures the BIOS is flashed only if it’s older than a given version.  I then have a restart task to reboot the machine and flash the BIOS.

Unhandled exception was thrown by the sandboxed code wrapper’s Execute method in the partial trust app domain

I’ve been developing a sandboxed web part for SharePoint 2010.  The web part retrieves images from a SharePoint image library and uses Silverlight to display them in a slideshow.  I deployed the web part solution to the live environment and added it to a simple test page.  The web part displayed the images without error.  In preparation for the release of the web part I added it to the home page and configured an audience to hide the web part from all but a test group of users.  As soon as I added an audience to the web part it failed to load and just displayed an error.  Looking in the SharePoint log file showed the error below

01/17/2012 11:55:26.18 SPUCWorkerProcess.exe (0x8790) 0x92CC SharePoint Foundation Sandboxed Code Service fe8s Medium – – Unhandled exception was thrown by the sandboxed code wrapper’s Execute method in the partial trust app domain: An unexpected error has occurred. – userCodeWrapperType = “Microsoft.SharePoint.UserCode.SPUserCodeWebPartWrapper”, userAssemblyGroupId = “BCC815A08E2A4C64923709F32FA00B92-by0V1RUaCe3c88sryp9ER7slGEpZXlqosRuCBMbd6hY=”, siteCollectionId = “1eb54e14-572f-4fd9-a8e7-33b9869d3e96” – Inner Exception: Microsoft.SharePoint.UserCode.SPUserCodeSolutionProxiedException: Value cannot be null. Parameter name: path1 at System.IO.Path.Combine(String path1, String path2) at System.Web.HttpRawUploadedContent.TempFile..ctor() at System.Web.HttpRawUploadedContent.AddBytes(Byte[] data, Int32 offset, Int32 length) at System.Web.HttpRequest.GetEntireRawContent() at System.Web… 9b39d39d-ebb5-4ddd-9387-efff7785962b

01/17/2012 11:55:26.18* SPUCWorkerProcess.exe (0x8790) 0x92CC SharePoint Foundation Sandboxed Code Service fe8s Medium ….HttpRequest.GetMultipartContent() at System.Web.HttpRequest.FillInFormCollection() at System.Web.HttpRequest.get_Form() at System.Web.HttpRequest.get_HasForm() at System.Web.UI.Page.GetCollectionBasedOnMethod(Boolean dontReturnNull) at System.Web.UI.Page.DeterminePostBackMode() at Microsoft.SharePoint.UserCode.SPUserCodePage.DeterminePostBackMode() at System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) 9b39d39d-ebb5-4ddd-9387-efff7785962b

01/17/2012 11:55:26.18 SPUCHostService.exe (0x6404) 0x97F0 SharePoint Foundation Sandboxed Code Service 0000 Medium – – Value cannot be null. Parameter name: path1 – Request executing userSolution Id “bcc815a0-8e2a-4c64-9237-09f32fa00b92″ for site collection id ” 1eb54e14-572f-4fd9-a8e7-33b9869d3e96″ has encountered an unhandled exception while executing user code. 9b39d39d-ebb5-4ddd-9387-efff7785962b

Searching Google indicated that the error could be due to the size of the HTTP request.   In order to resolve the error I opened the sandbox solution web.config file in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\UserCode\web.config.  I added <httpRuntime requestLengthDiskThreshold = “4096” /> to the system.web section of the file according to the information here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/e1f13641.aspx .