Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) is Unable to Connect to the Deployment Share on Skylake or Kaby Lake Computers

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) Unable to Connect

You might see this error with Skylake or Kaby Lake systems equipped with integrated Intel Ethernet adapters (Figure 1):

Figure 1

If the PCI ID has 8086, the missing driver is Intel-based; Skylake and Kaby Lake systems use the Intel E1D series driver. Windows 10 uses NDIS 6.5, UEFI requires 64-bit drivers, resulting in E1D65x64.inf.

Browse to the Dell Support Site, and download the latest Windows 10 Intel Ethernet driver. Put that into the MDT / SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager) for your computer.

You may already have the Intel E1D driver 12.13 or 12.15 but the Skylake and Kaby Lake systems require 12.17 (same driver name but different version).

Make sure to verify the PE driver selection profile only has the WinPE CAB file contents PE Selection Profile:

If you do not have a clearly defined Selection Profile for Windows PE, one should be created.

Selection Profile Creation

1. Download the latest Windows PE CAB file for the system from the Dell support site (note that the drivers are cross-compatible with most other models) (Figure 2):
   
   Figure 2
    
2. Extract the contents of the CAB file to a temp directory (Figure 3).
   
   Figure 3
    
3. Create a folder under Out-of-Box Drivers for Windows PE x64 (Figure 4 & 5):
   
   Figure 4
   
   
   Figure 5
    
4. Import the drivers from the x64 CAB folder into the MDT Windows PE x64 CAB folder (Figure 6):
   
   Figure 6
    
5. Create a Selection Profile that links to the Windows PE x64 Drivers folder (Figure 7 & 8):
   
   Figure 7
   
   
   Figure 8
   
   Select only the Windows PE x64 Drivers folder (Figure 9):
   
   Figure 9
    
6. Download the latest Intel Rapid Storage driver (16.5 or later) (Figure 10):
   
   Figure 10
    
7. Extract the Intel Rapid Storage driver to a temp directory (Figure 11):
   
   Figure 11
    
8. Import the Windows 10 drivers into the Windows PE x64 Drivers folder (Figure 12 & 13):
   
   Figure 12
   
   
   Figure 13
    
9. Copy the 12.17 E1D65x64.inf driver (and the updated Intel Rapid Storage iaAHCI and iaStorAC drivers to the Windows 10 Selection Profile (for Windows to use during and after deployment) (Figure 14 & 15):
   
   Figure 14
   
   
   Figure 15
    
10. Make sure Windows PE x64 Drivers selection profile is being used for Windows PE:
    Right click Deployment Share top level, go to Properties (Figure 16):
    
    Figure 16
    
    Click Windows PE, select x64, Drivers and Patches:
    Change the selection profile from "Everything" to "Windows PE x64 Drivers" (Figure 17)
    
    Figure 17
     
11. Update the Deployment Share to re-create the Windows PE image (do not use update) (Figure 18 & 19).
    
    Figure 18
    
    
    Figure 19
     
12. Replace the MDT Windows 10 PE boot media in WDS / USB media with the new Windows PE x64.wim (Figure 20 & 21).
    
    Figure 20
    
    
    Figure 21
     
13. Start the target system and try the deployment again.

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