PXE Boot Stops or Errors at Downloading the BOOT.SDI File

Products

• Ghost Solution Suite

Issue/Introduction

PXE boot hangs indefinitely or fails downloading the BOOT.SDI file

Environment

Ghost Solution Suite 3.3 RU11 and RU12

Cause

The TFTP/MTFTP packet/block size for the subnet is too big

Starting with GSS 3.3 RU11, MTFTP performance has been improved, and as result, the speed it takes a PXE boot has been improved.

MTFTP performance may be configured by changing the Packet Size in the PXE Configuration.

Starting in GSS 3.3 RU11, the default Packet Size is 16kb. This value can be set to a value as high as 64k. However, older network adapters may require a smaller size than the new default.

Resolution

Open the PXE configuration utility from the Ghost Solution Suite console and select the 'Multicast' tab

Under 'Enable larger packets for TFTP/MTFTP', modify the Packet Size: value to 1456 and save changes:

This value can be adjusted as low as 512 for older legacy network adapters. 

A higher packet size should improve performance on network adapters that support it, but may need to be adjusted to a lower size to accommodate different hardware in your environment.