You might be prompted for the location of your image during an unattended deployment.
This means that SmartDeploy cannot find the image that is specified in the Answer File for one of the following reasons:
- The credentials that are specified in the Answer File are invalid or do not have access to the file share containing the image.
- The image .wim file is missing from the share that is specified in the Answer File.
- The share path is incorrect.
- SmartPE does not have a valid IP or is otherwise not able to access the network, often due to a missing WindowsPE network driver, or misconfigured WiFi settings.
To resolve this issue, first check your network settings. Confirm that you have a valid IP in the bottom-right corner of the screen when booted into the SmartDeploy Preinstallation Environment. If it is blank or remains on “initializing,” you may need to re-create your Boot Media or Deployment Package and include the Platform Pack for this target model so that the network drivers are included in the boot image. If you are deploying wirelessly, be sure to include the SmartDeploy Wireless Platform Pack (see: Use a Wireless Connection in SmartPE).
If you have a valid IP, try to manually map a network drive to the network share to the image. This will use the credentials that are saved in your Answer File. If this fails due to permissions, the credentials in the Answer File are invalid. If this succeeds in mapping the network, the path is invalid, and you need to edit your Answer File to use the specific file share that you just successfully tested.
Note: If you are using an Administrative share (which uses the wildcard value of C$ to point to C:\ on the target computer), please note that some network environments block these shares. Changing this to a standard file share may help. As of SmartDeploy 3.0.1045, a Folder Share is used by default for all new installations.
Lastly, after confirming that the credentials and path are correct, you may need to increase the countdown time in the Advanced settings of the Answer File wizard beyond 30 seconds to allow more time for the network adapter to receive an IP from your DHCP server.
If you make any changes to the Answer File, you will need to re-run Media Wizard to recreate your SmartDeploy media in order to use the updated Answer File. Then retry the deployment.
