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How to inject USB 3.0 drivers into Windows Server 2008 R2SP1 for use on Dell R230, R330, T30, T130, T330

Summary: Windows Server versions older than 2012 (including WS 2008 R2 w/SP1) do not support USB 3.0 natively. Dell’s 13th Generation server models (R/T/M/FX) 430 and higher comes with both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. ...

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

Windows Server versions older than 2012 (including WS 2008 R2 w/SP1) do not support USB 3.0 natively. Dell’s 13th Generation server models (R/T/M/FX) 430 and higher comes with both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. Lower models are only provided with a USB 3.0. USB 3.0 driver is not native in W2008.

 

WARNING: Dell server models (R/T) 330 and lower (R230, T130) are USB 3.0 only, and do not have the option to switch USB mode in the BIOS, making legacy operating system installation more challenging.

 

Go to solutions


How to switch from USB 3.0 to USB 2.0 on server models higher than (R/T) 330.

The USB mode can be set in the BIOS:  (Figure 1)
There is a toggle switch in the BIOS which allows to either use USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 (this defaults to 2.0 from our factory). Using the USB 2.0 option makes older Windows versions simple to install.
 

 

WARNING: This switch does not exist on lower models (R/T 330, 230, 130, 30), as the hardware is only USB 3.0.

 



Dell BIOS
 Figure 1: Dell BIOS

 With USB 3.0 using the default media, installation gets stuck at the following stage without keyboard and mouse functionality (Figure 2):
Stopped Installation in the setup scree
Figure 2: Stopped Installation in the setup screen
 

Solution


If possible the most convenient solution is to install Windows 2012 which natively contains the USB 3.0 driver and have no issues during installation. When this solution is not possible, the alternative is to inject the USB 3.0 driver into the installation media.
 

NOTE: Prior to starting any of the below options ensure you follow these steps on a machine with no anti-virus installed.
Anti-virus programs have been found to interfere with the creation of the image causing it to fail at various stages of installation.

For a smooth installation, the Intel USB 3.0 driver must be slipstreamed into both the "install.wim" and the "boot.wim" of the Windows 2008 R2 w/SP1 media. 

Each ".wim" file has more than 1 index, so you must inject the Intel USB 3.0 drivers into all the applicable indexes of each ".wim" file. Microsoft provides a tool called Deployment Images Servicing and Management (DISM) that allows modification of "wim" files. DISM is native in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 and newer operating systems using Windows PowerShell. Also, DISM is available for older Windows operating systems when the Deployment Tools from the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) is installed.

The Intel USB 3.0 drivers for Windows Server 2008 R2 w/SP1 are available for download for all 13th Generation Servers on Dell Support under the chipset category when Windows 2008 R2 SP1 Operating System Filter is applied.

In this article, we have documented two different methods to inject the USB 3.0 drivers into the operating system image. Click on the selected method.
 

 

NOTE: If you must download a copy of the windows operating system ISO, see Knowledge Base article Dell PowerEdge: How to Download the Microsoft Windows Server Media / ISO file?.

 

NOTE: It is highly recommended to use a Test personal computer to perform the below steps and for best results, copy all files to local disk on Windows 7,8 or 10 clients. Alternatively, Windows Server 2008 R2 w/SP1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2 can be used as well, but intermittent operation stops responding have been witnessed on Windows 2012 R2 Server.

 

WARNING: When there is a anti-virus service running on the system, running any of the above mentioned operating systems the anti-virus software must be disabled or stopped until the Image is created using the utility.

 

Steps: 
 
  1. Download and extract Driver_Update_Utility.zip to local disk.

     

    NOTE: When you are unable to download Driver_Update_Utility.zip, contact support to have it emailed to you.

     

  2. Right-click Windows PowerShell and select "Run as Administrator"


     
Run as Administrator

 
  1. Set the PowerShell Execution policy to Unrestricted:
Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
Select "Y" to change the policy.
 
Administrator Window
 
  1. Change the directory to the location of DriverUpdate.ps1
  2. Run the DriverUpdate.ps1 script:
.\DriverUpdate.ps1
Select "R" for Run Once when prompted
 
The Dell Driver Update Utility user interface launches on top of PowerShell now.


Dell Driver Update Utitlity
 
  1. Select the ISO or DVD radio button and navigate to location of the ISO or DVD drive from the "…" button.
    • Use ISO radio button to navigate to ISO image file
    • Use DVD to select DVD optical drive where Windows 2008 R2 DVD media is installed 

       
Select ISO or DVD

 
  1. Select the operating system Edition to modify from the "Select OS Edition" dropdown menu

     
Select the OS Edition
 
  1. Navigate to folder location to save a new ISO image from the "…" button.
    • New modified ISO image is named WS08R2SP1_New.iso automatically

       
File name
  1. If you plan to slipstream any additional drivers into new ISO, select the checkbox and navigate to folder containing additional driver files.

     

 

NOTE: All the additional drivers must be included inside a single folder.

 

Additional Driver Files

  1. Select the Start Button to start the integration process.
 

 

NOTE: When DVD is selected as a source and the Driver integration process is started, the utility seems to show as Not Responding. Wait for some time as the operating system content is being copied to the local disk for driver integration.

 

Processing Request

 

 
  1. To verify completion of the utility, switch to the initial PowerShell and wait for the ISO completion messaging:
Done.
ISO creation successful

ISO creation successful

In this method, we have to inject the USB 3.0 drivers manually. In order to achieve the same, we must inject the drivers into "Boot.wim"  which has 2 indexes (1 & 2).

"Boot.wim" has 2 indexes (1 & 2). The Intel USB 3.0 drivers must be injected into both.
  • Index 1 = Microsoft Windows PE
  • Index 2 = Microsoft Windows Setup
 "Install.wim" has 8 indexes. Depending on the edition of media being used, the Intel USB 3.0 drivers must be injected into that index. The list below is from the Dell OEM Media and the MSDN media and may differ on customer media.
 
  • Index 1 = Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Standard
  • Index 2 = Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Standard Core
  • Index 3 = Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Enterprise
  • Index 4 = Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Enterprise Core
  • Index 5 = Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Datacenter
  • Index 6 = Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Datacenter Core
  • Index 7 = Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Web
  • Index 8 = Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Web Core
 Before the Intel USB 3.0 drivers are injected into the operating system image, a servicing environment must be created. If the Windows Server 2008 R2 w/SP1 is being serviced from a Windows 7 operating system, then the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) must be installed on the client operating system; if Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 and newer operating system is used then Windows ADK must be installed.
 
  1. Create the following folders:
     
    1. C:\temp\WindowsISO (Unpack the windows 2008R2 ISO to this folder)
    2. C:\temp\drivers (Add all driver folders in this folder… steps 2-6 below)
    3. C:\temp\wim (Is a temp folder for the WIM file)

       
  2. Extract USB3 driver files to C:\temp\drivers

     
C:\temp\drivers

Download and install Deployment Tools form the ADK 8.1 installer. (Required for oscdimg.exe tool in either process outlined below)

Use a CMD prompt with Administrator privileges Commands or Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment Command Prompt (Any Windows operating system with ADK 8.1) to integrate drivers using following processes:

Administrator: Command Prompt Commands: List Index Files:
 
CD \temp
Dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:C:\temp\WindowsISO\sources\boot.wim
Administrator: Command Prompt


List Index Files:
Dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:C:\temp\WindowsISO\sources\Install.wim
Administrator: Command Prompt


Mount index 1 of wim file:
Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\temp\WindowsISO\sources\boot.wim /Index:1 /MountDir:C:\temp\Wim
Administrator: Command Prompt Commands


Inject drivers into mounted wim
Dism /Image:C:\temp\wim /Add-Driver /Driver:C:\temp\drivers /Recurse
Administrator: Command Prompt
 

Unmount index of wim file and commit changes.
Dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\wim /Commit
Administrator: Command Prompt

 
NOTE: Repeat the above steps for both indexes of boot.wim and any install.wim indexes for the wanted installation media.

Mount index 2 of wim file:

Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\temp\WindowsISO\sources\boot.wim /Index:2 /MountDir:C:\temp\Wim
Administrator: Command Prompt


Inject drivers into mounted wim
Dism /Image:C:\temp\wim /Add-Driver /Driver:C:\temp\drivers /Recurse
Administrator: Command Prompt


Unmount index of wim file and commit changes:
Dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\wim /Commit
Administrator: Command Prompt


Mount the index of wim file according to the operating system edition that you want to install.
For this example, we used Index 3 for Windows Server 2008 R2.
Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\temp\WindowsISO\sources\Install.wim /Index:3 /MountDir:C:\temp\Wim
Administrator: Command Prompt


Inject drivers into mounted wim
Dism /Image:C:\temp\wim /Add-Driver /Driver:C:\temp\drivers /Recurse
Administrator: Command Prompt


Unmount index of wim file and commit changes.
Dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\wim /Commit
Administrator: Command Prompt
 

Create new ISO image with modified files
CD 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.1\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Deployment Tools\amd64\Oscdimg
Administrator: Command Prompt


Creates a new ISO image with modified files:
oscdimg -n -m -bc:\temp\WindowsISO\boot\etfsboot.com C:\temp\WindowsISO C:\temp\WindowsISO\Mynew_Windows_Server2008_Ent_USB3.0.iso
Administrator: Command Prompt
 
Finally we have created the new Windows ISO image with USB 3.0 drivers injected, which can now be used to install Windows Server 2008 R2 with USB3.0 is enabled in Bios.


File Explorler

Cause

Not Applicable

Resolution

Not Applicable

Affected Products

PowerEdge R230, PowerEdge R330, PowerEdge T130, PowerEdge T330
Article Properties
Article Number: 000178472
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 15 Mar 2024
Version:  7
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