Group Policy loading

From: Christopher Hill (minkus_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 03/19/04


Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 05:41:42 -0800

Glad to help. Did you give the DisableDHCPMediaSense key a
try? I worked out that the reason why this fixes the
problem is that the builtin *wired* NIC takes ages to boot
up when this key is enabled and the wired NIC isn't
connected in to the network. If you disable the wired NIC
the DisableDHCPMediaSense key doesn't help. It's a good
fix for the mean time though.

Which all backs up my hypothesis (and the one from the
wireless newsgroup) that Group Policy is just timing out.

Regarding the support incident, I'm just trying to
persuade them to give me a free support incident. I used
one of my two free XP incidents to raise the issue, but
the guy responded and said that the problem was with
Windows Server 2003 instead of XP. I know that the bug is
in XP, not 2K3, but he is just an XP standalone support
guy. The 2K3 team is probably better placed to fix the
problem. So I'm asking him to provide me with a free
incident for 2K3... I'll let you know how I get on. Don't
really want to splash out £80 on a paid support incident...

Chris

>-----Original Message-----
>Thank you for this information Christopher. I have been
>on the phone with Dell over 5 or 6 hours and talked to
>four Technicians' and none of them knew what the problem
>was and how to fix it.
>
>I too have tried adjusting the ExpectedDialupDelay
>setting is the local GPO of the system that I have been
>experimenting with the find a solution. I have also
>changed the "Software Installation policy processing"
>(because we are installing our Antivirus software by
>assigning the package to the domain computers) and
>the "Group Policy slow link detection" GPO's and they
>also do not seem to help.
>
>If you get any more information on this or a possible fix
>from Microsoft could you please let me know.
>
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>I have also experinced this problem with almost exactly
>>the same setup. Here is a copy of a support incident
>that
>>I have just set up with Microsoft. There is a fix you
>can
>>put in in the mean time. (NB You might find a copy of
>this
>>message on an Internet forum saying that I think it's
>the
>>Dell drivers. I posted that yesterday but after research
>>it seems to be a problem with XP, not the Dell drivers):
>>
>>My support incident to Microsoft starts here:
>>
>>I am experiencing a problem with a Dell OptiPlex SX270
>and
>>a Dell TrueMobile 1180 USB 802.11b wireless card,
>>connecting to a Buffalo WLA-G54 Wireless Access Point. I
>>have installed the latest wireless rollup (826942) and
>the
>>latest Dell and Buffalo firmware and drivers but to no
>>avail. This is a clean RIS install of Windows XP SP1
>with
>>all the latest hotfixes using the Microsoft Wireless
>Zero
>>Configuration service, so there's no dodgy software or
>>settings. I am also using the SyncForegroundPolicy
>>('Always wait for the network at computer startup and
>>logon') option to make Windows XP wait for the network
>to
>>start up before attempting to apply Group Policy.
>>
>>I have also tried using another manufacturer's drivers
>>(SiteCom's WL-012 driver) by editing the PCIID in
>the .inf
>>file to match that of the Dell TrueMobile card. These
>>SiteCom drivers are a lot more up to date and work fine
>on
>>the Dell card for normal network operations but still
>have
>>the problem described below. This makes me think that
>the
>>problem is not with the drivers but with Windows XP
>itself.
>>
>>The problem is that Group Policy objects are not
>applying
>>to the system when the system is booted with only the
>>wireless card connected. The Application Event Log
>>contains the following error:
>>
>>Event Type: Error
>>Event Source: Userenv
>>Event Category: None
>>Event ID: 1054
>>Date: 17/03/2004
>>Time: 11:09:17
>>User: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
>>Computer: CON01
>>Description:
>>Windows cannot obtain the domain controller name for
>your
>>computer network. (The specified domain either does not
>>exist or could not be contacted. ). Group Policy
>>processing aborted.
>>
>>For more information, see Help and Support Center at
>>http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
>>
>>And the System Event Log contains the following error:
>>
>>Event Type: Error
>>Event Source: NETLOGON
>>Event Category: None
>>Event ID: 5719
>>Date: 17/03/2004
>>Time: 11:09:17
>>User: N/A
>>Computer: CON01
>>Description:
>>No Domain Controller is available for domain CRGS due to
>>the following:
>>There are currently no logon servers available to
>service
>>the logon request. .
>>Make sure that the computer is connected to the network
>>and try again. If the problem persists, please contact
>>your domain administrator.
>>
>>For more information, see Help and Support Center at
>>http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
>>Data:
>>0000: 5e 00 00 c0 ^..À
>>
>>Once the system has fully booted up, however, any user
>is
>>able to log on to the network and use the network
>>resources without problems.
>>
>>If I boot up with the wired connection the GPO *does*
>>apply properly and everything works as it should.
>>
>>It seems that Windows XP does not wait long enough for
>the
>>wireless card to initialize, negotiate a speed and set
>up
>>WEP before attempting to apply Group Policy. But the
>>wireless card setup does finish in time for the Ctrl-Alt-
>>Del logon screen so users are still able to log on
>without
>>problems. The wired connection does not have this
>problem
>>because it does not take so long to start up.
>>
>>There is one 'easy' method of fixing the problem, but it
>>has a side effect. If I follow the instructions at MSKB
>>article 239924 to enable the DisableDHCPMediaSense key
>>it'll fix the problem but the side effect is that the
>>computer takes a *long* time on the 'Preparing network
>>connections' section of starting up Windows XP, which is
>>not acceptable. My theory is that this doesn't fix the
>>problem but just makes the computer wait so long to
>>prepare the network connections that the wireless card
>is
>>able to fully initialize before Group Policy starts.
>>
>>I think it is to do with XP itself rather than the Dell
>>drivers. I had this problem when we first started using
>>Buffalo WLA-CB-G54 PCMCIA wireless cards in our laptops
>>here, but the problem seems to have largely cured
>itself.
>>I did update the Buffalo drivers, which seems to have
>>helped, but sometimes the problem still occurs even on
>the
>>Buffalo cards. However it is intermittent, whereas the
>>Dell cards do it 99% of the time. Maybe the newer
>Buffalo
>>drivers are faster than the older Buffalo drivers and
>the
>>Dell drivers at connecting to the wireless network, so
>>they do not show this problem?
>>
>>The problem may also manifest itself when the computer
>has
>>bad wireless coverage - as when the coverage is poor XP
>>doesn't wait long enough for the card to negotiate down
>to
>>the lower speed so that packets can get through.
>>
>>It may also have something to do with the fact that I
>use
>>a Buffalo WLA-G54 802.11g wireless access point and the
>>TrueMobile 1180 USB is an 802.11b card. Maybe it takes
>>that little bit longer to negotiate the lower speed? In
>>any case, either the TrueMobile drivers or XP itself
>>shouldn't be giving the 'all clear' to start the GPO
>>application until the network negotiation is successful.
>>
>>It may also be related to how 'loaded up' the computer
>is
>>(a race condition). Most of the laptops that have
>Buffalo
>>cards also have Visual Studio .NET 2003 installed and a
>>whole load of other stuff: they never have this problem.
>>Other laptops with Buffalo cards that don't have so much
>>software installed sometimes have this problem. The Dell
>>computers with the TrueMobile 1180 have similar amounts
>>of 'stuff' as these laptops but always have the problem.
>>Of course, all of the computers have different processor
>>speeds. This makes me think it might be a combination of
>>the USB drivers taking longer to start up properly and
>an
>>XP race condition.
>>
>>One other interesting registry key that I would *expect*
>>to fix the problem is the one documented in these MSKB
>>articles:
>>
>>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-
>>us;202840
>>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-
>>us;163204
>>
>>The ExpectedDialupDelay key is supposed to make Windows
>>wait longer before trying to contact the domain
>>controller, which is exactly what we need it to do.
>>However, this key seems to have no effect on the Group
>>Policy applicator for Windows XP, and in fact XP isn't
>>listed under the 'The information in this article
>applies
>>to' section of the articles. Has the key been removed or
>>moved under XP, or does it simply not apply to the Group
>>Policy applicator at startup time?
>>
>>The best fix would be to put a wait condition so that
>the
>>computer checks that all wireless cards (and indeed
>other
>>network cards) and the Wireless Zero Configuration
>Service
>>(or other client software) have had a chance to fully
>>initialize before Group Policy starts. Alternatively,
>the
>>Group Policy applicator could be configured to use the
>>ExpectedDialupDelay registry entry or another, new
>>registry entry, to wait for a certain number of seconds
>>before attempting to connect to the network. If a new
>>registry key is created, it would be extremely helpful
>if
>>it was possible to set this key inside Group Policy just
>>as you can with ExpectedDialupDelay, but I do not see
>why
>>ExpectedDialupDelay could not be used for both purposes.
>>
>>Thank you very much for your attention. Please contact
>me
>>if you are unsure about any of the above.
>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>Hello everyone,
>>>
>>>Here is the problem that I am having. I have a system
>>>that I am working on now that is a Dell OptiPlex SX270
>>>computer running Windows XP Pro. The system has a
>built
>>>in Intel Gig NIC, I have also connected a Dell
>TrueMobile
>>>1180 USB Wireless Network Adapter which connects via
>>>USB. The issue that I have is that GPO's assigned to
>the
>>>computer are not loading if the system is using the
>>>wireless adapter only. If the system is connected via
>>>the Ethernet cable then the computer GPO's process. We
>>>currently install and update our antivirus software
>using
>>>the Software Installation option on the computer
>>>configuration section to assign the software to the
>>>computers in the domain.
>>>
>>>If the computer only has the USB NIC and no wired
>network
>>>connecter the following errors are in the event log.
>>>
>>>System
>>>Netlogon Event ID: 5719
>>>No Domain Controller is available for domain due to the
>>>following:
>>>There are currently no logon servers available to
>service
>>>the logon request...
>>>
>>>Application
>>>Userenv Event ID: 1054
>>>Windows cannot obtain the domain controller name for
>your
>>>computer network. (The specified domain either does
>not
>>>exist or could not be contacted.) Group Policy
>>>processing aborted.
>>>
>>>If the system has the wired Ethernet connection then I
>do
>>>not get these error messages in the event log during
>>>startup and the GPO's process and the software
>installs.
>>>I have had no problems with logging into the domain
>with
>>>a domain user account with the computer on wireless
>only.
>>>
>>>Is there a problem with using USB NIC's and computer
>>>GPO's? Is the USB port and USB network adapter not
>>>getting initialized in time for the GPO's get loaded?
>>>I don't know what the timeline is for drives to get
>>>loaded and Active Directory processing.
>>>
>>>So far I have checked another system that we have just
>>>like this one and it is having the same problems.
>>>However it appears that we have not had this problem
>with
>>>desktops using PIC wireless NIC's and laptops that use
>>>mini PCI or PCMICA wireless NIC's.
>>>
>>>Thanks for anyone's help.
>>>Brent
>>>
>>>.
>>>
>>.
>>
>.
>



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