Symantec GhostCast Problem

Hi all,

OK, don't laugh... I have a pretty simple way of deploying new PCs and this method is older than dirt. But it's free, effective, and suits me just fine. Until now...

I have a standalone PC running Windows XP SP3. On it, I have GhostCast Server version 8.2.0.1117. I have used this product for many years without issue...

Now, over the last year I've built many a PC and dumped images on to this box. The method in which I both create & restore images is simple. I have a bootable Ghost flash drive. I plug it into the client machine (via crossover cable), boot from it, and use "Multicast" to connect via IP address to the GhostCast "Server ".

I have about 130GB worth of images on the "server ".

The last time I used this method was a few months ago. I had 20 PCs to build. I built one manually then ghosted it. I then dumped that image on the remaining 19. No problem.

Earlier this week, I had to build two more of these same PCs. It is no longer working! Booting the client works fine. Starting the transfer works fine. But at 2-3%, it fails and just stops with a general error on the server that says something to the effect of, "An error occurred Ghostcast transmission. If the error persists, blah, blah, blah... "

Now, here is the result of logging errors on the server during the session in question:

Huh? The USB boot drive is configured statically with 172.16.10.35. The "server" is 172.16.10.34, and I tell GhostCast that after selecting Multicast.

Like I said, this is all statically set with nothing but a simple crossover cable between the two machines. And the transfer DOES start and DOES run until it hits 2-3% progress...

So if there was a communication error, wouldn't it just not start at all?

This has always worked fine, and I can't for the life of me figure out why it's failing all of a sudden.

By the way, I've also tried restoring images to other test PCs (totally different brands, totally different images) during this time. I wanted to see if it was a problem with the image itself or something bigger.

I can restore NO images at all... Same issues each time. I have not tried creating a new image during all this.

I'd appreciate any help as this saves me TONS of time, and without it, I'm in a world of hurt...

THANKS!

Chris

 

Anyone, please?

 

Thanks, I'll give them a try. In the meantime, if anyone stumbles on this and has an idea, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!