A couple of install issues on SCCM

[guest]

1) I have one client that is not showing in the console, but has the client installed and fully funcational. I've narrowed it down to the following entry in the ClientIDManagerStartup.log file:

RegTask: Client is not registered. Sending registration request... ClientIDManagerStartup 11/29/2007 10:06:24 AM 2120 (0x0848)
RegTask: Server rejected registration request: 3 ClientIDManagerStartup 11/29/2007 10:06:24 AM 2120 (0x0848)

For some reason the server is rejecting this client's hardware ID.

2) Software Inventory is working sporatically, at best, for my XP clients. The server clients are all working fine. Hardware Inventory is working fine on all clients. The InventoryAgent.log file shows a successful inventory scan and submission to the MP. The client's MP is correct in the ClientLocation.log file. I do have a couple (8 out of 100) XP machines reporting back Software Inventory correctly. I'm puzzled on this one.

Please let me know if you need any additional info.

[guest]

I wonder if that means the system was a cloned system, and is providing the same information as anothe system that has already been registered. Is that possible in your scenario?



As to the software inventory scenario, if the client has successfully created the software inventory report, then check the Ccmexec.log to see if there were any errors generated for sending it to the MP. If not then check the MP for errors in the MP_Sinv log. If that is fine, then check the site server's sinvproc.log.

[guest]

In this environment, that is definetly a possibility. I'll try running sysprep on it and reinstall the client.

I am seeing the following messages in the sinproc.log file:

WARNING: Exception Detected: Unspecified error~~ !! SMS_SOFTWARE_INVENTORY_PROCESSOR 11/28/2007 3:02:11 PM 6068 (0x17B4)
Moved file C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\auth\sinv.box\IM7QW3RR.SIC to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\inboxes\sinv.box\BADSinv\s4w7hmba.SIC in BADSINV Directory !!!

The ccmexec.log looks clean.

I am seeing the following messages in the mp_sinv.log file:

Full report from client <clientname>, action description = Software MP_SinvEndpoint 11/28/2007 1:22:11 PM 6288 (0x1890)
MpConvert: unmappable characters using code page 3 in a string "???" MP_SinvEndpoint 11/28/2007 1:22:11 PM 6288 (0x1890)
MpConvert: unmappable characters using code page 3 in a string "???????? 2002a" MP_SinvEndpoint 11/28/2007 1:22:11 PM 6288 (0x1890)
MpConvert: unmappable characters using code page 3 in a string "?????????" MP_SinvEndpoint 11/28/2007 1:22:11 PM 6288 (0x1890)
MpConvert: unmappable characters using code page 3 in a string "???????? 98b ????" MP_SinvEndpoint 11/28/2007 1:22:11 PM 6288 (0x1890)
MpConvert: unmappable characters using code page 3 in a string "???????" MP_SinvEndpoint 11/28/2007 1:22:11 PM 6288 (0x1890)
MpConvert: unmappable characters using code page 3 in a string "??????? 3.0 ????" MP_SinvEndpoint 11/28/2007 1:22:11 PM 6288 (0x1890)

[guest]

Then it looks like there is some issue with those couple of clients in the data they are reporting. If some are working fine, and a few are not, then you'd now have to look at those few exceptions to see how they are configured differently.



I'm not big in localized versions of software, but with the error stating "code page 3" that to me implies different language issues.

[guest]

Ran this by someone who knows a lot more about this topic, here is what he said:





There may be more detail in the forum post, but questions I would want to start with:

- Does a given client ever have inventory process or is it consistently rejected? In other words, is there any corrective action take to get inventory processing?

- Were the clients upgraded from SMS 2003 or installed clean?

- In most failure cases I would expect the sinvproc log to show the failing syntax. If not, enable SQL Tracing on the site server and trace a few more failures.

- Separately capture the outbound data before it leaves the client by creating the archive_reports.sms file under \inventory\temp (I’m assuming this still works in v4). That will allow review of the raw XML data too for comparison to what the server, with SQL tracing enabled, is processing.

- Are they scanning the inbound XML files on the MP, or the inboxes directory on the site server with antivirus software?

- Any content filtering type software sitting between the client and MP/Site Server that could alter files coming over port 80? These last 2 questions looking for something that might be modifying the data after it leaves the client, but before sinvproc gets it.

[guest]

I know that the issue was related to Symantec Ghost leaving files behind during the imaging process that caused Software Inventory to fail. I'm not sure about all of the details since I am no longer at that client's site and it looks like they never updated this thread. I believe Microsoft has a case open with Symantec in regards to the issue.

[guest]

Yes, shortly after posting this I found the msdn blog entry discribing this. The problem is the ~0000.exe file that is created by Symantec Ghost in Docs & Sets\All Users\Application data\Symantec\ghost\. Viewing the properties for this files shows that it is dated for the year '1601'. Removing or excluding this file fixes the problems.



Two things to note (in case anyone stumbles across this):

- A FULL software inventory scan must run on the affected machine(s) once this file is removed/excluded

- SKPSWI.DAT must be *hidden* for SCCM to exclude the contents of the directory it resides in.