On Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, boot rollover may not occur booting from EFI based PXE client using wdsmgfw.efi from Windows Server 2008 R2

When booting from a Windows Server 2008 R2 WDS server from a EFI based PXE client using wdsmgfw.efi, and the user F12 (Press <ENTER>)  prompt times out without user interaction, wdsmgfw.efi returns and NT_STATUS instead of a EFI_STATUS Cancelled, which results in the firmware not rolling to the next boot option.

This is because wdsmgfw.efi for Windows Server 2008 R2 does returns an NT_STATUS of STATUS_CANCELLED instead of the EFI_STATUS equivalent when the F12 (Press <ENTER>) prompt times out without user interaction 

This is a known issue.

Any EFI based PXE clients (Servers) that boot from Windows Server 2008 R2 that use wdsmgfw.efi from Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2 may be affected by this issue.

Wdsmgfw.efi A special NBP developed for use by Windows Deployment Services that serves the following general purposes:

1. Handles prompting the user to press a key to continue PXE boot
2. Pending devices scenarios
3. Network boot referral cases (including use of DHCP options 66 and 67)

Applies to Platform: x64 EFI and IA64 EFI

Steps to reproduce on an IA64 EFI based platform.

1. Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Deployment Services installed and configured
2. Windows Server 2008 R2 Itanium Edition boot and install images added to the image store.
3. Pre-stage a Windows PXE boot client in AD.
4. In the Windows Deployment Services Server properties configuration applet’s “Boot” tab, ensure the PXE Boot Policy for known clients is configured with a radio check button for the option, “Require the user to press the F12 key to continue the PXE boot”.
5. Power on the HP Integrity client configured in #3 above and boot to EFI.
6.  In the EFI shell, type “Autoboot” and hit return. Verify the “Autoboot” is set to ON, the timeout is set to 7 seconds, and number of retries is set to 0. For help configuring these options, type “help autoboot” from the EFI shell.
7. Once the autoboot settings are properly set, exit the EFI shell to the EFI boot menu.
8. Whichever LAN interface is active for the IA64 client, ensure the corresponding “LAN Boot” entry appears at the top of the Boot menu. For example, “Core LAN A” or “Core LAN B”.
9. Ensure there’s another valid boot entry listed as the second boot option in the boot menu.
10. Reboot Server by issuing a "Reset" in the EFI shell.
11. Important: Do not hit the enter key when prompted. Allow the PXE boot to timeout.
12. The PXE boot timer should expire and the client should return back to the Boot menu with the top boot item being highlighted.
13. In normal operation, the client should roll to the next boot entry.

 

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