PENDING Task Sequence Keeps Failing During Reboot

[roger]

Please describe the issue in 2-3 sentences.
I have a task sequence that only runs packages and restarts the computer. Packages occasionally return exit code 3010 requesting a reboot but never reboot themselves. Last night on one system, the Task Sequence failed three times in a row during reboots, including the "restart computer to current operating system" step, giving error code 2. After each failure, I would restart the task sequence, and it would fail on the next reboot. Finally, I got all the way through to the end of the task sequence because no reboot was required.

When did it begin and how often does it occur?
This error happens occasionally but never with such frequency as last night.
The task sequence attempts ran between 5:30pm and 7:33pm on 3/5/24.

What errors do you see?
Failed to locate the local data path. The files needed to resume the task sequence are missing. This could be because the task sequence finished while in Windows PE. Please check the largest available partition for SMSTSLog\smsts.log file for more information. The system cannot find the file specified. (Error: 80070002; Source: Windows)
Task Sequence Manager could not initialize Task Sequence Environment. code 80070002
Error executing Task Sequence Manager service. Code 0x80070002

What's the environment and are there recent changes?
Client OS is Windows Server 2019; Client version 5.00.9106.1000
CM server is Windows Server 2022; CM is version 2309 as of Jan 27, 2024.

What have you tried to troubleshoot this?
Using SMSTSWaitForSecondReboot = 600 - It was in place before the attempts on Mar 5, but it didn't help.

Final thoughts:
Why would the task sequence fail on a simple "restart computer - currently installed default operating system" and give an error about not initializing TS environment?

Thanks.

 

[Stanley Road]

Why do you need restarts after each app install? Why not just at the end?
What happens if you change this "restart computer - currently installed default operating system" ?

 

[roger]

Hello. Thank you for your reply. I am installing multiple BIOS updates, so it would not do to stack multiple of those and reboot at the end.
I simply want to restart the computer to the current OS. What would you suggest I change it to?

 

[Stanley Road]

Hello. Thank you for your reply. I am installing multiple BIOS updates, so it would not do to stack multiple of those and reboot at the end.
I simply want to restart the computer to the current OS. What would you suggest I change it to?

1st of all very brave of you doing bios updates via TS

In your first post the error says "Unable to initiate TS env." Maybe because you've told it to reboot to full OS? Try not setting that option, everything is worth a try.

 

[roger]

1st of all very brave of you doing bios updates via TS

In your first post the error says "Unable to initiate TS env." Maybe because you've told it to reboot to full OS? Try not setting that option, everything is worth a try.

Thanks for your reply. What would you suggest instead of a TS for systems that are several BIOS revisions behind?
Again, what step(s) in the Task Sequence would you use to simply restart the computer to the installed OS?

 

[Stanley Road]

Thanks for your reply. What would you suggest instead of a TS for systems that are several BIOS revisions behind?
Again, what step(s) in the Task Sequence would you use to simply restart the computer to the installed OS?

I'm not saying you shouldn't use TS for the bios update just that if there is bad update out there, would you want it installed on many machines?

Secondly When it comes to BIOS updates, you can generally skip the intermediate versions and directly install the latest version. Do your pc models absolutely require intermidiate bios versions?

 

[roger]

Good morning. I would like to recenter on the issue. I have an intermittent problem where the task sequence is failing during a reboot, giving error code '2'. Do you have any experience/advice for this issue? Or should I contact Microsoft support?