Computer Models not detected when importing drivers

Usage and Config OSD
1

Hello all,

I’ve been attempting to import vendor-specific drivers for various Dell laptops in our enterprise and BigFix hasn’t been able to identify a model at all. The driver packs come directly from Dell support. Has anyone else experienced this behavior? Interestingly enough, imported VMWare drivers get correctly identified as “VMware Virtual Platform.” Maybe an issue with Dell drivers in general? Been banging my head against the keyboard for awhile trying to figure this out. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

JV

2

Hi JV

drivers in a driver package contain the name of the device manufacturer and it may not necessarily be the system vendor.

The following wiki page explains how to bind drivers to a specific model at import time.
Using the Model Binding Feature
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/wikis/home?lang=en#!/wiki/Tivoli%20Endpoint%20Manager/page/Using%20the%20Model%20Binding%20Feature

Hope this helps,
Viviana

3

Thanks for the reply Viviana. I think the main issue is the imported drivers don’t correspond to any model, so I don’t have the ability to use the model-binding feature. I assumed BigFix would recognize the machine model automatically from the inf files but I guess that is not the case. Not a huge deal - the benefit here is mostly for organization and modest performance improvements.

Kind regards,

JV

4

In the Driver Library the computer model drop down menu is the list of known models. These models are in the OS Deployment inventory after either a deployment (even if it fails) or a pxe boot. So you are right that this process is not automatic: to match drivers to a model you need that the model is in the OSD inventory. As explained above, you need any deployments against that hardware model or a pxe boot (having installed the Management Extender component in the Bare Metal Server).
You can find more details in the link I reported and in the official documentation. Let me know if you need more information.

5

Hi Viviana,

That makes a lot more sense now. I will perform a PXE boot and go from there. Thanks so much for your help!