WDS 2008 R2 DHCP Error

Im having a problem where I get the error 'An error occurred while obtaining an IP address from the DHCP server. Please check to ensure that there is an operational DHCP server on this network segment' when booting from a standard WDS boot.wim image taken from a Windows 7 DVD.

I am using Server 2008 R2 and am adding the drivers to the boot using WDS, but also have the problem if the drivers are injected beforehand using DISM.

When the error occurs I can shift + F10 and IPCONFIG and see it HAS picked up an internal IP from DHCP. Seems maybe it is timing out before it gets the IP? DHCP server is not on the WDS box but is in the same subnet.

As per some fixes I have read I enabled RSTP on my switches but that didnt help.

I have included the end of setupact.log to see if any of you have any ideas. Seems to be failing but as I say, the network IS initialized as I can see the internal IP assigned by DHCP when running IPCONFIG.

I dont suppose theres any way of increasing the timeout?

Thanks.

2011-04-11 17:26:31, Info       [0x0b0022] WDS    StartNetworking: Trying to start networking.
2011-04-11 17:26:31, Info                  WDS    Network service dhcp not running or could not be queried: 264d00 1 1
2011-04-11 17:26:31, Info                  WDS    Network service lmhosts not running or could not be queried: 264e18 1 1
2011-04-11 17:26:31, Info                  WDS    Network service lanmanworkstation not running or could not be queried: 264d00 1 1
2011-04-11 17:26:31, Info                  WDS    Network service bfe not running or could not be queried: 264e18 1 1
2011-04-11 17:26:31, Info                  WDS    Network service ikeext not running or could not be queried: 264d00 1 1
2011-04-11 17:26:31, Info                  WDS    Network service mpssvc not running or could not be queried: 264e18 1 1
2011-04-11 17:27:24, Info                  WDS    Installing device pci\ven_14e4&dev_1691&subsys_04aa1028 X:\WINDOWS\INF\oem37.inf succeeded
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    No computer name specified, generating a random name.
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Renaming computer to MININT-VN2P876.
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Acquired profiling mutex
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Service winmgmt disable: 0x00000000
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Service winmgmt stop: 0x00000000
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Service winmgmt enable: 0x00000000
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Released profiling mutex
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Acquired profiling mutex
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Install MS_MSCLIENT: 0x0004a020
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Install MS_NETBIOS: 0x0004a020
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Install MS_SMB: 0x0004a020
2011-04-11 17:27:25, Info                  WDS    Install MS_TCPIP6: 0x0004a020
2011-04-11 17:27:26, Info                  WDS    Install MS_TCPIP: 0x0004a020
2011-04-11 17:27:26, Info                  WDS    Service dhcp start: 0x00000000
2011-04-11 17:27:26, Info                  WDS    Service lmhosts start: 0x00000000
2011-04-11 17:27:26, Info                  WDS    Service ikeext start: 0x00000000
2011-04-11 17:27:26, Info                  WDS    Service mpssvc start: 0x00000000
2011-04-11 17:27:26, Info                  WDS    Released profiling mutex
2011-04-11 17:27:26, Info                  WDS    Spent 967ms installing network components
2011-04-11 17:27:28, Info                  WDS    Spent 2247ms installing network drivers
2011-04-11 17:27:38, Info                  WDS    QueryAdapterStatus: no operational adapters found.
2011-04-11 17:27:38, Info                  WDS    Spent 10140ms confirming network initialization; status 0x80004005
2011-04-11 17:27:38, Info                  WDS    WaitForNetworkToInitialize failed; ignoring error
2011-04-11 17:27:38, Info                  WDS    GetNetworkingInfo: WpeNetworkStatus returned [0x0]. Flags set:   
2011-04-11 17:27:38, Error      [0x0b003f] WDS    StartNetworking: Failed to start networking. Error code [0x800704C6].[gle=0x000000cb]
2011-04-11 17:27:38, Info       [0x0640ae] IBSLIB PublishMessage: Publishing message [WdsClient: An error occurred while obtaining an IP address from the DHCP server. Please check to ensure that there is an operational DHCP server on this network segment.]

Not a perfect answer but may help others out there.

1. Mounted index 2 of the boot.wim file.

2. Renamed setup.exe to setupx.exe in the root of the image.

3. Edited \windows\system32\startnet.cmd in the mounted image

@echo off

@echo Loading WinPE...
wpeinit

@echo Starting networking...
:testagain
ping -n 1 SERVERNAME > NUL
if %errorlevel% == 0 goto pingok
REM wait 3 sec. and try it again
ping -n 3 127.0.0.1 >nul
goto testagain
:pingok

@echo Running Setup...
x:\setupx.exe /wds /wdsdiscover /wdsserver:SERVERNAME

4. Saved and unmounted index 2 and added to WDS.

In my opinion, this is a hack and should not be required. There must be a reason that networking is taking so long to initalize but this will do for now.

Id be interested to hear if anybody else has a more elegant solution.