Cannot write ZISD (ZENworks Image Safe Data)

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Environment

Novell ZENworks 10 Configuration Management

Novell ZENworks Desktop Management 7 - ZDM7 Imaging

Novell ZENworks Desktop Management 6.5 - ZDM6.5

Situation

Cannot write updates to Image-Safe Data area. with a new disk, or one that has has data-shredding software run upon it.

"Save" option is not available (it appears all in blue) when running zisedit at the bash prompt.

Data appears to be written when exiting zisedit in Windows, but it is not saved.

Resolution

If the data in sectors 6-63 is not required, then to clear the space,at the bash prompt issue the following command:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 seek=5 count=58

N.B. for SCSI or SATA, use:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 seek=5 count=58

Be very careful to get the syntax correct when issuing "dd" commands on disks that contain data, as using the wrong parameter may erase all of your data.

Once space has been"cleared", when the machine is next booted, ZISWIN will be able to write the Image-Safe Data.

Additional Information

Some manufacturers leave a data pattern on new disks, alsodisk shredding software can be used to blank out a hard disk by leaving random data: in these circumstances, the ZENworks Imaging Agent is unable to find space to store the ZENworks Image-Safe Data (ZISD). ZISD can be stored between disk sector 6 and 63, and may take more then one sector. The commands shown in this TID will write binary zeroes to all sectors between 6 and 63 - be sure that you do not need the data that's currently stored in this area.

To view the current contents of space eligible for use as ZISD, issue the command

dd if=/dev/hda bs=512 count=63|hexdump -Cv|less

(SCSI and SATA disks will use /dev/sda) and the contents of the first 63 sectors will be displayed, alongside an ASCII representation. Press space to move forward one screenful, "b" to move back, and "q" to quit.

Sector 6 starts at 00000a00.

NOTE: As of ZENworks 7 SP1, ZISWIN is no longer tied to sector 6. Rather it is now the first available sector. This was done in ZENworks 7 SP1 to address issues with GRUB co-existence.

+ Migrating a Traditional ZEN 10 LP

Document

Document ID:	3414734
Creation Date:	02-27-2008
Modified Date:	10-30-2009
Novell Product:	ZENworks Desktop Management

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