20H2 and and OOB optional March 18 printer problem update

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I am Win10/Pro.  I have just moved from version 1909 to 20H2 by changing TRV to 20H2.   In Installed Updates, it says that 20H2 CU 2021-03 KB5000802  (build 19042.867) was installed.  I have checked the bulletin on this March CU and it says KB4598481 is the required SSU.  I also need to install the ‘resolving-the-printer-problem’, optional 20H2 March 18 OOB KB5001649, which also requires SSU KB4598481.  But,  Installed Updates says that the SSU is 10.0.19041.860.  So, is the required SSU for this OOB update already installed?

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[WCHS]

I should add here that Susan’s Master Patch List for 20H2 says that the SSU KB5000858 is required for CU KB5000802, but the MS Catalog brings up nothing on this KB file.  In contrast, the bulletin for KB5000802 says the SSU is KB4598481.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by WCHS.

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For v2004 and v20H2, I believe the SSU is now included in the CU. It is no longer separate.

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PKCano wrote:

For v2004 and v20H2, I believe the SSU is now included in the CU. It is no longer separate

Then why does the Master Patch list for March 20H2 have separate entries for the CU (5000802, which is superseded by 5001649) and the SSU (5000858)?

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MS Documentation for KB5000802 says:

Before installing this update

Prerequisite:

Microsoft now combines the latest servicing stack update (SSU) for your operating system with the latest cumulative update (LCU). If you encounter the error, 0x800f0823 – CBS_E_NEW_SERVICING_STACK_REQUIRED, close the error message and install the last standalone SSU (KB4598481) before installing this LCU. You will not need to install this SSU (KB4598481) again for future updates.

Also read about the Servicing Stack here:

For general information about SSUs, see Servicing stack updates and Servicing Stack Updates (SSU): Frequently Asked Questions.

In addition, it says:

If you want to remove the LCU

To remove the LCU after installing the combined SSU and LCU package, use the DISM/Remove-Package command line option with the LCU package name as the argument. You can find the package name by using this command: DISM /online /get-packages.

Running Windows Update Standalone Installer (wusa.exe) with the /uninstall switch on the combined package will not work because the combined package contains the SSU. You cannot remove the SSU from the system after installation.

Also read about the Servicing Stack here:

With the Windows Update experience, servicing stack updates and cumulative updates are deployed together to the device. The update stack automatically orchestrates the installation, so both are applied correctly. Starting in February 2021, the cumulative update will include the latest servicing stack updates, to provide a single cumulative update payload to both Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and Microsoft Catalog. If you use an endpoint management tool backed by WSUS, such as Configuration Manager, you will only have to select and deploy the monthly cumulative update. The latest servicing stack updates will automatically be applied correctly. Release notes and file information for cumulative updates, including those related to the servicing stack, will be in a single KB article. The combined monthly cumulative update will be available on Windows 10, version 2004 and later starting with the 2021 2C release, KB4601382.

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Yes, I’ve noticed that.  The February 9 bulletin (for 20H2, but not for 1909) reads differently, i.e., it doesn’t say anything about a combined SSU-CU package.

Before installing this update

Microsoft strongly recommends you install the latest servicing stack update (SSU) for your operating system before installing the latest cumulative update (LCU). SSUs improve the reliability of the update process to mitigate potential issues while installing the LCU and applying Microsoft security fixes. For general information about SSUs, see Servicing stack updates and Servicing Stack Updates (SSU): Frequently Asked Questions.

If you are using Windows Update, the latest SSU (KB4598481) will be offered to you automatically. To get the standalone package for the latest SSU, search for it in the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Before March (in 1909), I would see the Tuesday Patch CU in History and I would see the Tuesday Patch SSU separately in Installed Updates. Now in April, in 20H2, I don’t see any CU in History at all. Instead, I see both the SSU and the CU in Installed Updates. And the SSU in Installed Updates has a number that matches the build number instead of a KB number. But, I’ve just installed 20H2, so I don’t know if that is going to be the pattern going forward, now that the SSU and the CU are combined in one package.

My main question is this, now that 20H2 uses a combined SSU-CU package:
Since I need to manually install the March OOB 20H2 CU that solves the printer problem (i.e., KB5001649) and the SSU for that is the same one that is in the combined SSU-CU package, can I assume that SSU for it was already installed when the Patch Tuesday March CU KB5000802 was installed and so I can just manually install the OOB CU and be done with it? Or do I need to install the standalone KB4598481 first before installing OOB 20H2 CU KB5001649?

I ask this because although OOB 20H2 CU KB50001649 is optional, it is not appearing in the Optional section of the WU display. I do see one 20H2 optional update, the Preview KB 500000842, which is a preview of the April CU, which I will wait for and install when MS DEFCON is 3+ for the April patches, which will be later in April. In the meantime, I need to install the optional OOB 20H2 CU KB50001649 to resolve any printer problems and I need to do it manually since WU is not offering it. And I will need to be sure I have the SSU for it first.

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I should add that just before I moved to 20H2, I let WU install 1909 KB5000808 so that its companion SSU KB5000908 would get installed as well — all so that I could install the superseding KB5001648 to resolve the printer problem and wouldn’t need to manually install the SSU for it, because WU had already installed it when it installed KB5000808.

So, doing this in 1909 resolved the printer problem. I am assuming that although it’s resolved in 1909, it needs to be re-resolved in 20H2. Or did doing it in 1909 resolve the printer problem going forward into 20H2?

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If you’re on build 19042.870 or later, your printing issues should not exist.

HOWEVER, I am on build 19042.867 and have never had printing issues whatsoever! HP OfficeJet 6600 dating back to 2010!!

So, I believe it’s entirely possible that you may have never had printing issues to begin with, because by MS’s own admission, the printers affected were a “subset of Class 3 printer drivers”. In other words, I believe that the affected printers were a small set of those drivers that were/are class 3, not the entire set of class 3 drivers.

BUT, it does pay to be a little proactive, especially in the case of dealing with Microsoft. So, if you installed the latest revised monthly patch for 1909, that should have carried forward into 20H2, thereby taking care of any potential issues you may have otherwise experienced.  🙂

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Yes, I don’t really know whether my printer might have had a problem with that CU or even the CU that was supposed to fix the problem but didn’t. While in 1909 (less than a day ago), I decided that I would be proactive and “take the medication even though I had no idea whether I had been exposed.”

Are you sure that having taken the medication in 1909 is going to still be working to quash the problem in 20H2, without installing the corresponding 20H2 updates?

I have had a different response about the 1909 and 20H2 Feb CUs for .NET. See #2356329 The answer there seems to imply that the 1909 CU works for 1909 and the 20H2 CU works for 20H2; in other words, even though the 1909 medication and the 20H2 medication are designed to treat the same problem, the 1909 works for 1909, but it doesn’t work for 20H2 because 20H2 is a different animal.

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…even though the 1909 medication and the 20H2 medication are designed to treat the same problem, the 1909 works for 1909, but it doesn’t work for 20H2 because 20H2 is a different animal.

That’s my gut feeling as well. Even though you were fully patched at the 1909 level, the upgrade process ensures that you were fully patched for the 20H2 level as well, which includes 5001649, so it probably applied 5001649 as part of your upgrade process. You won’t see any evidence of it in the list of installed updates, you’ll only see the upgrade from 1909 to 20H2.

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What I meant by “20H2 is a different animal” is that I surmise that I need to manually install KB5001649 for 20H2, even though KB5001648 was installed for 1909.

I say “manually”, because it is an optional update and WU is not offering it in the Optional update Section of the WU display

Do others want to weigh in here??

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WCHS wrote:

can I assume that SSU for it was already installed when the Patch Tuesday March CU KB5000802 was installed and so I can just manually install the OOB CU and be done with it?

I tried it out and that is a correct assumption: The necessary SSU was already installed with 20H2 KB5000802, and so the later OOB CU manually installed without a problem.

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