Installing Snow Leopard on Mac Mini Server

I recently purchased a 1Tb 4Gb Mac Mini Server, running Snow Leopard Server. I want to use it as a central repository for my other macs: storing music, movies, backup, screen sharing (it's hooked up to my 32-inch TV) but I also want to be able to run Logic Pro, Ableton Live, etc. I also have a Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard Client, which contains all of my programs, plugins, data, etc. I realize that Snow Leopard Server does not have migration assistant, so I have tried to install a retail copy of Snow Leopard onto the secondary drive, but when it gets to the restart stage it crashes every time. I think this is a firmware issue, because the Mac Mini has a different hardware configuration to other macs. I do not have access to the mid-2010 Snow Leopard Client for Mac Mini which would allow me to install Client and use migration assistant from there. What I would like to know is:
1/ Can I manually migrate my plugins/settings/programs to the server? If so, how? What is most crucial (and what I don't understand) is copying my audio units and audio programs (e.g. Logic Pro, Pro Tools). Because of the firmware issue, it seems more difficult than cloning my MacBook Pro to a time machine HDD and running from there... I would really like to purely clone my MacBook Pro, because I am very happy with the way it is set up.
2/ Should I just wait for OSX Lion (July/August) which seems to be a combined server/client os, install that on both machines and run migration assistant from there?
3/ Is there another method I can use? Something I am overlooking?
Thanks in Advance.

Thanks for your reply. I talked to the Apple Support again and they told me the server edition could only be used on that OS and if I wanted to use it as something else I could chose not to use the server applications, or buy a regular Mac mini. And that was all they said. Interesting since it was one of their sales persons who told me I could install Snow Leopard.
Anyway, I got hold of a client disc and it all worked like a charm.

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Can I install Snow Leopard on Mac Mini Server hardware?

What I would like to do is buy the Mac Mini Server but I don't need the server OS. I want the desktop OS on the Mac Mini Server. Will installing Snow Leopard on the server hardware be just like installing it on a regular Mac Mini?
Or should I just wait and see how Lion shakes out?

Thanks Indy, I already had proceeded the installation according your tip. Just an objection related to the updates: I was able to install the OS updates only while in target mode, as when I made 2 attempts to update the version 10.6.6 to the current one (10.6.7 - the combo one and the MBP version too) it was not permitted. I had to plug the FW cable into the MBP again and update the Mini's OS (using the special MBP version of 10.6.7) in target disc mode. I want to use the Mini as a media server and intend to install Windows 7 on the other HD which now hosts the server OS. However, according to one poster (Sven G) there are some problems (I don't know exactly what they are) related to Boot Camp software. Have you any information about these problems?
I have maintained both OS (standard and server) living side by side on the Mini, is there any problem with that?
Again many thanks, you were succinct, right to the point, and your tip just proved itself correct.
Cheers
Marola

Need help installing snow leopard on mac mini 10.5.8 intel based

I need help need help installing snow leopard on mac mini 10.5.8 intel based so if u kno how pls message me thanks
<Email Edited by Host>

You need to purchase the upgrade disk (it is a DVD). Then just put it in and run the installer. When it was first released it was $29 USD, do not know if the price has changed or not.
The usual precautions about backing up your data apply. In fact I would recommend either making a Disk Image of your current boot drive or using something like Carbon Copy Cloner to copy it to an external drive. I upgraded 5 machines from Leopard to Snow Leopard without any issues, but better to be safe than sorry.

Snow Leopard on Mac Mini Server

Hi All - I have a new 2010 Mac Mini Server and would like to install Snow Leopard (non server version) on it. When I boot from the retail SL DVD on an external USB drive, it boots ok, then I get the error screen and have to hold down the power button to restart.
does anyone have any idea how I can achieve this?
Nev.

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Do not boot from the Install Disk. The Server has two drives. The second one is blank. Just tell SL on the ext HDD to install SL on the blank drive. Then download the 10.6.4 Update for the Mid '10 Mac mini and install it over the new installation of SL. That should bring that out-of-date version of SL up to date with all the specialized software for SL to interface with the new hardware of the new Mac minis. When the installation is complete set the 2nd drive as the startup drive in Sys Prefs/Startup Disk.
Dah•veed

Can't install Snow Leopard on Mac Mini with 10.5.8.

I'm trying to install an upgrade copy of Snow Leopard from Apple on my Mac Mini running 10.5.8. I bought this system used and the volume says ";" and the error log code is 21. Seems it can't find valid softward ID to continue or the path is different. Not sure where to go with this.

If your mini meets the specifications for Snow Leopard (an intel processor and 1GB or more of memory)
then go here to buy snow leopard
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A
It's possible that the upgrade disk you have is specific to particular Mac models.

Install snow leopard on mac mini with broken DVD Drive

I want to upgrade the OS on my mac mini but the hard drive keeps kicking out the disk - I read that I "might" be able to fix this by using a DVD cleaner but I am not overly optimistic about this fix. I have an external USB drive and a Windows PC to work with so I am wondering if I can use the DVD drive of the PC to copy the install disks to the external drive and then perform the instal from the external drive. I have been reading posts and can find advice on how to copy the Leopard install discs using another Mac or by using the remote disk feature - but since I don't have another Mac, these are not currently options.
Thanks

1. Clean your drive and reset the > PRAM, then try upgrading with the Mac Mini's drive.
2. Try out that external USB DVD drive, some will work if they are not OS X compatible.
3. Your PC might work, see > DVD or CD sharing: Using Remote Disc

After i installed updates for my mac mini server, the web services for the server app wont start, it gives an error massage: "Error Reading Settings"

After i installed updates for my mac mini server, the web services for the server app wont start, it gives an error massage: "Error Reading Settings"
The system logs reads:
Mar 29 22:06:25 server servermgrd[82]: servermgr_web: Error Domain=XSServerFoundationErrorDomain Code=4 "Failed to read settings: Exception:
          undefined method `downcase' for nil:NilClass
          ." UserInfo=0x7fc547901080 {NSLocalizedDescription=Failed to read settings: Exception:
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To check the local network for some of the common configuration problems, launch Terminal.app and issue the following diagnostic command:
sudo changeip -checkhostname
That'll report some local configuration information and then either no errors detected and no changes required, or it'll point to whatever configuration errors or issues it might detect. That doesn't catch everything, but it catches the common errors.
FWIW, 192.168.0.0/24 and 192.168.1.0/24 are poor choices for the local network, as VPNs are based on IP routing and IP routing gets tangled when the same subnet is used on both ends of the VPN. 192.168.0.0/24 and 192.168.1.0/24 are near ubiquitous in home networks and coffee shops.

Can't install snow leo on mac mini

I want to upgrade my mac mini from leopard to snow leopard with the install disc that came with my imac i5.
mac mini specs : 1,83 GHz intel core 2 duo
2 GB 667 MHz ddr2 sd ram
GMA 950 gfx card
500 GB HDD with 245 GB free
According to apples system specs i should be able to install snow leopard on this machine but i get a message when attempting to install that snow leo can't be installed on this system?
I tried this via disc in finder and via push c at startup,both give same warning.
What other options are there?How to install snow leo then?

Hi Red_viking;
Yes that is true. The DVD that comes with a Mac is set up specifically for that Mac and can not be used on another.
Allan

Install win7 32bit on mac mini (server) Later 2012

Hi,
We received few Mac mini machines with this spec:
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I tried applying Windows7 32bit and managed to install it using BootCamp.
When tried installing the drivers, Windows could not recognize them (the drives were created using BootCamp assistant).
I read about it and found out that Windows7 32bit could not be installed on Later 2012 Mac minis.
I have tried to update the Mac OSX version to the latest 10.8.2 (server 2.1.1 ??), after installing the updates I could not even install the Windows 7 32bit,
the system prompts to use only 64bit version.
I am trying to find out if this limitation (of using win7 32bit) is related to hardware or software...
Does anybody know if this is only software related limitations for OSX 10.8.xx ?
If so, is there a way to downgrade the system to 10.7.xx ?

Thank you for the quick reply.
I was hoping this is related to SW issue,
( since only after updating from 10.8.1 to 10.8.2 - the boot camp prompt for 64bit media requirement! )
Unfortunately, we need it for R&D purposes so cannot use VM / Parallels / VB.
Are you certain that this is hardware limitation ???
This is crucial for us to know, since we can try to gap a software issue.
Sagi

Clean install Mountain Lion on Mac mini Server (Mid 2011)

Hi.
I am trying to do a clean install of ML on a Mac Mini Server. This is just a test machine, so not interested in any backups, etc.
The machine is a Mid 2011 Mac Mini, and had Lion Server on it to start with (has been re-installed, reimaged, etc multiple times in it's short life with me so far ..)
I would like to set the internal disks up as a Software Raid 1 config.
I have a successfully created and tested USB stick with OS X ML install on it. I boot the mini with the USB stick, and once the installer options are available, I use the disk utility to create my software raid 1 config. Once this is completed, I proceed with the rest of the install.
Before I can go any further, I am warned that the installer will NOT be able to create a recovery partition, and use time machine backups on this drive.
If I break the raid and install on either one of the drives, the install proceeds without any problems.
Is there a method I can use to do a clean install on this machine with the drives configured as RAID 1?

This is the message that would happen with Lion, see this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4649
Basically when you setup a Raid 0/1, the Lion and Mt. Lion installer won't/can't create a recovery partition.
When you boot from a recovery partition you have access to certain tools, e.g. Disk Utility to restore a Time Machine back up, redownload the OS, etc.
The recovery partition provides a certain bit of convenience but isn't absolutely necessary to run the OS. When you see the message, doesn't it let you go ahead with the install, accepting that no recovery partition will be created?
If you need some of the recovery partition tools, you have a bootable USB stick as well as a backup of the Mt. Lion installer, no?

Snow Leopard with Mac mini?

I'm about to purchase my 2nd Mac mini, Today is June 1st, do you think it's a good day to buy or should I wait for a few days until Snow Leopard comes out?

buy now...apple will upgrade you to snow leopard for free in a couple days when it comes out.
obvious sarcasm here...there is no release date for snow leopard, so if you need a computer today then buy one, if you can wait...then wait.

Mac Mini Server to OS X Lion

All,
I am trying to get my head around the steps that I would need to do in order to upgrade my Mac Mini server that is currently running OS X 10.6 to OS X 10.7 Lion. I have already purchased the $29.99 Lion upgrade for our other machines in the house.
Do I have to install Lion on the Mac Mini server and then spend $49.99 to upgrade the server tools? Will the existing server tools (that came with the old OS X 10.6 server) still work with Lion? Just trying to decide if spending another $50.00 to upgrade the server is worth it. I also worry about breaking things during the Lion install. I expected that there would be a all-in-one pack to install that would take you from 10.6 server to 10.7 server.
Thanks in advance for any info people can offer.
Matt

Upgrading to Lion Server is a two step process in that the server part is a separate purchase and install. My understanding is that during the upgrade of SL Server, you run the Lion installer, then you'll be prompted for to purchase and download the Server add-on, if the installer does not already find it in your Applications folder. I'm not sure, but I don't believe you can use the old Server Tools on Lion. And I don't think you can "only" upgrade a SL Server to Lion without the Server add-on.
...I also worry about breaking things during the Lion install....
As always, backup, backup, backup. Clone your existing SL installation to a separate hard drive. That way if something does go wrong, it's relatively painless to restore the cloned image. Without a clone, "fixing" a bad upgrade can be quite painful, if not impossible. (If you're going to rely on a Time Machine backup instead, then don't enable Time Machine in Lion until you're sure everything's working. Or disconnect the Time Machine Drive. That way you can ensure that you have a Snow Leopard only Time Machine backup, which you can restore with your original disks that came with the Mac.)

FileMaker Server problem on Mac Mini Server - Mac Mini won't boot

I just installed a brand new Mac Mini Server today, and also FileMaker Server 11. A first-timer for both Mac OS X Server and FileMaker Server, I made an error as explained below, and right now I don't know how to get back on track with the system. It won't boot.
So, how did this happen?
At first everything was proceeding according to plan. I configured the pre-installed Mac OS X Server on the Mac Mini with users, groups and services. This was tested from clients and this seemed to work just fine. Then I installed and configured FileMaker Server. This was also tested from a client, and the example database that came with FMS was served up just fine.
The problem arose when I tried to install my existing FileMaker databases. I simply checked to see where in the file system the example database was located, and then copied my old databases to that location (I think it was Library > FileMaker Server > Data > Databases or something close to it - can't check it now...). I had the FileMaker Server Admin Console running, and hit the Refresh button hoping that this would make FileMaker Server find the databases.
This was my first error. I should have read ahead in the instructions to see that one is supposed to use an Upload Database assistant instead...
What happened when I hit refresh was that the FileMaker Server Admin Console became completely unresponsive with a spinning ball as cursor. I left it for about an hour hoping it would terminate, but gave up and tried to shut it down. It wouldn't close, so I force quit it from the Finder. Then I tried to shut down FileMaker Server, but I needed to force quit this as well. After this I thought it would be best to reboot the Mac Mini, so I shut it down, but now it won't even boot, it just stays on the screen with the spinning wheel for ever!
I have tried all the keyboard options while booting, but nothing seems to help. In safe mode, the grey progress bar just grows to about one third, then disappears and leaves the eternally spinning wheel.
The server version of the Mac Mini doesn't have an optical drive, only two internal hard drives. I tried to reinstall from scratch using the optical drive on another Mac on the network. The startup disk appeared when I tried to boot the Mac Mini holding down the option key, and after about 20 minutes or so of the spinning wheel I could actually access the discs. I started by running Disk Utility to check disk permissions. There were a lot of repairs concerning permissions and groups, especially on "Library". It said "ACL differs on Library", I don't know what this is but this was repaired. I then ran Repair Disk. The volume appeared to be OK.
When I tried to reinstall Mac OS X Server however, this failed with the message
"You can't upgrade this version of Mac OS X because a newer version is installed. Mac OS X Server couldn't be installed on this disk." I don't know how this can be, but I may have run software update earlier today.
What should I try next? Should I erase the primary HD and try to install again? Or should I install the system software on the secondary HD? Or should I just try to reboot as is in the hope that the disk permission repairs did the trick...?
Any helpful pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Hello there, I came across your post when browsing the forum for passive advice. I am in the same boat as you and am a first timer for both of these tools. I work for a company who now needs to expand its network and database capabilities. I have been assigned this task and these are the tools i have opted for. I have not yet purchased them and i am pleased to find someone who has my desired setup. Could you please advise on the simplicity of the setup and whether an advanced knowledge is required.
I want to use it in a mixed operating system environment. Is this possible?
Regards
Matthew

MacBook Pro won't wake from sleep after installing Snow Leopard

If my MacBook Pro is running while closed with an external display and I unplug it from the display it goes to sleep - as indicated by the white light and the front pulsing. If I then open the MacBook the display remains blank and it is completely unresponsive to any keys or track pad input.
The only thing it responds to at that point is holding the power button down until it powers down and then restarting - loosing all work in progress at that point.
Before installing Snow Leopard the Mac would wake reliably when opened from this state.

Mike Doolin wrote:
I think I may have found the fix for this. My MacBook Pro was dying in its sleep every time (after installing Snow Leopard), whether it went to sleep automatically or I used a Hot Corner. I went into System Preferences>Desktop & Screen Saver and changed the screen saver to Flurry, and it works now. I had had it set to a folder containing a single .pct file that I had created.
Good advice Mike! When in doubt check the ScreenSaver settings.
Definitely seems that it has a problem with that pic... In my case, selecting any images instead of the default setting (no screensaver) seems to have cured my non waking issue on my early Macbook Pro in Snow Leopard.
My original problem was that no amount of trackpad input woke it, but the space bar did. The space bar seemed to wake it up with the previous Screen Saver setting. Now trackpad wakes it up (even from total sleep as well as screen saver), too. Might be nice to know about if this is an intended 'feature' as a security trick. Otherwise I consider this a bug.
My vote is that it's a bug.

Help: Install Snow Leopard Server 10.6.0 on Mid-2010 Mac Mini, then update?

I just purchased a Mid-2010 Mac Mini with Snow Leopard Client 10.6.3 (the new ones just released) with the idea of installing my copy of Snow Leopard Client on it and using it as both a network server and media server.
I own Snow Leopard Server 10.6.0 (the initial DVD release) and was thinking I could do a fresh install and update to 10.6.4 on the Mini without problem, but that didn't work. I also tried doing a Target Disk Install to the Mini using my MacbookPro, but the installer choked at the Machine Checksum saying MBPs weren't supported to run the installer.
So, that blows both of my previously known installation options. I was wondering if anyone else with the new Mini and Snow Leopard Server had any suggestions on how to get my current version of Snow Leopard Server (10.6.0) installed on the Mini and then run system updates to get it to boot properly.
Thanks

Allan Eckert wrote:
Hi GrainFocuser;
Your copy of SL Server version is probably too old to install on the new Mac Mini. It probably doesn't have all of the correct drivers for the newer hardware.
You might have better success with your alternatives if you post over on the server forum instead of here.
Allan
Message was edited by: Allan Eckert
Allan, thanks.
It is pretty clear that my installation disk is too old, hence looking for options and suggestions.
In years past with previous versions of Server, there was a way to install an outdated install disk (a point release or 3 behind) and then run the necessary installation updates...either through target disk mode or on to a separate boot disc.
So, with my 10.6.0 Server Install disc, I am not able to do so in either scenario because a) My other admin machine is a MB Pro and the installer performs a hardware checksome preventing install...so no Target Disk Mode, and B) Install on other disc from mini, again Hardware checksome since hardware not recognized.
I am looking at options to enable an install with my disk short of having to physically walk into Apple (a huge trek) and get a new install disk or ask Apple Support to mail one.
So, again... Any options from OS X Server Admins out there?

Installing Snow Leopard on Mac Mini Server

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