Odd Problem Making 10.6.3 NetBoot Image

I have netboot volumes for 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5. They all have some useful utilities on them, and any time I need to fix any Mac, brand new or very old, I just boot the appropriate netboot image (and usually run diskwarrior). Overall it's worked very effectively. I just whipped up my first 10.6 netboot image. I do them all the same way, I install OS X on a firewire drive, then I install everything I want on it. Set all my preferences exactly the way I want them. Then I use the System Image Utility to turn it into a NetBoot image. So this 10.6.3 image boot perfectly off the firewire drive every single time. But every time I turn it into a netboot image and boot off of it (from any mac), I get this odd font error at startup:
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1858/screenshot20100418at125.png
I haven't touched any fonts. I haven't installed any graphics related software at all. Just utilities, and openoffice. And like I said... this volume boots perfect as a firewire drive. It's when you convert it to a netboot image and boot it, it gives you this strange error at boot. Any ideas what the deal is? Yes I am making the .nbi folder on 10.6 server. It should just work

This solution came from a conglomeration of the posts here and I was able to repeat my results. To make the error go away, boot your source into target mode and after connecting it to your image creation machine (OSX Server in my case) remove all the directories/folders in /private/var/folders; mine were named zz, t9, and 43. I tried doing this before booting into target mode but they get re-created immediately so they never really go away. Hope this helps someone.

Similar Messages

Problem making a intel Net Install Image on 10.4.10 PPC Server

I am working on building a new netinstall image for my incoming intel power pros. I get and "error has occured" when I target boot my intel machine to my server or when I try an use a clone on an external drive.
below is the error log from System Image Utility. Is my image to big (92 GB)? or is my intel/ppc server not compatible?
TIA,
-Dan
2007-08-02 13:23:31 -0500 Initiating user authentication
2007-08-02 13:23:36 -0500 Starting image creation
2007-08-02 13:23:36 -0500 hdiutil: create: -size/-sectors/-megabytes cannot be bigger that -stretch.
Usage: hdiutil create <sizespec> [options] <imagepath>
hdiutil create -help
hdiutil:
2007-08-02 13:23:36 -0500 attach failed - No such file or directory
2007-08-02 13:23:39 -0500 hdiutil: create: -size/-sectors/-megabytes cannot be bigger that -stretch.
Usage: hdiutil create <sizespec> [options] <imagepath>
hdiutil create -help
2007-08-02 13:23:39 -0500 can't add repository (not a directory).
2007-08-02 13:23:39 -0500 couldn't find any valid bundles to archive
2007-08-02 13:23:39 -0500 can't add repository (not a directory).
2007-08-02 13:23:39 -0500 couldn't find any valid bundles to archive
2007-08-02 13:23:39 -0500 can't add repository (not a directory).
2007-08-02 13:23:39 -0500 couldn't find any valid bundles to archive
2007-08-02 13:24:07 -0500 /System/Library/Extensions/ACard62xxM.kext/Contents/MacOS/ACard62xxM doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
2007-08-02 13:24:07 -0500 /System/Library/Extensions/ACard67162.kext/Contents/MacOS/ACard67162 doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
..... about a thousand lines like this.....
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/Mach.kext/Mach doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/System6.0.kext/kernel.6.0 doesn't contain code for the arc
2007-08-02 13:24:09 -0500 hitecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
/System/Library/Extensions/System.kext/PlugIns/Unsupported.kext/Unsupported doesn't contain code for the architecture specified; skipping the kext that contains it
cp:
2007-08-02 13:24:24 -0500 /Volumes/280GBImaging/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/Image_50008021323.nbi/mnt/machkernel: No such file or directory
cp:
2007-08-02 13:24:24 -0500 /Volumes/280GBImaging/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/Image_50008021323.nbi/mnt/machkernel: No such file or directory
hdid:
2007-08-02 13:24:24 -0500 attach failed - No such file or directory
/usr/bin/lipo:
2007-08-02 13:24:24 -0500 can't open input file: /Volumes/280GBImaging/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/Image50008021323.nbi/mach.macosx (No such file or directory)
2007-08-02 13:24:24 -0500 Unmounting image...
2007-08-02 13:24:24 -0500 Error creating Image. This image is not usable
Log saved in the user's home folder as /Users/administrator/Library/Logs/SystemImageUtility(2007-08-02 13:24).log
2007-08-02 13:24:24 -0500
Click New Install or New Boot button in the toolbar to create another image
Message was edited by: dmccoy26

Looks like I spoke too soon. After making the modification things went fine for a while but then I got
--------- snip
2007-08-22 09:55:03 -0400 mv: rename /Volumes/Storage/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP2/Image_4708220938.nbi/NIUReservedSys tem.z.dmg to /Volumes/Storage/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP2/Image_4708220938.nbi/mnt/System/Ins tallation/Packages/System.dmg: No such file or directory
2007-08-22 09:55:03 -0400 Can't open perl script "/tmp/create_nidb": No such file or directory
2007-08-22 09:55:03 -0400 cp: /Volumes/Storage/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP2/Image4708220938.nbi/mnt/machkernel: No such file or directory
cp: /Volumes/Storage/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP2/Image4708220938.nbi/mnt/machkernel: No such file or directory
hdid: attach failed - No such file or directory
2007-08-22 10:24:14 -0400 Unmounting image...
2007-08-22 10:24:14 -0400 Error creating Image. This image is not usable
Not sure if it's a related issue, but I was able to make an image of an Intel machine a couple of days ago... haven't applied any updates since. The obvious difference for me is that what I'm trying here is a G5.
/Volumes/Storage/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP2/Image_4708220938.nbi/NIUReservedSyst em.z.dmg which the first error claimed did not exist, does. Anybody else have any luck using this modification?
I can't believe they'd put an arbitrary limit of 50GB on creating an image. I can find no mention of any such limit in the System Image and SW Update pdf. Well, one for tech support I guess.
Message was edited by: Sean Murphy3 -- didn't read the log properly first time.

Not Enough Free Space on NetBoot Image Partition

Since the NetBoot server isn't all that popular, I'm going to explain how it works a bit before I get into my problem.
I assume everyone knows how it works on the client end. You choose an image and your Mac boots that image over the network. Quick, easy, painless. It's a cool system. So on the server/admin side…
Every version of OS X Server comes with it's own System Imaging Utility. So lets say you want to make a netboot image with some utilities on it. So you take an external hard drive. Make two partitions on it. On one partition, you set it up to be the netboot image. So you install all of the utilities you want installed. You configure all of the preferences just the way you want them. Set your background image, etc, etc. On the other image, you just do a quick clean plain installation of your OS. And you also install your OS X Server Admin tools (or in case of 10.8, the Server app). So once your image-to-be is configured, you boot the second partition, and run the imaging utility. This utility will turn your volume into a netboot image. A netboot image is basically just a folder with some .plists in it, a read-only disk image of your initial volume, and a kernel or two (10.5).
NetBoot images are read-only. So when you boot them, you can make as many changes as you want. But once you shut down, all changes are lost. Every time any mac boots a netboot image, it is booting the image exactly as it was when you made it. The changes you make are stored in shadow files on the server that you can periodically toss, since they are only used during the current active session. Once you reboot, the shadow files are useless.
So here is the problem: When you make a netboot image from a real volume, the utility only leaves a small amount of free space on the volume. Even though the disk image is read only, the amount of free space matters because that's still all you get to use. In other words, if the .dmg file in the netboot image i just made only has 900 MB of free space in the volume, then that's all I get for free space on any machine I boot off that image. Even though the image is read only, and all of the "free space" is actually being stored as shadow files on the server, that limit is still applied. And 900 MB is not very much free space. So you can boot a utilities volume and if a program eats up a lot of ram, that virtual memory can eat up what little free HD space you have, and suddenly your netboot image is not very functional.
Now being the clever fellow that I am, I came up with a solution to this problem last time around. I used the following command to resize the partition (and only the partition) of the .dmg file, inside the netboot image (netboot images are just folders).
hdiutil resize -size 60g -partitiononly NetBoot.dmg
This resized the volumes to 60 GB. But it was all blank space, so the .dmg file's size did not change. It would just mount as a read only volume with 40 GB of free space instead of a few hundred MB. This little trick worked very well. But it's not working any more. I can't figure out why. But every time I try to run this command on the .dmg file, I get an error very similar to the following:
hdiutil: resize request 125829120 is above maximum size 18005952 allowed.
hdiutil: resize: failed. Invalid argument (22)
I get this error while running 10.8, 10.7, or 10.6. I get this error whether I'm trying to resize an image containing 10.8, 10.7, 10.6, 10.5, 10.4 or 10.3. I get this error whether I convert the image to a read/write image first, or even a spare image first. I get this error whether the original hard drive that volumes were on, is partitioned as APM or GUID.
The "maximum size" listed in the error message is different for each image I try to resize. It's as if the tool is trying to fit the increase volume inside the existing free space of the image's volume. Which isn't what I'm trying to do at all.
I've been using netboot images filled with utilities for years now. And overall it works very very well. I started back when the first macbooks came out with no firewire. I quickly realized I needed a better solution than booting my Mac into firewire mode to repair other Macs. And then when I got into it, I realized I could host images of all different OS versions. So now I can plug my MBP into a client's network, and boot any Mac they have off of a utility volume of any version of Mac OS X needed, all the way down to 10.3, all at the same time. And I also have NetInstall volumes too that let me install OS X for all these versions as well. The only real quirk I've had over the years, is this 'free' space issue. In the past (before the last time I updated my images, where I used the command above to resize the partitions and solve the problem), what I've done when I've ran into a HD pinch while working, is to immediately start deleting apps I don't think I'm going to need, right off the netbooted Mac. This frees up space on the netboot volume and the system is happy. And again it's all read only, so I'm not actually making changes to the image itself. One real half assed solution I thought of was to set up all of my netboot volumes as having a 1 GB file in their trash and not emptying it before creating a netboot image from the volume. Then when this problem came up and the OS was running out of disk space, I could just empty the trash. I'm quite sure this little trick would have worked, but it's so half-assed. I'd much rather just have more free space on the mounted disk images.

But how did my command work so perfectly last time? Here's an image. On the left, the info window of the disk image inside my 10.7 Utilities netboot image. On the right, the info window for that disk image's mounted volume. The file is only 7 GB and the volume is a 30 GB volume with ~23 GB free. None of the free space of the volume is using up any actual disk space in the .dmg file. I did this once, there's got to be a way to reproduce this again?
Here's the same thing with my 10.6 Utilities netboot image. Also in case I'm not being clear, these netboot images these screen shots are of, are from the last time I updated my netboot images ~11 months ago. These are not my current batch that I'm trying to finalize.

Tiger (10.4.3) netboot image from Panther Server (10.3.9) odd permissions

System config:
Panther Server 10.3.9 on Xserve G5 running Netboot services
New 2.3GHz Dualcore G5 client machines (require Tiger boot image)
Created a 10.4.3 boot image on the server from a FireWire drive. All seems to work okay, except for strange issues with permissions when copying files from Users' home folders (e.g. Desktop, Documents, etc.). If copying a folder from Desktop to a server share, we get the error:
"The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items."
If there are no subfolders, the contents copy anyway. If there are subfolders, the first subfolder is created but is empty and nothing else is copied.
This does not occur if logged-in as the administrator user for the netboot image.

Found the solution on afp548.com
Same issue also affects non-netboot Tiger clients who are not local admins.
fixed by running serveradmin command in Terminal on the server:
sudo serveradmin settings afp:noNetworkUsers = yes
Credit to MacTroll on afp548 forum

OS X 10.10.2 Server. Having problems with Netboot Image

Hey there guys, it's the first time i'm having to deal with an OS X server.
I've made a Mac Mini into a server, and would like to use it as an Imaging Server for our Company's laptops, which are MB pro's.
I've checked that i've updated the OS on the Mac Mini and the MacBook Pro that i took the image from to the latestth
soo... I made the image from the laptop, got it on the Server and it's in the Library/Netboot/NetbootSP0 folder.
The Server app picks it up, and it's set so that you can install the image on other laptops via Ethernet.
I'm using an apple Ethernet to thunderbolt adapter for the MacBooks
At first i thought i've messed up something with the NetBoot image, so I had to Create another one.
First one got Recognised by the laptops when i try to Boot while pressing [Alt+N], but when it booted that way, nothing happened - it just went to the "Select language screen" that you get when turning it on for the first time.
The second image wouldn't be recognised at all and same thing happens.
I can give you any additional info if required, just ask me.
Thanks

Without any more detail it looks like you've misconfigured something somewhere? Either the workstation you've used to build the image has somehow not 'taken' properly (don't ask me to explain as it can happen sometimes for no discernible reason) or deploy studio and/or your server (amounts to the same thing) have not been configured properly and/or the network in terms of what the clients use for DNS has not been thought through properly?
It may be none of the above but they are good places to start the debug process.
What we need is what you're basing your private network around in terms of DNS; e.g.: server's fully qualified domain name, does it resolve on both pointers, can your clients resolve it on both pointers, have you configured deply studio's depository correctly and so-on.
You don't need to use alt N. Either use the N key or just use the alt key to select the Boot Disk Manager. If you've valid nbis they'll show up there. DeployStudio's netboot set is just a simple, minimal, network-based bootloader. It's typically not very large. Anywhere from 2-5GB. If your nbis are larger then you've not created what you think you've created.
Hopefully some of the questions I'm asking will start you looking in the right places?

NetBoot Images not "seen" by MM / MBA when booting with ALT without any local bootable Volumes

Hello Community!
I ran into a very odd Problem trying to start Production and Service Mac Minis or Mac Book Airs from our NetBoot Server holding the ALT Key while the Startup Chime sounds. Image selection is working fine if a local Volume is present. When no local bootable Volume is available the Macs will (in 90% of the Cases) stop responding at the point where the Bootpicker should show all available NetBoot Volumes. The dropdown menu for choosing a Wireless Network is popping up but after that the spinning wheel next to it stops and the Mac wont recognize any input from mouse or keyboard.
The EFI Startup environment is not totally stuck in these cases though, cause sometimes when you restart the NetBoot Service on the Server the NetBoot Volumes will popup on the clients screen.
If you hold the clients "N" key instead to Start Up from the Servers Default NB Image it works like a charm. Also all the other Mac Models have no problem at all Netbooting using the Bootpicker.
Among other things I already tried the following:
- changing NBI index numbers
- shortening Image names that are sent out by the Server at the BSDP ACK[LIST] step to reduce the packet size
- deactivating all Netboot Images but one
- setting up a second netboot Server and transferring half of the Images to it
the Netboot Log shows that the following client - server communication is repeated over an over:
Oct 10 16:58:47 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: DHCP INFORM [en0]: 1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5
Oct 10 16:58:47 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: ACK sent <no hostname> 192.168.2.112 pktsize 300
Oct 10 16:58:48 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5 NetBoot1271 arch=i386 sysid=Macmini6,1
Oct 10 16:58:48 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: NetBoot: [1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 192.168.2.112 pktsize 364
Oct 10 16:58:48 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: DHCP INFORM [en0]: 1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5
Oct 10 16:58:48 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: ACK sent <no hostname> 192.168.2.112 pktsize 300
Oct 10 16:58:53 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5 NetBoot1271 arch=i386 sysid=Macmini6,1
Oct 10 16:58:53 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: NetBoot: [1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 192.168.2.112 pktsize 364
As a next step I thought of transfering DNS, DHCP and NAT Services to another Machine, although i dont know if that will help.
If you had the same problem or know anything that might help to solve it, i would be very happy if u share your knowledge with me
as i am starting to get insane on this one
thank you in advance,
Colin Andrew

Hello Community!
I ran into a very odd Problem trying to start Production and Service Mac Minis or Mac Book Airs from our NetBoot Server holding the ALT Key while the Startup Chime sounds. Image selection is working fine if a local Volume is present. When no local bootable Volume is available the Macs will (in 90% of the Cases) stop responding at the point where the Bootpicker should show all available NetBoot Volumes. The dropdown menu for choosing a Wireless Network is popping up but after that the spinning wheel next to it stops and the Mac wont recognize any input from mouse or keyboard.
The EFI Startup environment is not totally stuck in these cases though, cause sometimes when you restart the NetBoot Service on the Server the NetBoot Volumes will popup on the clients screen.
If you hold the clients "N" key instead to Start Up from the Servers Default NB Image it works like a charm. Also all the other Mac Models have no problem at all Netbooting using the Bootpicker.
Among other things I already tried the following:
- changing NBI index numbers
- shortening Image names that are sent out by the Server at the BSDP ACK[LIST] step to reduce the packet size
- deactivating all Netboot Images but one
- setting up a second netboot Server and transferring half of the Images to it
the Netboot Log shows that the following client - server communication is repeated over an over:
Oct 10 16:58:47 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: DHCP INFORM [en0]: 1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5
Oct 10 16:58:47 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: ACK sent <no hostname> 192.168.2.112 pktsize 300
Oct 10 16:58:48 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5 NetBoot1271 arch=i386 sysid=Macmini6,1
Oct 10 16:58:48 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: NetBoot: [1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 192.168.2.112 pktsize 364
Oct 10 16:58:48 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: DHCP INFORM [en0]: 1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5
Oct 10 16:58:48 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: ACK sent <no hostname> 192.168.2.112 pktsize 300
Oct 10 16:58:53 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5 NetBoot1271 arch=i386 sysid=Macmini6,1
Oct 10 16:58:53 macimgsrv.intern bootpd[20296]: NetBoot: [1,10:dd:b1:ea:d1:e5] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 192.168.2.112 pktsize 364
As a next step I thought of transfering DNS, DHCP and NAT Services to another Machine, although i dont know if that will help.
If you had the same problem or know anything that might help to solve it, i would be very happy if u share your knowledge with me
as i am starting to get insane on this one
thank you in advance,
Colin Andrew

I am using Lightroom 5 and am hapy about it, but recently I hav encountered a problem when trying to edit an image in another program, i.e. Elements. I used the clone tool, saved the result and went back to Lightroom to open the image there. I did find a

I am using Lightroom 5 and am hapy about it, but recently I hav encountered a problem when trying to edit an image in another program, i.e. Elements. I used the clone tool, saved the result and went back to Lightroom to open the image there. I did find a second copy, but this is identic with the one I already had in Lightroom, and I can see noe result of the clone process.

At the moment I would say it is uncertain whether Acrobat is completely ignoring the change, or whether the changes you are making aren't affecting the ink density. I have a suggestion for a test you could make to see which is the case.
When editing in Photoshop just add a box or mark on the image, for your tests.
- If this box does not appear in Acrobat, you know Acrobat is not seeing the edit
- If this box does appear in Acrobat, you know the problem is that your tool for changing ink densities is not taking effect.

System Image Utility 10.6.3 - fails when creating NetBoot image from DVD

System Image Utility 10.6.3, trying to create a NetBoot image from a bundled installer disc that came with a 27" Late 2009 iMac (iMac11,1). Image creation fails consistently, since the image that System Image Utility creates is only 901M.
Anyone see this before?
Don
--------- System Image Utility log ----------
Workflow Started (2010-06-16 14:03:02 -0700)
Starting action: Define Image Source
Finished running action: Define Image Source
Starting action: Create Image
Starting image creation process...
Create NetBoot Image
Initiating NetBoot from Install Media.
Creating working path at /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/NetBoot of Mac OS X Install DVD
Creating disk image (Size: 901 MB)
Finalizing disk image.
created: /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/NetBoot of Mac OS X Install DVD/NetBoot.dmg
Attaching disk image
Installing to destination volume
2010-06-16 14:03:38.126 installer[2365:6f03] Looking for system packages
2010-06-16 14:03:38.129 installer[2365:6f03] no system packages found
2010-06-16 14:03:38.130 installer[2365:6f03] No or Invalid system receipts found on /private/tmp/mnt.LjFArn
2010-06-16 14:03:38.130 installer[2365:6f03] Attempting fallback using: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemMigration.framework/Resources/FallbackS ystemFiles.plist
2010-06-16 14:03:38.175 installer[2365:6f03] Finding system files...
2010-06-16 14:03:38.619 installer[2365:6f03] Writing system path cache.
2010-06-16 14:03:38.623 installer[2365:6f03] Error writing cache to /private/tmp/mnt.LjFArn/Library/Caches/com.apple.FindSystemFiles.plist
2010-06-16 14:03:38.625 installer[2365:6f03] Failed to enumerate /tmp/mnt.LjFArn/Library/Caches, cannot prune (
"com.apple.userpictureCache"
installer: Package name is Mac OS X
installer: Installing at base path /private/tmp/mnt.LjFArn
installer: The install failed (There is not enough space on this disk to install the selected items. Deselect at least 6.46 GB and try again.)
Script is done.
NetBoot creation failed.
Image creation process finished...
Stopping image creation.
Image creation failed.

Brian Nesse wrote:
Hi Don, here's my guess...
The 901 number is additional space added in the scripts. This indicates that the source image size was 0.
Since you are making a NetBoot from Install media, under the covers the installer process is being run to create a NetBoot volume. The media shipped with the 27" iMac is most likely CPU specific and thus the installation fails because you are trying to create the image (i.e. install the system) on an unsupported CPU.
In order to produce a NetBoot from the install media, you'll have to create it on the 27" iMac.
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the response. This makes perfect sense. I'll give this a try and shout back!
Thanks,
Don

NetBoot Images Not Recognized by Server

I can use SIU to create NetBoot images from my install package just fine. They end up in the Library/NetBoot/NetbootSP0 directory. But the Server NetInstall images pane tells me that "No images available" regardless of where I place them. The client sharepoints are available in the File Share service. I've followed the instructions from multiple sources (the all say essentially the same thing) to no avail.
Now I'm just stuck. This should be working, but I can't figure out what I'm missing.

I'm not sure if I am answering the correct question or not...
And my experience was on 10.6.8 server, with NetRestore rather than NetBoot. Nevertheless I'll mention what I found in case it is helpful as they are very nearly the same process.
I had awful problems in the past getting the whole process to work, it seems that it matters which machine you use to do the imaging. What I found worked was to:
- clone the disc you want to image onto a USB disc. I can't remember what I used to do this, would have been either ditto or SuperDuper! (I found in the past that CarbonCopy Cloner worked less well)
- plug the USB disc into the server and run Disk Image Utility on the server
For me this was the "Eureka" moment that made the whole thing suddenly work.
Also I should mention that I found that it matters which network switch you use. A TPLink switch didn't pass something that was needed for the NetRestore process to work, whereas an HP Procurve switch worked fine.
HTH

Error Creating NetBoot Image in OS X Server 10.4.9 (PPC)

I am new the the world of servers and OS X Server so forgive my ignorance. I have been trying to create a NetBoot image in OS X Server 10.4.9 (from a disk image of Mac OS X 10.4.6 for Power PC) and it has failed every single time, with varying amounts of a NetBoot image--none bootable--appearing in the share point. I have tried installing on the server and remotely from an administrator computer and it has never worked. I have followed the directions to the letter in the documentation and I still have two servers that have yet to serve anything. Is there some basic concept or tenet concerning making network boot images from OS X disk images that eludes me? Is it simply a hardware issue (the servers are G3s but supposedly Server 10.4 can be installed on a PowerMac G3 (they're decently equipped with RAM and SCSI drives).
Sidebar: if I have a server running OS X Server 10.2, do all the client computers have to run Jaguar as well? Told you I was new to this.
MacBook Pro 2.33/3GB/120GB Mac OS X (10.4.9) PowerMac G4 FW800, 16 b&w PowerMacs G3; TiBook G4

Well it looks like that question was deemed to lowly to answer. Luckily I found out for myself that SCSI and certain video cards can impede the smooth installation of OS X Server 10.4 and that one should use the installed in the Other Installs folder and not set the CD as the startup disk to avoid these incompatibilities.

NetBoot images not showing on clients

I have two Mavericks (10.9.4) servers from which I am trying to netboot to use DeployStudio to deploy Fall semester images. None of the clients see the images offered by either server either from the Startup Disk pref pane or by holding option or N at startup.
I have been creating netboot images in different ways and with different tools for the past few days and the clients can't see any of them. This morning I configured the second server from scratch, thinking it might be corruption in the first server. No joy. Example lines from the server logs are below. As long as the pref pane is running on the client or once the client tries to neboot the following two lines replicate every three or four seconds in the server log:
Aug 13 09:43:32 SOA-Deployer.local bootpd[8633]: BSDP INFORM [en0] 1,68:5b:35:d5:61:d7 arch=i386 sysid=iMac14,3 Aug 13 09:43:32 SOA-Deployer.local bootpd[8633]: NetBoot: [1,68:5b:35:d5:61:d7] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 134.139.109.248 pktsize 329
It never gets to the BSDP SELECT step. I've tried different clients, models, and locations of servers and clients (all on the same VLAN). I have tried building the .nbi with Deploystudio (v 1.6.11) on a new iMac running Mavericks 10.9.4, and on one of the servers using System Image Utility. I have also tried creating and serving them using both HTTP and NFS. I've talked to the network guys and they confirm that I should be able to do this. In addition, a deployment server from three years ago and some of its clients the same age CAN netboot.
Here is the result of running sudo serveradmin fullstatus netboot on one of the servers:
netboot:state = "RUNNING"
netboot:stateTFTP = "RUNNING"
netboot:readWriteSettingsVersion = 1
netboot:netBootConnectionsArray = _empty_array
netboot:logPaths:netBootLog = "/var/log/system.log"
netboot:dhcpLeasesArray = _empty_array
netboot:stateDHCP = "RUNNING"
netboot:stateHTTP = "RUNNING"
netboot:serviceCanStart = 1
netboot:timeOfSnapshot = "2014-08-13 18:16:16 +0000"
netboot:stateNFS = "RUNNING"
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:0:_array_index:0 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:0:_array_index:1 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:0:_array_index:2 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:0:_array_index:3 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:0:_array_index:4 = 1
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:1:_array_index:0 = 1
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:1:_array_index:1 = 1
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:1:_array_index:2 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:1:_array_index:3 = 1
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:1:_array_index:4 = 1
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:2:_array_index:0 = 1
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:2:_array_index:1 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:2:_array_index:2 = 1
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:2:_array_index:3 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:2:_array_index:4 = 1
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:3:_array_index:0 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:3:_array_index:1 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:3:_array_index:2 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:3:_array_index:3 = 0
netboot:stateImageArray:_array_index:3:_array_index:4 = 1
netboot:servicePortsRestrictionInfo = _empty_array
netboot:netBootClientsArray = _empty_array
netboot:servicePortsAreRestricted = "NO"
netboot:setStateVersion = 1
netboot:startedTime = "2014-08-13 18:08:21 +0000"
netboot:stateAFP = "RUNNING"
I have seen many solutions on the web. One suggested a problem with a kernelcache file larger than 32MB. That isn't the problem here, since none of mine are larger than 16MB.
Anyone have any ideas? I'm just about out...

Thanks for the reply, Strontium90. I am indeed inside a university network as described, but I don't see how I can use a LAN vs VLAN. In order to manage my department's devices the ports in our buildings are assigned an ip address range within two subnets, one of which I am working with both clients and servers at the moment. Not being a network geek I can't see how I can change that. Where can I learn more about coping with Mavericks' standards in this regard? Is there a way around it?
The running DHCP shouldn't have been. In the older Mac OS Server versions we had to turn DHCP on but leave it inert when using netboot. I was grasping at straws and turned on the service then forgot to turn it back off before running that report.
I did not truncate the output. There have been no clients. They can't even see the netboot images thus none have booted.
In case it helps here is the report from sudo serveradmin settings netboot, minus most of the supported models (my Macs are all in the list). :
/var/db/bsdpd_clients: No such file or directory
netboot:netBootFiltersRecordsArray = _empty_array
netboot:netBootStorageRecordsArray:_array_index:0:sharepoint = yes
netboot:netBootStorageRecordsArray:_array_index:0:clients = no
netboot:netBootStorageRecordsArray:_array_index:0:volType = "hfs"
netboot:netBootStorageRecordsArray:_array_index:0:okToDeleteSharepoint = no
netboot:netBootStorageRecordsArray:_array_index:0:readOnlyShare = no
netboot:netBootStorageRecordsArray:_array_index:0:path = "/"
netboot:netBootStorageRecordsArray:_array_index:0:okToDeleteClients = yes
netboot:netBootStorageRecordsArray:_array_index:0:volName = "Macintosh HD"
netboot:netBootPortsRecordsArray:_array_index:0:deviceAtIndex = "en0"
netboot:netBootPortsRecordsArray:_array_index:0:isEnabledAtIndex = yes
netboot:netBootPortsRecordsArray:_array_index:0:nameAtIndex = "Ethernet"
netboot:logging_level = "HIGH"
netboot:filterEnabled = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:BootFile = "booter"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:EnabledMACAddresses = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:osVersion = "10.9"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:RootPath = "NetInstall.dmg"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:IsDefault = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:0 = "MacBookPro4,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:1 = "Macmini5,3"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:2 = "Macmini5,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:3 = "Macmini5,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:4 = "iMac10,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:5 = "MacPro4,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:6 = "MacBookPro5,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:7 = "iMac8,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:8 = "MacBookPro5,4"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:9 = "MacBookAir4,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:10 = "iMac11,1"
>snip<
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:62 = "MacBookPro11,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:63 = "MacBookPro11,3"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:Kind = "2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:Index = 1094
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:EnabledSystemIdentifiers = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:Name = "DSR-1094"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:Type = "HTTP"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:Language = "en"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:DisabledMACAddresses = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:Description = "DSR-1094"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:BackwardCompatible = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:IsEnabled = yes
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:IsInstall = yes
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:Architectures = "4"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:SupportsDiskless = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:pathToImage = "/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/DSR-1094.nbi/NBImageInfo.plist"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:0:imageType = "netinstall"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:BootFile = "booter"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:EnabledMACAddresses = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:osVersion = "10.9"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:RootPath = "NetInstall.dmg"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:IsDefault = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:0 = "MacBookPro4,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:1 = "Macmini5,3"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:2 = "Macmini5,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:3 = "Macmini5,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:4 = "iMac10,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:5 = "MacPro4,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:6 = "MacBookPro5,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:7 = "iMac8,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:8 = "MacBookPro5,4"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:9 = "MacBookAir4,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:10 = "iMac11,1"
>snip<
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:59 = "iMac14,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:60 = "iMac14,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:61 = "MacBookPro11,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:62 = "MacBookPro11,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:63 = "MacBookPro11,3"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:Kind = "2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:Index = 3094
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:EnabledSystemIdentifiers = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:Name = "DSR-NFS-1094"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:Type = "NFS"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:Language = "en"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:DisabledMACAddresses = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:Description = "DSR-NFS-1094"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:BackwardCompatible = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:IsEnabled = yes
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:IsInstall = yes
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:Architectures = "4"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:SupportsDiskless = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:pathToImage = "/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/DSR-NFS-1094.nbi/NBImageInfo.plist"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:1:imageType = "netinstall"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:BootFile = "booter"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:EnabledMACAddresses = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:osVersion = "10.9"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:RootPath = "NetBoot.dmg"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:IsDefault = yes
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:0 = "iMac10,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:1 = "iMac11,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:2 = "iMac11,2"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:3 = "iMac11,3"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:4 = "iMac12,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:5 = "iMac12,2"
>snip<
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:60 = "MacPro6,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledSystemIdentifiers:_arra y_index:61 = "Xserve3,1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:Kind = "1"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:Index = 3011
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:EnabledSystemIdentifiers = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:Name = "NetBoot of Install OS X Mavericks"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:Type = "HTTP"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:Language = "Default"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:DisabledMACAddresses = _empty_array
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:Description = "NetBoot of OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) Install (7.18 GB)."
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:BackwardCompatible = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:IsEnabled = yes
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:IsInstall = no
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:Architectures = "4"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:SupportsDiskless = yes
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:pathToImage = "/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/Mavericks.nbi/NBImageInfo.plist"
netboot:netBootImagesRecordsArray:_array_index:2:imageType = "netboot"
netboot:afpUsersMax = "50"

Netboot Images on other Volumes

Hi,
I am setting up Netboot images for the first time on Mac OS X Server 10.4.7 and have run into a strange problem.
I have successfully created a Netboot image and can use it when the image is in the /Library/Netboot folder on the Boot volume. The problem I've got is that I want to store the image on another volume on the server, but even when I select the relevant volume in the General pane, the image I want to use doesn't appear in the Images pane...
I have even tried navigating to the Image I want to use in Finder and dropping the Image into the window (the + symbol comes up when I do), but the pane remains annoyingly blank.
Any help you can give me would be appreciated !
n/a Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Paul, in mentioning the "General" pane, I assume you've enabled the non boot volume for sharing images (using the checkbox).
That should cause it to create a folder structure on the volume (/Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP1 most likely), into which you can move the disk image. At this point you may have to refresh or reload the images list [sorry I don't have access to an admin machine at the moment].

Error creating a netboot image with System Image Utility

Hi all !
I am trying to create a NetBoot image from my Panther CD, to boot an old iBook.
I am using System Image Utility version 10.4.11.
I can create a NetInstall image, but when I create a NetBoot image SIU give me an error.
I looked in the logs and I can see the error is generated by the script Applications/Server/System Image Utility.app/Contents/Resources/.preinstall
This command is the culprit:
/usr/sbin/installer -verbose -lang 'eng' -pkg '/Volumes/Mac OS X Install Disc 1/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg' -target /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/PantBoot3.nbi/mnt -_multiDiscPath /tmp/siuInstallExtras
The error is (as seen in the logs):
This package requires authentication to install.
If I take the command and run it in the terminal using sudo it goes thru, but gives another error:
installer: Cannot install on volume /Library/NetBoot/NetBootSP0/PantBoot3.nbi/mnt because it is disabled.
installer: Mac OS X cannot start up from this volume.
Is this thing supposed to work ?? It seems to me SIU is buggy.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Regards
Mike

I'm not digging the new SIU at all yet. Maybe I'll get used to it in time. I couldn't get it to accept a Tiger 10.4.6 Install disc the other day to build a NetInstall. Don't know if I was doing something wrong or if it was instinctively rejecting it because I was doing something unsupported.
I miss NetRestore. I think Mike wants use to use Automator... but I want NetRestore's automated Multicast ASR and Windows image restore. It would take a lot of work to match Mike's shrink-wrapped solution.
Speaking of NetRestore, its creator Mike Bombich advises against use CCC for mass deployment. This may include what you're doing. It's really a backup tool, but unfortunately a lot of people got into the habit of using it for creating deployment images and these often have problems. It's the best tool for create images that you will deploy onto multiple Macs.

Problem making playlists with new Zen Style 300

/Problem making playlists with new Zen Style 300hI follow this procedure from the support page:
http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?sid=804
I also have tried many other options and procedures, but each time the playlist that ends up on the player has only a few of the songs that I put on the play list. all the songs do exist on the player, but seems to randomly select only a small subset of the songs - example: 6 original, 2 get on the list, 30 on teh original, 6 get on the player's play list.
The odd part is if I go back to the player at some later time and connect via creative central, the correct playlist displays on the PC. However, is still wrong (truncated) on the player. So it seems to remember the correct play list, but just does not display correctly on the player.
PC OS - win7
creative centrale version .8.03
zen style 300 sw version: .0.07
Anyone get this to work on the zen style 300?
Norm

?After many attempts? (like 6) with creative support to convince them this was a software bug, the end state response was to send the player back. Using better judgement, I waited for a new software release and indeed the problem was fixed in a subsequent release of the software.
My main frustration here was they seem to not want to escalate problems quickly to the right level of technical support that actually understands the software/debugging? vs hardware? and can look through a set of debugging steps and tests I sent in the first notes and realize it is not something hardware related. Even after citing my degrees in computer science/electrical engineering and having designed/debugged systems much more complex than this, all I got was simple procedural steps to repeat or send it back, it is a hardware problem. Ug!

NetBoot image reports errors in Disk utility

I am running all the latest greatest updates to Tiger Server. I have setup a computer just for NetBoots. I created the images properly. I can boot the images with no issue. The images were created as troubleshooting boot volumes instead of using physical hards drives when trouble comes up. When I open Disk Utility while booted in the NetBoot image, choose to Verify the actual physical disk within the computer that has problems, I get the message "Verify volume failed with error Could not unmount disk." The same message is given when you attempt to repair the disk as well, however it says Repair volume. At any rate, I have booted a known good computer and used Disk Utility on the good computer, and the same error message is given. My assumption is that I can boot via the network to a known good system, and then repair hard drives that need repair. It should work right"?
None Mac OS X (10.4.7) Tiger Server 10.4.

Is the Netboot image 'diskless'? If it isn't, the Netboot image is using the local Hard Drive to save some of the image's preferences that are always in use by the Operating System.

Odd Problem Making 10.6.3 NetBoot Image

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for