Using ARD through automator application to set startup disks

I am attempting to create an automator application/workflow that sets the startup disk of a group of remote computers and then restarts the machines. I also need to make sure that it does not pop up on the screen to enter an admin password as my university's policy is that no teachers or students have access to the password.
My current unix command I send to the machines is
do shell script “bless -mount /Volumes/DiskName/ -legacy -setBoot -nextonly” password “yourPassword” with administrator privileges
do shell script “shutdown -r now” password “yourPassword” with administrator privileges
When I send that a dialog box pops up asking for and admin password. Wondering where I am going wrong. Any input would be much appreciated

In ARD use the Manage menu to set startup disk...
You can force a restart and no password is required.

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Set Startup Disk script

I am trying to use automator to execute either a UNIX command or apple script to change the startup disk volume on the local computer. My university wants us to allow teachers to change to the backup volume without giving them the admin password. They want me to put on the desktop an automator application that when double clicked will change the startup disk volume and restart the machine without having to type in the admin password.
Thanks Mike

See this script:
A script for restarting the computer using a specified installation of Mac OS X:
on page:
http://www.macosxautomation.com/applescript/uiscripting/index.html
Perhaps you could change the permission on the bless command. Do not know.
You could add the user to the sudoers file and grant permission to use bless as a regular user.
For this type of question, you best ask over in the hard core unix forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=735
Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
/usr/sbin/bless
for cryptic details...
man sudoers
/private/etc/sudoers

NetRestore doesn't set startup disk

I have set up an disk image and NetInstall using NetRestore Helper, and placed the data (.nbi folder and .dmg file) in what I think is the correct place on the server. The server is running Server 10.5.x, and the image is built with 10.4.11. Using NetRestore from the client works fine until the end of the process where I get the following error: "The target disk could not be found, probably because asr failed to remount it. The restore may have failed."
When I reboot the Mac it comes up with a flashing question mark. If I then boot from a CD or external drive however, I can go and set the startup disk to be the internal drive, and the Mac then boots and has the image installed correctly. What to I need to change to get NetRestore to set the startup disk correctly?

Welcome to iDVD Discussions.
Preview doesn't normally show problems. This could be a media issue. Does the DVD play the same way in your Mac and DVD player?
Suggest you create a disc image and then burn the DVD. File/Save as Disc Image...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iDVD/6.0/en/18.html
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/image_to_diskstone.html
This will isolate any encoding/burning issues you may encounter. Once the disc image is created, double-click the .img and burn the virtual disc that should appear on your desktop, using Toast to burn the DVD. Disk Utility to burn the .img file. Usually, you can select a burning speed in Disk Utility.
There are variations to this process based on which OS X you are using...
Open Disk Utility (in Utilities folder in Applications folder), click on the virtual disc (maybe the .img) in the left-hand window. Click the Burn icon. A new window should drop down and your SuperDrive tray will open after clicking the Burn icon. Insert a recordable DVD. (Verbatim DVD-R preferred by me.) Click the Close button. Wait. Select a burn speed. If you hold your mouse cursor over the pop-up it says: "Select a slower speed to work around burn failures," so select 4x or slower for best results. Then click the Burn button.
-->If the virtual disk selection won't allow you to click the Burn icon, use the .img file instead. This may have changed in 10.3.9 and did change in Tiger.
Also, you can use DVD Player to play the virtual disk to check your iDVD project before burning to DVD. Launch DVD Player. File/Open VIDEO_TS (Open DVD Media... in Player 4.6). Find the VIDEO_TS folder and open that. (The audio folder is for DVD-Audio disks.)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93006

I got a Force Quit error box telling me to quit two applications because my startup disk was out of memory to run applications. What is this?

I have a MacBook (mid-2007) with 2gb ram (max allowed) and recently upgraded to a 750 GB hard drive. And I have over 590 GB free Tonight I got a popup box requiring me to force quit my applications because I had run out of room on my startup disk. I was only running the finder, I-clean memory, Safari and mail at the time. I have been running that combination of programs forever and have never encountered this message. What is going on?

KKDani wrote:
Do I delete things...?
Yes.
Use this as a guide:
http://pondini.org/OSX/DiskSpace.html
Ciao.

How do I get automator to specify a startup disk?

I want to automate the specification of startup disks as I tend to frequently swap between a few systems. I fired up automator, hit the record button and proceeded to select the system preferences pane from the apple menu, selected startup disk pane and then clicked one of the disks. Automator listed my steps and it looked fine. However, when I play the script, instead of clicking once on the system preferences menu item it clicks twice on the app store menu item, resulting in an error. Obviously, I'm doing something wrong, so I'd appreciate some help. Thanks.

Solved: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4296444

Using burned DVD+R DL as a startup disk on a DVD/CD-RW drive

I am trying to boot up my iMac G5 (which has a DVD/CD-RW drive, can read DVDs and CDs, burn CDs only) from a DVD+R DL homemade startup disk that I burned on my other Mac that has a Superdrive.
The iMac can read the DVD+R DL disk fine, and I can select it as the startup disk in the Startup Disk System Prefs.
But when it restarts with the DVD as the startup disk, it hangs on the gray screen with the apple icon in the center. The fan then revs up to top speed (very noisy) and nothing happens. I then have to manually shutdown and hold down the mouse button to eject the DVD.
Does anyone know if this is an issue with the iMac's CD-RW drive?

Hi Baby Boomer,
Sorry, but I just cannot take my computer in without wiping it first.
It's got my entire life on it. No way. I must do the zeroing out first.
Well I tried to boot from a few other DVDs that I thought should work.
I tried the Apple Tiger X.4 Install DVD, but this didn't work giving me a gray screen with a circle/slashed icon in the middle.
When I found the Install DVD that came with this computer I noted it had X.4.2 as the basis (sort of possibly explains why X.4 wouldn't work), and the disk booted just fine.
I imagine the problem is with Alsoft Universal Disk Warrior Boot Disk not being compatible. However Alsoft will not admit to that, nor will they send me a newer or even a replacement CD! I asked.
I doubt very much that calling Apple could possibly help me here.
Sigh. There sure have been a lot more waves in the turbulent sea of software change this past 6 month. I need some dramamine.
Thanks, and so long for now, TOM

Is using Excel through Automation with Java possible ?

Hi, I'm currently a Visual Basic developper thinking of moving to a java based RAD technology.
For a couple projects, I need to generate Excel Spreadsheets and present them to the user. I usually do this in VB by using the COM object provided by Excel, instancing it and using the Range([cellname]).value property to write data in the sheet.
Is their any way to do a similar thing in Java, or does this level of comfort come solely by using a Microsoft developpement product (thus more integrated with office) ?
Thanks in advance.

1. Writing java functions in MS Visual J++ 6.0, instead of in MS VB, and then compiling as a COM function has been the only way I've been able to mix the convenience of spreadsheet IO (alas, still in Excel) with the powerful functions we can write in Java.
2. It's ironic java programmers must still build IO interfaces in their IDEs every time they want to write & use a new java function, while MS has made user-written VB functions available to all Excel users (even to MS Word users). Last time I looked, the Star Office speadsheet only allows writing functions in ersatz VB (Sun Basic) instead of in Java.
3. To Sun: Please make java available to the masses by giving us a spreadsheet that runs user-written java functions. The spreadsheet is the most powerful programming paradigm around. Remember when Lotus made a zillion $? You can make more money from Gates's vision than by imitating his products.
- Bill Ellis [email protected]

How do I set the Startup Disk to Boot Camp via ARD

All,
I typically use ARD and Set Startup Disk to image and reconfigure our lab computers (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2789) via a network image, namely DeployStudio. This works well. Now I want to be able to set it to a local disk to boot into Windows 7 which we have setup with Boot Camp. I get nothing but Failed responses. I am hoping it is a matter of what name or format I need to use.
I have tried:
BOOTCAMP
Windows
Windows on BOOTCAMP
None of these work. HELP!
These are iMac 21.5's running 10.6.8. ARD is 3.5.1. Same for clients.

have you considered using Send Unix Command to set boot Volume?
For instance if you have "Macintosh HD" and "Boot Camp". And you wanted to set the boot volume to "Boot Camp". You could try sending the unix command, as root:
bless -mount /Volumes/Boot\ Camp -setBoot
After setting this, if you reboot, the computer should boot to the Boot\ Camp volume. But One the computer boots to windows, getting them to boot back to the mac os x is going to be a whole other story.
FYI if your boot camp volume is labeled "Untitled" then you would send the unix command, as root, bless -mount /Volumes/Untitled -setBoot.

Restricting Internet access using ARD

I am trying to restrict students for accessing the internet using ARD. Students accounts are set using Workgroup Manager. Under preferences, I did not allow Dock.app or Safari in the list of aproved applications. I also only selected applications I allow them to use to be in the dock and did not allow them to merge their dock.
One group still has Safari listed in the dock.
The others can still get to the internet using dashboard and going to weather settings.
How can I eliminate this access.

One option is to send the unix command:
ipfw add 2005 deny tcp from any to any 80 out xmit en0
This will block the standard internet port. If the computers are restarted then it will go back to normal. To get rid of the rule without actually restarting use this command.
ipfw delete 2005
Note: They have to be done with the root (or admin) user.
PowerBook G4 15in, Xserve, G5 Dual 2ghz, Mac OS X (10.4.3)
PowerBook G4 15in, Xserve, G5 Dual 2ghz, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

How to lock dock using ARD

I am wanting to lock down the dock on the iMac's in the computer lab's I manage so that students can't make changes to the dock, I know the terminal command to lock it but I'm wanting to find a way that I can run the command using ARD so that I can hit all the machines at once instead of having to do each computer at a time.
When I put the terminal commands to do this in the ARD Unix Command and ran it, it just errors out. These are the commands I run:
defaults write com.apple.Dock contents-immutable -bool yes
defaults write com.apple.Dock size-immutable -bool yes
defaults write com.apple.Dock position-immutable -bool yes
Is there a way to make that execute on multiple machines using ARD?

mv /Applications/iChat.app ~/.Trash
should do it - you may want to run as root to prevent it being stored in the logged-in user's Trash.
Matt

HD drive can't be recognized as bootable startup disk

Hi
I am using a MacBook with snow leopard. The HD is almost full, so I install new bigger HD. I used disk utility to restore the new disk from the old disk.
But the mac can't recognize the new disk as bootable startup disk. I get nothing when try to set startup disk in "System Preferences". There is only "Network Startup" option is available.
Every time start, I need to press the "Option" when I turn it on, and select the disk manually.
What should I do? Is there a configuration file so I can set the disk to be the startup disk?

Nihao GuoGuo & welcome to discussions.
Your new HD needs to be set for 'GUID' before it can function as a boot drive on an Intel machine - this means for use with Snow Leopard, which requires an Intel processor, the disk must have a 'GUID primary partition map'.
You should use the version of Disk Utility that is supplied with SL (/Applications/Utilities folder) and reformat the drive if you want to use it with your current configuration. When reformatting, create at least one partition (primary) and enable the GUID option at that time.
Without this particular configuration, the drive will not be able to perform as a boot drive with an Intel based computer and OS X 10.6.x

Startup disk for SATA

I have created a DOS startup disk, in order to 'ghost' my the OS and application on the c drive (my data is on d) using the my "computer->format->create msdos startup disk" option. However, after booted it up from a, I found that it cannot detect my c or d sata drives. Did anyone over come this problem or did I do something wrong?
SATA Settings:
Native
S-ATA: only
P-ATA: yes
P-ATA channel: both
875P NEO FISR2
P4C with Intel stock fan (55C - 59C)
Corsair ValueSelect PC3200 CL 2.5 512K x 2
SATA 80GB Hitachi 7K250 x 2
Radeon 9600 Pro (OC to 518 Mhz)
Haupauge PVR
Sony DVD RW DRU-500A
Antec True Power 480
CoolerMaster ATX Case
FSB: 270
DDR: 333 at 2.7V
Vcore: default
Performance mode: Ultra Turbo

Thanks for the quick responce
I did set the boot order to:
1st) Floppy 1.44
2nd) SATA 1
and SATA raid to no but without success. In fact, I even tried the 'legacy' mode but it is still the same. :angryfire:I could boot from drive c if I remove the floppy, but the problem is that there will be no harddrive c and d to work with. Removing the floppy disk will result in normal Winxp boot - which is ok. My c drive is like a sitting duck if there is a crash on OS without a backup image

No space on startup disk? Problem with Mail?

Bought a new MacBook Pro Retina 15, 8mb ram. Recently when running Mail, it refuses to close when I quit the application. Worse, I get a window (screenshot attached) saying that I have no more space for running applications on my startup disk, even though just running Mail and Firefox. Any suggestions?

Your problem is excessive swapping of data between physical memory and virtual memory.
That can happen for two reasons:
You have a long-running process with a memory leak (i.e., a bug), or
You don't have enough memory installed for your usage pattern.
Tracking down a memory leak can be difficult, and it may come down to a process of elimination.
In the Activity Monitor application, select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected. Click the heading of the Real Mem column in the process table twice to sort the table with the highest value at the top. If you don't see that column, select
View ▹ Columns ▹ Real Memory
from the menu bar.
If one process (excluding "kernel_task") is using much more memory than all the others, that could be an indication of a leak. A better indication would be a process that continually grabs more and more memory over time without ever releasing it.
The process named "Safari Web Content" renders web pages for Safari and other applications. It uses a lot of memory and may leak if certain Safari extensions or third-party web plugins are installed. Consider it a prime suspect.
If you don't have an obvious memory leak, your options are to install more memory (if possible) or to run fewer programs simultaneously.
The next suggestion is only for users familiar with the shell. For a more precise, but potentially misleading, test, run the following command:
sudo leaks -nocontext -nostacks process | grep total
where process is the name of a process you suspect of leaking memory. Almost every process will leak some memory; the question is how much, and especially how much the leak increases with time. I can’t be more specific. See the leaks(1) man page and the Apple developer documentation for details.

Which disk did Time machine backup if running Mac OSX 10.6.8 on an external startup disk?

The original hard drive on my 2007 iMac was pretty full, so I was using an external hard drive as the startup disk while I got around to replacing the original hard drive. I could still see the original hard drive and its contents and it still had a bootable copy of OSX 10.6.8 on it, but I was starting up from the external drive running OSX 10.6.8. I recently attached another external drive and backed up with Time Machine. Now the original internal hard drive has crashed. I can no longer see it to even try to repair it. My question is, was that internal hard drive backed up with the Time Machine backup, or was only the external startup disk backed up? If the internal one was backed up, how can I retore it's contents to another drive? - Thanks

Sorry to hear.
Other possibilities...
Data Rescue...
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
(Has a Free Demo to see if it could or not, but you'll need another drive to recover to).
rccharles on file recovery...
"Stellar Phoenix Macintosh - Mac data recovery software, recovers data from damaged, deleted, or corrupted volumes and even from initialized disks."
They have a trial version, so I guess you can see if your data can be recovered...
http://www.stellarinfo.com/mac-data-recovery.htm
FileSalvage is an extremely powerful Macintosh application for exploring and recovering deleted files from a drive or volume. FileSalvage is designed to restore files that have:
    * been accidentally deleted.
    * become unreadable due to media faults.
    * been stored on a drive before it was re-initialized/formatted.
http://subrosasoft.com/OSXSoftware/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id= 1

Can't write to external disk after cloning startup disk to it

After cloning my PowerBook Pro's startup disk to an external Thunderbolt drive, and temporarily using that drive to boot-up, the Thunderbolt drive is locked into Read Only mode. How do I enable it to write again? The INFO pane says the following: System privilege: "Read & Write"; wheel: "Read Only"; everyone: "Read Only". The basis for my cloning was to deal with a very full startup disk that I did a lot of video editing on (very processor intensive). The disk had become fragmented to the point that it couldn't access sectors fast enough for editing, so I cloned it over to a G-Tech Thunderbolt drive (using Carbon Copy Cloner), reformatted the MacBook startup disk, then reverse-cloned the copied files back over from the Thunderbolt, the idea being that they'd be re-written nice 'n neat in unfragmented order into their proper sectors. I then ceased booting-up from Thunderbolt, but now the system seems to think that Thunderbolt is still special in some way like a gossling bonded to a surrogate human mother, and it won't let me write to it. Can anybody help me with this?

Have you verified and if necessary, repaired the disk(s) using Disk Utility on your Mac?

Using ARD through automator application to set startup disks

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