More MBP i5/i7 oddities

I was seeing the same behavior.

The 10.6.3 retail disc that we received is labeled build 6634-A, and the
hardware specific discs we received for our first i5 MBP are build
6580-A. The retail disc appears to be a newer build, but when I created
a NetInstall of it, it wouldn't boot the 15" i5, and it was kernel
panicking the new rev of the 13" MBP.

I had to make a NetInstall from the i5's hardware specific discs, which
seems to be booting everything now. But I long for the days with that
retail disc would boot every machine...management was so much easier.

Bob

Hey

I was having the same exact problem about 2 weeks ago. We got about 30 new mbps the same week they were released. I went out and purchased a 10.6.3 retail disc and used that as a base for netboot / images. I havent had any problems as of now. Unfortunately , I had a limited amount of time to get them up so I didn't really have a chance to troubleshoot. ~Joseph

Yeah, 10.6.4 should restore a "universal system), but Apple doesn't seem to make retail DVD's for each version, just usually .1, .3 and .6 (based upon Leopard and Snow Leopard)...

Robert Hammen
rhlist1 at hammen.org

So is it no longer possible to install to an older MacBook from one of the
current i5/i7 discs, or will I just need to add the image to Casper Admin,
click the checkbox using the newest hardware and then it will work on older
Macs?

--
Alan Benedict
?
Macintosh Technician
The Integer Group
O: 515-247-2738
C: 515-770-8234
http://www.integer.com

So just to be clear, when we’re saying “retail” disk we’re talking about disks bought straight from Apple in packaging as opposed to disks that came with a system, right?

I wasn’t aware that Apple had updated the retail disks.

Thanks
j

So the i5 disks are booting i7 and the 13” non-i-series machines?

j

I haven't tested with an i7 yet. We just got our first one in, and I
haven't gotten a chance to play with it.

I used the i5 disks to make the universal NetInstall image we are
currently using, which IS booting everything Intel Core 2 Duo, i5 MBP's,
and i5 27" iMacs. Keep in mind we've still got separate OS dmg's in
Casper Admin.

Currently I've got a Base Configuration, and iMac Base Configuration
(Made from the iMac specific disks, but the 10.6.3 retail disk boots
these now so I may do away with this soon), and an i5 Base Configuration
(Made with the i5 MBP specific disks).

It was a confusing and frustrating process, and I haven't tossed i7's in
the mix yet, but everything for the time being is finally working as it
should.

Bob

After imaging our MBP 15 Core i5, we see one kernel panic. Reboot and it
never appears again. I am able to avoid the kernel panic if within Casper
Imaging, I select don't reboot after image automatically and then do a safe
boot, it will start without a kernel panic and all reboots are fine.

Our setup:
All of my core OS packages are created by installing the OS on a local drive
and only modifying a few preferences.

The new mid 2010 13-inch MBP was the first model to arrive.
-Created a new netboot image based on the 10.6 disk that arrived with a MBP
13-inch mid 2010. The build number is 10.6.3 (Build 10D2125). Mac OS X
Server 10.6.3 to created and host the netboot image.
-Created a new OS package based on the 10.6 disk that arrived with a MBP
13-inch mid 2010. Used Composer 7.21 to create the base OS.
-Netbooting and using Casper Imaging with a MBP 13-inch works perfectly.

When the MBP 15-inch Core i5 arrived, I could netboot and apply the OS that
worked well with the 13-inch, but it would kernel panic after the first
reboot. Any reboots after that were fine. Since the build number included
with the 13-inch is higher, it should include all of the drivers for the 330
graphic processor found in the 15-inch.

As a test, I created a new OS package based on the 10.6 disk that arrived
with the MBP 15-inch. It's build number is 10.6.3 (Build 10D063a). When
you apply the MBP update, the build number becomes 10D2094. That's a lower
number than the one that comes with the MBP 13-inch.

Even with the new OS package created for use with the 15-inch MBP mid 2010,
we still experience a Kernel Panic after the very first reboot.

Since the computer will boot fine if you boot into safe mode once, I suspect
it has more to do with the Netboot image or Netboot server and something
that is not cached correctly during a reboot. (Is there any thing cached or
written to the device just before reboot of a netbooted system?)

When I build a 15-inch MBP with the 10d2125 build or the 10d2094 core OS,
the 330 GPU is recognized in the energy control panel and within System
profiler. That makes me believe it's a problem with the netboot and
rebooting process and not which core OS package I am installing.

I haven't tried partioning the 15-inch, boot from the first and Casper
image to the second. That might help prove if something with the Netboot
process is the culprit.

Jason