Casper Imaging - Waiting for next drive

[anpender]

I am experimenting with Casper Imaging for the first time, using version 9.8. I built my configuration in JSS and it shows up nicely in CI (running on a MacBook Pro running 10.11.3).

Everything is set up per the instructions in the admin guide (target mode imaging, erase drives, prompt for each computer name, configuration chosen, DP is our one and only, via SMB) but after I boot my victim, er, test machine, into target disk mode and connect via Thunderbolt, Casper Imaging just keeps right on "Waiting for next drive...". The target machine does show up in Finder so I know it is connecting.

Surely I've overlooked something, but darned if I can see what...

[Josh_Smith]

It can be a little finicky about when the drive was mounted. This works best for me, otherwise it's a bit hit or miss:

1. Boot to Target Disk Mode and connect Target end of cable
2. Launch, Configure, and click Start in Casper Imaging so you see "Waiting for next drive"
3. Connect other end of cable to Casper Imaging Mac and wait 2-10 seconds for Imaging to prompt for a name

If that isn't working reboot them both and try those steps again....they should be pretty reliable in that order.

[musat]

I remember when we first got Casper 5 years ago (has it really been that long already?) we tried Thunderbolt imaging because of the speed. But even back then we ran into this same issue. Thunderbolt imaging would work fine for a few Macs (two, maybe three), and then not recognize any other Mac we attached. The only response we ever got was that this happens and to reboot.

For us, that eliminated the speed benefit of Thunderbolt imaging so we switched to netboot and using the Thunderbolt-Ethernet adapter. The speed is pretty close, and we don't run into the issue of it not working after a while.

[anpender]

Thanks. I followed Josh's steps and got it to prompt me, once - but it said it wanted to image Recovery HD and so I cancelled to go check some other stuff, and I haven't been able to get it to prompt me again, despite multiple reboots and full shutdowns of both systems.

I think eventually we would netboot but I was hoping to test things out (and be able to distinguish any Casper Imaging problems from netboot problems, and postpone the need to figure out how to build said netboot set) in a simpler setup. But simple is not helpful when it is not functional! :)

[merps]

@anpender We've been using this process that seems to be pretty reliable:

• Open Disk Utility and erase the drive.
• Unmount the drive with Disk Utility
• Open Casper Imaging, set your parameters, and start the imaging process
• Mount the drive with Disk Utility.

At this point, Casper Imaging should prompt you to name the computer and begin imaging.