More MBP i5/i7 oddities

[jarednichols]

Hi-

After updating our Netboot image to 10.6.3 (10D2125) and our standard 10.6.3 build to the same in Imaging, I’ve got a brand new i5-based 15” MBP that is kernel panicing whenever you log out or restart it with that build of the OS.

I thought, ok, let’s rule out hardware so I grabbed the discs that came with it and rolled over the installed OS with the one on disk. After checking the build number, I’m a bit perplexed. It’s 10.6.3 10D2084, which is not what is listed on Apple’s KB for shipping OSes on Intel-based Macs ( http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1159?locale=en_US)

Has anyone else run into this? Does Apple actually have like 3 forks of 10.6.3 running out there and you have to run hardware specific builds on each one (rather than the latest build on all of them)?

Thanks
j
--
Jared F. Nichols
Desktop Engineer, Client Services
Information Services Department
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
244 Wood Street
Lexington, Massachusetts 02420
781.981.5436

[#2]

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

[#3]

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

[RobertHammen]

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

[abenedict]

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

[jarednichols]

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

[jarednichols]

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

j

[#8]

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

[jhalvorson]

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