Netboot 10.8.5 from Yosemite 10.10 Server Not Booting

[nneff]

EDIT: To save everyone the trouble who runs across this post posting the TL;DR version.

- Couldn't get older macs to boot to a 10.8 NBI or 10.9 NBI on a Yosemite Host running Server v4 unless the NBI I'm using is 10.10. My old macs can't boot or install 10.10 so they weren't booting. Newer macs booting 10.10 fine.

- Tried AutoCasperNBI, tried Casper NetInstall Image Creator, tried AutoDMG, tried building from scratch an image of a Macbook Pro, tried building from scratch an image of an old original Mac, tried wiping clients folder, tried making sure it was the only NBI in the folder, tried PRAM resets on boot, tried everything I could think of.

@pblake][/url found the fix for me. I installed Server v3.2.1 on a Macbook Pro running 10.9.5 then was able to boot a 10.9 NBI on old and new machines. I can also boot 10.8 NBIs now.

So for now I will run this 10.9 macbook pro and never update it for imaging anything older than 10.10. I will also run the 10.10 server for anything newer that I will be installing 10.10 on.

Not sure if I'm the only person running a 10.10 server imaging 10.8 macs or not, but I would advise against it after the 30+ hours I just wasted. Unfortunately new macbooks are shipping with 10.10 so if you are in the same boat as me I suggest finding an older mac to build into a server to get by.

[pblake]

I would build an image on one of these old devices, then convert it into a net boot image. Sounds like it is missing certain drivers.

[nneff]

Sorry I know it's a wall of text but that's what I did when I said I followed the old school steps.

[bpavlov]

What happens if you remove the new nbi from the netboot service on your server and only have the 10.8 nbi enabled? Also do you see the 10.8 nbi listed under System Preferences -> Startup Disks when you are booted into OS X?

[pblake · Accepted solution]

Build a 10.9 NetBoot server on one of the old MacBook pros. See if your 10.8 nbi works on it. If so, then you proved 10.10 NetBoot doesn't support 10.8. If it doesn't work, then you know your problem is with the 10.8 nbi you created.

[nneff]

Tomorrow I will try loading a laptop with 10.9 server and running it from there.

I was able to finally get a verbose error on trying to boot a 10.8 old macbook:

A little googling pointed me here: https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/discussion.html?id=7681 and here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1216733

I'm wondering how to replace the kernelcache on a machine, I've got an old macbook here running 10.8.5 no problems, i wonder if i can copy the kernelcache from it to overwrite what's out there? Or maybe try copying the one from the install disc assuming it's buried in there somewhere?

[bentoms]

@nneff, AutoCasperNBI will create the correct kernelcache (or rather move it to the right location).

I had 10.8.5 NBI's working fine.

Can you clear the /Library/NetBoot/NetBootClients()/ folder.. Restart NetBoot & retry?

[nneff]

Well we have a fix, or at least a workaround.

- I built a fresh 10.9 NBI to see if it would make a difference, and it wouldn't boot from anything at all.
- 10.10 NBI still booting on newer macs and not old.
- Tried each netboot images again one by one, made sure it was the only NBI in the folder, the clients folder was wiped, netboot service restarted, macs cleared PRAM on reboot for trying each one by one. Some failed with errors, others never booted, and 10.10 boots only on new and errors on old. At least it help categorize them based on how they fail.

- Installed Server 3.2.1 on a Macbook running 10.9. Immediately my newly created 10.9 image from yesterday boots up and works. Also some of my 10.8 NBIs boot and work. 10.9 can't even be installed on these old macs, but they can boot them for imaging I guess.

I don't know if it's a problem with my Server v4 install, or the software doesn't support it, or a physical limitation of Yosemite itself, but for now it looks like you can't netboot10.8 and possibly 10.9 on a Yosemite server running v4. At least I can't seem to get it to work. I'm too scared to jack with the server anymore since 10.10 works on it so I guess I'll just run 2 servers, one for when I need to do old macs, and another for the new ones.

Thank you for the help.