I removed the atto raid kexts and the apple 802.11 wifi drivers. I'm net booting via thunderbolt or USB so I don't need wifi.

With these removed I get a kernalcache of 25MB when I build the nbi and everything boots. 2013 MBPr's and pros to 2009 iMacs :)

Thanks for the tip! I'll give that a try tomorrow when i'm back in the office.

Having ... fun ... with this. I'm going to replace the kernel cache file generated by SIU with one generated by the following command: ```
sudo kextcache -prelinked-kernel kernelcache /System/Library/Extensions/ -kernel /mach_kernel -n -a x86_64
```

Forget that. It just boots and then shuts my 2012 iMac down.

Ok Mike Bombich's old guide (copied on AFP548) seems to have a better solution. I'm now trying:

sudo kextcache -a x86_64 -s -l -n -z -m kernelcache /System/Library/Extensions/

Sorry @Lotusshaney ... I just can't replicate what you're doing.

I got a response from Apple Enterprise support.

Thanks for providing additional info. Though your notes about the size of the kext cache are interesting, I suspect the underlying cause is the method used to update to 10.9.2.

In versions of Mac OS X prior to Lion, it was recommended that you apply a combo update to create a "universal" boot image. In OS X Lion and later, that methodology has changed somewhat. It's easy to miss, but there is a section in <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4178> for OS X Lion and later that says:

Important: Even if the computer you are imaging has the latest version of OS X installed, you must update it using the latest version of the installer to create an image that supports multiple Macs. You can redownload the installer by pressing and holding the Option key while you click the Purchases tab in the Mac App Store application.

You'll need to create your NetBoot image from a source that was updated by installing OS X 10.9.2 using the Install OS X Mavericks.app as described in that paragraph. Based on my own testing, an image created using that method should work as expected with multiple Mac hardware revisions. Please let me know if an image created using that method exhibits issues.

Basically they are saying download a fresh 10.9.2 installer from MAS, adn then recreate the whole netboot. But I suspect that franton has tried that already.

No, but i'm about to now.

This is what i did prior to shutting down my NB and running SIU, now my older systems NB.
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions/ATTO*

Going from a fresh install didn't work. The file is still 35.5Mb in size. The net boot.dmg I created earlier came from a fresh install as well. Going to try @nessts tip.

@nessts thats exactly what I do, but I boot after the delete

I am seeing the same issue, open a tix with Apple Enterprise support.

: )

Apple Enterprise Support's answer will be buy new hardware it works on the new hardware just fine.

i'm pending their response from my updates to the ticket today.

@nessts

Most of the Enterprise Support guys have no issue working with me to track down an issue. : ) I may not "like" the issue but usually it's reasonable.

C

I noted this a while back when I was testing the pre-release versions of 10.9.2. I removed the ATI/AMD kexts from mine, but I suppose any kexts that are "unnecessary" for the NetBoot process should be safe to omit. Here's what I've been doing, which will drop a new kernelcache file on your desktop that should be smaller than 32MB. It appears you can just as easily do the RAID drivers as @Lotusshaney][/url is doing. I like to put the kexts back when I'm done creating the file, no reason to delete them completely.

mkdir ~/Desktop/Extensions

sudo mv /System/Library/Extensions/ATI* ~/Desktop/Extensions/

sudo mv /System/Library/Extensions/AMD* ~/Desktop/Extensions/

sudo kextcache -v 6 -arch x86_64 -K /mach_kernel -c ~/Desktop/kernelcache /System/Library/Extensions/

sudo mv ~/Desktop/Extensions/* /System/Library/Extensions/

rmdir ~/Desktop/Extensions

The only problem removing the ATI/AMD kexts is that video redraws on older macs can be painfully slow and renders ARD almost unusable. Are you building the cache, moving the files back and then using siu ?

@franton and @jwojda, what model Macs are you having problems netbooting using a 10.9.2 nbi? I have a 13-inch MacBook Pro (Mid 2009) that I use as a test system that I can try with a 10.9.2 nbi. I'm working on creating a new 10.9.2 nbi now to test. I'll report back my findings.

@Lotusshaney

I am building my image as usual using SIU then, on my test system which is also running 10.9.2, running through the above commands to build a custom kernelcache file. Backup the bundled > 32MB kernelcache file (kernelcache.bak), drop the replacement kernelcache file into the NetBoot image set, and use that.

AFAIK, the kernelcache file needs to have kexts bundled in that allow a machine to boot and pull down the NetBoot.dmg. After that, the kexts that are actually in the NetBoot image should load and provide all the functionality that is necessary. The /System/Library/Extensions folder on the NetBoot.dmg is completely "stock" 10.9.2. It should be safe to omit any kexts from the kernelcache that do not directly affect core system tasks, network tasks, or loading the dmg.

No matter which kexts you exclude, I believe having an unmodified /System/Library/Extensions folder, and just modifying the kernelcache file, is probably the safest option.

@mpermann

In my previous tests, I found 2011 machines and earlier had this issue. I did not do extensive comparison across all models, I only had access to a few laptops, so I'm not sure exactly when this changed. A 2009 machine should exhibit the issue.

@mpermann My test computer is a late 2012 iMac. Unfortunately I have virtually all macs from 2007 onwards to support so it's crucial I get this working.

@Josh_S

Nice tip. I'll try that. Maybe I'll knock up a little app to do this that people can run after building a NetBoot image

i deleted just the kext files out of Extensions, but didn't do anything with the kext cache utility, everything is booting now.

@Josh_S

This method worked well for me. Creating a new kernelcache and swapping it into the i386/x86_64 folder was a quick and easy way to get my 10.9.2 NBI working without rebuilding it.

Why not keep a <10.9 NetBoot too?