PPC & Intel

[joelande]

What is the consensus with the group regarding building installers for PPC
and Intel Macs?

JAMF recommended we build everything (including the OS) from one master
Intel box, and only use a PPC for builds when the software required it.

I am beginning to regret that decision, as I think there are differences
in components that get installed from the OS installation regarding the
two platforms.

In particular we have noticed differences in Java components installed
when the Leopard install disk is run on a PPC vs Intel, so it appears that
Leopard does not create a "universal" OS when installed on Intel.

''''''' ^-O-O-^
+----oOO----(_)--------------+
| Joel Anderson |
| Director of Technology |
| Hibbing Public Schools |
| www.hibbing.k12.mn.us | +----------------------oOO---+ ||| || || ooO Ooo

[ernstcs]

I haven't noticed any issues thus far. The only programs I've dealt with that I know I have to separate out are Audacity and Adobe Reader...at least that's all that comes to mind. Is there some system issues or some program in particular that you've had an issue with that leads you to state there is a difference in the JAVA components? It sounds like you've done some sort of file comparison already. It'd be interesting to know the details.

Craig E

[John_Wetter]

For Leopard, we have one main image and we have not had any issues with java or anything else. I made our Leopard image on a late 2007 macbook this summer. For Tiger of course, you do need to keep separate sets of everything based on architecture..

-John

[robb1068]

The one thing I've had problems with has been printers. Creating the
installer for the print drivers is no problem, but if we Add Printers
through Casper Admin on an Intel Leopard box, PPC Tiger Macs can't use them.
If we add them using any Tiger Mac (PPC or Intel), any Mac can use them.

Robb Gibson
System Engineer - eMMS, Publishing Systems
OfficeMax : 263 Shuman Blvd. : Naperville, IL 60563
(630) 864-5242

[joelande]

Yes. For sure.
"Ernst, Craig S." <ERNSTCS at uwec.edu> on October 30, 2008 at 9:29 AM -0500 wrote:

We did a clean install of Leopard onto an eMac, and compared the version
numbers of several Java components, and they were completely different.

We discovered this by the fact that PowerSchool's web (java)-based
gradebook did not run on the eMacs.

We fixed the problem by swapping out the Java frameworks.

<I don't have my notes in front of me now, but I believe the Java Web
Start app was also different, but we did not have to change that to get
the gradebook to work>

''''''' ^-O-O-^
+----oOO----(_)--------------+
| Joel Anderson |
| Director of Technology |
| Hibbing Public Schools |
| www.hibbing.k12.mn.us | +----------------------oOO---+ ||| || || ooO Ooo

[John_Wetter]

This is more due to the version of printer drivers on the computers. We have a set of printers for Tiger and Leopard. We found this out both in our environment and confirmed with JAMF support.

Not too big a deal, but it would be nice to have something in the jamf binary to have it know which OS it is and use the right one. We have HP printers in our environment, so it's an even bigger deal as HP updates their drivers in the Apple software updates. Consider this a feature request as well...

-John

--
John Wetter
Technology Support Administrator
Technology & Information Services
Hopkins Public Schools
952-988-5373
john_wetter at hopkins.k12.mn.us