Problems netbooting emacs

[#1]

I have created a Net Install image using the Casper Net Install Creator. I used an emac and installed only the retail copy of 10.5; then I
downloaded and installed the Mac OS X 10.5.8 Combo Update from Apple's
website. That is all that was done to the image. Then I booted to an
external drive that had Composer on it and ran through the OS Installer
Package maker. I then uploaded it to the Casper Server via Casper Admin. My Intel Macs can netboot to this Net Install image just fine (since Mac
OS X is Universal Binary) but my eMacs can't.

When I do a netboot on my eMac it finally comes up to the Casper Imaging
splash screen and I input my credentials. After that they all get stuck
on the "Locating Disk Information" part of the splash screen and it never
gets to the part where I can choose a configuration.

Nelson

[tatiang]

I would recommend talking to JAMF Support. This is a known bug with Casper
7. It is not possible to netboot PowerPC machines such as eMacs with the
new version. Their recommendation was to use Apple's Net Install utility
(the name escapes me at the moment). I haven't had much luck with it (it
netboots, but I can't figure out how to run Casper Imaging from the net
install image), but that's the way I'm headed.
Tatian

---

Tatian Greenleaf
Associate Director of Technology
Saint Mark's School
(415) 472-8000 x1014

[John_Wetter]

Here's how we got old macs to boot...

We use the Casper NetInstall Creator to make a NetInstall package that launches Casper.

On our older computers (eMacs, flat panel iMacs) we have had a lot of problems with them kernel panicing. Andy Hakala found a discussion on Bombich's site about this. It has to do with the new nVidia graphics drivers and older computers. So, now after creating the netInstall set, I mount the dmg, and run this command:

kextcache -a ppc -m <locationofnbifolder>/ppc/mach.macosx.mkext -N -L /Volumes/Netinstall-Restore/System/Library/Extensions/

This solves the panic attacks on the older macs. I have seen the hang on 'locating drive information', even on the NetInstall set, but haven't been able to do it consistently. I do agree, there is still a problem in there, but we've at least solved one of our big ones!

Netboot images haven't worked for us on ppc machines for some time due to a bug in OS X that I have open but was told not to expect it to ever be resolved... That's what moved us to NetInstall images.

John

--
John Wetter
Technology Support Administrator
Educational Technology, Media & Information Services
Hopkins Public Schools
952-988-5373

[tatiang]

John,
Do you run the terminal command on the PPC NetInstall dmg? I use the
Netboot service to default to an Intel NetInstall image and also enable a
PPC NetInstall image, so I'm not sure which image is causing the kernel
panic (but I suspect it's the initial Intel one).

Tatian

---

Tatian Greenleaf
Associate Director of Technology
Saint Mark's School
(415) 472-8000 x1014

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 12:49 AM, John Wetter <john_wetter at hopkins.k12.mn.us > wrote:

[John_Wetter]

We have a single Leopard image that we use to boot intel and ppc computers. There does seem to be something in 10.5.8 that further breaks old computers from booting. We used to be able to get away with netbooting old flat panel iMacs to the Leopard image too even though they didn't meet the leopard specs. Something in 10.5.8 seems to have changed that...

John

--
John Wetter
Technology Support Administrator
Educational Technology, Media & Information Services
Hopkins Public Schools
952-988-5373

[Jeff-JAMF]

This is what I have learned by recent experience too. I am now using
John Wetter <john_wetter at hopkins.k12.mn.us> on August 20, 2009 at 8:13 AM -0500 wrote:
separate OS 10.5.8 images for PPC and Intel Macs.

Jeff Johnson
Technology Coordinator
Glendale-River Hills School District
Glendale, WI 53209
jeff.johnson at glendale.k12.wi.us

[taugust04]

700 MHz and 800 MHz eMacs will not NetBoot any version of Mac OS X 10.5, because Leopard is not officially supported by Apple on those computers. I keep a 10.4.11 PPC based NetBoot image just for working with some of these troublesome older G4 based computers, since a few of them have had reports of graphics issues with Leopard.

I've decided to use my own NetBoot image that auto-launches Casper Imaging, rather than the Casper Net Install Creator based image, which allows me to enable Apple Remote Desktop and monitor the imaging process better.

-- Ted August
Salve Regina University

[#8]

Me too,
I have a NetBoot image for our older machines like Ted stated below. Works great and easy to update with each new version of Casper Imaging.

Nathaniel Lindley

++++++++++
Information Technology
Saint Paul Public Schools
Saint Paul, Minnesota
nathaniel.lindley at spps.org
phone: 651-248-6861

[ernstcs]

Ditto