accessible view | jump to content | search | jump to site-wide navigation
SNI / NetBoot Troubleshooting
If SNI launches and you're having trouble with the installation:
PROBLEM: Installation fails immediately
SOLUTION: Be sure you're booted into the correct Netboot image. Leopard installs require the Leopard Netboot image (gray background), while Tiger installs require the Tiger Netboot image (blue background). See the Net Install Instructions (PDF) for more information.
PROBLEM: Can't select a disk - all are greyed out
SOLUTION: Click the back button enough times to exit and relaunch the installer. It should work now
PROBLEM: Netinstalls seem to hang during install
SOLUTION: Your network switch may be having a tough time negotiating the speed to your machine. You could try hardcoding the speed of the port to 100Mb or 1000Mb or try inserting a switch between the wall jack and the computer.
PROBLEM: Installs seem to take forever (more than 4 hours)
SOLUTION: Be sure you're not doing an Upgrade install. Only Erase & Installs are tested and recommended.
PROBLEM: Install fails
SOLUTION: Be sure you're not de-selecting the top level Mac OS checkbox - this causes the installer to not install the OS itself. If you're doing an apps-only install, the installer may indicate that it failed, but everything may have worked. You can try rebooting and everything may just work fine.
If SNI never appears:
Can the computer see the netboot image?
Launch the Startup Disk Preference Pane: If you see LSA OSX Install v#, then things are good.... |
 If you see a generic Network Startup icon, you likely have network problems. See the network problems section below |
Firmware Password
If the computer has a firmware password (openfirmware/EFI) configured, netbooting via the 'N' key won't work. You can test this by booting with the 'option' key instead - if you're prompted for a password, that's the problem.Hardware Requirements
- Supported platforms:
- Any Intel Mac
- All G5 Macs
- Most G4 Macs (all except the "Power Mac G4 - PCI Graphics" with MachineID: PowerMac1,2)
- You must have at least 512MB of RAM to install the LSA OS X software. 1GB is recommended. At least 2GB is recommened if you'll be running Parallels or VMware Fusion.
- Be sure your firmware is up to date
Memory Problems?
If the machine has non-Apple memory installed, try removing it to see if it corrects the problem. SNI is very sensitive to the type of memory used. Also, as mentioned above, you must have at least 256MB of RAM.If you'd like to run a memory test to check for defective (or improperly installed) memory, please check out: Memtest|OSX
Network Problems?
- Is it plugged into an ethernet? Wireless netbooting will not work.
- The network you're plugged into must be at least 100MB between the computer and the backbone (No 10MB)
- You must NOT be plugged into a NAT router
- Try removing any hubs or switches and plug directly into the wall
- Try adding a switch between the wall and the computer (this can solve some auto-negotiation problems)
- Try forcing the speed of the switch port to 100Mb/s or 1000Mb/s if you have access to the switch (this can solve some auto-negotiation problems)
- Have you tried a different cable?
- Have you tried a different port on the wall?
- Can other machines netboot successfully from that same cable?
- Does the machine get its IP address from DHCP? (this is required)
- Is it getting an IP address in the 141.211.*.* address space? (this is required)
- Do you have a firewall in place on your network?
- Are you sure your subnet has DHCP helper addresses pointing to the netboot servers?
Is this a new type of Mac?
Apple often ships a newer version of the kernel with brand-new hardware. The immediate effect of this is that the hardware is often not compatible with older kernels, and thus can't netboot in our environment.In order to assist in determining if your machine ships with newer hardware, please do the following BEFORE you reload the machine:
From a terminal on the new machine, type these commands and give me the results:
- uname -a
- sysctl hw.model
- system_profiler -detailLevel -2
- sw_vers
System Version: (example: Mac OS X 10.4.3 (8F46))
Kernel Version: (example: Darwin 8.3.0)
What OS version # is on the system install CD/DVD? (should be printed on the face of the CD - no need to boot from it)
If these differ from an already installed machine, it could indicate an incompatibility that requires us to update the NetBootImage.
CURRENT VERSIONS (if your numbers are bigger than these, we may need to update the image):
| Production Leopard (v1): | 10.5.1 9B2117 |
| Production Tiger (v16): | PPC: rev 199506: Darwin Kernel Version 8.3.0: Mon Oct 3 20:04:04 PDT 2005 (10.4.3 8F46) Intel: rev 199506 Darwin Kernel Version 8.9.4: Thu May 17 18:04:27 PDT 2007 (10.4.9 8Q1058) |
Reporting Problems
When reporting netboot problems, it's often helpful to state at which step it fails. Here's the normal progression of netbooting: 1 Flashing globe |
 2 Apple with spinning tiny globe |
 3 Just an apple |
 4 Apple with saw wheel |
 5 Blank blue screen |
|
 6 SNI launches |
 7 Installer launches |
||||
- What's the last screen you see?
- Any errors shown?
- What's the MAC address of the machine? We'll need this to examine the logs on the server...