Machine-specific installer disc support

[endormoon]

I’m still using what you call monolithic imaging with DeployStudio but I’ve been experimenting with InstaDMG and InstaUp2Date. I’m not happy with the instructions to use a reference release instead of a machine-specific disc.

I am currently working on an image for last year’s MacBook Pro with a Core i5 2.53GHz processor and an SD card. I believe this Mac is known as the MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010). If I start with the operating system disc and application disc that comes with the hardware, after a clean install it says it is Mac OS X 10.6.3 (10D2084.)

On the next boot, I install all the pending software updates, which as of this morning were:

iMove Update 8.0.6
Airport Utility 5.5.3
iPhoto Update 8.1.2
iWeb Update 3.0.3
iTunes 10.3.1
Remote Desktop Client Update 3.4
Mac OS X Update Combined 10.6.7
iLife Support 9.0.4

After these installed and the system has rebooted, the following software updates were pending:

ProKit Update 7.0
Snow Leopard Font Update 1.0
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 4 1.0
Safari 5.0.5
Security Update 2011-003 1.0
Security Update 2011-002 1.0
iDVD 7.1.1 Update 7.1.1

After another reboot, there were no further pending updates. At the end of this, if I look at the version of the OS installed, it says Mac OS X 10.6.7 (10J869).

And now we try a similar process with InstaDMG and InstaUp2Date:

Instead of starting with the machine-specific disc, we start with a reference release, in my case, the 10.6.3 retail box. This version will not even boot the target laptop until it has been through the InstaUp2Date process.

InstaUp2Date installs only the first set of Apple software updates, leaving items dependent on the first set uninstalled. (That’s one problem and I’m curious to hear how others deal with this.)

After it is done, booting the target machine with the new image works, amazingly, and the machine reports it is running Mac OS X 10.6.7 (10J869). But are all the hardware drivers I need really there or did I just create an image Apple will never support?

I would much rather get InstaDMG and InstaUp2Date to support the machine specific discs. However, as others have noted in various threads, InstaUp2Date fails to recognize the installer disc as valid. I don’t know how to work around that issue.

Also, how to I get the software on the “bundled software” disc to get installed?

If I can’t solve these problems I will have to keep using the monolithic imaging method, which is a pain to maintain.

To summarize, I would love to use InstaDMG and InstaUp2Date but only if I can create images from the machine-specific installer discs so I don’t end up with driver issues.

[Allister Banks]

Hey endormoon,

Thanks for posting and giving instadmg a try. There’s a sticky on this forum with more references for help, I will follow up when I can but just wanted to get you started by pointing to IRC for instant gratification.

Allister

[Anonymous]

You can use a reference release with a 10.6.7 combo update to build an image to support any machine released with the exception of the 2011 MacBook Pros and iMacs. (Ref: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4178)

In order to support the 2011 MacBook Pros and iMacs, you can build a single image to support both as they both support build 10J4139 as a starting point (Ref: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1159)
The “rules” that govern whether a reference release + combo update will support a particular model are a bit vague, personally, I would only refer to article HT4178 to determine this. As such, I always use a known good starting point for all my Macs and manage multiple images.

For example, in our labs, we decided at the start of the year that we would go with Mac OS X 10.6.4 for various reasons:
– We built a Mac OS X 10.6.4 10F569 image by using the Mac OS X 10.6.3 retail disc with the 10.6.4 Combo Updater to support all machines that shipped with Mac OS X 10.6.2 or earlier.
– We built a Mac OS X 10.6.4 10F2108 image by using a model-specific disc which supports all models where it is listed in article HT1159.
– We also built a Mac OS X 10.6.4 10F2554 image by using a model-specific disc to support the Mac Pro (Mid 2010).

I built these images using InstaDMG, but I used a machine compatible with the machine-specific installs to ensure a smooth install.
You can modify the model-specific install discs to allow any machine to run the installer, but I felt I just did not know enough about all the scripts and things it could potentially run that could cause me grief down the track.

It’s not ideal, but it works for me and has proven a lot better than the roll-of-the-dice single monolithic image using the latest Combo Update method that was used in the past.

We also use munki, so the base images are: Mac OS X 10.6.4 + iLife ’11 + Final Cut Studio 3.0 (As these are common across the board where I work. We also want to avoid distributing FCS through munki as it’s far too big).

[endormoon]

Good info, tks. Any tips on a catalog for iLife ’11 and FCPro 3 would be great. I will search for this on the forum, of course.

[Author]

Posts