Rev 368

[nobrainer]

With the new release of instadmg, I’m getting the following errors when I try to image…

Finding the Installer disc for Snowleopard
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/Users/jwojda/instadmg/AddOns/InstaUp2Date/instaUp2Date.py”, line 579, in
main()
File “/Users/jwojda/instadmg/AddOns/InstaUp2Date/instaUp2Date.py”, line 545, in main
foundInstallerDiscs = findInstallerDisc.findInstallerDisc(allowedBuilds=thisController.catalogFileSettings[‘Installer Disc Builds’])
File “/Users/jwojda/instadmg/AddOns/InstaUp2Date/Resources/findInstallerDisc.py”, line 190, in findInstallerDisc
raise commonExceptions.FileNotFoundException(‘Unable to find OS Installer disc in any provided folder: ‘ + str(searchItems))
Resources.commonExceptions.FileNotFoundException: Unable to find OS Installer disc in any provided folder: [‘/Users/jwojda/instadmg/InstallerFiles/InstallerDiscs’, ‘/Users/jwojda/instadmg/InstallerFiles/BaseOS’]

As a work around I tried copying from BaseOS to InstallerDiscs, so that it resides in both locations, but I still get the above error.

[nobrainer]

I should state that I am following the instaup2date guide ([url]http://www.osxdeployment.info/wiki/InstaUp2Date_Guide[/url]) to the letter, so I have multiple catalog files, and I am using the scratch disk command to launch the process. I’ve tried copy / pasting the name from the instaDMG.bash script and the FindInstallerDisc.py over the OSX install disc file name so it matches exactly. I’ve tried with and without the installerchoices.xml also…

[code]sudo ./instaUp2Date.py -p Snowleopard.catalog –instadmg-scratch-folder /Volumes/instaDMG[/code] for my external HD partition.

[dead2sin]

I had this issue as well. In 10.6_vanilla.catalog, comment out “Installer Disc Builds” as follows:

[code]#Installer Disc Builds = 10A432, 10B504, 10C540, 10D573, 10F569[/code]

I know there is some functionality behind that change, but I’m not quite sure what it is. I’m sure Larkost might be willing to explain it 🙂

OR

What is your Installer Disc named? It needs to be “Mac OS X Install DVD.dmg”

Nate

[nobrainer]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p]I had this issue as well. In 10.6_vanilla.catalog, comment out “Installer Disc Builds” as follows:

[code]#Installer Disc Builds = 10A432, 10B504, 10C540, 10D573, 10F569[/code]

I know there is some functionality behind that change, but I’m not quite sure what it is. I’m sure Larkost might be willing to explain it 🙂

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]

Oddly enough, I was just looking at that… I found this on Apple’s site…

[url]http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1633[/url]

there’s another build revision apparently. I re-imported the disk from a newer machine that was Disc Version 1.2 (all my previous disks are 1.0, though I tried that disk too – still didn’t work). I was just about to try plugging the newest revision numbers in to see if that made a difference, if it doesn’t then I will try your suggestion of the comment.

Thank you!

[dead2sin]

I would HIGHLY suggest using a retail disc. Using the Discs that came with the machine is not a good standard process. I only use them in the case of the Mac Mini with the network issue and other custom builds that are not covered by the latest point release.

Nate

[nobrainer]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: nobrainer[/u][p][QUOTE][u]Quote by: dead2sin[/u][p]I had this issue as well. In 10.6_vanilla.catalog, comment out “Installer Disc Builds” as follows:

[code]#Installer Disc Builds = 10A432, 10B504, 10C540, 10D573, 10F569[/code]

I know there is some functionality behind that change, but I’m not quite sure what it is. I’m sure Larkost might be willing to explain it 🙂

Nate[/p][/QUOTE]

Oddly enough, I was just looking at that… I found this on Apple’s site…

[url]http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1633[/url]

there’s another build revision apparently. I re-imported the disk from a newer machine that was Disc Version 1.2 (all my previous disks are 1.0, though I tried that disk too – still didn’t work). I was just about to try plugging the newest revision numbers in to see if that made a difference, if it doesn’t then I will try your suggestion of the comment.

Thank you!

[/p][/QUOTE]

Okay, well adding the extra versions didn’t help, but commenting the whole thing out did, now the image is going!

Thank you so much!

[larkost]

Exactly where did your instal disc come from? You should not be using grey discs with the vanilla catalog files.

[golbiga]

So I’m a bit confused. I’ve always used Retail/Reference, but my brand new 27″ iMac that I’m now using to run InstaDMG came w/ a 10.6.4 disc build 10F2061. So i decided to use that instead of the 10.6.3 retail. When doing that should I just build a separate catalog file? Or if I do use 10.6.3, just reference http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1065 in the catalog?

[dead2sin]

golbiga:

If that iMac doesn’t work with the 10.6.3 Retail disc + the 10.6.4 update, you will want to use the Grey Install DVD it came with along with the iMac-specific 10.6.4 update from Apple’s website. The image you build with this would need to be completely seperate from your main workflow and used ONLY on that model iMac. I had to do this for the Mac Mini and basically made copies of my 10.6_vanilla catalog file and pointed it to the grey installed disc image and special 10.6.4 update. Then I reused all my other catalog files so it spit out a virtuall identical image to my main image, but it was for the Mac Mini only.

The goal is to make sure that you only ever use the Reference build retail discs (10.6.0 and 10.6.3 at the moment) for image that are installed on every model. When a specialized build of OS X comes out and specialized point releases, it is necessary to keep them separate and make sure they don’t get put on a model they were not meant for.

Does that clear it up?

Nate

[larkost]

[QUOTE][u]Quote by: golbiga[/u][p]So I’m a bit confused. I’ve always used Retail/Reference, but my brand new 27″ iMac that I’m now using to run InstaDMG came w/ a 10.6.4 disc build 10F2061. So i decided to use that instead of the 10.6.3 retail. When doing that should I just build a separate catalog file? Or if I do use 10.6.3, just reference http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1065 in the catalog?[/p][/QUOTE]

Because the brand new iMac use special builds you should absolutely be using the grey discs that came with them for now, but you should not be using the vanilla catalogs. The updates that are applied in the vanilla catalog are not (all) the ones needed for the new iMacs. For the moment those computers (as well as the new Mac mini’s and the new Mac Pro’s) have to be treated specially, and you need to build your own catalog files for them.

If the pattern that Apple has kept for a very long time now holds, then when 10.6.5 comes out it will support all of the computers that were out when it came out, which will presumably include these new iMacs (and the Mac mini’s and the Mac Pros, as well as the LED displays).

This new feature is actually doing exactly what it is supposed to do: keep people from running non-reail/reference discs when they are using the vanilla catalogs. So this has saved you from making a mistake that you didn’t know about. I have just this case already worked in to my MacSysAdmin presentation, and will see if I can’t get a few parts of the slides posted after the conference.

[dead2sin]

Larkost brings up a good point. I’d boot it up and see which updates it asks for and modify the 10.6_vanilla catalog specific to that model accordingly. I’ve installed all the same updates that 10.6_vanilla uses without issue (other then the point release that is model specific) without issue, but it is safer to only install exactly what you need.

Nate

[golbiga]

Ah ok, I figured since everything seemed to be running ok with the iMac based 10.6.4 there wouldn’t be any issues with using these on anything but the Minis and Mac Pros.

So for now I should do an image with 10.6.3 reference w/ the 10.6.4 vanilla catalog and then an iMac/Mini/MacPro based image until 10.6.5 comes out?

Looking forward to seeing what’s going in 1.7!

[golbiga]

So if I’m going to build the images on my iMac for now I should have two separate installs of instadmg? One for the iMac Build and one for the 10.6.3 + 10.6_Vanilla build? Just wondering because I will have two separate OS dmg’s.

[larkost]

With the new code I put in, you don’t need two InstaDMG setups, just separate catalog files and two BaseOS images. Up till now I have been telling people to use the “–legacy” flag with importDisk.py, but starting with this weekends checkin I am reversing this: don’t use the “–legacy” flag and it will import it with a naming convention to allow multiple discs to be kept, and the name will even include the build number. They will also be stored in the newer location.

Then in the catalog files for each you have the build numbers that they apply to, along with the updates for that sort of machine. I take care of the vanilla ones for you, so you just have to supply the version for your “special” computers. Then when you call the catalog for that machine it will find the correct installer image for that build.

And while you can probably copy a lot out of the vanilla catalog file, I have serious reservations about recommending that people start with a copy of that file to build the special images. That is going to lead people to assuming that they are going to be the same, when the special versions of MacOS X that come with new computers can have very different requirements. It is better to assume that they are completely different, and walk through the installs looking them up on [url]http://apple.com/support/downloads[/url]. Where they are the same you can certainly copy them from the vanilla catalog.

Oh… and the tin-foil-hatter in me does want to put out the slight note of caution: it is possible that Apple could put in some thing in an machine-specific installer that only install on an image when run from that class of hardware. It has been a while since they did it (the last was with the DVD player software), but it is something to be aware of.

[dead2sin]

So for each and every catalog, you can have a list of built numbers they apply to and it will only install that catalog of the build numbers match? Sounds nifty. I’ll have to explore this idea a little more so I fully understand it (and perhaps fuss with it a bit).

Also, to be clear, are you saying that a completely fresh 10.6 Vanilla catalog could be manually created for each special-case Model (Mac Mini, iMac, etc)?

I’ll modify the tutorial I wrote to discard the –legacy command so that the new build functionality can be used.

Nate

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