Viper705
Level 1 (8 points)
Servers Enterprise

Q: Netinstall/Netrestore won't complete the boot process.

Hi everyone,

 

I have been searching through the forums (and days of Google searches) trying various troubleshooting processes with no progress. I'm hoping someone can shed some light on what I'm doing wrong.

 

So, I'm running OS X Server 5.1.7 (Build 15S7055) on an iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) OS X 10.11.6 (Build 15G31).

Trying to get a NetInstall server so I can image a lab full of iMacs (same model as the server)

Server is running on a closed network providing DHCP to its clients through a Nortel switch. No Firewall, no blocked ports (no connection to the outside world). File sharing and NetInstall are on.

Clients are getting IP addresses and can see each-other (File sharing, ping, Startup manager sees the images provided by the server)


 

When you initiate Netboot (I use the “hold the Option Key” method, but I have tested with just ’N’ with the same result) the client will see all the images hosted. For my test I’m using a NetInstall image built from the “Install El Capitan” app downloaded from the App Store using the System Image Utility.


When you try to boot to the image the client will show the progress bar under the apple logo and it will take about 45min to 1.5 hours to fill up to full and will never progress from there. At times the progress bar will only make about 3/4 of the way and freeze there for hours.

Here is the NetInstall log entries for my latest test:

<<

Jul 19 08:10:14 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: BSDP INFORM [en5] 1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b NetBoot001 arch=i386 sysid=iMac14,1

Jul 19 08:10:14 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: NetBoot: [1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.0.1.10 pktsize 354

Jul 19 08:10:14 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: DHCP INFORM [en5]: 1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b

Jul 19 08:10:14 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: ACK sent iMac 10.0.1.10 pktsize 300

Jul 19 08:10:15 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: BSDP INFORM [en5] 1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b NetBoot001 arch=i386 sysid=iMac14,1

Jul 19 08:10:15 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: NetBoot: [1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b] BSDP ACK[LIST] sent 10.0.1.10 pktsize 354

Jul 19 08:10:15 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: DHCP INFORM [en5]: 1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b

Jul 19 08:10:15 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: ACK sent iMac 10.0.1.10 pktsize 300

Jul 19 08:10:16 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: BSDP INFORM [en5] 1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b NetBoot001 arch=i386 sysid=iMac14,1

Jul 19 08:10:16 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: NetBoot: [1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b] BSDP ACK[SELECT] sent 10.0.1.10 pktsize 371

Jul 19 08:10:16 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: DHCP INFORM [en5]: 1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b

Jul 19 08:10:16 Arch-Server bootpd[327]: ACK sent iMac 10.0.1.10 pktsize 300

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: server name Arch-Server.local

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: interface en5: ip 10.0.1.251 mask 255.255.255.0

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: subnets: Failed to convert 'domain_search': Empty array

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: bsdpd: re-reading configuration

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: bsdpd: shadow file size will be set to 48 megabytes

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: bsdpd: age time 00:15:00

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: AFPUserList_init: group com.apple.access_afp does not exist

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: DHCP DISCOVER [en5]: 1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: OFFER sent iMac 10.0.1.10 pktsize 300

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: DHCP REQUEST [en5]: 1,68:5b:35:bb:95:6b

Jul 19 09:15:39 Arch-Server bootpd[11761]: ACK sent iMac 10.0.1.10 pktsize 300

>>

 

I know what I'm not seeing is a BSDP DISCOVER/OFFER but I don't know why.

Verbose-mode on the Client does not give me anything that I can understand as to what it's doing (or not doing).

I have literally read the NetInstall chapter and followed the examples set up in the OS X Server 5.0 Essentials book and I still can't see why its not working.

 

If anyone can shed some light or if there is more info/logs/stuff I can provide please let me know. (I hope I didn't forget to mention anything I also didn't want this to be long winded and illegible)

 

Thanks in advance.

Posted on Jul 19, 2016 7:55 AM

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Viper705

Q: Netinstall/Netrestore won't complete the boot process.

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  • Helpful answers

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  • by Viper705,

    Viper705 Viper705 Jul 19, 2016 8:17 AM in response to Viper705
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 19, 2016 8:17 AM in response to Viper705

    Oh I should mention I did whitelist the server from the client side.

    Also I've been testing the images through NFS.

     

     

    (I meant to edit this into the original post and now I can't figure out how to delete a reply....)

  • by Paul Derby,Helpful

    Paul Derby Paul Derby Jul 20, 2016 5:55 AM in response to Viper705
    Level 1 (133 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 20, 2016 5:55 AM in response to Viper705

    Try booting one of the machines that hangs in "safe" mode.  Immediately after the "chime" hold down the shift key.  If the machine comes up ok, then you might have a kernel extension that is hanging the boot up process.  The extensions are in -/Library/Extensions .

     

    You can use this terminal command to list out all your kernel extensions:

     

    system_profiler SPExtensionsDataType > ~/Desktop/kextList.txt

     

    Then use your favorite text editor to edit kextList.txt    Look for entries in the list that are  "Not Signed" for possible culprits that are hanging the boot up process.  Be sure to keep an image backup of a working system and a backup of the removed extensions in case you remove one that you find out later must be present.

     

    When I updated from 10.11.5 to 10.11.6 I had some extensions that supported an mBox that had been around for ages.  OS X at level 10.11.5 and before would boot fine.  Removing the old AVID mBox extensions solved my problem.  You might have other old extensions that are causing your problems.

     

    Good Luck!!

  • by Viper705,

    Viper705 Viper705 Jul 20, 2016 4:58 AM in response to Paul Derby
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 20, 2016 4:58 AM in response to Paul Derby

    Hi thanks for the reply!

     

    I tried this out and went through about 380 extensions. Most from Apple and the rest from "Identified Developers". All of them were signed either by "Apple code signing...." or by the Developer of the extension.

     

    I should note the systems boot fine from Safe Boot, they also boot into the regular OS (I have some in El Capitan and some with Yosemite) these are fresh installs from either the recovery partition or from the Recovery system.

    They only seem to hang when booting from the NetInstall server.

  • by Paul Derby,

    Paul Derby Paul Derby Jul 20, 2016 5:23 AM in response to Viper705
    Level 1 (133 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 20, 2016 5:23 AM in response to Viper705

    If you boot the hanging machines locally with the same image you are using to do the netboot do the machines that are hanging during boot come up normally?  Usually the hangs occurs when the boot up encounters a kernel extension that it can't handle, often audio or video related kernel extensions.

     

    If you can do a "verbose" boot maybe the info on the screen will lead you to clues about where in the boot process the hang is occurring.

     

    Boot while holding down Command+V

     

    or

     

    Terminal command to enable verbose booting:  sudo nvram boot-args=”-v” 

     

    Disable with:  sudo nvram boot-args=

  • by Viper705,

    Viper705 Viper705 Jul 20, 2016 5:32 AM in response to Paul Derby
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 20, 2016 5:32 AM in response to Paul Derby

    Ya I tested the image by restoring it over Thunderbolt and it boots up just fine.

    Verbose booting on the clients during netboot says ALOT but nothing I really catches my eye as (HERE'S the problem).

    Actually the last few lines on the hang are always the same, not always in the same order (maybe you can make something of this, its from the client machines in verbose):

     

    >>

    Setting BTCoex Config: enable_2G:1, profile_2g:0, enable_5G:1, profile_5G:0

    en2: promiscuous mode enable succeeded

    en3: promiscuous mode enable succeeded

    hmm.. mismatch sizes: 3100 vs 20

    IOPPF - IODeviceTree:/efi/platform/StartupPowerEvents: 0x0

    AppleLPC::notifyPlatformASPM ASPM callback registered

    >>

  • by Paul Derby,

    Paul Derby Paul Derby Jul 20, 2016 5:44 AM in response to Viper705
    Level 1 (133 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 20, 2016 5:44 AM in response to Viper705

    Looks like you are not alone.  ryguy92000 posted the same issue on April 29, 2016.  The only reply is "This is a known issue.  There is no known workaround at this time"

     

    If no one else has solved this problem, I hope someone at Apple can help you!

  • by Viper705,

    Viper705 Viper705 Jul 20, 2016 5:55 AM in response to Paul Derby
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 20, 2016 5:55 AM in response to Paul Derby

    I just read their post. Thats a bit.... discouraging.

     

    Thanks for your help. Hopefully something gets solved soon. I'll keep plugging away at it.

  • by Brian Nesse,

    Brian Nesse Brian Nesse Jul 20, 2016 7:32 AM in response to Viper705
    Level 4 (3,007 points)
    Jul 20, 2016 7:32 AM in response to Viper705

    Which version of the “Install El Capitan” app do you have? If it's not also the 10.11.6 version, you're seeing a long standing El Capitan NetBoot issue.

  • by Viper705,

    Viper705 Viper705 Jul 20, 2016 7:42 AM in response to Brian Nesse
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Jul 20, 2016 7:42 AM in response to Brian Nesse

    It was whatever version available July 15th. I am seeing an updated version as of July18th. I'm going to go ahead and download that one, create an image and test. I'll let everyone know what happens.

     

    This would also mean my NetRestore Image was made with the same 10.5.xx possibly...

     

    Worth a try, thanks!

  • by phillyc22,

    phillyc22 phillyc22 Aug 9, 2016 11:45 AM in response to Viper705
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 9, 2016 11:45 AM in response to Viper705

    Any luck with the newer version, Viper? I believe the newest version is 10.11.6. I am having the same issue. Sometimes it goes through and sometimes it is stuck at 3/4 of the way on the loading bar. It happens randomly.

  • by Viper705,

    Viper705 Viper705 Aug 9, 2016 12:06 PM in response to phillyc22
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Aug 9, 2016 12:06 PM in response to phillyc22

    No luck. I've had to put this endeavour on pause for now due to deadlines. First lab will just have to be imaged via thunderbolt cable.

    I noticed on the client computers (in verbose mode) I keep getting "Too many corpses created" messages that flood the screen.

    I've also since tried Deploy Studio suggested to me in a different forum. No success there either.

     

    I'll pick this back up again once things "slow down".

  • by Brian Nesse,

    Brian Nesse Brian Nesse Aug 9, 2016 12:11 PM in response to Viper705
    Level 4 (3,007 points)
    Aug 9, 2016 12:11 PM in response to Viper705

    As I noted in the other thread on this topic... You can't do an upgrade install. You need to do a fresh install to get the updated Recovery HD, which is where the underlying problem is fixed.

  • by phillyc22,

    phillyc22 phillyc22 Aug 9, 2016 12:18 PM in response to Brian Nesse
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 9, 2016 12:18 PM in response to Brian Nesse

    So erase the HD first before booting from Netinstall? and getting the latest build of El Cap? Is that what you mean, Brian?

  • by Viper705,

    Viper705 Viper705 Aug 9, 2016 12:20 PM in response to Brian Nesse
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Aug 9, 2016 12:20 PM in response to Brian Nesse

    Do you mean on the original image itself or on the Server. I guess my question could also be does the image (.nbi file) contain the recovery partition info or is that pulled from the NetBoot server during imaging.

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