Hi All - I have a new 2010 Mac Mini Server and would like to install Snow Leopard (non server version) on it. When I boot from the retail SL DVD on an external USB drive, it boots ok, then I get the error screen and have to hold down the power button to restart.
All I really wanted to do was run Migration Assistant from my old SL to get my hundred apps onto the SL Server. But Noooo. It only works Server to Server. So I used the disk image and restore procedure spelled out above to get an SL 10.6.4 onto the second disk. Of course the Ethernet fix was needed.
Not all of the answers sought are in the 14 pages of this thread. There is still no answer to the problem of DVDPlayer not playing; the kext manuevers above only solved the Ethernet problem.
Since there is no way for ordinary mortals to figure out what kext(s) affect the DVDPlayer playing, I took a different approach. I copied the entire Extensions folder from the SLServer to the SL disk with the older 10.6.4 on it, rebooted, and so far anything I use seems to work in SL.
Booted from the SLServer side, as root, or sudo:
cp -rpv /System/Library/Extensions /Volumes/<SLname>/System/Library/Extensions.
Reboot onto the SL disk.
Undoubtedly there is gasping somewhere at the brute force approach.
I have a 2 week old, remanufactured, (current model) Mac Mini server. I thought the server software would be handy and I was looking forward to using some of the server services while also using the machine as a day in, day out, desktop machine with two user accounts.
Since you can't use migration assistant to migrate existing accounts from another machine to Snow Leopard Server, I painstakingly moved my users from the old machine to the server it quickly became way to cumbersome to use the server services from the same machine they were running on. Long story short, I longed for a normal machine.
The details are already listed in this thread. I just want to reinforce the fact that it works.
Using the RESTORE disc that comes with the current Mac Mini (non server version) I used Remote Install Mac OS X from another Mac. That restore disc has the proper drivers for the Ethernet card and the SD card reader. I installed Snow Leopard on the Mini and everything works perfectly. Migration assistant brought across the two user accounts from my old machine and everything is great.
The hardest part of this is getting your hands on the restore discs. The genius at the Apple store couldn't help me. They suggested I call Apple Care and ask for assistance. I was lucky enough to have a work mate who just bought a normal Mac Mini about a month before I bought mine. He lent me his discs and that all it took.
If you have gotten to the point of an installed Server OS without Ethernet, there is now a much easier and Apple-approved way to fix your problem.
Install 10.6.5 Combo Updater and everything will be fixed. AFAIK It includes all of the patches that you find in the 10.6.3 & 10.6.4 Mac Mini installs.
If you haven't gotten to the point of an installed Server OS because you are stuck with a 10.6.0 disk, find a 10.6.3 disk. Anything before that will kernel panic on boot. You can find these through all sorts of different channels -- if you have a legal license & serial number to use the OS, it will work on any disk.
The Mac OS X 10.6.5 update also installs AppleSDXC.kext (v. 1.0.1) on all systems (it's now part of the mainstream OS): so, no need to copy it from the Server install, anymore.
OTOH, on the Windows support front, one would still have to wait for a "universal" Boot Camp update (3.2?): i.e., one that includes all the drivers also for the new Mac mini (Server) hardware.
Can you just confirm please and help . I have just purchased a mac mini server and want to delete the SL server software and install SL client. I was planning on buying the external superdrive and an up to date retail copy of SL client . Install this on the empty HD , delete the SL server on the other HD and then use disc migrate from my existing mac mini to copy the files / settings etc .
Yes, that would work very well: the same thing that I did, but with a MacBook Pro SuperDrive used as a FireWire target mode DVD.
I used a recent Mac Box Set 10.6.3 family pack DVD (it also includes iLIfe '11 and iWork) to install 10.6.3 and then upgrade it to 10.6.5 (initially over AirPort: ethernet will only work after the 10.6.5 update, which installs all the needed kernel extensions).
I now use the previous Mac OS X Server hard drive as a virtual machine storage drive (you can also virtualise the Server, if you want).
Personally, I have had no problems at all with Mac OS X Client on the new Mac mini Server.
P.S.: I have also ordered a MacBook Air SuperDrive, which obviously would make things even easier... 😉 🙂
... And I will try to install Windows 7 via Boot Camp with the new external SuperDrive, when it arrives: sofar, it hasn't been possible, both with an USB flash drive (*) or with an SD card (it looks like this is a common problem with systems with more than one hard drive); and FireWire "target DVD" mode doesn't work with the Windows 7 installer.
Others have said that they managed to install Boot Camp also in the new 2010 Mac mini Server: so, probably, it is possible with an external DVD drive.
I finally got the latest model of the MacBook Air SuperDrive for my Mac mini Server: so, here are some things I discovered...
First of all, the SuperDrive inside Apple's elegant enclosure is a Hitachi-LG Data Storage model "HL-DT-ST DVDRW GX30N"; and, indeed, it only works with the Mac mini Server (and MacBook Air, of course): attaching it to a MacBook Pro, for example, didn't even activate the drive, as if it were without power.
Installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp worked perfectly booting from the external SuperDrive: no partitioning problems, as had happened previously with a USB flash drive. After having manually installed the NVIDIA graphics and Broadcom ethernet drivers from the respective websites (as also detailed elsewhere here on the forum), the only remaining problem with Boot Camp on the Mac mini Server is that there are no drivers (from NVIDIA, I presume) included for the Coprocessor and SM Bus Controller, not even in the Boot Camp 3.2 update, which thus isn't "universal": for these drivers, one still needs the Mac OS X install DVD included with the "client" Mac mini (but Apple could make them downloadable, couldn't they?). The bluetooth Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse worked out of the box, without needing any configuration; while the external SuperDrive required the Boot Camp 3.2 update in order to work again.
OTOH, quite surprisingly, booting the Mac mini Server from a retail (from the newest family pack Mac Box Set) Mac OS X 10.6.3 DVD didn't work via the external USB SuperDrive: the Apple logo and spinning wheel both appear, but the DVD spins down and after some time a prohibitory diagonally barred sign appears; so, this probably means that the Mac mini Server needs a special build of 10.6.3 in order to boot it (and, indeed, the included Mac OS X 10.6.3 Server install DVD boots perfectly from the same SuperDrive).
I had previously installed Snow Leopard client by booting the Mac mini Server from a MacBook Pro built-in SuperDrive, in FireWire target disk mode (can one say "target DVD mode"?), with the same retail 10.6.3 DVD (while a retail 10.6.0 DVD kernel panics after some time, as others also said before): and, albeit a little slowly, it worked perfectly! So, probably, FireWire target mode acts differently than direct booting via USB: maybe the DVD "sees" the target DVD Mac before the other one - who knows...?
I'm sure the external MacBook Air Superdrive works perfectly, because I've successfully cloned the 10.6.3 retail DVD to a USB flash drive with Disk Utility: and the good news is that booting from the flash drive indeed works. Strange, thus, that it doesn't work via the external USB Superdrive: the booted system should be the same.
Anyway, after having installed Snow Leopard client and updated it to 10.6.5 (which is possible in many ways), it works perfectly on the new mid-2010 Mac mini Server: which is definitely a good thing!
P.S.: One more thing: I presume that it is safe to put the MacBook Air SuperDrive on top of the Mac mini Server (which, anyway, has the AirPort antenna towards the bottom: so, there shouldn't be any interferences; and cooling air also enters via the bottom of the case)...?
You could try to clone the retail Mac OS X install DVD to a USB flash drive (with Disk Utility's restore function), an SD card or another hard drive, and then boot from there by holding the option key at startup: IIRC, it worked for me with a USB flash drive (I don't know why, however, as it didn't work by booting from the DVD, with the same system); installing the
rEFIt boot menu -
http://refit.sourceforge.net - might also make things easier.
But the simplest way would probably be to boot into the preinstalled Mac OS X Server and install the retail Mac OS X client from there: if possible, by directly choosing to install it to the empty hard drive (in the lower bay); otherwise, by opening */Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install\ DVD/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg* (which is invisible) and proceeding from there.
I haven't yet tried all options, so you might want to experiment a little (see also Google for the "OSInstall" method)...
I installed SL on the lower HD but it won't boot from it, i get that same blocking sign from trying to boot from the DVD itself
Other thing i did was install SL on my external HD. boot from the SLS install disk, open up Disk Utility, erase the Server HD so both HDs are empty, and still wont boot from the external HD or the SL Instal disc
How long does it usualy take for a new reatil disc to come out ? From what i read, it wont be a problem to boot from the next version of the retail disc
