NevBull

Q: Snow Leopard on Mac Mini Server

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.

does anyone have any idea how I can achieve this?

Nev.

Mac Mini Server 2010, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Jun 18, 2010 5:39 AM

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Q: Snow Leopard on Mac Mini Server

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  • by Hotman2009,

    Hotman2009 Hotman2009 Jun 20, 2010 8:21 PM in response to Hotman2009
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 20, 2010 8:21 PM in response to Hotman2009
    Well after looking into it more it seems like the SD Card reader does not show in the system profiler but seems to work. It could be a OS X Client thing because my MacBook Pro which also has a card reader does not show it in the system profiler. So with this said i would have to say that i have successfully installed OS X Client on to my Mac Mini. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me, and i hope that some of my posts might help others as well.

    A big THANK YOU!! To everyone

    Ps. If anyone can confirm this theory about the card reader that would be great.

    -Andrew
  • by incredibili,

    incredibili incredibili Jun 21, 2010 2:01 AM in response to Dah•veed
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 2:01 AM in response to Dah•veed
    I agree that you need the +SL Client Install DVD+ _provided with Mac mini 2.4 (mid 2010)_: it natively has the libraries or the kext files needed by the new ethernet/SD controller!
    I've the opposite problem: I installed SL Server on my Mac mini 2.4 (mid 2010) and now I have your same problem with ethernet and SD reader...maybe a new installation with +SL Server Install DVD+ _provided with Mac mini Server (mid 2010)_ will solve it but I'm not able to find it
  • by mlyon,

    mlyon mlyon Jun 21, 2010 12:47 PM in response to incredibili
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 12:47 PM in response to incredibili
    Can you make a disk image of your software restore DVD? I'll make one of my new mac mini server disk. (you'll have to come up with your own serial number) and we can see if that fixes the problems.
  • by Steep&Deep,

    Steep&Deep Steep&Deep Jun 21, 2010 1:08 PM in response to Hotman2009
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 1:08 PM in response to Hotman2009
    I am also trying to install SL on a Mac Mini Server looks like you have it figured out. Is it possible for you to post list a step by step summary of the process that ended up working for you?
  • by Hotman2009,

    Hotman2009 Hotman2009 Jun 21, 2010 6:28 PM in response to mlyon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 6:28 PM in response to mlyon
    mlyon wrote:
    Can you make a disk image of your software restore DVD? I'll make one of my new mac mini server disk. (you'll have to come up with your own serial number) and we can see if that fixes the problems.


    Yea i would love that as well..

    @Steep&Deep

    My steps are though out this post but i will try and make a nice post of start to finish.
  • by Steep&Deep,

    Steep&Deep Steep&Deep Jun 21, 2010 7:16 PM in response to Hotman2009
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 7:16 PM in response to Hotman2009
    I would appreciate it. Help me avoid some confusion and get it correct in the first try. My biggest concern is copying and modifying the kext file. Also after you installed OS X 10.6.3 on the external HD using the mac book did you remove the external HD from the mac book and attach it to the mac mini and boot from it by holding down option and selecting the external HD while starting?
  • by JOEJOEMOJO,

    JOEJOEMOJO JOEJOEMOJO Jun 21, 2010 8:57 PM in response to dbudde
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 8:57 PM in response to dbudde
    Anyone have a similar fix for the hardwire ethernet network?
  • by Hotman2009,

    Hotman2009 Hotman2009 Jun 21, 2010 9:23 PM in response to Steep&Deep
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 9:23 PM in response to Steep&Deep
    *Start To Finish Mac Client on Mac Server*

    Before I start I would like to say that this guide is based on the actions in which i took to get my Mac Mini Server Edition to take the Mac OS X 10.6.3 Client. There are no warranties, and when I called Apple about this they told me that they currently have not looked into it and it is not supported. (But personally I feel it should be!!! HINT HINT TO APPLE)

    This guide also assumes that you have some type of knowledge of the Mac Operating system and its utilities. I will explain what needs to be done but not go into super detail. For these things you would have to find other tutorials.

    With this said lets get started

    _*Things Needed:*_
    External HardDrive (I would recommend at least 15GB)
    MacBook Pro (Or Another Mac Computer NOT the Mini Server you want to install on)
    Mac OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard DVD (Might Work With 10.6 SL DVD)
    Mac Mini Server (With Snow Leopard Server Installed on one HD)

    _*Part 1: Installing OS X 10.6.3 to External Harddrive*_
    For this part of the tutorial we will not be using the Mini Server hardware. When I say Mac I will be addressing the second Mac that is required.
    1) First Connect The External Harddrive to the MacBook Pro (Or other Mac)
    2) Next Insert the Snow Leopard 10.6.3 DVD into the computer.
    3) Restart the Mac and Hold "C" to boot into Snow Leopard Installer
    4) When the installer starts go to the top bar and Open: Utilities >Disk Utility
    5) When Disk Utility starts you will be formatting the external harddrive.
    6) Format the HardDrive to 1 Partition (OS X Journaled) "Named: OSX" (You can name it what ever you would like but i did this just to keep continuity in the tutorial. ALSO make sure that it is setup as a GUID Partition Table.
    7) After this close the Disk Utility.
    8) Install OS X 10.6.3 to the newly formated external drive.
    9) After the install is completed restart the mac and HOLD "Option / Alt" Key. You are looking to boot from the external drive.
    10) If the install is successful, you should be able to boot into the external drive and see the Intro Movie to OS X. After the movie is complete DO NOT go through setup. Instead power off the computer.
    11) You are not ready for Part 2

    _*Part 2: Creating Clean OS X 10.6.3 Restore Image*_
    For this part of the tutorial we will be using the MIni Server hardware. This is because it makes it much easier to create and restore the image to the second Harddrive in the Mac Mini Server. If you are looking for Hardware RAID 0 on the Mini Server with OS X Client it should be able to be done VIA "Target Disk Mode" but i personally have not done it.
    1) Boot Up the Mac Mini Server and login to Snow Leopard Server.
    2) Then connect the external harddrive that has the new OS X install on it.
    3) When the hardrive shows up on the desktop, Open Disk Utility
    4) With Disk Utility open you are now going to make an image of the external drive. First find the external hardrive.
    5) Next select the Partition "OSX" (The one OS X Installed on)
    6) At the top of Disk Utility there is a button that says "New Image" Click on this. It will ask you to name it. Name the file what you would like but keep all other settings the same.
    7) When the image is done you can move on to Part 3

    _*Part 3: Restoring OS X 10.6.3 Image*_
    For this part of the tutorial we will be restoring the image to the second drive in the mac mini server.
    1) If you have closed Disk Utility reopen it.
    2) In Disk Utility format the second harddrive (On the Mac Mini Server) to 1 Partition (Mac OS X Journaled) (GUID Partition Table)
    3) After the drive is done formatting we are now ready to restore the image to this harddrive.
    4) Click on the Partiton (Under the harddrive we want to install OS X client) and then click the Restore button.
    5) When the Restore GUI comes up drag the New Image of the external drive that you just made into the "Source" Field.
    6) Then drag the Partition you want to restore it on into the "Destination" Field.
    7) Click the Restore button and let the image be restored to the partition.
    7A) There is a possibility the restore will fail telling you something along the line that "The Image Needs To Be Verified" (Dont remember exactly what it says) In this situation there is an option on the top bar with Disk Utility. Click: Images> Scan Image For Restore. After the image is scanned there should be not problem with restore.
    8) If restore finished correctly you are able to move on to Part 4.

    _*Part 4: First Run & Kext Configure*_
    This part of the tutorial we will be talking about first run, fixing the SD card slot, and the Ethernet Port.
    1) After Restore is finished you will want to restart your computer and HOLD "Option / Alt" Key
    2) You should now be able to see both Harddrives. The Harddrive OS X Server is installed on and the other Harddrive which you restored OS X Client on. Boot into the Client Harddrive.
    3) If the restore was successful you should see the OS X Movie, and get the first start setup system.
    4) Go thought the setup as you would like.
    5) Next we need to install the Kexts for both SD Card & Ehternet.
    6) Personally I would recommend downloading Kext Utility. It made installing the Kexts extremely easy and worked well. [http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=Kext+Utility]
    7) Installing AppleSDXC.kext - Find the AppleSDXC.kext on the Server Harddrive IN (/System/Library/Extensions/AppleSDXC.kext) Drag it to the Client Desktop. (If using Kext Utility, drag the Kext into the program, and it will install it for you.
    7A) If you are installing them manually (Not For Beginners) You need to drag the Kexts to (/System/Library/Extensions/) and then Fix the permissions. (Not going to go into the process)
    8) Installing the IONetworkingFamily.kext is a very different process. To install the Kext we will need to make a custom Kext. When I tried to just install the one from the server it did not work well (In fact crashed the Mac when tried to use the Network Utility in the system preferences. So lets make the new Kext.
    9) First you need to take a copy of (/System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext) From the server hardrive and drag it to the desktop.
    10) Next make a copy of the (/System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext) on the Client harddrive and put it some where else on the computer. This is so that we can edit it.
    11) Open the Server Kext from the desktop, by right clicking and "Show Package Contents"
    12) Open the Client Kext that you copied the same way.
    13) You then want to replace these files in the client Kext, from the server Kext. These are (A: /Contents/PlugIns/AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext & B:/Contents/PlugIns/nvenet.kext) Copy them from server Kext to the Client Kext.
    14) After this is done, you can delete the server Kext off of the desktop and Install the Client Kext.
    15) After this is all done Restart You Computer and boot into the Client OS X.
    16) After the restart the SD card slot should work, as well as the Ethernet port.
    17) Update your software with Software Update to 10.6.4 (There should be a custom Mac Mini Client Installer as well)
    18) Snow Leopard 10.6.4 Should now be on the Mac Mini Server and functioning.

    _*Part 5: Start Up Disk (Optional)*_
    I found that on the NON-Server Mac that after i installed the extra operating system on the external it took longer to boot my MacBook Pro. To fix this i reset the Startup Disk in the System Preferences, and have had no problems.

    This would conclude my tutorial. I hope that this is not too confusing. These are the steps I took to get my Mac Mini running OS X Client 10.6.4 and i have not seen any problems. I would still like to get my hands on a Mac Mini Restore disk because it know that would install without a hitch and not needing to go thorough these steps. I hope this helps.

    (lol, took a long time to write that)

    -Andrew

    Message was edited by: Hotman2009

    Message was edited by: Hotman2009
  • by dbudde,

    dbudde dbudde Jun 21, 2010 10:09 PM in response to Hotman2009
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 10:09 PM in response to Hotman2009
    Andrew, good tutorial. One other thing I noticed. I have the external DVD drive and although it seems to work fine for reading software disks, the DVD player app does not work when booted to client OS X. I haven't looked into this yet. Just wondering if anyone else has observed this behavior.
  • by Hotman2009,

    Hotman2009 Hotman2009 Jun 21, 2010 10:58 PM in response to dbudde
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 21, 2010 10:58 PM in response to dbudde
    dbudde wrote:
    Andrew, good tutorial. One other thing I noticed. I have the external DVD drive and although it seems to work fine for reading software disks, the DVD player app does not work when booted to client OS X. I haven't looked into this yet. Just wondering if anyone else has observed this behavior.


    Thanks you dbudde. So I just plugged in my SuperDrive and tried that out. I agree with you. I was unable to load DVD Player app. D@mn. Well that means there is still something wrong. I am going to try and get my hands on a Restore DVD for the mac mini, I know a few people who work at the mac store. I am even willing to pay for the disk. Honestly idk why Apple did this, and there is no disclaimer that i can find on their site that says you cant install OS X Client on the Server machine. Even when I called Apple direct they tech told me I was the second person who asked about doing this. So idk, I am hoping they will release a way to fix/do this.


    Also anyone in the community happen to buy both Mac Mini & Mac Mini Server and try to install the client from the Recovery DVD. I almost feel that the hardware might even block that install, but then again i think my MacBook Pro recovery disk loaded the installer (On Mini Server) but after the first prompt gave me a message that i could not install it on this computer.

    Message was edited by: Hotman2009

    Message was edited by: Hotman2009
  • by Steep&Deep,

    Steep&Deep Steep&Deep Jun 22, 2010 4:45 AM in response to Hotman2009
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 22, 2010 4:45 AM in response to Hotman2009
    Great summary, you put a lot more work in to this then i expected. This will save me a bunch of time and headaches.

    Thanks!!
  • by Steep&Deep,

    Steep&Deep Steep&Deep Jun 22, 2010 4:52 AM in response to Hotman2009
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 22, 2010 4:52 AM in response to Hotman2009
    Let us know how the mac mini recovery disks work, if they work I will try to buy the recovery disks also. Any idea how hard it is to get them to sell you the mac mini recovery disks will be? Will I need to know a secret hand shake or password?

    Thanks again for the time you have put in. Their are some great & helpful people in the Mac community and you are one of them.
  • by pmcd,

    pmcd pmcd Jun 22, 2010 11:38 PM in response to Hotman2009
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 22, 2010 11:38 PM in response to Hotman2009
    Is the problem with installing the client just because the retail SL DVD is not new enough? Once there is a newer retail SL DVD will we still have this issue? I really don't want to downgrade the hardware to the normal Mini, but I don't really have a need to run the server. Might be fun to learn stuff but the only reason I bought the server version was for the faster hard drives and cpu. I never use optical media so the DVD drive is jut annoying and loud).

    philip
  • by Dah•veed,

    Dah•veed Dah•veed Jun 23, 2010 5:45 AM in response to pmcd
    Level 7 (34,815 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jun 23, 2010 5:45 AM in response to pmcd
    The Retail disks predate the new Mac mini and do not anticipate its hardware. A new Retail disk after this Mac mini should not be an issue, nor the next update of Mac OS X to 10.7.
  • by Hotman2009,

    Hotman2009 Hotman2009 Jun 23, 2010 10:03 AM in response to Dah•veed
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 23, 2010 10:03 AM in response to Dah•veed
    David.Austin.Allen wrote:
    The Retail disks predate the new Mac mini and do not anticipate its hardware. A new Retail disk after this Mac mini should not be an issue, nor the next update of Mac OS X to 10.7.


    Yea, as David Austin has said it seems be to that the disks just don't have what's needed for the new mac mini. Unless the Mini server actually has a hardware check and is causing the disk to fail. This is somthing I do not think apple would do especially for the mini because it might be sold as a server but it is not a server like the others they sell with MUCH strong cpu's. Possibly with apples new update (whenever that might be) they might push out a new SL Client dvd which will have no problem installing on this hardware.
    As per my venture to get a Mac Mini restore DVD I got really close yesterday when I tried. The girl at my local apple store went looking for the restore disks that came with there floor models. Unfortinitly she only found the one for the server. So I will be trying another store soon. For now I think I am going to use the serve OS as my HTPC. Only reason is because I am afraid there might still be more hidden driver issues and things that I don't see on my client partition. (These might be slowing down the computers performance) But I haven't given up and have to call apple tech again and see if they have looked into this issue yet.

    Well that's all for now. Lunch break is over. Haha.

    -Andrew
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