Netboot oddities

[clareq]

I have inherited a mac network, amongst other things. I have removed the multiple versions of deploy studio, and the 8 different netboot instances, and reinstalled and recreated the netboot system. Netboot appears in the startup Disk options of a client machine and selecting it as the startup options boots the computer into DeployStudio runtime as I would expect. However, pressing N or alt at boot doesn't allow booting to network. Have I missed something obvious?

[bald_pig]

When you hold N at startup, are you getting as far as the spinning globe? or does it boot straight into OSX?

[clareq]

No spinning globe - it just boots into OSX

[bald_pig]

Are you holding down the key? You really need to hold the N key before turning on the mac, and holding it until you see the globe.

[clareq]

Yes, I hold it down as I hit the on button, and don't release it until I've booted into OSX. If I hold down alt, it boots to the boot selection screen, and I can choose the OSX disk or recovery.

[bald_pig]

In that case, the problem is not with your netboot server, as the mac should get to the globe regardless. I believe that cmd-v-n should give you a verbose output, so you can see if any errors are generated.

[Arthur]

Netboot appears in the startup Disk options of a client machine and selecting it as the startup options boots the computer into DeployStudio runtime as I would expect. However, pressing N or alt at boot doesn't allow booting to network.

I have had this issue with some old 2009-era iMacs. What model are yours?

Edited February 13, 2017 by Arthur

[clareq]

We have a cross section, but my test machine is a 2007 model

[clareq]

Thanks @Arthur tried with a different client and it worked.

[virtudesign]

We have a cross section, but my test machine is a 2007 model

The oldest machine that can netboot using the bootpicker is 2008 (only local drives shows up on older machines). But you should still be able to use the N key if you set-up the nbi file as the default boot image in Server app's Netinstall service. If you only have one nbi file then it should already be set as the default.

 

Alternately, if you still have an operating system in the 2007 machine, you can select the netboot image in the System Preferences/Startup Disk. You can also boot to an external volume if you already wiped the internal disk.