Classroom and Lab Computing

Updated 04/04/2006. Refer to the Document Revisions section for a list of updates.

These instructions below describe how to use the PSU Mac Lab Build FireWire Disks to restore a Macintosh managed by the CLC group.

1. Obtain a PSU CLC Mac Build external firewire hard disk, 6 pin male to 6 pin male firewire cable, and an AC Power Supply from the CLC Mac Team.
2. Configure and connect the FireWire Build Disk:
   • As of August 2005, it is strongly recommended that the AC Power Adapter, if equipped with your CLC Lab Build external firewire hard disk, should be used. If an AC adapter was not included with your CLC build firewire disk, please request that one be sent to you.

     Ocassionally, specifically on the eMacs, the firewire hard disk would NOT appear as a bootable item on the boot picker screen as pictured below, or the system would lockup during the boot sequence. In most cases, connecting the AC Adapter and switching the power mode on the firewire disk fixed these issues. A picture of both the new and old AC Power Adapters are pictured below (the newer style is on the left):

     
     
     
   • Connecting the Firewire HD with an AC Adapter:
     • Connect one end of the 6 pin firewire cable to either one of the firewire ports (the leftmost green arrow pictured below. Either of the ports that the green arrow is pointing to should work just fine, but if the drive still doesn't appear, try using the other port).
     • Slide the Power Switch to the rightmost position, towards the power port (to the RIGHT). Note that this is the OPPOSITE direction as before, when the AC adapter was NOT used.
     • Connect the AC Power Supply Cable into the AC port on the firewire hard disk.
     
     
     
   • Connecting the FireWire HD without an AC Adapter:
     • As indicated by the red arrow in the picture below, make sure that the switch is toward the LEFT firewire port. This must be done so that the hard disk can be powered via the firewire cable. The Mac WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BOOT from this disk UNLESS this switch is in the correct position.
     • Obtain a 6 pin to 6 pin FireWire cable. A cable should be supplied with the FireWire disk.
     • Connect one end of the firewire cable to either one of the FireWire ports on the hard disk, indicated by the green arrows in the picture below. Connect the other end of the firewire cable to the firewire port on the Mac - which might be on the rear or side of the computer. The cable can ONLY be inserted one way, so if it doesn't fit, DO NOT force the cable.
   
   
   
   
3. Power on or restart the Mac and immediately press the OPTION key.
4. IF a padlock, entry field and arrow appear, this Mac's Open Firmware security has been enabled. Enter in the lab or sig station password and click the right arrow:
   
   
   
5. On the boot devices screen, click the icon of the hard disk named PSU CLC Mac Build and then click the right pointing arrow button. (If you do not see an icon for the firewire disk click the left most "circle arrow" to re-scan for bootable devices).
   
   
   
6. NOTE: If the boot picker screen does NOT appear when pressing the OPTION key, it's possible that one of the USB devices (zip drive, media reader, keyboard, mouse, etc.) is bad. If the boot picker screen does NOT appear, try the following:
1. Power down the Mac and then unplug ALL of the USB devices, except the keyboard and mouse.
2. Power on the Mac again and hold the OPTION key.
3. If the boot picker screen STILL does not appear, try another keyboard and mouse. If that works, then the keyboard could be bad. If the boot picker screen doesn't appear when a known to be good keyboard is plugged in, then one of the USB devices is bad. To determine which USB device is bad, power down the Mac and connect each USB device ONE at a time and then power on the Mac and press the keyboard's OPTION key again. If the password dialog/boot picker screen doesn't appear, then the USB device that was just plugged in is suspect.
4. If a power supply was included with the firewire disk, then plug it into an AC power outlet and connect it to the firewire disk. (Under normal operation, the power supply will NOT be required). Move the switch on the firewire disk to the opposite direction as the red arrow - this will set the firewire disk to use the power from the power supply and not the firewire cable.


7. Once the login window appears click on the CLC Lab Build user icon:
   
   
8. Depending on what type of system (Lab or Signature Station) the Mac being reimaged should be, log in as the appropriate user as detailed below:
   
   

   Lab/Tech Pod build login:	Signature Station build login:

   
   

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   Set the DVD Region Code (Penn State University Park Lab/Kiosk Macs ONLY). Other locations should jump ahead to the Blast Image Config START section.

9. The dialog pictured below will appear - click the YES button:
   
   
   
10. NOTE: In Mac OS X 10.3 and later, users with administrative privileges aren't prompted to change the region the very first time a DVD-Video disc of a single region is inserted. Instead, the region of the DVD drive is automatically set to the region of the DVD disc that was inserted. When booted from the firewire disk, you have already logged in as an admin user.


11. The CLC_REGION1_DVD disk image will be mounted, which is a very small image of a Region 1 DVD:
    
    
    
12. Apple's DVD Player application will launch and start playing a video that states If you see this, the DVD region code has been set. Please select QUIT from the DVD Player Menu:
    
    
    
13. As the video says, under the DVD Player menu, select Quit DVD Player:
    
    
    

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    Blast Image Config START:

14. Once you've logged in PSU Blast Image Config will automatically launch and prompt you for the same password that you logged in with:
    
    
    
15. Next the Open Firmware version will be determined, and the mode and password will be automatically configured...
    
    
    
16. Update the Date and Time. It's essential that you get this correct so that Kerberos logins work correctly after the restore has completed and the Mac reboots:
    
    
    
17. Enter in the IP address, subnet mask and router for this Mac and then click the Save Network Settings button:
    
    
    
18. The DNS Servers and network names will be automatically configured at this point.
19. On the main restore dialog select the appropriate disk image. If at least 1 hard disk was found it will be listed in the Disk To Restore popup menu. If a dialog appears stating that no disks were found, click the Disk Utility button and see if there is another disk listed other than the FireWire disk. If so, click the Erase tab and click the Erase button.
20. Assuming that the correct image and disk are selected, click the Restore button to start the restore process. Depending on a lot of factors (image size, speed of Mac, speed of the FireWire disk, etc). the restore could take a few minutes to just under an hour to complete.
    
    
    
    
    
    
21. Once the restore has completed, these tasks will be automatically executed:
    1. Apply the specified network settings to the restored disk:
       
       
       
    2. Create the boot blocks and set the open firmware boot device to the restored disk:
       
       
       
22. Once the restoration process has completed, the Mac will automatically power down.
23. Disconnect the firewire hard disk when the Mac is powered down.
24. Turn on the Mac by pressing its power button. The power button looks like a semi-circle with a vertical line through the top of it.

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    The below steps currently apply ONLY to the Macs at University Park. If a branch campus needs to change the network settings on a signature station, they should rebuild the sig station, which is quite fast to do, and enter in the new network settings during the build/restore process. We are working on a method that will make this possible for non UP campuses soon.

25. Login with the lcsadmin account and force a refresh by double clicking the psuForceRadmindUpdate icon in the window that opens:
    
    
    
26. NOTE: If you forgot to disconnect the hard disk at restart time, login as lcsadmin and drag the icon of the PSU CLC Mac Build disk to the dock's "eject" icon (the trash can on the dock will change to an eject icon when a volume is being dragged):
    
    
    
27. Note that a radmind update will take many hours depending on the amount of the data there is to download and the network speeds, etc.
28. For CLC managed Macs at the University Park campus, please return the firewire build disk back to Justin's office. The branch campuses have their own firewire disks that they keep in their own control.
29. If you suspect that a firewire build HD is having problems booting or restoring PLEASE write down all error messages and inform Justin or the other Mac admins of the issue.

• 2005-08-31: Added this Document Revisions section.
• 2005-08-31: Added section for setting the DVD Region Code.
• 2006-04-04: Updated login window graphics for lab and signature station user names.