Tech Notes

Based on the research in Macrumours thread #1404548 by dead.xx, The following is my altered walk-through for creation of an installer for XServe2,1 (Xserve 2008)

My source is /dev/disk2

1. Enable hidden files:
   • defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true && osascript -e 'quit app "Finder"'
   • (credit: Lauri Ranta
2. Using the App Store, download — but do not run — Mavericks
   • success is a directory created, called “/Applications/Install OS X Mavericks/”
3. Mount the InstallESD disk:
   • hdiutil attach -noautoopen -noverify /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg
   • creates a /Volumes/OS X Install ESD
4. Mount the Base System:
   • hdiutil attach -noautoopen -noverify /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.dmg
   • creates a /Volumes/OS X Base System
5. use Disk Utility to format your installation media as HFS+:
   • diskutil partitionDisk /dev/disk2 1 GPT HFS+ "Install OS X Mavericks" R
   • Note: the first partition as an EFI is assumed by GPT format
6. Restore the Base System to your installation media:
   • asr restore --source /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.dmg --target /dev/disk2s2 --erase --noprompt
   • might need “sudo”
   • mounts a second “OS X Base System” as “/Volumes/OS X Base System 1”
7. copy mach_kernel from the root dir of OS X Install ESD to the root dir of your installation media (not needed, same kernel)
8. copy Packages from the root dir of Mac OS X Install ESD to /System/Installation of your installation source:
   • rm -fr /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Installation/Packages
   • cp -r /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Installation/
   • In my case, /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Installation/Packages links to a non-existent PackageLink directory; skipping
9. edit /System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg (skipped)
10. copy boot.efi form the patch (skipped: 64-bit hardware)
11. edit /System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist to add board ID and name of the mac:
    • vi /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist
    • Add Mac-F42289C8 to the first list
    • Add Xserve2,1 to the second list

    • $ diff -c /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/com.apple.recovery.boot/PlatformSupport.plist /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist

      $ diff -c /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/com.apple.recovery.boot/PlatformSupport.plist /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist

      *** /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/com.apple.recovery.boot/PlatformSupport.plist 2013-08-24 18:40:19.000000000 -0700

      — /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist 2014-02-11 22:03:45.000000000 -0800

      ***************

      *** 71,76 ****

      — 71,77 —-

          <string>Mac-C3EC7CD22292981F</string>

          <string>Mac-942B5BF58194151B</string>

          <string>Mac-F2218EC8</string>

        + <string>Mac-F42289C8</string>

          </array>

         <key>SupportedModelProperties</key>

        <array>

      ***************

      *** 127,132 ****

      — 128,134 —-

         <string>MacBookAir5,2</string>

         <string>MacPro3,1</string>

         <string>MacBookAir5,1</string>

        + <string>Xserve2,1</string>

        </array>

       </dict>

      </plist>
12. copy the modified PlatformSupport.plist to /System/Library/CoreServices/com.apple.recovery.boot
    • cp /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist /Volumes/OS X Base System 1/System/Library/CoreServices/com.apple.recovery.boot/PlatformSupport.plist
13. boot the target using your installation media, and install; while installing:
14. copy the modified PlatformSupport.plist to /System/Library/CoreServices/ while installing, before the reboot:
    • open a terminal on the target
    • cp PlatformSupport.plist /System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist (to be confirmed)

Unfortunately, during installation, the installer contacts Apple to get a list of valid hardware. That fails me.