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drjeff
Contributor
Contributor

install error (SLS .dmg)

I have read here that certain OS 10.6 server .dmgs can not be installed into a Fusion VM. I was also unable to do so and wonder if there is any "fool" (me) proof way of doing so?

Jeff

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dariusd
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

For .dmg files obtained directly from Apple, simply double-click on the file to "mount" it on the host.  It'll pop up a little window with a progress bar as it verifies the checksum embedded in the image.  Let that run to completion (i.e. don't click "Skip").  If it finishes without showing any error messages, your disk image is good.  You can then "eject" the disc image when the verification is done.

Note that the above procedure will validate the integrity of a .dmg file, but it will not validate that it is the same image as the original on the Apple website.  For instance, the above procedure will tell you if a download has been corrupted, but it will not tell you if – for example – a defective physical DVD was burned using the valid .dmg and then a new (and faulty) disc image was created from the defective media, or if the disc image has been deliberately modified at some point.  Not accusing you of having done either of those things, but just giving examples... Smiley Wink

Cheers,

--

Darius

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dariusd
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi drjeff,

Just to double-check that I'm understanding your description: You have started the installation process inside the virtual machine, having chosen the installation language, accepted the license agreement, choosing to install the OS onto Macintosh HD, chosen which components to install, etc. (possibly not in that exact order... it's been a while since I installed SLS), then waited some period of time (maybe 20 minutes to an hour) while it installed stuff onto the hard disk, and then the virtual machine has rebooted to the spinning cog and eventually the circle-with-slash.  Is that correct?

Cheers,

--

Darius

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drjeff
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks so much for your persistence Darius. Yes, when double-clicked the dmg mounts just fine. The procedure you describe for installing inside the VM is exactly what I have done *except* that the circle-with-slash displays after a few minutes and the VM does not restart. I've never let it run for more than a few minutes (certainly not even close to 20) because I thought that Fusion was displaying an install error.

Should I just wait longer??

Thanks again.

Jeff

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drjeff
Contributor
Contributor

Well, I tried to give the install more time. No success yet after 90 minutes (see the attached screen shot).

Jeff

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dariusd
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi Jeff,

Sorry if I was unclear... Once you have the circle-with-slash, something has already failed and there is usually no point waiting more than a minute or so longer.  At that point, it's not installing anything more.

Before you got the circle-with-slash, though, you should have gone through the screens where you selected the installation language, accepted the license agreement, chosen the destination disk for the installation, then after answering all those questions, you should immediately get a screen with the heading "Installing" and a progress bar showing an "Estimated time remaining" at the bottom.  Usually that screen is there for about twenty minutes, and sometimes up to an hour, after which the virtual machine will restart itself and the Server Setup process would normally begin.

Did you see that "Installing" screen with the progress bar at all?

I would post a screen shot, but I can't find one available, and I presently do not have access to my work Macs so I can't make one either...

Thanks,
--
Darius

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drjeff
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks againn Darius. No indication that anything is being installed except the spinning cog. No set up screens after the initial ones (that show the maximum size and ram alloted to the VM).

The developer is currently sending a new dmg which we will compare (MD5) to the original.

Jeff

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dariusd
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

I am now confused... earlier you say that you passed a language selection screen and a license agreement screen inside the VM, but your latest description seems to entirely contradict that.

If my new understanding is correct, it is readily explained by an incorrectly-created disk image.  Has the developer there created the disk image (.dmg) themselves, directly from physical DVD?  It's very easy to incorrectly image the disc, e.g. by selecting just the "Install Mac OS X Server" partition, instead of the entire device, as the image source.  Imaging only the "Install Mac OS X Server" partition will cause this exact failure.  You need to select the entire device for the image to be usable.

--

Darius

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SvenGus
Expert
Expert

And this should really be specified also in the KB documents (but maybe it already is?): it has been a very common issue, here on the forums...

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drjeff
Contributor
Contributor

Sorry for the delay in replying but I had asked the developer to burn a new .dmg file. The first time I tried to install, it hung at "15 minutes remaining" for hours. The third time however, it installed sucessfully. Thanks for your help.

I agree with Sven thatv a KB doc about this issue could have saved a lot of time.

Jeff

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

The version issue is by now an old and settled issue and while a mention in a KB would be appropriate nonetheless it has and had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the real issue here!  The real issue from the very beginning was defective media in the form of either an improperly created .dmg or a corrupted .dmg file and apparently continued for more then one iteration! Smiley Wink

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SvenGus
Expert
Expert

Sorry, I actually intended the .dmg issue, i.e., the fact that you must make the image from the entire device, which ideally should be officially documented (it only applies to OS X images, AFAIK).

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