Mid-2015 Macbook Pros will NOT Pxe boot to FOG server

[rboan]

I have successfully setup and deployed Fog Imaging server for my Windows laptops and servers, and my Ubuntu laptops and servers, but I cannot get a working usb pxe boot solution for my mid-2015 Macbook Pros. The standard ipxe.efi file from pxe.org works fine on any Macbook earlier (I am using two versions of late-2013 models) but I get the following error for mid-2015’s:

Configuring (net0 08:6d:41:e6:d4:de) …NO configuration methods succeeded (http://ipxe.org/040ee186)
Could not open net1: Input/Output error (http://ipxe.org/1d6a4698)

Appears to be a dhcp timeout issue. Not enough of a delay before it loads the driver.

If I go to the pxe prompt,
ifstat: tells me net0 link is up but (closed) and there are txe and rxe errors. Also using NII

I have tried multiple .efi files and none of them work. I have also tried to install the file created by Tomsealy here (https://github.com/FOGProject/mac-boot) but no luck. Just spins for days.

[rboan]

@sebastian-roth

RESOLVED! I downloaded George1421’s file (fos-usb_03-20-18.img) and modified the grub.cfg file to point to my fog server IP. Burned to usb with Rufus and it WORKED! Works on both my late 2013’s and my mid-2015’s. Thank you all for your suggestions and guidance. This has been an ongoing project for me for months.

[Sebastian Roth]

@rboan said in Mid-2015 Macbook Pros will NOT Pxe boot to FOG server:

mid-2015 Macbook Pros

What kind of ethernet adapter do you have in this? Check the exact hardware specs in “About my Mac”… Could be that you have a Broadcom 57765-B0 chip? See more details here and check out the cross linked topics as well: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/10615/ipxe-booting-possibly-broken-on-os-x-sierra-update/15

[rboan]

No internal ethernet adapter. I have both an external Apple ethernet to usb adapter (model A1277) and an external Apple ethernet to thunderbolt adapter. The latter does not boot at all. The usb one is the one I am using.

[Quazz]

What FOG version are you on?

[Sebastian Roth]

@rboan Could still be the same Broadcom chip in the external adapters?! But could be a different issue just as well. Have you followed the iPXE specific steps to see where exactly the issue arises? http://ipxe.org/dev/driver

[rboan]

@quazz

1.5.0-RC-10

[HowToGravity]

@rboan Try this https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7727/building-usb-booting-fos-image/4 . This worked on a 2017 21.5" iMac. SN: C02WL0PVJ1G9

Though to throw this out there, maybe it will help you as well.

[george1421]

@howtogravity There are some caveats with going the usb booting route, but it does work. @rboan if you want to go down this path, I can provide some guidance.

[Sebastian Roth]

@rboan What OS X version do you have installed on those mid-2015 Macbook Pros?

[rboan]

@howtogravity

Thank you for this suggestion. I think I already tried this but I am going to give it another try. I will update soon.

[rboan]

@sebastian-roth

I am running OS X El Capitan Version 10.11.6. Not an upgrade, it came pre-installed with this version. The unit is brand new out of the box.

[rboan]

@sebastian-roth

I started working through the steps in this troubleshooting guide (http://ipxe.org/dev/driver) and finally had some kind of break through. Not sure what to do with it but some headway, nonetheless. I get the typical errors on trying to grab dhcp for net0 and net1. Then I can hit ‘s’ to go to ipxe command prompt. Once I am there, I unplug and reinsert the usb dongle. Ifstat shows me that it is now net2 (net0 is gone). I can now run dhcp net2 and I get an IP immediately. I can then go to chain http://x.x.x.x/fog/service/ipxe/boot.php and it brings up my fog menu. I am unable to do much in here because it goes through the process of loading the menu item (ie. Quick registration) and then it errors out. But this is progress. Doesn’t appear to be a driver issue. Thoughts?

[rboan]

@george1421
I would absolutely appreciate some guidance. Thank you. This has been a daily thorn in my side.

[george1421]

@rboan please look at the fog form chat bubble at the top of the browser page for some guidance.

[Sebastian Roth]

@george1421 @rboan Were you able to fix this? Could be just a spanning tree issue from what I read so far.

[rboan]

@sebastian-roth

RESOLVED! I downloaded George1421’s file (fos-usb_03-20-18.img) and modified the grub.cfg file to point to my fog server IP. Burned to usb with Rufus and it WORKED! Works on both my late 2013’s and my mid-2015’s. Thank you all for your suggestions and guidance. This has been an ongoing project for me for months.

[hernani]

hi,

Trying to use fog on the macs in my university but we have problems with Macbook.

I will be interested in getting the img file
fos-usb_03-20-18.img

where can i get it?

thx

[Sebastian Roth]

@hernani Some Macs work quite nicely doing “normal” network boot (see our wiki) but some of them have issues with the network card - so it depends on the Mac model you have.

Not sure if George’s boot image is still available but the tutorial on how to create your own is definitely still alive: https://forums.fogproject.org/topic/7727/building-usb-booting-fos-image

[hernani]

@Sebastian-Roth

You’re right. no problems on iMac with integrated lan but it doesn’t find the network card on our MBP.
I’m reading the thread about creating the omg file

thx

[george1421]

@hernani Look at the FOG forum chat (upper right corner of the window) for some additional hints.