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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Any way to boot a headless mini in single-user mode?

Any way to boot a headless mini in single-user mode?
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Simon
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May 4, 2009, 07:48 AM
 
Is there any way to boot a headless Mac mini in single-user mode and get a remote prompt? A fried of mine has a headless mini with no external display available and needs to run fsck in single-user mode to fix something.

Remote ssh login or VNC are options, but I don't know how any of that would work if the mini is booted from the install DVD.

The Xserve has a RS-232 console port for exactly this purpose. Any way to get around the lack of such a port on the mini?
     
besson3c
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May 4, 2009, 08:33 AM
 
networking is not available while in Single User Mode. Unfortunately, fsck is not run on disks that aren't marked as clean, and there is no way to force fsck to run as there is in other OSes. The closest thing I found was this:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...00308101049258

but I don't think this works in Leopard. There's an open thread here with no answer:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread....341&tstart=399

I have no idea why Apple would have done this. It's as if Apple thinks that Journaled file systems are not susceptible to problems that fsck is designed to fix...
     
Simon  (op)
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May 4, 2009, 09:31 AM
 
Well in lieu of fsck I guess she could run Disk Utility from the install DVD too.

But since there's no screen she'd have to do it remotely from her MBP and I'm guessing that won't work. I've never heard of the install DVD system offering remote login or VNC capabilities.
     
besson3c
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May 4, 2009, 09:50 AM
 
Not to sound like a broken record, but this is exactly the kind of thing that would make virtualizing OS X very handy. If this were a VM (and the host provided remote console access) we wouldn't be having this discussion.
     
Simon  (op)
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May 4, 2009, 04:36 PM
 
Be that as it may, in this case there is no VM running anyway.

The issue boils down to
- is there a way to get remote access when booting from the Leopard install DVD?
- is there a way to script for a single-user boot process in Leopard?
     
besson3c
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May 4, 2009, 05:53 PM
 
Why would you need remote access from the Leopard DVD? Why not just run fsck from the Terminal there? If you do need remote access, you could start a VNC daemon via the command line. I've used the daemon included in OSXVnc in the past for this, there should be instructions for doing so in their FAQ or something like that. I believe the Leopard DVD boot up does include networking support, although probably just DHCP.
     
Simon  (op)
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May 5, 2009, 03:07 AM
 
Umm, because you need to boot from the DVD to fix the fubar'ed main partition.

If the main disk is screwed up, you need to boot from the install DVD and fix it. You can do that either through fsck in SU mode or with regular DU. The problem is that if she has no screen available she has to be able to do it either via ssh remote login or via VNC. And I don't know of any way to get that to work while booted from the DVD install DVD. So, do you?

I already asked her about a clone that she could boot from. But she has nothing else than the install DVD.
     
besson3c
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May 5, 2009, 08:44 AM
 
Here you go, safe boot runs fsck -fy:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1884?viewlocale=en_US
     
besson3c
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May 5, 2009, 08:51 AM
 
(safe boot = shift key at boot)
     
P
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May 5, 2009, 09:14 AM
 
If she has another Mac around, she can start the mini in target disk mode and do all the work from another Mac. I'd try the hint above (besson3c) first though.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Simon  (op)
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May 5, 2009, 09:27 AM
 
Next to the mini she's also got a MBP. But if she boots the mini off the MBP in TDM, she can't use the MBP to see what she's doing on the headless mini. And AFAIK she doesn't have a third Mac available.

But the safe boot suggestion sounds excellent. I'll tell her to try that and see what happens. Thanks!
     
besson3c
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May 5, 2009, 09:51 AM
 
It's kind of counter intuitive that safe boot would force fsck, it's nothing I would have thought of trying, but I guess it sort of makes sense in a rather odd way.
     
Simon  (op)
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May 5, 2009, 09:55 AM
 
Yeah. I never heard of that before, but it sounds like a good idea. It's only weird they tied it to safe boot.
     
Simon  (op)
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May 5, 2009, 03:17 PM
 
So I called her up and walked her through it on the phone. Safe boot obviously ran fsck and fixed the issue. After a reboot she could again log in through VNC. When she ran DU it reported no more issues.

Thanks for the tip!
     
P
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May 6, 2009, 03:23 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Next to the mini she's also got a MBP. But if she boots the mini off the MBP in TDM, she can't use the MBP to see what she's doing on the headless mini. And AFAIK she doesn't have a third Mac available.
I know the issue is fixed, but it might be useful to someone else... I didn't mean that. Boot the MBP in normal, full-color Mac OS X. Connect the mini in target disk mode - it shows up as a regular HD in the filesystem. Run Disk Utility or Diskwarrior or whatever. Since it isn't a boot drive, you can repair the drive right then and there.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Simon  (op)
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May 6, 2009, 04:27 AM
 
Sounds like a plan. If you have a FW cable that is.
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 6, 2009, 04:36 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Next to the mini she's also got a MBP. But if she boots the mini off the MBP in TDM, she can't use the MBP to see what she's doing on the headless mini. And AFAIK she doesn't have a third Mac available.
I'm confused.

She could have put the Mac mini into Target Disk Mode and then booted the MacBook Pro from the Mac mini's disk.

Net result would be exactly the same as hooking up a monitor to the Mac mini (except of course that the Mac mini's system is actually running on different hardware; but the goal here is to fix the system, not the hardware)...

What'd I miss?
     
AKcrab
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May 6, 2009, 04:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
What'd I miss?
A firewire cable?
     
Simon  (op)
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May 6, 2009, 05:20 AM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
What'd I miss?
For starters, the simple fact that her PPC Tiger would never boot the MBP.
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 6, 2009, 07:20 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
For starters, the simple fact that her PPC Tiger would never boot the MBP.
Important point.

Might actually have been worth mentioning in one of your posts in this thread.

     
Simon  (op)
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May 6, 2009, 07:22 AM
 
Consider it an educational experience. Free of charge.
     
Spheric Harlot
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May 6, 2009, 07:24 AM
 
Originally Posted by Simon View Post
Consider it an educational experience. Free of charge.




*plunk*
     
Simon  (op)
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May 6, 2009, 07:24 AM
 
Yeah, exactly.
     
   
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