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OS X Live DVD


spartango
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Not long after REVENGE's call to arms, the OS X live dvd team has struck gold!

 

We now have a working Live dvd construction method that is easy to follow and works quite well. In fact, it will work on either hackintosh and legit macs, depending on the kext's and boot loader used!

 

This method works because OSX has a disk image boot system in place to support its network boot system. IOHDIXController and kernel can take a path to disk image supplied to them, and mount it as /, via "imageboot", which recognizes a disk image as an attachable filesystem.

 

Further, Apple has setup a system to take a read-only disk image and attach a shadowfile to it, so that it is writeable. Intended to support a network boot system by making the user's session local and non-persistent, it is implemented in /etc/rc.netboot. Basically, vndevice (/usr/libexec/vndevice) attaches a shadow file to the dmg, and enables a copy-on-write strategy on that device--writes to the dmg are diverted to the temporary shadow file. This is much like what happens on a linux live dvd, albeit with Unionfs.

 

Normally the shadowfile is created on a local disk or network share, on either nfs or hfs. Under my method, the shadowfile is created on ramdisk formatted with hfs, and the system behaves exactly as if it were booted with netboot. The difference is that I specify that the dmg to boot from is local(file:///), and then manually start a customized rc script. The script behaves like rc.netboot, except i create a ramdisk and setup the shadowfile there instead of on a local disk. After that / is R/W and OS X boots normally into finder...and beyond.

 

More details in the link below to the InsanelyMac X Labs!

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=144128

 

post-90402-1230944853_thumb.png

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Not long after REVENGE's call to arms, the OS X live dvd team has struck gold!

 

We now have a working Live dvd construction method that is easy to follow and works quite well. In fact, it will work on either hackintosh and legit macs, depending on the kext's and boot loader used!

 

This method works because OSX has a disk image boot system in place to support its network boot system. IOHDIXController and kernel can take a path to disk image supplied to them, and mount it as /, via "imageboot", which recognizes a disk image as an attachable filesystem.

 

Further, Apple has setup a system to take a read-only disk image and attach a shadowfile to it, so that it is writeable. Intended to support a network boot system by making the user's session local and non-persistent, it is implemented in /etc/rc.netboot. Basically, vndevice (/usr/libexec/vndevice) attaches a shadow file to the dmg, and enables a copy-on-write strategy on that device--writes to the dmg are diverted to the temporary shadow file. This is much like what happens on a linux live dvd, albeit with Unionfs.

 

Normally the shadowfile is created on a local disk or network share, on either nfs or hfs. Under my method, the shadowfile is created on ramdisk formatted with hfs, and the system behaves exactly as if it were booted with netboot. The difference is that I specify that the dmg to boot from is local(file:///), and then manually start a customized rc script. The script behaves like rc.netboot, except i create a ramdisk and setup the shadowfile there instead of on a local disk. After that / is R/W and OS X boots normally into finder...and beyond.

 

More details in the link below to the InsanelyMac X Labs!

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=144128

 

post-90402-1230944853_thumb.png

 

Are there any specific details/instructions on what you need to do to make it boot an intel imac?

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Oh, i wish i had an intel mac(sort of, for odd reasons)...

It should be really straightforward on an intel mac if you build off of an existing OSX install DVD...Same procedure applies, just stay away from hackintosh bits.

Thanks guys, and give it a try!

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I do like this. I wonder if those with special hardware that requires tweaks can create custom OS X live dvd's? And can a live dvd have more then one image on it? Like maybe create a small rescue image to boot from with all the rescue tools that you'd need.

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