Post by: pendragon on October 23, 2003, 01:50:39 PM
I plan on doing an Upgrade Install (just like the manual says (page 4). My system checks out perfectly with DW, fsck -y, and the Permissions have been repaired. The system is up to date and I have not experienced any anomalies for at least 6 months.
I figure that if something does go wrong, I can always go back later and do an Archive & Install, preserving User and Network Settings.
I have two backups of all important files and a full duplicate of Jag (via CCC) on a separate drive.
So should I listen to His Steveness (Upgrade Install) or do the Archive & Install now?
Waddya think?
TIA
Harv
Post by: Bruce_F on October 23, 2003, 02:02:51 PM
The upgrade to OS 10.2.8 caused some minor problems that had me on the phone with Apple tech support a couple times. Both times I called, I discussed with each tech person what they are recommending for upgrading. Both said the upgrade install should all that is required.
I see some message boards where people are going for a full install. I figure... why bother, unless the first method has problems.
Either way, be sure to do a backup of at least important files, if not a full system backup.
Post by: bobw on October 23, 2003, 02:05:19 PM
This is from MacFixIt today;
Panther Precautions: Recommendations for Upgrading
Tomorrow (October 24) marks the official ship date for Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther" (some users have already received their installation CDs). Over the next few days many MacFixIt readers are going to be partaking in the upgrade experience. So today would appear to be a good time to revisit our recommendations for upgrade procedures that can reduce the number, and severity, of problems you might experience. (In this discussion, we're focusing on those users upgading from an earlier version of Mac OS X.)
First, keep in mind that Panther is a major upgrade to Mac OS X, with significant changes to both the visible feature set and the underlying code. As such, many third-party utilities and applications -- especially system add-ons -- will need to be updated by their developers to ensure compatibility. Be sure to check with the developers of your frequently used software to ensure that you have Panther-compatible versions. If a particular application isn't compatible, be sure to remove it from your Login Items preferences, if applicable, so that it doesn't launch at login. Likewise, if you have third-party system add-ons -- preference panes, menu utilities, contextual menu plug-ins, Services, etc. -- that are not compatible with Panther, be sure to disable them by removing them from the appropriate folder inside /Library or ~/Library. (If you're not sure about specific software titles, disable them until after the upgrade, and then try enabling them one at a time to test them for compatibility.)
Second, although you should be backing up important data regularly anyway, it's especially important to back up such data, or even your entire hard drive, before undertaking any kind of major system upgrade. If for some reason you encounter serious problems, it's a lot easier to simply restore your system from backup than to try to rebuild it from scratch.
Finally, if you want to avoid many problems, be a conscientious upgrader; although there are always going to be issues with updates and upgrades, many of the reports we receive at MacFixIt after minor or major system updates cover issues that are actually problems with the user's own system. For example, minor disk and/or permissions corruption can prevent an update from installing properly, and sometimes changes from an update can reveal existing issues that were previously unidentified. By taking a few precautions -- such as making sure your hard drive is in good shape -- you can often avoid many of these issues.
Below is a set of procedures we recommend. Although it would be nice if there were no "maintenance" needed when installing an update, our experience is that such maintenance can, and does, make the update process go more smoothly, and in fact has allowed us to avoid many minor problems. To be fair, these procedures will take a bit of time; however, they take less time than dealing with some of the issues they can help you avoid.
1. Before installing Panther, check your startup drive for damage, and repair it if necessary. The easiest way to do this is to boot from the OS X Install CD and run Disk Utility (from the Installer menu). Click the First Aid tab, select your hard drive in the drive/volume list, and click "Repair Disk." (If you know how, you can instead start your Mac in single-user mode and use fsck, as this runs the same repair routines.) If you have a third-party disk utility such as Alsoft's DiskWarrior, you can also run that for good measure.
2. Before installing Panther, boot from your hard drive again and repair permissions on your boot volume. To do this, launch Disk Utility (located in /Applications/Utilities), click the First Aid tab, select your hard drive in the drive/volume list, and then click "Repair Disk Permissions." (It's important that you do this while booted from your hard drive, rather than from the OS X install CD or another volume, in order to perform the "correct" repairs.)
3. Install Panther. (See the tip below, "More info for Panther upgraders," for more information about installation options.)
4. After installing Panther and then booting from your hard drive (you should now be starting up into Panther!), again repair permissions via Disk Utility as described in Step 2. This will ensure that any system-level permissions that may have been corrupted or changed incorrectly -- installers are notorious for this -- are reset to the correct values.
By following the above procedures, you're not assured a problem-free upgrade, but you'll certainly have a "healthier" installation, which may help you avoid many of the issues that befall haphazard upgraders.
Post by: Spartacus on October 23, 2003, 03:02:09 PM
That's how I'm going to install Panther.
It means more work, but I feel more comfortable knowing that I have a nice and clean OS.
Although I have no real reason, I just don't trust upgrade installs or archive installs.
Post by: Mayo on October 23, 2003, 06:07:03 PM
Plus the Tidbits book has a section on making the move from 9 to 10.3, perfect for us Luddites.
You can subscribe to the Tidbits release e-mail list by contacting <tc-announce@tidbits.com>.
I agree with Spartacus. Wipe the sucker and start with a (kinda) virginal drive. No stray code fragments to turn a Panther into a skunk.
Post by: CyberPet on October 23, 2003, 07:48:30 PM
Post by: gmann on October 23, 2003, 09:09:27 PM
Post by: pendragon on October 24, 2003, 09:03:37 AM
So far,
Harv
Post by: nikki on October 24, 2003, 12:55:33 PM
Thanks for any info
Post by: Gary S on October 24, 2003, 03:14:21 PM
Inquiring minds want to know.
Post by: pendragon on October 24, 2003, 03:47:28 PM
Harv
Post by: Bruce_F on October 24, 2003, 05:04:09 PM
So far, my only complaint is that I have to wait until the third party developers catch up with Panther to customize Safari again.
SafariEnhancer in particular helps the most with it's limit setting for small type. With my cinema display, anything under 14pt. is too small to read comfortably.
The developer said it might take a couple days before he has the update finished.
Post by: dakota on October 24, 2003, 05:52:54 PM
Post by: Bill on October 24, 2003, 06:47:10 PM
Post by: Bruce_F on October 24, 2003, 07:10:21 PM
I've decided to leave all the third party enhancers alone until I see that they are working. The best thing to do is look at the developer's site or VersionTracker to see if any updates are there.
Post by: Bill on October 24, 2003, 07:26:11 PM
Post by: pendragon on October 24, 2003, 08:30:03 PM
Harv
Post by: CyberPet on October 24, 2003, 08:43:17 PM
Only peevee so far is that it seems that the "grid" on the desktop is wider, even if I put my icons close to the right side the jump maybe 20-30 pixles to the left if I arrange the icons on the desktop. Not sure how to fix that. Any ideas?
Haven't figured out if I should use Expose with corners or short commands yet, I keep activate it when I don't want to... so I'll try a while with corners and if it's too annoying I'll just use the F-keys.
Also a tip: It can feel slow to search in the new finder windows, so go into the preferences and uncheck the box for iDisk and Network if you happen to use them. That should speed up things (especially if you have iDisk, not the fastest server in the world).
Post by: Gary S on October 24, 2003, 11:04:18 PM
I've read some posts on other forums where some people were expecting Panther to be as quick as OS9x.
Post by: nikki on October 25, 2003, 01:48:27 AM
Installed Microsoft office and it open really fast.
Still installing other programs, but so far its great.
WOW limewire loads in 2 bounces.
I zeroed all data on my harddrive, backed up 10.2.8 to a another harddrive, installed panther and took my bookmarks,mail,etc. from 10.2.8 and it worked great. love this Upgrade.
Post by: Gary S on October 25, 2003, 08:55:59 AM
cool.
I was hoping there would be a noticable difference in speed.
Post by: CyberPet on October 25, 2003, 04:46:16 PM
Post by: Bruce_F on October 25, 2003, 06:38:33 PM
When I first got this G4 and installed Photoshop, I reported one time that PS launched in about 7 seconds. Now it's taking over 30 seconds!
Post by: bobw on October 25, 2003, 06:46:17 PM
Post by: Bill on October 25, 2003, 07:12:10 PM