Leopard upgrade woes
Apple's upgrades have been flawless for so many years that I've grown
to expect smooth sailing. Not this time. Some folks have trouble
because their accounts don't appear [1] while I am having trouble
because I cannot log in [2]. Apple's fix [3] does let me change my
password but does not resolve the problem (perhaps due to interactions
with FileVault, unclear.)
Tips:
- There appears to be a patch already; I missed it by mere hours [4].
Make sure you grab the most recent OS patches before you upgrade.
- Anecdotal evidence points to archive and install as a more
successful path than a straight upgrade. Sometimes running an archive
& install after a straight upgrade will fix things, too.
- If I had this to do over again I would reset my user accounts to
short passwords (under 8 characters,) run the upgrade, and then set
them to something more secure again. And yes, I should reset my
passwords more frequently.
- As always, MAKE A FULL BACKUP before you upgrade your OS.
While I have a lot of other work I *really* wanted to be doing right
now at least I did not lose data. I wish I could just do a clean
install, get my work done, and worry about migrating all data later
but that is not an option with FileVault. Some folks even suggest
turning off FileVault if you want to migrate data [5] but that soaks
up a lot of time and does not (yet at least) appear to be a wide- spread problem.
And if possible, it might make sense to wait another week or so before
upgrading.
Aleecia McDonald" aleecia.com
[1] http://www.macfixitforums.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=leopard&Number=836403&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=31&fpart=1
[2] http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1202129&tstart=0
[3] http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306840
[4] http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/10/27/apple.updates.leopard/
[5] http://maclawstudents.com/blog/product-reviews/turn-off-filevault-before-leopard-upgrade/
-----------
I highly recommend the PDF booklet "Take Control of Upgrading to
Leopard":
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/leopard-upgrading.html
It cost $10 but its worth it if you have any concerns or just want to
know the best practices for doing the upgrade.
But the bottom line is pretty much what Aleecia said:
BACK UP YOUR DATA!!!!! (use something like Superduper ( http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/)
or Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html) are
free for disk cloning) These will make bootable disk copies to an
external USB or Fireware Drive. (Well the USB drive might not actually
be bootable, but it would be a clone and will work for restoring after
an Erase and Install)
You can do the "Archive and Install" which copies all the config stuff
to your existing drive and then does a fresh and clean install of the
OS. Then after the install you can automatically get your environment
back to pretty much the way it was before and get back to work.
But better, (assuming that you made the full clone backup of your
drive and you made sure it worked by booting the external drive!) is
to do the "Erase and Install". That completely erases your drive in
the computer and makes a pristine "factory fresh" install on your hard
drive. At the end of the install you are given the option to copy all
your apps and configurations for any users on the old setup that is on
your backup drive into the new install. You can then basically get
back to work (or really spend your time playing with all the new
Leopard features).
DON"T DO THE BASIC UPGRADE. People who are having problems are the
ones that did the easy upgrade option. This mushes in the new Leopard
with all the crud you have accumulated in your system, preferences,
Library, kernel extensions and so on. I feel dirty just thinking about
it...
Just don't forget to do the backup, maybe even twice to two different
external disks before you do any install...
And then get another drive and start using Time Machine to do all your
backups.For the next release of OSX you'll be able to use Time Machine
to do your restore after the Erase and Install upgrade... (Don't
erase the backups you did before the Leopard Upgrade until you are
sure everything is working on your new Leopard)
Also as Aleecia said if you are using FileVault... You have to disable
it to do the backups and then do the Erase and Install or to do the
Archive and Install. Personally I would not encrypt my whole drive
with FileVault... If you are paranoid (or they really are out to get
you) encrypt just the files you are worried about...IMHO
Rob
---------------
Apple's missing advice on Leopard blue screen plague
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
I've just spent an hour on the phone with a good friend who has been
plagued by Leopard's blue screen restart problem. Apple has issued
advice but left out a critical slice of information - here it is.
The problem is as follows: After completing an upgrade installation
of Leopard and restarting the computer, a "blue screen" may appear for
an extended period of time.
(Let's leave aside cheap shots about how Apple and Microsoft now
share yet another OS "feature", the eponymous 'blue screen of death'.)
Apple suggests the problem may stem from third-party enhancement
software, such as that provided by Unsanity Software. The latter firm
denies this, but has admitted earlier versions of its software may be
implicated.
Apple recommends most users reinstall Leopard - but as my friend
found, that's hard to do when your Mac won't restart and your Leopard
install disc is no longer in the optical drive. How do you get the DVD
into that drive when the Mac won't start.