Upgrading to OSX 10.3

January 27, 2004 3:16 AM

What's the best procedure for upgrading to Panther (OS X 10.3) on a machine that's already been upgraded from 10.1 to 10.2? "Archive and Install" sounds like the best compromise between cleanliness and laziness – any problems to watch out for?
posted by timeistight to computers & internet (7 comments total)

i just did this on an older Imac and ran into some significant issues. What kind of machine are you upgrading?

Apparently there is some suckiness in the usually descent Apple Quality Control that allows certain older Imacs, and i belive some Ibooks, to install the newer operating system without checking a certain firmware upgrade that could cause you screen to not work. If you have several machines (as i luckily did) this is not a problem, but if it's your primary PC, you should make certain that you upgrade your firmware on your BIOS before you attempt this.

[whee: first post to ask.mefi, ain't i cool?]

[ok, don't answer that.]
posted by quin at 3:47 AM on January 27, 2004

What kind of machine are you upgrading?

A dual G4 Quicksilver.
posted by timeistight at 3:57 AM on January 27, 2004

grr, descent == decent

obviously. sorry.

[on preview: from a hardware standpoint you shouldn't have any problems (TIKO). i formatted and overwrote my previous (10.2) install so i can't speak to how it will treat your old files.]

Good luck, and all. :)
posted by quin at 4:05 AM on January 27, 2004

You've said you don't want to, but my money is always on wiping the machine and doing a clean install. Down the line you get fewer problems.

Some gotchas I've seen, regardless of wether you choose a wipe or an upgrade:

1) Detach external disks. At least in the early days of Panther, some got hosed if they were attached during the install/upgrade.

2) Make backups of your data. Obvious, I know, but hubris nailed me a few times.

3) Check your software. Some isn't promised to run on 10.3 yet. This is where most of the problems I've seen come up.

Good luck.
posted by amery at 6:56 AM on January 27, 2004

Okay, so if I do a clean install, can I just restore my Applications directory, or do I need to reinstall all my software? What else do I need to backup?
posted by timeistight at 9:06 AM on January 27, 2004

I would backup first, then just try a straight upgrade install. I had absolutely no issues doing that on three machines. If you have issues, then wipe the drive, do a clean install, and restore stuff from your backup as necessary.

Re what to backup: /users/timeistight/library/ is important, as is [name of your hardrive]/library/preferences.

You should uninstall any "haxies" from Unsanity prior to trying an upgrade.

If you have a firewire drive, do some digging on the manufacturer's site and upgrade its firmware as necessary. Certainly don't plug it back in to your Mac until you've installed 10.3 and run software update.

Good luck!
posted by stonerose at 10:09 AM on January 27, 2004

The only thing that I have seen go south on an upgrade is Mail.app. Just stops functioning. Won't work, period.

I'd clean install if you have the option.

(and damn I'm late to this discussion.)
posted by grimley at 5:19 PM on January 27, 2004