# Mac OS X 10.4.3 - Update good/bad?



## fryke (Oct 31, 2005)

How did your update go? If you had any problems, please describe them below...

(If you downloaded the delta-updater from Apple's website, please choose SU, since that'd give you the same update...)

HINT: If you haven't updated yet, use the combo updater.


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## Satcomer (Oct 31, 2005)

I did have a problem with the Delta update but I narrowed the problem to be my new Firewire Hard Drive staying asleep, it caused a Kernal Panic upon first update restart. A quick trip to Console.app pointed that out to me. 

I then downloaded the 10.4.3 combo and all went well. I did noticed though one thing in the 10.4.3 Update, Disk Utility's Repair Permissions reports it fixes the same Widget permissions every time now. Also it looks like (to me at least to me) that the new Safari upgrade breaks  AcidSearch v6.0 again. Can anyone else verify these claims?


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## barhar (Oct 31, 2005)

Well, someone at Apple is in trouble. They accidently removed the toolbar in 'System Preferences' (version 3.3).  To return to the Utility list, one must now do a 'Command L' or 'View, Show All Preferences' menu item selection. 
But then, the only toolbar I ever liked was with 'Panther's 'System Preferences' (version 2.2); which, I still use with 'Tiger' version 10.4.0, 10.4.2, or 10.4.3.

What I like about MacOS X version 10.4.3 - 'Disk Utility' can now verify the boot drive. Well, at least the buttons are now enabled, when the boot drive is selected.


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## GSR13 (Oct 31, 2005)

So far, so good. It did fix my issue with safari and firefox not resolving domain names correctly.

Thumbs up at this point.


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## Virtual Warrior (Oct 31, 2005)

My install went awry rapidly. Need help badly. I attempted to install the 10.4.3 update, but received an error message, that told me there was an unexpected error in the installation and that the install program had been placed in the trash. It also told me to attempt to load the installation via the Finder.

Did as I was instructed and rebooted machine. Or attempted to. Now the machine goes through the process, and gets to the loading OS X screen briefly, then I get the loading spiral, which appears and disappears, but no Tiger!!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can't get to permissions or anything else! Someone at Apple suggested I put in the Original Tiger CD and hold down the "C" key just to get to options, but that won't work. Now the CD is in the drive and I don't know how to eject it either (This is a Mac Mini), Some of the things I've tried.

Held down "Option" and attempted to rebooted to the Open Firmware Boot Selector screen. Problem is I'm using a non-Apple keyboard and although the Alt key operated as Option key, it doesn't seem to respond now.

Place my Tiger cd in drive and held down "C" key. Now thats in there 

Held down both mouse buttons and rebooted to try to eject cd.  No luck!

Any help greatly appreciated. I use this machine for everything. And no, didn't back up!! But to get unit back up would be ok, I'll start over.

Thanks!


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## ShadowTech (Oct 31, 2005)

Only thing is Safari - Its not compatible with my 3 plugins (acidseach, pdf, .doc viewer) and the tab bar looks weird in Safari now (with the Uno interface mod).
Also, Firefoxy (changes buttons in firefox) is kinda broken. The dropdowns look mangled now.
On the plus side, so far I have noticed Spotlight works ALOT faster.

EDIT:
On second thought, it appears my word.doc and PDF viewer plugins are fine. It was Acid Search, and something else that I can't figure out.

It just gives me the warning " (null) (null) v1.0b and (null) (null) v0.51 "

Anyone know what plugins those could be?


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## mdmalin (Oct 31, 2005)

My iBook G4 updated with no problems.  I feel sorry for the dude with the Mac Mini, though.  Good luck, man.


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## MBHockey (Oct 31, 2005)

GSR13 said:
			
		

> So far, so good. It did fix my issue with safari and firefox not resolving domain names correctly.
> 
> Thumbs up at this point.




Hmm this might be the reason why Safari seems so much snappier.

It used to hang on "Contacting www.blabla.com" for a lot of sites for at least 2 seconds every time.  Very annoying.


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## sirstaunch (Oct 31, 2005)

I haven't seen the spinning beach ball since the update, everything seems snappier, widgets, safari, mail, but do all good things last for ever, hmmm

And as someone has mentioned, yeah Safari is logging onto sites more promptly now 

I'm happy


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## Veljo (Oct 31, 2005)

10.4.3 never came up in Software Update. Anyway I got the combo updater and everything seems the same.

Safari is still crap with animated gifs.


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## barracuda (Nov 1, 2005)

I alawys do the combo update..worked real good too.


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## YILKA (Nov 1, 2005)

My Disk Utilities showed many repair things, and it show again and again for each time run.
Not so sure about that.
The rest seems quite ok


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## powermac (Nov 1, 2005)

Had trouble downloading through Software Update, got to about 41.0 mb and it would stop downloading. Outside of that, I have not had a problem.


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## Mikuro (Nov 1, 2005)

If anyone's interested, you can find a more detailed list of changed at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301984

I've not yet installed the update. I'm going to verify/repair my boot volume first, and before I do that, I need to.....find my freakin' Tiger DVD! Where the heck did I put that thing.........


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## barhar (Nov 1, 2005)

Well, then there is also the fact that one of Apple's NeXTStep'ers decided to rename the 'fast user switching' menu's 'Login Window...' and 'Account Preferences...' menu items - as 'LOG_OUT_STRING' and 'ACCOUNT_PREFERENCES_STRING', respectively!

[
Added 01.11.2005, at 07.32.

Sehr interessant!, A previously cloned copy of MacOS X 10.4.2 was updated via MacOS X 10.4.3 UpdateCombo; and its 'fast user switching' menu's 'Login Window...' and 'Account Preferences...' menu items are properly displayed.

Very interesing ...
]

[
Added 01.11.2005, at 08.46.

Copying the 'user.menu' MenuExtra plugin from the external Firewire drive's '/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/' folder to the boot drive's equivalent folder, returned the 'fast user switching' menu's 'Login Window...' and 'Account Preferences...' menu items.
]


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## sirstaunch (Nov 1, 2005)

Mikuro said:
			
		

> and before I do that, I need to.....find my freakin' Tiger DVD! Where the heck did I put that thing.........


It's at the bottom of the drawer underneath all your latest discs


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## Jason (Nov 1, 2005)

looks to be going fine on my iBook G3 800mhz... (10.4 is definitely the last OS for this guy, it's already feeling old)


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## arodweb (Nov 1, 2005)

everytime i run an app the fans on my dual 2.5 cranck up really loud for a few seconds . otherwise everything's stable


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## eliezer (Nov 1, 2005)

ye. i agree. safari is much quicker. loving it.

haven't really noticed any other changes, but i did only just downloaded it


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## Mikuro (Nov 1, 2005)

I upgraded from 10.4.2 using the combo updater. Aside from a very long wait at the gray "spinny thing" screen during startup, everything's been smooth.

Safari does seem a bit faster, but I attribute that to the fact that PithHelmet no longer works.  It always slows Safari down, but it's such a useful tool that I hate to be without it anyway. Despite what Apple says, Safari still does not pass the Acid2 test for me. And that's the first thing they say in their changes list, too. Boo! (Although it's a pretty retarded test, anyway, since it demands that the browser rob the user of the ability to specify minimum font sizes, which is _pure evil_.)

I'm glad that the annoying, misleading "not responding" label on my iChat Agent is now gone from Activity Monitor. Aside from that, I haven't noticed any differences. And that's the sign of a good incremental update, if you ask me.


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## fryke (Nov 1, 2005)

Acid2 test works perfectly here on Safari 2.0.2 (416.12).


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## bobw (Nov 1, 2005)

PithHelmet broken, fix It appears that PithHelmet, the content filtering/add-on tool for Safari is once again broken under Mac OS X 10.4.3. Until the developer updates the software, a poster to VersionTracker's discussion boards has found a workaround:

Close Safari.
Navigate to /Library/Application Support/SIMBL/PithHelmet.bundle.
Open bundle and go to Contents.
Open info.plist - You can use either Property List Editor or TextEdit.
Locate BundleIdentifier for com.apple.Safari.
Change BOTH MaxBundleVersion AND MinBundleVersion to 416.12.
Save and relaunch Safari.


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## lilbandit (Nov 1, 2005)

All good on my setup. DP 2ghz Powermac, no problems. Safari a little more responsive, dashboard still fairly slow off the mark though. Ran Macjanitor and diskutility before updating.


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## fryke (Nov 1, 2005)

I don't want to jump to a conclusion here, but let's do a preliminary one all the same... 

1.) In my opinion, there's still too many people using Software Update instead of the combo updater for system updates.

2.) Users of PithHelmet should be made aware of the fact that it's hard-linked to the Safari version, i.e. Safari will be broken at any update if PithHelmet is used. I'm not sure whether the developer of PH can fix this for the future or whether he even intends to. But users should remove PH before updating Safari and/or the system. (And it's not SIMBL at fault in my opinion, because I'm using other add-ons that make use of SIMBL without these problems...)

3.) 10.4.3 is not yet _the_ Tiger update that fixes Tiger to the state we want, although a lot of work has gone into this update. But it's close. With Panther, it was 10.3.4 that got the best reviews. (After that, things went downhill, but let's keep our fingers crossed that Apple doesn't repeat _those_ errors...)


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## Esquilinho (Nov 1, 2005)

fryke said:
			
		

> 1.) In my opinion, there's still too many people using Software Update instead of the combo updater for system updates.



Just a question: why exactly should we use the combo update instead of the Delta? I thought if I had 10.4.2 and wanted to update to 10.4.3, the best would be to choose the Delta. Is there a logical reason to do otherwise? I like knowing these things...


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## bobw (Nov 1, 2005)

A workaround that has proved successful for various problems caused by previous incremental Mac OS X updaters is re-application of the current combination updater. Doing so overwrites potentially problem-causing files that were not replaced by the "Delta" (adjacent version-to-version) update available through Software Update or as a standalone download.


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## nixgeek (Nov 1, 2005)

I just downloaded the Combo.  I like to have it just in case for other machines that haven't been updated to 10.4.3 and don't have the speed (or even a connection) to download the Delta.  And at only 10 MB more than Delta, it's probably worth it.

I'm planning on installing it tonight, so hopefully all goes well.


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## Esquilinho (Nov 1, 2005)

bobw said:
			
		

> A workaround that has proved successful for various problems caused by previous incremental Mac OS X updaters is re-application of the current combination updater. Doing so overwrites potentially problem-causing files that were not replaced by the "Delta" (adjacent version-to-version) update available through Software Update or as a standalone download.



So does that mean I should just go for the combo, or should I try the delta first and THEN if something goes wrong, apply the combo?


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## bobw (Nov 1, 2005)

I always use the Combo updates.


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## barhar (Nov 1, 2005)

'... why exactly should we use the combo update instead of the Delta?', for the fact that a greater amount of content will be replaced; instead of only a subset.

I cannot be any more specific, since each Update and UpdateCombo is unique in what it installs.


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## fryke (Nov 1, 2005)

About first installing the delta and in case of troubles installing the combo: Just start with the combo is my opinion - why should you go through the delta hoop at all? Only because the download's a bit smaller? That's only an argument for dial-up users, and even those should consider the future, too... You'll be glad you have it around if you ever have to reinstall or have to help another person to keep up-to-date. (It's much quicker to have the latest combo on a FW drive than to always have to download the deltas or combos...)


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## Lt Major Burns (Nov 1, 2005)

why shouldn't we use software update? (this is a rant btw) - it's an Apple thing, its very microsoft having to go to a website and downloading something and installing it.

Software update is simple.


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## nealt (Nov 1, 2005)

All versions crash on launch. Can only run it from the install CD. Any ideas?
G$ tower MDD.


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## lurk (Nov 1, 2005)

FYI, my disk utility works fine.


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## fryke (Nov 2, 2005)

Lt. Major Burns: Well, I've personally been using SU for a long time and it always worked fine. Even the horror updates like iTunes 2.0.x did not kill my computer(s). My girlfriend is still updating her iBook G3 800 through Software Update without any problems whatsoever (and I leave her doing that, because of that). However: I've heard one too many stories about people creating havoc on their computers by simply updating to a new version of OS X through SU and then solving the problem with the combo updater. Hence my activity in promoting the download of the combo updaters.

I think SU should have preference options that would let users decide to preferrably get the combo updaters and to automatically save them in a set location, like in "~/Updaters", for example. Of course I'd also like to see less problems mentioned from people using SU/delta updaters.


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## barhar (Nov 2, 2005)

'... why shouldn't we use software update? (this is a rant btw) - it's an Apple thing, its very microsoft having to go to a website and downloading something and installing it.', ?

01. Windoze98 has a 'Start, Windows Update' menu item; and yes - System 9.2.2 (and earlier?) has the 'Apple menu, Control Panels, Software Update' sub menu item.
'Windows Update' is an application / web page combined effort, Apple's 'Software Update' handles all processes within itself.

02. Going to a web page (remote server) and downloading a file, is not a 'windoze thing'; it is an every day occurrence on most (if not all) internet or privately connected operating systems.

[
Hmmm, I better click on Windoze98's 'Security Warning's window's 'No' button; to prevent the software updater from performing the ...

'Do you want to install and run "Windows Update" signed on 8/26/03 12:10 PM and distributed by: 

Microsoft'

... action.
]


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## BrianL74 (Nov 2, 2005)

After updating to 10.4.3, I restarted the *eMac* 1Ghz and everything was fine. The *display* went to sleep and after it came back to life, the whole monitor is half as bright as it should be. Almost like its still half asleep.

I've had to turn brightness and contrast all the way just to be able to see anything. Also, it screen image went to a small square in the center of the scree. I was able to adjust this in the Geometery, but it goes back if I reset the PRAM.

I really need some help here. This *eMac* is my livelihood.

P.S. the iBook 1.25Ghz update went fine...so far.

Thanks!!!


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## Mikuro (Nov 2, 2005)

I said before I had no problems, but it turns out I do. Disk Utility is broken for me, too. When I first tried to load it, the window appeared, but it hung before the contents were displayed. I had to force-quit it, and when I did, it stayed in the Dock for some reason. I went to Activity Monitor to check on it, and it wasn't loaded. So I quit the Dock, and when it came back it was normal (i.e., no Disk Utility icon).

Now when I try to load Disk Utility again, I get a dialog box in the Finder that says "An unexpected error occurred (error code -600)". Disk Utility doesn't even begin to load.

I used the combo updater.

Edit: I've now tested this with my "error tester" user account, and it has the same problem. So I doubt it has anything to do with my personal settings.


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## Lt Major Burns (Nov 2, 2005)

Flash MX 2004 doesn't work. i need flash.


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## zaggle (Nov 2, 2005)

Mine went ok. I update my powerbook G4 regularly.

On the first reboot, it took a long time to generate Tiger
and I was getting nervous... But it finally appeared and
reboots have been fine since.

My only comment is that Mac update files are very large
(this one was 93Mb I htink).  I can do this at work
where I have broad band, but I am thikning of my Mum
who is about to get a Mac and is stuck on a dialup.


Zag


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## pds (Nov 3, 2005)

After my battery disaster with a Jaguar update, I always d/l the combo update and take out my battery before running it. I use SU for non OS updates though.

This one, as all of them, went fine. I'm not sure if the speed increase I got is from the update or the permission repair and other housecleaning I did at the same time.

1.33 iBook


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## TxAg (Nov 3, 2005)

Installation went smoothly on my G5 tower.  But my fans are now erratic.


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## bobw (Nov 3, 2005)

From MacFixIt;

Fan problems (continued) Users continue to report problems with increased fan activity after installation of Mac OS X 10.4.3. As noted yesterday, the most effective workarounds for this issue are resetting the SMU, zapping NVRAM and changing processor performance settings.


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## Mikuro (Nov 3, 2005)

Update: Disk Utility is suddenly working fine for me. It permanently hung before displaying the list of disks before, and it did so on more than one user account, across several restarts, and after repairing permissions. But today it's working fine. I can't think of anything I've done that might have changed it. The whole thing is a mystery to me.


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## fryke (Nov 4, 2005)

Maybe after the update there's stuff going on in the background that hinders Disk Utility from doing _its_ job correctly... Now that those background tasks (journaling? Spotlight indexing?) are done, everything's fine...


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## maclychallenged (Nov 4, 2005)

I updated yesterday morning to 10.4.3 via the software update - now i can use ichat but not the video conferencing option.  I get this message when i try:

NSInvalidArgumentException:
*** -[FZVideoConferenceController setValidatedIdentity:]: selector not recognized [self = 0x40c7b0]

And now Software update doesnt work either - it 'quits unexpectedly' half way through.

Help! - this iChat is my only connection to my children and my husband while I am overseas.


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## Esquilinho (Nov 4, 2005)

Updated with the combo updater and so far no problems.


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## jonparadise (Nov 4, 2005)

Mine went perfectly, as it always has done.

I don't have any add-ons or UI changing software though, which seems to be the cause of most peoples problems.

My hard disk was working away happily when I first re-started, doing the whole indexing thing again I guess, took about 10 minutes.


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## hangtown (Nov 4, 2005)

Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> why shouldn't we use software update? (this is a rant btw) - it's an Apple thing, its very microsoft having to go to a website and downloading something and installing it.
> 
> Software update is simple.



Say what? Windows update will download and install automatically if you set it to do so. Or you can have it automatically download and notify before install. Or notify before doing either. There's absolutely no need to go to any website and download anything with XP.

This is NOT a "windows vs. mac" post and I'm typing this on my mac mini, but windows update does not require people to manually go anywhere. At least not on XP. I don't know about 98, and I can't imagine why anyone would still run 98 anyway.


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## joeyoun (Nov 4, 2005)

Used SU. Everything works except for VirtualDesktop Lite 3.2!!!
It crashed everytime after 5-9 secs
Worse day of my life!

Even tried reinstalling the s/w but no luck


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## nixgeek (Nov 4, 2005)

I've applied the 10.4.3 update after manually downloading the Combo Updater.  So far so good.  I noticed initially that the OS would take a little longer to boot, but after "fsck" in Single User Mode and a repair on permissions everything is back to normal.  All apps seem to be working fine.

Also note that I performed the upgrade after I unplugged all peripherals leaving only the keyboard and the mouse.  I also copied the .pkg to the desktop instead of running it from the mounted disk image.


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## nixgeek (Nov 4, 2005)

hangtown said:
			
		

> Say what? Windows update will download and install automatically if you set it to do so. Or you can have it automatically download and notify before install. Or notify before doing either. There's absolutely no need to go to any website and download anything with XP.
> 
> This is NOT a "windows vs. mac" post and I'm typing this on my mac mini, but windows update does not require people to manually go anywhere. At least not on XP. I don't know about 98, and I can't imagine why anyone would still run 98 anyway.



The problem with only doing it over an internet update is when the connection is lost.  BSOD city when you can't quit out of it in Windows, and kernel panics if it happens on the Mac.  I find it safer to download the Combo Updater so that I not only have a secure install, but that way I have the ability to update other machines to 10.4.3 if they don't have a fast connection or if they don't have 10.4.2 installed.  Burn it to a CD or put it into a USB stick and you're good to go.


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## arodweb (Nov 5, 2005)

Right after the upgrade for some reason my the fans on my g5 dual 2.5 got louder, even when i'm not using the computer ,i can hear them .......  anybody else experiencing this?


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## bobw (Nov 5, 2005)

From MacFixIt;

Fan problems (continued) Users continue to report problems with increased fan activity after installation of Mac OS X 10.4.3. As noted yesterday, the most effective workarounds for this issue are resetting the SMU, zapping NVRAM and changing processor performance settings.


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## sinclair_tm (Nov 5, 2005)

used su on my da 466 and haven't had any problems.  as nix said the first boot after the update took forever, but every boot there after has been as quick as before.  and so far every app i've used worked as it should.  dashboard does seem a little quicker, but still doesn't load or refresh widgets till after you click on dashboard once.  a real pain that apple should fix i think.  my mac can be on for an hour, and unless i have gone to dashboard at least once after a boot, the widgets are not loaded, and i have to wait a min or so for them to load, and connect to the servers(weather ones).  once i do that, they stay updated in the background without being in the front.  why is this?
well, not i'll try it on my brothers da 533 and see if all goes well.


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## contre jour (Nov 5, 2005)

...ours too. Fans fire up at the oddest times,,,never happened before update to 4.3. Also, Disk Utility always shows the same long list of preference fixes and we have an error message when FirstAid is run: "Volume Header needs minor repair",,,apparently there are two illegal names (somewhere). Garry 'n Karri


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## Durbrow (Nov 6, 2005)

Regarding the previous post, is anyone else getting the "minor errors" / can't repair in Disk Utility? I've read the MacFixit posts on permission problems but it is unclear to me if we should ignore ALL Disk Utility errors such as "minor errors" Also, is anyone suddenly getting fsck and applejack errors?

Thanks.


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## symphonix (Nov 7, 2005)

I did combo update, and had no problems.


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## fryke (Nov 7, 2005)

So we see a 1:4 ratio for SU and a 1:9 for Combo. Although the actual numbers are nowhere near being large enough for an empiric study, I'd still say that it just doesn't _hurt_ to "go combo" in the future.

What I, however, DON'T know is _why_ this seems to be the case (that SU updates fail more often than combo updates do...). In my opinion, a delta updater doesn't replace file XYZ because the very same version already _is_ installed, hence the updater is smaller. In fact: I think that the combo updater does the same work if you're installing on a system that would allow the delta installer to work. It checks first which files need to be installed and should _not_ install anything else than what the delta installer installs...

Regardless: It's the combo updaters you want, for present and future installations...


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## ex2bot (Nov 7, 2005)

To Virtual Warrior:

It's too bad no one's (apparently) offered you suggestions yet.

Here are a few:

Idea 1:
Borrow a Mac keyboard. Start up your machine with the Tiger install disc in the drive holding down C. Perform an "Archive and Install". I think it's available in Options when you first start the install. Look for the Options button, I think, near the bottom. This mode will preserve your data and should fix your botched install.


Idea 2:
If you have another Mac (or probably a Windows machine with a Firewire port) and a six pin to six pin Firewire cable, you can use Firewire Target Disk Mode. Very cool. It will allow you to mount your Mini's hard drive on another machine so you can get your important data off and then reformat and start over.
1) Connect the machines using the cable. 
2) Turn your Mac off and the other machine on.
3) Turn the Mac on while holding down the T key.
4) Wait until you see the Firewire symbol on the screen. You should see your Mac's hard drive mounted on the other machine.

If neither strategy works, let us know. Good luck

Doug


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## ashleyternes (Nov 8, 2005)

Ran the software update on 15"PB1.67 - Everything is fine... except... 1 USB port has simply stopped working. I had a hub connected to it and everything attached stopped responding after the reboot. Plugged it into the other USB port and everything works fine.

????


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## pds (Nov 8, 2005)

That rots.

I don't know what went foul, but it is similar to my battery meltdown in 10.2.3 (i think) and that's why I now disconnect everything (including the battery) for OS updates.

Hope you're in warrantee.


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## g/re/p (Nov 8, 2005)

ashleyternes said:
			
		

> Ran the software update on 15"PB1.67 - Everything is fine... except... 1 USB port has simply stopped working. I had a hub connected to it and everything attached stopped responding after the reboot. Plugged it into the other USB port and everything works fine.
> 
> ????



You may just need to "reset" the USB port.
Turn the powerbook off completely, unplug 
the power adapter and remove the battery.
Wait about 20 minutes, then replace the 
battery, plug the power adapter back in 
and boot up the powerbook.


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## ashleyternes (Nov 9, 2005)

Thanks... I'll try the recipe on the PB and if that doesn't work I'll mix in hops and water - at the very least I'll have some homebrew 

Update to this problem. When I rebooted the PB last night the USB ports had "changed sides" - the one that was working now didn't, the one that wasn't working now works. At least I can safely say I haven't fried and hardware.


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## ashleyternes (Nov 9, 2005)

g/re/p said:
			
		

> You may just need to "reset" the USB port.
> Turn the powerbook off completely, unplug
> the power adapter and remove the battery.
> Wait about 20 minutes, then replace the
> ...



Followed your recipe and now have both USB ports active - I don't know how yuz dun it, but I know yuz dun it!

Thanks.


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## darlagirl (Nov 10, 2005)

After running the software update, I'm not able to print from Quark Xpress in Classic Mode because AppleTalk won't open.  Even after I went into System Preferences and turned it on through Network preferences through my Airport. For some reason, Appletalk in classic mode via the chooser doesn't recognize that I've turned it on in my System Preferences panel in OS 10.4.3. Any suggestions or is anyone else having this problem?


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## idhk (Nov 10, 2005)

Powerbook 12" 1.5Ghz 512RAM

Immediately after updated through software update the keybord and mouse started to behave very very strange frequently. Tab not working as it should, the keyboard even black's out for a minute and then everything gones fine. This happens with some interval of 30minutes. One of my USB ports stopped working.


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## uncertainworld (Nov 10, 2005)

I had one of those pop-up Software Update boxes appear urging me to download security updates for osx, itunes, backup and the like. Normally I ignore these things - if it ain't broke... - but this time I agreed, downloaded the stuff as advised, restarted the computer when prompted, and now the os won't start properly. First time I got my desktop with a spinning rainbow cursor, which hung around for half an hour so I switched off, and all i got when I switched back on was a blue screen with a cursor that moves, but no desktop, menus etc.

Tried booting in safe mode, tried resetting pram, tried resetting open firmware, tried reinstalling osx from disc (twice) with the archive and install option. Same problem, except the desktop picture is back, spotlight icon appears in the corner, but no menu bar, toolbar, dock, etc...
...and no, I didn't back up first (shoot me now), so I'd appreciate a solution that doesn't involve losing all my data if at all possible!
Any thoughts gratefully received
Thanks for reading


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## nixgeek (Nov 10, 2005)

uncertainworld said:
			
		

> I had one of those pop-up Software Update boxes appear urging me to download security updates for osx, itunes, backup and the like. Normally I ignore these things - if it ain't broke... - but this time I agreed, downloaded the stuff as advised, restarted the computer when prompted, and now the os won't start properly. First time I got my desktop with a spinning rainbow cursor, which hung around for half an hour so I switched off, and all i got when I switched back on was a blue screen with a cursor that moves, but no desktop, menus etc.
> 
> Tried booting in safe mode, tried resetting pram, tried resetting open firmware, tried reinstalling osx from disc (twice) with the archive and install option. Same problem, except the desktop picture is back, spotlight icon appears in the corner, but no menu bar, toolbar, dock, etc...
> ...and no, I didn't back up first (shoot me now), so I'd appreciate a solution that doesn't involve losing all my data if at all possible!
> ...




Have you tried downloading the Combo Updater from the Apple site?  This is the method I used to install the update.  I also made sure not to have any peripherals connected to the computer other than the keyboard and the mouse, in order to prevent any issues with drivers.


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## bobw (Nov 10, 2005)

I always download updates one at a time, repairing permissions before and after, rather than downloading two or more at the same time.


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## uncertainworld (Nov 10, 2005)

nixgeek said:
			
		

> Have you tried downloading the Combo Updater from the Apple site?  This is the method I used to install the update.  I also made sure not to have any peripherals connected to the computer other than the keyboard and the mouse, in order to prevent any issues with drivers.



next time i'll do that.
meantime i'd just like to get my computer running!

is it possible the spotlight is re-indexing? spotlight icon is the only thing on the desktop, and if i run over it with the cursor it turns to that swirly rainbow. it's been running over an hour and has gone to sleep in that time, and it doesn't _sound_ very busy!


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## bobw (Nov 10, 2005)

Run FSCK first - type the following at the prompt;

Type: "fsck -f" (that's fsck-space-minus-f). 

then press Return.

If problems are found, run again

After fsck indicates the disk is OK (No problems found), at the prompt, type the following exactly as written:

/sbin/mount -uw /

then press Return. Be sure to note the spaces in this command: there is a space after mount and a space after -uw. This command mounts the file system so you can delete the Finder preferences.

At the prompt, type the following exactly as written:

rm /Users/your_user_name/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

where your_user_name is your "short" user name on your computer. Then press Return. The Finder preferences file on your ID are now deleted.


Finally, at the prompt, type reboot and press Return to restart in Mac OS X.


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## uncertainworld (Nov 10, 2005)

Hi Bob, 

Thanks a lot for taking the time to post that. 
When I did the fsck -f it came up with no problems, so I followed the rest of the instructions and rebooted. 
Now the spotlight icon has disappeared too, (no menu, no dock) but I still have my original desktop picture, which gives me some encouragement that I haven't lost all my data (yet!)


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## bobw (Nov 10, 2005)

Do you have another machine available that you could connect via Firewire Taret Disk Mode?

You could retrieve your files that way, then reformat the drive.


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## Perseus (Nov 10, 2005)

Update went smoothly.  The only thing for me was that Internet Connect kept prompting me if I wanted to stay connected, I just went into prefs etc to turn it off; I never saw that prompt before.  10.4.3 has been behaving....now that I think of it, Classic has been rather slow, somewhat "stop and go", like when I play the old Wolfenstein game, it lags...and shouldn't considering what comp I have. Any way to improve Classic performance?


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## uncertainworld (Nov 10, 2005)

Bob, 
I have, but it's a pc running xp, which i'm not sure will pick it up. I don't have a firewire cable, but the two computers have firewire ports, so i'll run out and get one if it's worth a pop. 
I am rather astonished that just following the advice from apple to update my os has left me in this kind of fix....


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## bobw (Nov 10, 2005)

I don't know if it'll work with a PC. Someone here will probably be along that knows.


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