Panther installation woes

B

bunner bob

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I decided to install Panther today (using the Upgrade disks). Wasn't sure I could do it over 10.1.x, but it let me - sort of.

First I ran Diskwarrior AND Disk Utility to check the destination drive. Couldn't repair permissions since it's 10.1. Then started from upgrade CD, did Archive & Install. Halfway through the second disk I got a message "There were errors installing the software", with only the option to quit - I quit. Logged into 10.3 and Setup Assistant launched, followed by Software Update. Then both apps quit unexpectedly. Then my finder started relaunching in a loop - icons blinking on and off, etc. No fun. Restarted w/ Option key to select my (fortunately) other drive with a solid 10.2.8 install on it. Worked for a few minutes and - kernel panic! Restarted again, didn't log in right away - few minutes later - kernel panic again! Restarted and immediately ran Disk Utility, repaired permissions on the (previously presumed ok) 10.2.8 drive. Started repairing permissions on the 10.3 drive and - kernel panic! I haven't had a kernel panic in weeks - months even!

Now I'm back booted off the Diskwarrior disk. I trashed everything related to the 10.3 install - every system related file, users (I have a backup), Library, all of it - even the Previous Systems folder. Running Diskwarrior on both drives. We'll see what happens.

Meanwhile I'm left wondering, how did a bad 10.3 install wreck a DIFFERENT drive, and cause these kernel panics on ITS system? Does this happen?

I had a recent case of DOA mac, and had to reset the power manager, if that's of any help. I also realize I didn't update the drivers on my LaCie drive (internal) though they're not all that old and worked fine under Jaguar. I'll probably update them before I try another installation.

Any advice/thoughts/recommendations?

- Bob
 
Ran Diskwarrior on both affected drives. It found numerous errors - node problems, volume info block problems, etc. Fixed (well, rebuilt directories) so we'll see how it goes. I'll probably install a clean 10.2.8 on the now system-less drive, but I'm reluctant to try the upgrade again. Maybe I should pick up a full install version of Panther.
 
A clean install of a new OS is always the best option. I know it's much work, but cleaning up and repairing broken installs or upgrades can be even worse.
If you have the possibility, do a clean install of Panther, it surely worked for me.

Your 10.2.8 installation probably tried to use the partially installed 10.3 elements. The OS always tries to use the most up-to-date programs, that is how the semi-aborted 10.3 install messed up 10.2.8 on your system.
 
Clean install - does that wipe the destination drive? I've got piles of applications installed on that drive - not a pretty prospect.

I know I have to have a version of OS X installed on the drive just to start (since these are the upgrade disks), but I'm guessing the installer just looks for that and then goes ahead and wipes things out if it's doing a clean install.

Another question - the destination drive is a partition of a larger drive (formatted using Silverlining). Will a clean install (if it wipes the drive) wipe ALL the partitions, or just the selected partition?

Thanks

- Bob
 
Doing a clean install will wipe your entire drive. But it will not destroy your partitions. Disk Utility's Erase will do that.

Why did you use Disk Warrior to check the drive first? I thought it was suggested to use Disk Utility first, then do the archive and preserve.
 
Cheryl said:
Why did you use Disk Warrior to check the drive first? I thought it was suggested to use Disk Utility first, then do the archive and preserve.
Click to expand...

You say it like it's a bad thing? Is it ever bad to run Disk Warrior? Actually I ran Disk Utility AND Disk Warrior - trying to cover all my bases.

The latest is this: after manually trashing everything (via OS 9 so I could see the hidden unix files) I ran Diskwarrior again and did an install of Jaguar. Immediate kernel panics on restart (never even got to the blue screen). So tomorrow I'll just reformat the disk and start again. Turns out it's NOT a partitioned disk - I'd mixed up which was which - so no fear wiping it out (except for having to reinstall all my apps).

Apparently I have to at least install Jaguar in order to upgrade to Panther. Don't figure I have to do all the updates though - right?
 
Well, back up your data if you haven't already. Your installers should give you the option of reformatting the disk and installing OS X, even Panther. If it doesn't, then you'll need to upgrade from Jaguar which shouldn't be a problem if you don't use it.

However, I recommend you do a clean install of OS 9 first to ensure that you have the necessary drivers. Then you can do a regular installation of OS X and you won't have to format your drive again.
 
What machine do you have?
What extras are installed in it?
How much memory?
 
Arden: OS 9 ?!?!? I doubt I even have a raw OS 9 installer around anymore. I don't see why that would be necessary. OS X installer should have the necessary drivers, I would think.

Bobw:
G4 (Quicksilver) 933 mHz
original 60 GB drive
80 GB LaCie (pulled out of firewire box and installed in computer case)
1 GB RAM (incl. 512MB just added from Chip Merchant - I'm a little suspicious of this RAM, as I started getting some new errors (disk errors, Photoshop compression errors) after installing it)
MOTU 2408 PCI card/external interface - hmmm...could that be it?

What's weird to me is that I was unable to even install Jaguar (NOT Panther) without getting restart kernel panics. This is new. Makes me think the RAM is suspect.

The only other oddity is that the day I decided to install Panther, I went into the office and my mac was dead. Wouldn't turn on/start up at all. Took it to my repair guy and he reset the PMU, after which it started up fine. I'm wondering if there's some subtle damage somewhere, perhaps caused by a voltage spike or power outage (though the machine IS on a UPS) which could be aggravating this problem.

- Bob
 
Pull the added ram out and try before doing anything else. You can also reset the PMU yourself and not pay someone to do it.
 
Battle of the Bobs! :D Oh, sorry...

If you want to boot from OS 9 or use anything in Classic mode, you will need OS 9 installed. Jaguar comes with OS 9 on a separate CD; Panther does not have it at all. You need OS 9 drivers for your hard drive before you will be able to boot into it, and you have to boot it to install it as the installer is not X-compatible. And I don't think Panther installs OS 9 drivers, but I'm not sure.

The problem is this: To use Classic, you need an installation of OS 9. To install OS 9, you need to run the installer in Classic mode. If your computer boots into OS 9, it shouldn't be a problem as you can boot from the CD, but if it doesn't (Macs sold since 2003 don't boot into OS 9), then you need to copy OS 9 from somewhere else, like a backup of your System Folder or the OS 9 installer CD.

Wow... I said "OS 9" 11 times in this post, not including this sentence! That's got to be a record. :)
 
Well, it was the RAM alright. Pulled it out. Erased dest. disk. Did erase-install of Jaguar, then erase-install of Panther. All seems well now (except for not being able to print - but that's for another thread).

I do have an OS 9 installer after all, and my machine will boot into 9. So are you saying I can just install OS 9 like normal onto my Panther volume and it'll work as my Classic system - no secret tweakys to do? Other than OS 9 drivers of course?

It's a drag that they seem to be dropping Classic. Of course the only thing I use it for is testing websites in Netscape 4 (and THAT's a lot of fun)...Suppose it had to happen some time though.
 
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