Filed under: Leopard
Liveblogging the Leopard install
I've got my hot little hands on my copy of Leopard, and I'm about to install it. What better way to spend a rainy Friday night in Philadelphia than installing a new OS and liveblogging it?Before I did anything I made a bootable backup of my Mac, just in case bad things happen. Mat showed you how to do this earlier. My tool of choice is SuperDuper, but the app doesn't matter as much as the existence of this backup. As a bonus you'll be able to import your settings from this backup if you do a clean install (like I am).
7:07pm: Open disk, toss aside manual, save Apple stickers and slide the disk into my MacBook (2Ghz Core Duo). Start up holding down C.
Find the rest of the updates after the break.
9:34pm: Success! All my settings have been migrated over, and the reason why I decided to go with a clean install is fixed (after some fiddling a month or so ago I managed to break the Dock, but the Leopard Dock works). To the right is proof of my success. If you have anything you want to see in Leopard, leave a comment and I'll answer them all in a separate post.9:04pm: And all my files are transfered, well, almost all of them. One of my Spotlight indexes couldn't be transfered, but the Migration Assistant is going to save it onto the Desktop so I can delete it myself. How nice!
8:55pm: Thanks to Chris Masto I now know that Exodus Honey is the name of the song that plays during the Leopard Intro movie (don't worry, Chris, I won't tell a soul).
8:43pm: My files are still being copied over. Can you feel the excitement? Here is an Apple Knowledgebase article that I hope no one will need, 'Mac OS X 10.5: Unable to log in to account after an upgrade install'.
8:31pm: Reader Marcus warns that you should uninstall APE before you upgrade to Leopard. It would seem APE is causing some blue screens after booting.
8:23pm: My files are still copying over, so let's answer another commenter's question, shall we? Shaun asks, 'I use HD2 for extra storage. Should I use Super Duper and use HD2 as my backup drive to avoid saving to external hard drive? Will I lose my files on HD2 if I do a clean install? Should I just pull the drive out of its bay when I do the install? So many questions.' Well, Shaun, if you're using HD2 to store data that you're hoping to keep I wouldn't use it to make a bootable back up, that is unless you have more than one partition on it. The process of making a bootable backup erases whatever is on the partition first (bye, bye data!). That being said, if you have an empty partition you can use that. And there is no need to actually remove the drive when you're install Leopard. The installer will ask you what volume you want to install onto, and it won't touch the other volumes on your Mac.
8:09pm: Absent one asks a common switcher question in the comments, 'Sorry if I sound stupid but this is my first OSX install. There is no PID - I come from the windows world where there is a PID for everything... Does it authenticate with a server somewhere? How does it know im installing a legit copy.And how does it know I can install it on 5 machines.. (i got the family pack)' There is no such thing as a stupid question! Windows, and lots of software these days, requires a product key of some kind to activate. Apple has traditionally eschewed this, and that remains true with Leopard. Apple isn't checking on you to see how many times you install it, they expect you to do the right thing (and at least according to John Gruber it looks like most people are, in his unscientific findings at least).
7:48pm: After 8 minutes the transfer time is down to 1 hour and 48 minutes. Not too shabby.
7:40pm: Transferring about 110 gigs of info back on my MacBook. Hurrah for FireWire, but boo to the estimated 5 hour transfer time.
7:36pm: The Leopard intro movie looks very nice full screen on my MacBook. The Migration Assistant is now running, calculating how much space I need to migrate everything. There was an option to migrate settings from a Time Machine backup, which is very cool.
7:34pm: The MacBook just restarted. The install process took about 27 minutes.
7:32pm: I'm switching the way I input updates, so the most recent will be at the top. It is easier to read this way, yes?
7:27pm: Leopard is installing away, and Jon asks in the comments, 'im looking for a way to transfer all my clean data- like iphoto files, contacts, itunes songs, etc.- while doing a clean install. whats the best way to do this?' You can do what I suggest above and make a bootable back up of your Mac. This will include all your data (assuming you store it on your Mac's startup drive), then you can have the Migration Assistant transfer all your data, and apps, over to your new install. If you just want your data you can back that up to an external drive, install Leopard, create your user, mount your external drive, and copy your stuff back. I'm must stress that a bootable backup is the best way to go though, because should something go wrong you'll have a complete backup that you can boot your Mac from.
7:17pm: Leopard tells me it'll take 25 minutes to install on my MacBook with 2 gigs o' RAM. Oh, and if you have any questions for me about the install process leave 'em in the comments.
7:13pm: Leopard is installing as I type this. How exciting! I'm going to skip the DVD consistency check because I am impatient.
7:11pm: Customizing my install now. I don't need all these languages, or printer drivers at the moment. That shaved 5.3 gigs from the install.
7:09pm: Leopard tells me it needs 11.2 gigs to install, but that is with the defaults. The default install option is 'Upgrade,' which should be fine for most users. I've done a number on my Tiger install so I am going to 'Erase and Install' route by hitting 'Options.'
7:08pm: My MacBook has booted off the Leopard install disk. There is a new option under 'Utilities' called 'Restore System from Backup.' Sweet Time Machine integration.
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Fritz Laurel said 7:52PM on 10-26-2007
Is it just one DVD, 2 or 3? How full is the DVD? Is the DVD dual layer or not?
Reply
Adriel Kloppenburg said 7:54PM on 10-26-2007
It's 1 DVD and it's dual layer
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Marcus said 8:01PM on 10-26-2007
after reading a lot of Leopard related topics in a German Mac forum all day it seems several people encountered a "blue screen" while trying to upgrade their Tiger installation, where the installer wouldn't actually do anything after the reboot. The solution seems to be to remove the crap that is the Application Enhancer Framework, which can bug and lock up the installation process.
Translation of a posting by Crypts on macuser.de forum:
1. Boot into Single-User-Mode (Applekey+s on startup)
2.use the following commands:
fsck -fy /
/sbin/mount -uw /
3. Remove these files using rm:
rm -rf /Library/Preference Panes/Application Enhancer.prefpane
rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/Application Enhancer.framework
rm -rf /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/Application Enhancer.bundle
rm -rf /Library/Preferences/com.unsanity.ape.plist
4. Type this command to restart:
reboot
If this doesn't do the trick - power off your Mac and run archive&install instead of upgrade, seems to work fine.
Upgrading my Mini and my iBook was flawless, despite some apps that needed a quick reinstall or some tinkering to get them to work. Yes, I'm looking at you, Safari Plugins. Anyway, Leopard running rock solid all day here :)
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JGO said 8:05PM on 10-26-2007
Since installing Leopard on my MacBook Pro 2.33, I have had 2 forced restarts due to kernel errors when waking the system up from a sleep. Anyone else experienced problems like this?
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adrenalin said 8:04PM on 10-26-2007
Well I did a clean install. I don't trust backup's/upgrades since the last one I did resulted in a 23GB backup file that was useless. For the most part the Leopard install worked great but I can't get Adobe Photoshop CS3 to install. grrrr
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Michael Rose said 8:03PM on 10-26-2007
#14 -- yes, you can back up to a disk image, but you can't boot from it if things go south...
#10 -- A/I doesn't try to upgrade your system, it installs fresh; however, it leaves your applications, user folder and user library intact. I generally don't recommend A/I unless you're doing it as a troubleshooting measure. Far better to back up (make sure you BOOT at least once from your bootable backup!), do a clean install and then migration assistant for what you want to bring back over.
As far as an upgrade install, well, I've done them, but I would make sure you have that backup...
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Absent One said 8:06PM on 10-26-2007
Got home from work to my box waiting for me...
Sorry if I sound stupid but this is my first OSX install.
There is no PID - I come from the windows world where there is a PID for everything...
Does it authenticate with a server somewhere? How does it know im installing a legit copy.
And how does it know I can install it on 5 machines.. (i got the family pack)
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Karl Smith said 8:08PM on 10-26-2007
...but it installs nicely from a USB drive.
Or quite nicely, anyway. Four kernel panics so far, which is a worry...
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Adam said 8:10PM on 10-26-2007
I'm curious as to why you're doing an erase and install when an archive install results in a fresh and clean system folder anyways. It seems to me like you just end up wasting hours dealing with the migration assistant doing it that way.
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Marcus said 8:11PM on 10-26-2007
@25: There is no such thing, it won't ask you for a serial, it won't activate, it doesn't need any validation for updates, it won't bother you at ALL. Welcome to the Mac :p
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Karl Smith said 8:24PM on 10-26-2007
#24 Yep, me too. Two kernel panics on wake from sleep, two when not doing much at all (like, scrolling through a web page on Safari). MB1.1, 2GHZ 2GB.
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rhett lee said 8:13PM on 10-26-2007
After 4 installs (supposed "successful" installs) my MacBook refused to boot after each one. I bought the family pack, and when I tried to install it on my wife's MacBook Pro it wouldn't find the HD for me to select. Tried to call AppleCare but they are unable to take my call due to the large amount of callers.....PISSED!!!!
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Travis said 8:13PM on 10-26-2007
I've upgraded my 24" iMac and my PowerBook G4 1GHZ - no go on my kids 800mhz 17" iMac (which I expected).
I was really hoping there might be an option to disable some features to get it installed on the kids machine. I really wanted to use the parental controls. Now that I don't have that option - does anyone know if there are any other Leopard-like parental control options out there?
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Anthony said 8:14PM on 10-26-2007
I have one of the original 20" iMacs with a single Core Duo processor running Tiger 10.4.10 and did the Upgrade option with Leopard and everything worked flawlessly for me the first time through. 2 Gigs RAM and 500 Gigs HD are helpful I must admit. Have not had to reinstall anything so far. I even plugged in a 120 Gig external HD via USB 2.0 and Time Machine seems to work lag free as well.
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Absent One said 8:17PM on 10-26-2007
Oh how amazing... I like it more every day!!!
Thanks
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Shaun McLane said 8:20PM on 10-26-2007
I'm installing right behind you, but waiting (what feels like forever) for my drive to get fully backed up. I am using a mac pro with two hard drives. I use HD2 for extra storage. Should I use Super Duper and use HD2 as my backup drive to avoid saving to external hard drive? Will I lose my files on HD2 if I do a clean install? Should I just pull the drive out of its bay when I do the install? So many questions.
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Josh said 8:25PM on 10-26-2007
I recieved an error that said install failed after I clicked the restart button at the end of the install. I just assumed the install had actually finished and it errored out for some reason changing the startup disk or something and sure enough everything is working great, so I don't think that error is something to worry about, however, if anyone has any information on this let me know.
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buitih said 8:24PM on 10-26-2007
I'm interested with Russell's question, do we need to deauthorize iTunes before doing a clean install?
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Karl Smith said 8:26PM on 10-26-2007
I've just seen somewhere else that old versions of Azureus may be causing problems. Fingers crossed...
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jeffro2k said 8:29PM on 10-26-2007
I installed clean and then migrated from a firewire drive that I made a bootable copy on with Superduper. Everything migrated perfectly, I have yet to find something that isn't the way it was in Tiger!
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