Upgrade 10.4.11 to 10.5 (Tiger to Leopard)

**Almohada** · 2012 July 1st, 23:52

Hey guys, first off I know there are 1000s of other forums and threads about this but I want to hear it from you!

Alright so I have a mid-2007 iMac running Tiger 10.4.11 and want to (FINALLY) upgrade to Leopard (10.5). Thing is, I have so much crap on my main HDD. I've backed up some of it over the years but there is so much and SO MUCH that is hidden in a bunch of folders that I don't even know existed. I do have Disk Inventory X so I can find the major files/ folders. So..... I've read that I should do a clean install. I really don't want to go that route as there are so many apps, settings, tweaks, files, etc. etc. that I don't want to backup and do all over again. I mean, if the "upgrade" feature isn't safe then why do they even have it? I would do a clean install but there's so much crap at the moment and don't have the time to go through it all (would at least take me a couple weeks). I'll probably do it in the future. But for now, I'd rather simply upgrade. And if I understand correctly, the upgrade will do just that and leave most if not ALL my files/ apps/ settings etc untouched. Can anyone clarify or anything that I should be aware of?

**koolpenguin89** · 2012 July 2nd, 00:34

Ya, just do the upgrade. I'm not sure who told you to do a clean install, but that's usually advice for windows or linux. I've installed/reinstalled OSX more times than I care to admit, and even on my hackintoshes I've never had a single problem. Everything will be untouched, unless you have apps or settings that or tiger-specific. Still, you should always have a full backup just in case, but I don't see any advantage to a clean install over an upgrade.

Dylan

**cgbier** · 2012 July 2nd, 02:35

I've been working with Macs since Puma. I never did a clean Install.

Uhm, why 5 and not 6?

**Almohada** · 2012 July 2nd, 03:11

Alright, so I'm backing up some files now. Basically everything on the Finder's sidebar (Pictures, Documents, Music, Movies). I don't know what else to back up. I'll just have to get these out of the way first.

Hey I can barely handle upgrading to 5. First thing I do when I upgrade is make it look like Tiger and that includes changing the dock to the 2D Tiger one. I can't stand the Leopard/Snow Leopard/ Lion UI. Too flashy/glossy and just bugs me. I just need to upgrade cause some apps I want all need 5+ and Safari is really buggy for whatever reason. Also I think someone mentioned that it's a bit faster. It's going to be a big move but hopefully it's worth all the hassle.

**cgbier** · 2012 July 2nd, 04:47

6 is faster than 5. And it saves you some 12gb on the drive. I wouldn't bother with Leopard anymore. It was pretty buggy.

**Almohada** · 2012 July 2nd, 05:41

Hmmm... tough decision. I read some more about it, looks like Snow Leopard has major stability improvements and is indeed faster. Quicktime X looks absolutely horrible but at least I can keep QT 7. Interface is pretty much the same as Leopard (though the finder is now glamoured up even worse) so I guess there isn't nothing to lose... might as well upgrade to Snow Leopard while I'm at it. Not much changed interface wise... that's really the only part I dislike about those OS's

What do you think about this? Ouch...

**Janke** · 2012 July 2nd, 08:07

Boot time really doesn't matter to me - I boot once a day at most, sometimes once a week.

ZZZZ works well in OSX 10.5 & 10.6!

**cgbier** · 2012 July 2nd, 17:14

Mr. J has a point.

Additionally, SL is a bug fix for the leopard, so it is the better system, and it is still supported.

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 04:34

EMERGENCY!!!!!! Ok so The installation completed but it's not letting me login!!! I enter my password, goes blue and then I'm back at the login screen. Endless loop!!! I tried in safe mode but it does the same thing. In safe mode it logs into my account for 5 seconds then back to the login screen. Thanfully all of my stuff is there but how come i keep getting the login screen?????

Someone please help. I'm on my phone O looked through a bunch of Apple discussion threads and couldnt find a decent answer!!! I cant login whatsoever by the time I'm in my account (safe mode) it logs me back out. HELP!!!!

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 04:44

Ok somehow I logged into the second account through safe mode and it didnt kick me out. So I repaired disk permissions and it said there was something wrong with User accouts vxzvx to vxzvxvzc or spmething like that. But I logged back out so O can see if it did anything and still te same problem!!!! Cannot login in, kicks me out immediately. Endless loop!

**cgbier** · 2012 July 8th, 05:02

You still can log in through your second account? Go into System Preferences > User Accounts, then authorize the user you are just logged in with to administer your machine. If that works, you can delete the other user.

**cgbier** · 2012 July 8th, 05:06

If that doesn't work then you are one of the .01% of cases I was afraid off. You made your backup? Sounds like you'll need to do a clean install, then play in the the backup. You might have to run a CHMOD on your drive later on to restore access to your drive (or simply use the migration assistant).
http://www.mac-terminal.com/files-an...issions/chmod/
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4413

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 05:13

Of course, I have the worst luck in the world.

I tried logging in again usig the second account and nothing happens. For some reason it magically worked that one time.

Hey I don't think the backup worked properly either, it saved all of my data but it doesnt look like it is a bootable drive. I don't know ehat the heck is happening. At least all the data is on there.

Ok I did some more research and so far 2 guys (from what I've read) had success using Kappy's method here...

https://discussions.apple.com/messag...sageID=8884349

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 05:15

If worse comes to worst can't I just pop the disc back in and do another install? You think that would set things straight?

**cgbier** · 2012 July 8th, 05:19

If Kappy's suggestion doesn't work, then you'll need a clean install. No need for a bootable drive. As long as the Migration Assistant sees your SMB mount.

not sure if a network boot would work with SMS in any way. You'd need SMB as a start up item before login, which I'm not sure if it is ATM... haven't dealt with that stuff for quite a while.

**cgbier** · 2012 July 8th, 05:22

Originally Posted by Almohada

If worse comes to worst can't I just pop the disc back in and do another install? You think that would set things straight?

That should help. Just takes another 45 minutes from your life

An fschk might be useful to make sure it ain't a hardware problem (bad sectors on the disk or something like that).

It would have been nice to exactly know what Permission Repair has told you about your User Account.

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 05:27

Check this out, unfortunately it works perfectly for Leopard. Ut the cache file location is changed in SL

http://dltj.org/article/macosx-launc...ogin-loop-fix/

Glad I read the comments.

**cgbier** · 2012 July 8th, 05:35

Hmm, that sounds like a plan. Give it a try.

**Janke** · 2012 July 8th, 05:36

Did you have several open accounts on 10.4 when you made the upgrade to 10.5 ?

I've seen some reports that that might cause problems. I made sure I didn't have, and my upgrade went without problems, all data stayed intact.

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 05:43

Janke: Nope. I rarely ever use that account

Hey guys here's another workaround according to this guy it works...
http://www.theiospost.com/latest/201...w-leopard.html

I will give it a try if I can get into that second user account again...

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 05:47

Originally Posted by cgbier

If Kappy's suggestion doesn't work, then you'll need a clean install. No need for a bootable drive. As long as the Migration Assistant sees your SMB mount.

ok so let me get this right. CCC cloned my entire drive but to a non bootable external hard drive. If I clean install to SL, you're saying i can use migration assistant to see my SMB mount (??? The external HDD??) and then it can restore my system back to Tiger or just replace my files where they were?

**cgbier** · 2012 July 8th, 05:50

Be careful with those maintenance apps. Oftentimes, they do more harm than good. OS X has all the tools you need on board.

**cgbier** · 2012 July 8th, 05:53

Originally Posted by Almohada

ok so let me get this right. CCC cloned my entire drive but to a non bootable external hard drive. If I clean install to SL, you're saying i can use migration assistant to see my SMB mount (??? The external HDD??) and then it can restore my system back to Tiger or just replace my files where they were?

No, Migration Assist will only copy over your files and apps. The tiger itself won't be touched.

Before you start moving anything, download Rosetta. IIRC, it's not on the install disk anymore.

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 05:54

I just don't know what to do anymore. I shut everything off a while ago. It pissed me off and don't want to deal with it right now. If I don't get it working I don't know.... Cant I downgrade to Tiger with the original disks that came with the comp? Would that erase everything or just downgrade?

**Almohada** · 2012 July 8th, 05:59

Sorry I'm just frustrated. I'll try Kappy's method tomorrow and report back.

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