[geeks] Weird MacOS issue

[Lionel Peterson]

On Dec 23, 2008, at 2:39 AM, Mark Benson <md.benson at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 23 Dec 2008, at 02:38, Lionel Peterson wrote:
>
>> I recently upgraded to 10.5.6, and I *think* the install required a  
>> couple boots, I heard the system start music a couple times before  
>> I got a login prompt. Also, I think the update messed up safari web  
>> browser... It started to seize up after two or three pages loaded.  
>> I took it as a sign I ahold get to know firefox a little better by  
>> using it.
>>
>> Anyone else notice bad behavior after a 10.5.6 update?
>
> Okay I'll first of all spell this out to anyone who's listening. You  
> should *never* install anything else at the same time as an OS X  
> main update, particularly AFTER one. I always quit everything,  
> install the update then reboot immediately.

I didn't - safari was updated at least one reboot before OS X 10.5.6  
upgrade.

> OS X updates *used* to lock you out from running any more apps after  
> you ran them. I don't know if that's still the case. Still, they set  
> up a lot of stuff, especially in 10.5.x, that runs at reboot and if  
> you run anything that disrupts that you can wave bye-bye to your OS  
> working.

Good to know, not what I did though...

> OS X 10.5.x updates do take 2 reboots. On the first reboot it'll sit  
> at the white screen with the grey Apple for an long time as it  
> boots, installs the upgrades to the system files, then it reboots  
> before it even leaves that screen. It then boots a second time to  
> return to the OS X desktop. I've never booted it in Verbose to see  
> what it does during that process but I suspect it boots a minimal OS  
> image and patches the OS's kernel and essential system files to the  
> latest version, then resets the boot parameters to boot the full OS.

Interesting, I've not noticed that behavior before, but prior upgrades  
may have done this - I may not have noticed...

> I don't know if that directly effects what happened to you, but it's  
> worth knowing if you use OS X anyway.

Absolutely, thanks.

> I'd go with the FAT corruption being a definite issue too, you could  
> also fix it by dropping it in a Windows box and putting a Windows  
> MBR on it then dropping it back in the Mac and re-initializing it as  
> a Mac disk.

Obviously that last bit is directed to the OP, not me.

Lionel