[G4] Panther upgrade

[John Baltutis]

Boy, there really is a lot of "Oh, my God, don't venture forth because
there may be monsters out there" in the below post. Also, a lot of
misconceptions and outright errors.

On 01/03/04, Doug McNutt <douglist at macnauchtan.com> wrote:
>
> So you can understand my reply (below) to my girlfriend - er -  wife Kit
>who was an MCI and Pansophic guru in the past..
>
> I run OS neXt version 10.2.8 on a G4 sawtooth. I appreciate it. It allows
>me to regress to my roots as a FORTRAN programmer with assembly language
>roots into a Control Data drum scope computer I used well before the mouse
>was invented. The machine is named Earth and it's disks are Luna, Mir, and
>Hubble. It is truly nice to be able to gcc a source file and have it work.

OK. Sounds like you've used it and are satisfied with its performance. Then
you contradict that and say you tried it, didn't like it, so you reverted
back to an 8500. Now you want your wife to upgrade to Panther, but fear
that many bogeys lurk behind that effort.

>
> I have asked Kit to install panther on the G4. I once used the G4 as a
>primary computer using Microbesoft Excel and Apple's MPW to control my
>finances and a productive consulting business.. When OS neXt was
>introduced I placed all of my  important business on an older Mac 8500
>which was updated to OS 9.1. My G4 was relegated to experimentation with
>UNIX and the free software foundation. Actually, BBEdit worksheets and
>Telnet to an Intel box running Linux has been productive.
>
> I have backed up the entire contents of the disk "Luna" to CD-ROM's using
>an Mac 5500 which I trust;., The next step (without a pun) is to install
>Panther on Luna. I have asked that the disk be reinitialized with a
>case-sensitive format if possible. I pray that, after that, it will be
>possible to boot into Jaguar from the existing image on Mir.  But it's not
>so clear. It's possible that the installation of Panther will muck with
>EEPROM in a manner that will make it impossible to reboot into Jaguar.

I've been running Jaguar and Panther on four different partitions on two
disks since July and have never had a problem booting into any volume.
AFAIK, only firmware updates "muck" with the EEPROM (if that's the proper
designation for Apple's ROM). The easiest way to upgrade is to boot into
Mir and launch Disk Utility to repair its permissions and erase Luna,
formatting to OS Extended. You'll have to define case-sensitive format-I'm
not familiar with that one. Then get Carbon Copy Cloner and clone Mir to
Luna. Reboot into Luna and ensure that it works exactly as it did when
booted into Mir. When satisfied, upgrade Luna to Panther using the Archive
& Install option, saving network settings. Run software update on Luna
until everything's up-to-date, then repair permissions.

This method worked flawlessly for over four months while beta testing Panther.

>
> I'm not sure if I need to physically disconnect the ATA cable to the Mir
>disk to prevent unanticipated changes. I'm thinking about that and would
>appreciate any advice.

IMHO, not needed or warranted.

>
> Kit points out that installation of Panther may cause a reboot into
>Jaguar to fail.

Why? I haven't seen that or heard anything about it.

>I have spent a lot of time persuading Jaguar to use my SE/30 running Mac
>OS 7.5.3 as a file server. Connecting to the server has required that I
>learn about system calls mount_afp and the like and I fully expect that my
>startup shell scripts will require modification.

That may be. However, I've heard that Panther makes this easier. I don't
run servers, so I have no first-hand knowledge.
>
> I doubt that I can execute ControlPanels:StartupDisk to choose a new boot
>partition but I'm pretty sure I can physically disconnect Luna and reboot.
>Where are the instructions? How does one choose a startup disk in Panther?
>Do I have to install it to find out?

The same way you did it in Jaguar. Sys Prefs->Startup Disk. I can choose
two Jaguar, two Panther, and three OS 9 boot volumes and bounced around
between the three constantly the past four months.
>
> Read on to understand where we are.
>
> At 17:22 -0700 1/3/04, Kit Harras wrote:
>>Looks like the only concern with a dual boot. (is the prospect that
>>journaling will cause Jauguar to fail.)
>>
>>http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20031025023359826
>> 10.3: Possible kernel panics on dual-boot machines
>

One data point. As the list moderator pointed out, he didn't see that problem.

> My reply to Kit. She's also my wife, but she's also an experienced
>software manager: She has installed Panther on a Pismo powerbook but
>that's just a start.
>
> Luna should be reformatted. Everything has been backed up. I really don't
>know if it makes sense to crate a partition for virtual RAM imaging. Apple
>doesn't provide any guidance.

Do you mean a partition for your swap space when referriing to virtual RAM
imaging? Not if you have sufficient physical RAM. With RAM prices where
they're at, max the machine out to 1.5 GB and don't worry about swap space.

>
> I'll bet there are more problems. What I really worry about is my 3
>PCI-driven black and white monitors powered by older ATI cards.

If they work in Jaguar, they should work in Panther-I've heard no problems
with that.

>
> If asked, do not enable journalling on Mir or Hubble.
>
> If asked only for all or none, do not enable journalling at all.
>
> If not asked. Go and look for a way to disable journalling on Mir and Hubble.
> Otherwise figure out a way to disable journalling everywhere.
>

Journalling is a Disk Utility option, Panther default is ON, you can
enable/disable it on any Jaguar or Panther volume. I don't use
it-single-user, nonnetworked, home machine. I haven't had a crash in four
months, so it serves no purpose. Likewise with File Vault.


> If that's a problem pull the power plug, and ask. I will physically
>disconnect Hubble and Mir.
>
> Otherwise just do something. There is NOTHING of serious importance in OS
>neXt. I have made it a point to keep it that way.
>
> And. . . I intend to keep it that way. OSA 9.1 has everything important
>to our well being. The 8500 will remain live and well and we have two of
>them. We can toss the G4 into the river if necessary, and I would enjoy
>inviting the press to observe the procedure.
>
> Steve is NOT to be trusted. The G4 is truly for play only. If it doesn't
>work for a year it's OK. The IRS won't even know about it..
>
> What I really hope is that the PRAM or BOOT ROM are not being mucked with
>by Panther. There is no way to tell. The final test is to physically
>disconnect Luna and boot from Hubble.. If that fails we are going 100% to
>Linux with no - NONE - not at all - no way - looking back.
>
> Perhaps we can get YellowDog to run on the G4, If not, I swear we will
>drown it in Fountain Creek with the Gazette reporters invited.
>
> Remember that ALL important financial information is safely stored in
>MacOS 9.1 format on the 8500.

Remind us why you have a G4 and why you want to upgrade to Panther?