WARNING - Do not use AppleCare TechTool Deluxe on Tiger

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Level 2

260 points

WARNING - Do not use AppleCare TechTool Deluxe on Tiger

A week or so after installing Tiger on my Panther-original G5 I noticed some slight slowing of my system, so I ran the Tiger disk to repair disk, ran repair permissions from the system itself, and then decided to run the original AppleCare TechTool Deluxe disk. I had checked the Apple site to see that there wasn't any warning not to do so. That was my big mistake. Techtool Deluxe deleted a number of vital system files from the Volume Structure and my system was shot to ****. It wouldn't start up and of the few ways the drive could be recognized, only one was available (that gave me some hope, but)after lengthy discussions with Apple and the Apple Store personnel, I was instructed I had no choice but to erase and install. Fortunately, one Apple tech person recommended I try Firewire Target Disc mode with firewire cable (6 pin to 6 pin cable) and connect with another OSX Mac (in my case a Jaguar eMac). Despite my G5 system not being able to start up, target mode did provide drive access to the eMac and I was able to copy the files I needed before the reinstall. What a relief. Annoying to have to reinstall everything, but alot better than nothing. Any suggestions on some kind of reimbursement from Apple, i.e. the price of a utility disk, maybe $100? The Apple tech person also stated that the current AppleCare discs which are sent out with new machines include the same software as the one which came with my Panther G5, so even if you think yours may be a helpful utility, don't run TechTool Deluxe from your AppleCare disc.

Posted on Jun 8, 2005 10:58 PM

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Answer 1

Cebuano

Level 2

345 points

Jun 8, 2005 11:22 PM in response to bvkoski

I received my Applecare with the TechTool CD several days before my G5 was delivered. For the heck of it, I thought I would try booting my B&W G3 with the CD to give TechTool Pro a test drive. It would not boot up the G3, and when I mentioned it in this forum, someone warned me NOT to use it on my new G5 - that saved me a big headache. I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. Seems like there should be a TechTool CD recall, just like automobile recalls 🙂

Steve

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Answer 2

Jun 9, 2005 12:16 AM in response to bvkoski

son of a biscuit, so if I have a recently purchased copy of TechTool Pro and upgraded both my X machines to Tiger I can't use it? Or is the AppleCare CD just effected?

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Answer 3

Ilgaz

Level 1

90 points

Jun 9, 2005 1:38 AM in response to bvkoski

What is the version of that "thing"? I am a drive 10 customer, I don'T do a mad thing as trying to run it on Tiger unless its updated for Tiger, stated with big letters at Micromat WWW site etc.

In fact, all Micromat tools alerted me to check for update when I upgraded to 10.4 (Tiger) saying I SHOULD check for a update.

About the other guy anxious about his Techtool PRO 4, update using "check for updates", its what you should do with any disk utility running on any platform. In fact, DO NOT USE anything 10.3.x (bootcd having disk utility etc) on a Tiger installed system. Micromat warns, disk utility doesn't, that thing can break your HD for sure.

4.0.4 runs excellent on Tiger. Drive 10 needs updated.

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Answer 4

Jun 9, 2005 5:22 AM in response to bvkoski

DON'T USE TECHTOOL PRO ON TIGER IF YOUR USING A 2.7GIG G5!! I have had kernel panics when I use the intermediate suite on two separate 2.7 Gig machines, in the exact same spot. Use Disk Warrior, it can't be beat.

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Answer 5

Ilgaz

Level 1

90 points

Jun 9, 2005 5:29 AM in response to bvkoski

Are you working for Diskwarrior? Or I bet you are one of their "fans"

Advertising such a FUD way doesn't help anyone and at one point, you could get sued.

Techtool Pro 4.0.4, Tiger version works perfectly. If there is a problem, their official forum is at www.macfixit.com forums, their support address is www.micromat.com (hope you have a legal serial) and the classic way of mailing/phoning works.

Micromat would inform everyone on big, red letters NOT TO INSTALL/USE if there was such a serious problem.

I am a customer of them, even if there was such a problem, I wouldn't go to Apple forums shouting "it killed my cat" while such a problem exists, I'd use support options above.

Hope one day Apple editors out there care about their partner companies (with awards) getting hurt by FUD from competing product fans.

Oh wait, there are Intel posts to delete of course 🙂

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Answer 6

Scott B.

Level 2

210 points

Jun 9, 2005 12:14 PM in response to bvkoski

Bruce,

Thank you for reinforcing the theory that I am not, in fact, insane. The exact same thing happened to me today with my brand new 2.3 gHz g5 I was using for video work. I decided to "polish" my system. Oh, I polished it, all right. To oblivion.

The AppleCare TechTool Deluxe disc is --DANGEROUS-- to Tiger users. Lethal, in fact, even to a virgin install. It offered to "fix" several problems, and in the end demolished a perfectly good, working installation.

We should forward this thread URL to AppleCare. Or start a petition or something. Apparently they are "not aware of any pending issues with TechTool Deluxe." We have at least THREE documented cases in this thread alone.

My Tiger install is ***GONE***.
200 gigs of data ... ***GONE***
Partition table on my 10.4.1 install ... ***GONE***
Drive will not mount in Disk Utility, DiskWarrior, anywhere.
I didn't know about Target Disk Mode until it was too late. =(

I had every faith in Apple. Especially you would think, ok, AppleCare, this should help things out..

[*shakes head in dismay*]
No.

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Answer 7

JustinR

Level 5

4,475 points

Jun 9, 2005 12:34 PM in response to Scott B.

I had every faith in Apple. Especially you would think, ok, AppleCare...

Scott, Apple do not develop TechTool Deluxe, http://www.micromat.com>Micromat do. You'd be better off directing compatibility reports to them, in the first instance. Make AppleCare aware of the potential problem, too. They can then put a little pressure on Micromat to sort it quickly.

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Answer 8

Jun 9, 2005 12:34 PM in response to bvkoski

I know this is of no help today, but there is an article about using older utilities with Tiger.

Only use Mac OS X 10.4-compatible disk utilities with Mac OS X 10.4 volumes
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301269

and

Mac OS X 10.4: Tech Tool Deluxe 3.0.3 displays "Failed (Error= -92)" message
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301353

campi

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Answer 9

bvkoski Author

Level 2

260 points

Jun 9, 2005 6:26 PM in response to Ilgaz

Hi, I realize you're probably referring to the previous user, but I wanted to remind everyone of what I named the thread, "WARNING - Do not use AppleCare TechTool Deluxe on Tiger." I'm aware that there are upgrades available for TechTool Pro that will work on Tiger, but what Apple is including with computers is an unsuitable and damaging utility. Some have said that it won't even start up on their machines. Boy, I sure wish that was the case with mine, I would have avoided this entire problem. My claim is only about the AppleCare utility disc.

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Answer 10

bvkoski Author

Level 2

260 points

Jun 9, 2005 6:34 PM in response to wheelchair_guy

I appreciate your mention of these bits of information. Yes, there is no doubt that I was foolish in thinking/hoping/not seeing any specific information about a problem with the AppleCare disc, that it would all be fine. One thing I forgot to mention is that I had heard from an Apple Tech person that the new systems releasing with Tiger had the exact same AppleCare TechTool Deluxe program as the previous version (which I have). I then thought it would be fine. Apple seemed to think it was fine. Only after I presented my problem to four different Apple Techs did one of them state that, no, the provided disc is not compatible (he also thought it wouldn't even start up). I think that may be why Apple has not loudly pasted this issue on their website's homepage as a warning, because if it can't start up, it's harmless. Well, it wasn't harmless for me.

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Answer 11

bvkoski Author

Level 2

260 points

Jun 9, 2005 6:42 PM in response to Scott B.

Sorry to hear about your problems. I guess I was lucky being able to speak to the right person about the Target Disc mode. What I indicated in the thread was also what I came up with. He originally recommended my buying a new second internal drive and handle it that way, one to the other internally. I thought I'd try the connect to an external machine first. Of course, the firewire (6 pin to 6 pin - there are other configurations) cable at 14' cost $40, the 6' cost $38 and the 3' cost $30. Quite the price range. Good luck with everything. Another point about system startup disk utility not seeing the drive, I was able to access and prove the existence of the hard drive not from startup, disk repair, but only as if I was going to make a disk image. It then gave me options as to what and where I wanted to make a disk image of, then I could see that all of my hard drive files were still there. That gave me the hope that recommended Target Disc mode might work, and it did, thankfully. Excuse the long-windedness.

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Answer 12

bvkoski Author

Level 2

260 points

Jun 9, 2005 6:45 PM in response to JustinR

If Apple is providing an AppleCare disc for CURRENT systems that is causing damge, the main fault is Apple's. They are the ones who have made the deal with Micromat. I think it's time Apple came up with their own extensive disk utility system.

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Answer 13

JWeinberg

Level 2

420 points

Jun 9, 2005 7:52 PM in response to bvkoski

I use the commercial version (bought at the Apple store) of TechTool Pro. Since I registered the version I got for Panther, when Tiger was released, I received an e-mail from Micromat telling me that the version I had was incompatible with Tiger and not to use it. When the Tiger compatible version was released, they e-mailed me with the free upgrade instructions. I've used it with no ill effects.

JWeinberg

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Answer 14

bvkoski Author

Level 2

260 points

Jun 9, 2005 10:03 PM in response to JWeinberg

I'll restate my thread title, "WARNING - Do not use AppleCare TechTool Deluxe on Tiger" - this refers only and specifically to the AppleCare disc provided with new systems as well as systems released with Panther. The Techtool Deluxe utility on the new discs is the same as the Panther version and will damage your system. I am aware that TechTool Pro with updates is fine for Tiger.

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Answer 15

Jun 9, 2005 10:22 PM in response to JWeinberg

Do they send out a new Tiger-bootable CD? I prefer not to install utilities programs from the problems I remember from Norton OS 9 days. The whole point of a utilities disk to me is to be able to boot from it and fix the problems (if any) and then restart with a clean slate.

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