Hi Anthony,
I've installed the 10.4.3 update on three computers - an imac G5, a PB 12 and an iBook g4 12", and on two external hard drives, without any problems at all.
Don't forget that this place is an "emergency" ward, and the apparent plethora of complaints and cocnerns is really very small compared to the total installation base for something like this. There are millions of Macs out there in the real world!
Try the following ten steps for trouble free installation:
1) Make sure you have plenty of free space on your hard drive. Don't try installing on a computer with any less than 5 gigs free - preferably more.
2) Download the "combo" version of the OS updater from
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxupdate1043combo.html (the combo updater is usually the best bet, even though it is larger, because it helps overcome problems that might occur if an earlier update has gone badly, or if people have deliberately or indavertently messed around with their existing system related files)
3) If you don't usually leave your computer running overnight, then download and run a copy of the free
"MacJanitor" or another program that can run the daily, weekly and monthly unix housekeeping tasks. These are normally run automatically in the wee small hours of the morning if the computer is on and awake, and there are ways of doing this without aditional software, but programs like MacJanitor make it very simple to do at a time suitable to you.
4) disconnect all peripheral devices - printers , external drives, scanners, etc etc, but leave the power adaptor connected. (don't want to risk running out battery while doing this sort of stuff)
5) check your hard drive before doing the update using Disk Utility while booted from your iBook or Tiger DVD (you can boot by putting the dvd in the drive and then restarting while holding down the c key , or by holding down the option key and then selecting the DVD as the startup disc before pressing the continue arrow ).
Once you have booted from the DVD select "Disk Utility" from the "Tools" menu on the menubar.
Now highlight your HD in the left hand panel of the Disk Utility window and click on "repair disk" (not repair permissions at this stage).
Disk Utility will check the directories on your drive and make any repairs necessary if it can. If, by chance, it says that there is a problem but it can't repair it, then don't continue with the update process, use your computer as little as possible. and post back here.
6) Once Disk Utility has given your drive a clean bill of health then use its other option "repair permissions"
7) Shut down your iBook completely. Start it up in the normal fashion (ie booting from the HD).
8) run the 10.3.4 Updater
9) restart your computer. This restart may take a little longer than usual - in my case one of my computers took a couple of minutes longer than usual, and I have seen some people reporting substantially longer periods of time - up to as much as 30 minutes, so be patient if necessary. The next restart will be normal.
10) Once you are sure everything is running fine, then you can plug your peripherals, if any, back in.
Then post back here and tell us how smoothly it went! 😉
Its a good idea to perform the tasks mentioned in points 3 to 6 every few weeks anyway, even if you aren't updating your OS.
One other sthing that may be worth considering is turning off any "background" virus checking software if you have it installed, as this can sometimes interupt, or slow down, installation processes. If you use it , remove Allums "Internet Cleanup", too, which can cause problems under Tiger.
Cheers
Rod
