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How to force reinstalling Leopard with an Update or Archive and Install option

I use an old G5 Quad with Leopard. The system shows an abnormal behavior (I cannot do a cold boot directly from the Leopard partition. I must first boot from the Tiger partition then change the startup disk to Leopard).

So, I tried to reinstall Leopard. However the Installer says that the only available option is to completely erase the disk.

This is probably because the level of the Leopard residing on my disk is higher than the level of the install DVD.

I do have a backup of all my files, but I would like to avoid the hassle of restoring the files, the Apps and resetting all my parameters, accounts and so on.


Is there a workaround to force the Installer do an Update or an Archive and Install installation.


Thanks!

Posted on Jul 7, 2014 10:40 AM

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8 replies

Jul 7, 2014 10:46 AM in response to Bernard Baz

More than likely there is an issue with the Partition Map, older systems used Apple Partition Map, and transitioned to GUID Partition Map.


Disk Utility should tell you the partition type you are using. If your install media does not support APM, it will try and erase your disk.


You may also want to look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_partition_map

Jul 9, 2014 12:45 AM in response to Bernard Baz

Loner T, I am quite sure this is not a matter Partition scheme. The disk is partitioned according to the Apple Partition Scheme. Moreover, if I try to install Leopard on the Tiger partition (which resides on the same disk as the Leopard partition), I do get the choice for all the 3 install options. I believe it's a matter of update level : my Leopard system is 10.5.8 while the install dvd should be 10.5.2 or so. Then actually what I am trying to do is downgrading the system, which the installer refuses to do apart from erasing the volume.


BDAqua, the Leopard volume is indeed seen as a valid start up disk either in the system preferences or when I hold the alt key at boot time. When I choose that volume, the booting process starts (chime, grey screen with the big apple and spinning wheel for a few seconds) then stops and the Mac shuts down.


Thanks, anyway.

Jul 9, 2014 11:27 AM in response to BDAqua

- There are 2 users on the 10.5 partition

- I'll try to follow your advice, however I have never used Pacifist and actually I don't know what is the defective part of the system and which component I would have to pick up. This is why I had the idea of reinstalling the whole system but without touching my files.


I'm going on vacations tomorrow 😎, will try to fix that when I'm back in 2 weeks.

Sep 21, 2014 10:36 AM in response to Bernard Baz

OK, yesterday I was about to sell the machine in question so I took the time to make a last attempt.

Instead of starting the installation process from the install DVD, I started from a bootable partition where I had previously saved the Installation stuff.

And the awaited miracle came true : this time I was offered the "Archive and install" option which let me repair the broken system in a few minutes, while preserving all my precious files and apps.

How to force reinstalling Leopard with an Update or Archive and Install option

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