[Help] Leopard upgrading

OK, so I went out and bought Leopard today.

Just after some basic advice, I could probably work out how to do most of it myself, but thought I'd put some questions up here first... to make a quick easy pain free install.

First off, I have shapeshifter installed. This one causes the blue screen. Best way of uninstalling all? any other workarounds?

Secondly, Ive been thinking I'd like to do a complete image/backup of my drive to be safe. I have a time capsule (which I can plug in with ethernet), so how do i go about creating a FULL one in diskutility?

Thirdly, what are the install options and how will they affect me? (archive and install etc?), Ideally I'd like to completely wipe the drive clean... because, well Im having some apps unexpectedly quit, itd be nice to have COMPLETELY fresh slate.

Finally, any other advice you could give me would be appreciated. I am a long time Tiger user, and want to be able to easily port accross my itunes library, and have everything sorted the way it was (again)... quite simply, how do I make this as pain free as possible?

#501717

Ideally I'd like to completely wipe the drive clean

I am re-installing Leopard on my iBook as I am writing... and doing above. Earlier I've upgraded from my old Tiger installation, but I'm kinda running short on my drive space (crappy 60gig). So I took backup manually (iPhoto folder, itunes folder and mail folder etc) on external drive. Figured, later I'll restore things back in place and then delete unwanted stuff from relative applications.

I think clean install is always a best option if it's viable.

#501719

I did a clean install as well when I updated from Tiger, made everything so much simpler in the long run. Backed everything up, installed it, then I just put my iTunes and iPhoto folds back where they were and no problems there. When upgrading to Leopard it doesn't change the iLife version so they'll just work again with the default options.

Shapeshifter goes pfthht with Leopard so pretty much just revert back to the standard skin and get rid of the preference pane. I quote from an appleinsider post:

"Remove the file named "ShapeShifter.prefPane" from the Library/PreferencePanes folder in your home directory and the file "ShapeShifter.ape" from the Library/Application Enhancers folder in your home directory."

After that should be a breeze.

#501746

hmmm thats interesting that you guys seemed to have had problems with shapeshifter.

I installed Leopard straight over the top of Tiger with everything right where i left it

had no crashes or problems of any kind right though to this very day.

Unless you count my logic board GPU going boom as a software related issue XD

#501762

...problems with shapeshifter.
I installed Leopard straight over the top of Tiger...no crashes or problems of any kind right though to this very day.

Really?... what sort of install did you do? upgrade? archive and install?

#501774

I'm kinda running short on my drive space (crappy 60gig). So I took backup manually (iPhoto folder, itunes folder and mail folder etc) on external drive...

I think clean install is always a best option if it's viable.

Yes agreed. I love clean installs and formatting. But I just hate how it takes months after too restore all those settings back (at least on a windows machine, im not sure how mac carries over settings so much).

But I guess the upside is that all those settings which were screwing up your system are also wiped!

My issue at the moment lies in my backup. I have a time capsule, but ethernet is a bit too slow and my macbook pro has a G card not an N making file transfer slow.

I know the time capsule has USB but I'd need a special cable. I'd need one with two males. I'd need a frigging Gay cable (joke, lol sorry only I'd think of that). + im not sure if it would work.

My only other backup alternative is my 80gb ipod (ok, seeing as my macbook pro has a 100gb HDD and has 20gb+ free)... but its slow. I really should invest in a firewire drive.

gah. How reliable do you think the Leopard installer is? safe enough not to back up my data first?

I did a clean install... Backed everything up, installed it, then I just put my iTunes and iPhoto folds back where they were and no problems there. When upgrading to Leopard it doesn't change the iLife version so they'll just work again with the default options.

This is all good advice, and should give me some direction.

So, how do you keep those settings the same in itunes for example? what install option? or are the settings in the itunes folder?

I remember copying/backing up my itunes once before and found the whole copy folder method pretty reliable.

#501775

How reliable do you think the Leopard installer is? safe enough not to back up my data first?
----

So, how do you keep those settings the same in itunes for example? what install option? or are the settings in the itunes folder?

Oh it's quite reliable, but if it breaks it's not going to notify you in advance..

Backup may take time, but it's better to have them rather than regretting saving bit of time, don't you think?

Yes it does.

I just restored my iPhoto Library folder and iTunes folder, and everything was the way it was before.

#501776

awesome.... yeah I should back up *sighs... and gets ipod out to format...* I will try the time capsule first actually.

#501781

just backup crucial files to you and do a complete wipe and install. Best way to go, and that's always what I do when it's time for a fresh OS.

#501801

First off, I have shapeshifter installed. This one causes the blue screen. Best way of uninstalling all? any other workarounds?

Read my reply to your third question.

Secondly, Ive been thinking I'd like to do a complete image/backup of my drive to be safe. I have a time capsule (which I can plug in with ethernet), so how do i go about creating a FULL one in diskutility?

Not sure about this one. There was an app kicking around a while ago, called Carbon Copy Disk or something. Might want to take a look for that.

Thirdly, what are the install options and how will they affect me? (archive and install etc?), Ideally I'd like to completely wipe the drive clean... because, well Im having some apps unexpectedly quit, itd be nice to have COMPLETELY fresh slate.

The archive and install wastes HDD space, in my opinion. Best to manually back up files, then do a fresh install. I think Apple calls it a clean install. I'm not really sure.

Finally, any other advice you could give me would be appreciated. I am a long time Tiger user, and want to be able to easily port accross my itunes library, and have everything sorted the way it was (again)... quite simply, how do I make this as pain free as possible?

I had to do that too! Simple steps:

From the Advanced menu in iTunes, select "Consolidate Library". This will put all of your music in your Users(you)MusiciTunes Library folder.
When that's done, just copy your Music folder (in your home folder) to your backup disk.

#501904

@nick: when you consolidate your library, all your music won't necessarily put all the files in that folder. That being said, they will be placed wherever you have your iTunes library pointed to; for example, in iTunes prefs, I have my iTunes library pointing to "X:Music", so when I consolidate, all files will be placed in that folder.

Just to eliminate any confusion...

And that app you were referring to was Carbon Copy Cloner. This app is a godsend. It helped loads when I upgraded from Tiger to Leopard, and it also helped tremendously when I decided to reinstall Leopard a second time. Look it up.

#501911