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Prearations to install Mac OS X Tiger

J

josefilipe

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 24, 2004
30
0
Portugal
I have an eMac 1,25Ghz with SuperDrive, but I'm still in 10.3.9.
I've finally decided to buy an external hd (LACIE Design by F.A. Porsche 160 Gb USB 2.0) and upgrade to Tiger.

I have a lot of stuff I need to keep: movies, music, application preferences, etc. Should I just use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup the entire Panther disk and then move back everything I need or just backup what I think it's important?

Also, will I have any problems in keeping the Lacie drive with a FAT filesystem? I want portability between Windows boxes and my Mac.

Thank you.

PS: I chose USB2 because of price and I need to use it in some Windows machines, so please don't discuss my choice in external hds :p
 
If it's all in your user folder just back that up. All of my stuff is so it comes to a wonderful 18 GB right now. It was over 25 GB a month ago but I moved some stuff into permanent storage.

There's no need to backup your system folders or Library unless you plan on using them again.

I have a USB 2.0 hard drive as well and I can backup my 18 GB in 25 minutes.
 
Well, a few major problems with USB external drives.

1) You cannot boot your Mac from them, so it's pointless to use CCC to clone your current drive.

2) You cannot use the migration assistant with it to move your data from another drive, so it's pointless to use CCC to clone your current drive.

3) You cannot install a bootable copy of OS X on a FAT volume.

I'd say, back up your User data to the external and use the new Tiger disks to update your existing install of OS X.
 
So I just need to move my User folder and all other stuff to the external drive? Will it move hidden files as well?
When I install Tiger, will it delete everything in the primary hd?
I ask because, from what I've read, it is advisable to make a clean install.
 
josefilipe said:
So I just need to move my User folder and all other stuff to the external drive? Will it move hidden files as well?
When I install Tiger, will it delete everything in the primary hd?
I ask because, from what I've read, it is advisable to make a clean install.
Click to expand...

Clean installs aren't necessary. The vast majority of users perform the standard upgrade and have no problems at all. This is by far the least disruptive and least risky method of installing Tiger.
 
Here's the possible steps:
1. Keep the external hd FAT32
2. Backup what I need (Movies, music and User folder)
3. Do the upgrade, wihtout a Clean Install
4. Move back the User folder to the eMac's hd

Will this bring any problem? All my settings (network, shared printer, etc) will remain the same?
 
If you do a straight upgrade, there's no need to copy your user directory back to the eMac. Nothing will change but the OS. Backing up is always a good idea (whether you're upgrading or not), but I don't know the effects of copying files from an HFS volume to a FAT32 volume and back again, so personally I would not go this route, since there's really no need.
 
I've used a FAT32 drive to backup my files but not for a prolonged period. Your metadata might not carry over onto a FAT32 partition.

If you upgrade you won't need to copy back your files. Only the OS System files were touched when you were upgraded.
 
If there's no problem in doing an upgrade, there's also no need for a backup. I know it's always better to do one, but if the upgrade process works so well, I think I can risk it.
 
josefilipe said:
If there's no problem in doing an upgrade, there's also no need for a backup. I know it's always better to do one, but if the upgrade process works so well, I think I can risk it.
Click to expand...

It's up to you, but you should at least unplug the external drive from the Mac before upgrading.
 
josefilipe said:
What can happen if I leave it connected?
Click to expand...
You don't want it to try to mount itself when you're installing the OS. I mounted my drive once during a system update and cause a kernel panic.
 
Eidorian said:
That is a MUST. I do that whenever I do a clean installation.
Click to expand...

External drives should be disconnected during all fractional updates, too. Corruption of external drives appears to be a rarity during these operations, but it does happen.
 
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