Mac OS X 10.3.7 (#15): Tips for non-booting, Mac OS X 10.3.7 FireWire drives; more
Mac OS X 10.3.7 (#15): Tips for non-booting, Mac OS X 10.3.7 FireWire drives; more
Tips for non-booting, Mac OS X 10.3.7 FireWire drives We continue to report on an issue where FireWire drives used as boot volumes are no longer able to properly startup after being updated to Mac OS X 10.3.7.
Possible solutions
Update the drive while it is the startup volume Some users have found that they are only able to successfully startup from a Mac OS X 10.3.7-updated FireWire boot drive when the drive is updated to Mac OS X 10.3.7 while it is the active boot volume rather than while another volume (such as the internal hard drive) is the active startup device.
MacFixIt reader Arne Berglund writes:
"I too had an external Firewire drive that became unbootable after applying the 10.3.7 update. The drive is a surplus 2.5" Hitachi laptop drive installed in a generic no-name case. I had 10.3.6 on a small 3 GB partition for cloning and diagnostic use. After applying the 10.3.7 combo updater, the drive failed to boot, and displayed the gray 'prohibitory' sign. But I remembered that I had updated the system while booted into an eMac it was connected to, and not while booted into the Firewire drive itself. I re-installed 10.3.0 to the Firewire partition, and then applied the 10.3.7 combo updater while booted from the Firewire drive. I have had no problems booting from that drive since applying the update in that manner.
Hold "option" during startup to select boot volume For some users, holding down the "option" key at startup and selecting the desired FireWire drive as the startup volume allows successful booting.
MacFixIt reader Gerben writes:
"I did see the same issue of not being able to boot form an external FW disk after having updated Mac OS X from 10.3.5 to 10.3.7 with the combo updater.
"But what I noticed is that restarting and keeping the "option" key depressed will bring up the choice of boot volumes and booting thereafter worked fine. I could not do a cold boot from the external FW disk but I could do a restart and then boot."
Disconnect Fibre Channel Cables In a prima facie odd workaround, MacFixIt reader Steve Regian reports that temporarily disconnecting the Fibre Channel connection cables from his Apple-branded Fibre Channel PCI card allowed proper FireWire boot drive operation.
He writes:
"My dual G5 2 GHz. refuses to boot from any external FireWire drive, even though it is selected as startup disk and no other bootable drive is connected, until I unplug the Fibre Channel Cables from the Apple Fibre Channel PCI card. Then, after a few seconds, it locates the system software on the FireWire and boots. Then I can re-attach the fibre channel cables to the switch and my Xserve Raid promptly mounts and operates... seemingly properly. Perplexing and inconvenient."
Other FireWire Problems We continue to cover a variety of separate FireWire issues under Mac OS X 10.3.7, including the following:
Extra FireWire adapter also does not function properly In a number of previous FireWire problem scenarios, we've recommended a separate FireWire bridge in the form of a PCI FireWire adapter.
As evidenced by MacFixIt reader Bart Viaene, however, adding a separate FireWire bridge will not -- in most cases -- resolve software related issues like those introduced by Mac OS X 10.3.7:
I own a blue and white G3, 350MHz. It was running Mac OS X 10.3.6 happily.
"After using Software Upgrade to automatically install to 10.3.7 (flawlessly), I noticed that the FireWire connections were down. Suspecting a hardware malfunction, I opened the G3 and checked the plugs : all OK there.
"I went to the store and bought a Keyspan PCI FireWire 400 card, which I installed in under 1 minute, no software installer needed. But no go : these 3 new FireWire ports did not function either. Now, I suspect a software problem, related to the 10.3.7 upgrade."
FireWire drives causing kernel panics if connected at startup Meanwhile, MacFixIt reader Emyr Williams reports that, in some cases, having a FireWire drive attached at startup under Mac OS X 10.3.7 can cause kernel panics. This is in line with our earlier recommendation that, when experiencing problems with the devices, users wait to connect FireWire drives until their Mac OS X system has completed startup.
Williams writes:
"I have an external LaCie 40gb drive attached to my Pismo. Since installing 10.3.7 when I start the computer with the drive switched on I get a grey screen telling me to hold down the power button to re boot the computer. If I boot the computer with hard drive switched off the computer starts up and I can then switch on the drive with no problems."
Interesting conversation with Ubi Soft about Myst IV compatibility We previously discussed issues with Myst IV under Mac OS X 10.3.7. MacFixIt reader Greg Piper wrote Ubi Soft -- the creators of Myst IV -- regarding the issue, spawning an interesting discussion that reveals how at least some Mac game developers deal with Apple's incremental Mac OS X release:
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.Customer: I know your "fix" (for Myst crashing in 10.3.7) is to drag the game folder to the desktop to get around the OSX 10.3.7 incompatibility, but this WONT work if your boot drive doesn't have the room to do that. What is your next solution to your incompatibility problem? When will this game be updated so I can continue my game?
Ubi Soft Response:Unfortunately the game is only supported on OS 10.2.8 to 10.3.6. The work-around has helped some users with OS 10.3.7 and is the only suggestion I can provide. The 10.3.7 OS was released well after this game was developed and released to the market. They might patch the software to allow 10.3.7 compatibility, or they might not support 10.3.7. Currently the only suggestion I can give is to downgrade your OS.
Customer: If you were saying that it won't work under 10.4.x I'd understand completely, but the 10.3.x updates are NOT optional upgrades to the OS! These are security and bug FIXES to the OS. You should be supporting the entire 10.3.x OS regardless of the security updates Apple provides... Yes, even if that means having someone troubleshoot the problem and work on it for 6 hours or so to fix it. OS X 10.4 will be an optional upgrade, and not an upDATE to the OS. You can tell this because Apple offers updates to 10.2, 10.3, and will offer them to 10.4 simultaneously and doesn't force you to upgrade to the newer OS. A 10.3.7 patch is not an operating system upgrade, but an update! Apple doesn't force you to upgrade. [...] You're telling me to scrap future compatibility with software from possibly thousands of other vendors just to fix your one game? Please understand this. I'd like a refund on this game if you can't give me a better answer than to 'downgrade' back to put insecurities and broken parts back into the OS.
Ubi Soft Response: Refunds can only be provided by the Retail store since technical support does not retail to the general public. As I had stated last email, we may come out with a patch. The fix may or may not be easy. The main problem with creating software for the macintosh is compatibility issues with the ever changing Mac OS. The video game companies cannot keep up with Apples changes every couple months. It means you will need development teams always present working on a certain piece of software. Some companies who create one or two products can keep up with these changes. Video game companies will have development teams work on a project, then after release, the team is sometimes disbanded to work on other projects or they may keep just a few people to work on after release issues. If Apple would stop releasing upgrades and work on one OS release that will not have to be patched with a security update every couple of months, this would not be a problem. I can understand the frustration, but this is how the situation has been and will probably will be with a Macintosh. Myst, Riven, Myst III, Myst IV, Dogz, Catz, Chessmaster...etc. These are all products that we have released that will not function correctly due to OS revisions. This is just a tiny list of games released in the past that will no longer function due to OS updates. This update for the OS was not initiated with the release of Myst IV, this problem was caused by the release of the new OS. I believe your frustration should be pointed towards the OS update rather than the item that was stable before the update release.
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