PLEASE HELP! Leopard installation has gone to hell!

[mattcube64]

So, I was running Tiger on my Macbook.

We got the family pack of Leopard. Installed it on a MBP no problem.

Next, it was my turn to install it on my Macbook. First it verified the disc, and then it began installation.

Calculating... initially says 2hours, drops down to about 46 minutes, and I wait.

I come back about an hour later, and it's on a blue screen, with just a cursor. I figure it's doing something. I come back about 10 minutes later, still on this non-action blue screen. So, I figure I outta turn off the computer.

I turn it on, the apple logo appears, the little circle-thing starts to spin, then goes to the blue screen. This is normally when the white dialogue box that says "Loading Mac OSX" would come up in Tiger... but it doesn't. It just stays at this same blue screen.

I eject the disc, try again, try with the disc, try putting the disc in later, etc, etc.

At the end of the day, I have a Macbook that can only boot into a stupid blank blue screen. What's the deal?!

 

[janey]

Sounds like LoginWindow is hating you. You could try like, an archive and install or something.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Mine sat on the blue screen with a mouse cursor for about 5 to 10 minutes without doing anything and my first thought was, "oh crap, it's borked." But eventually it popped up the login window.

Just be patient and give it at least 30min to an hour to see if it sorts itself out. If not, do an Archive and Install.

 

[CavemanUK]

Seems this is a common problem with the upgrade.. I did 3 machines without seeing this so I was surprised to see the reports this morning..

The general consensus seems to be that when this happens, reinstall using "Archive and Install"

I also read somewhere that someone suggested this was happening to people using ShapeShifter? are you using ShapeShifter?

 

[mattcube64]

Can someone tell me how to do an archive and install?

Thanks!

And yes, I was using Shapeshifter to get rid of the translucent background of the dock.

 

[janey]

Can someone tell me how to do an archive and install?

You can customize the Leopard install. It'll be next to the back/next buttons on one of the steps of the install. It'll say Upgrade, Erase/Install, Archive and Install, etc. All you do is select Archive and Install, and don't forget to preserve user data and all (or whatever that's called, vague...but something along those lines).

 

[chas0001]

I had exactly the same problem. Read elsewhere that Application Enhancer (APE) can cause the problem. I deleted the extensions and was able to boot into leopard fine.

I removed the following files :

rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/ApplicationEnhancer.prefpane
rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/ApplicationEnhancer.framework
rm -rf /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/ApplicationEnhancer.bundle
rm -f /Library/Preferences/com.unsanity.ape.plist

It seems to work for most people.

 

[janey]

I had exactly the same problem.

Awesome. Don't forget to mention to boot up into single user mode or something, given that you'd need to enter these commands in somewhere.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Awesome. Don't forget to mention to boot up into single user mode or something, given that you'd need to enter these commands in somewhere.

You can boot into the Leopard DVD. You can access terminal from the Installer.

 

[janey]

You can boot into the Leopard DVD. You can access terminal from the Installer.

Good point. Either way, both (or either one) weren't included.

 

[chas0001]

Awesome. Don't forget to mention to boot up into single user mode or something, given that you'd need to enter these commands in somewhere.

I just booted into my clone hard drive and deleted the files from there. Looks like there are 3 different ways to get rid of the files. At least thats a good thing.

How many other people panicked when the computer would not start? I know I did, even though I had a full backup.

 

[janey]

I just booted into my clone hard drive and deleted the files from there. Looks like there are 3 different ways to get rid of the files. At least thats a good thing.

How many other people panicked when the computer would not start? I know I did, even though I had a full backup.

On a sidenote, just in case this thread is found in a search or linked as a solution for this problem, here's Apple's official solution, indirectly mentioning unsanity :
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306857

 

[MacBlackBook22]

I had exactly the same problem. Read elsewhere that Application Enhancer (APE) can cause the problem. I deleted the extensions and was able to boot into leopard fine.

I removed the following files :


rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/ApplicationEnhancer.prefpane
rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/ApplicationEnhancer.framework
rm -rf /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/ApplicationEnhancer.bundle
rm -f /Library/Preferences/com.unsanity.ape.plist

It seems to work for most people.

Would it be better to remove those files before doing the upgrade to Leopard?
I had insanity on this macbook. I have just removed it from the system preferences ( since my first macbook is fried upgrading) I want to know what I have to do before ever trying the upgrade on this machine

 

[downingp]

I manually found the application enhancer files and deleted them. I am hoping this will work. I can't install leopard until I get the UTD disk though