General diagnostics help

[Soundhound]

I just got Logic Studio and it's big program with lots of parts to it and before I install it I wanted to make sure things are cool with my iMac. It's been crashing a fair amount recently. I called Apple and the girl (really nice) in the general section said it's probably good to take the imac to an apple store or apple authorized tecnhnician (and she gave me several in the area) and have them give it a once over. Then I spoke with a guy in the pro apps department (nasty and bored) who said the thing to do is:

1) Try running disk utility from a system bootup disk (Leopard, wchih I have around here somewhere)
2) Do an Archive and Install from the Leopard Disk (and then get all the updates etc). which will just replace the system, not anything else.
3) Do an erase and install from the Leopard disk, which will mean having to reinstall any third party apps.

Whadaya think?

 

[topmounter]

A wipe and reinstall of the OS always worked miracles for Windows... it's the first thing I would do if it were my box.

 

[Soundhound]

My system currently is Leopard, 10.5.8. Can I do these processes with a Snow Leopard disk? Or should it be the same system I currently have?

 

[r.j.s]

If you use the SL disc, you will be installing a whole new system, which may create new bugs or problems for your machine.

 

[Soundhound]

What if I only have a Snow Leopard Disk, and no Leopard disk? Do it anyway? Or see it I can borrow a Leopard Disk from someone?

 

[r.j.s]

If you only have the SL disc, I'd go for it.

 

[Soundhound]

The only install disks I can find are 10.4.7., and I'm running 10.5.8. Can I do it with those? Or do I need to find Leopard install disks?

 

[r.j.s]

I thought you only had a SL disc?

Check the requirements for Logic, it may not work with 10.4.x

 

[Soundhound]

Someone is sending me a snow leopard disk. But I'm reading that Leopard may be a little more stable with Logic just yet, so I was thinking of staying with Leopard for the moment. The only install disks I can find here are 10.4.7.

 

[Soundhound]

Found the leopard disk , never mind

Someone is sending me a snow leopard disk. But I'm reading that Leopard may be a little more stable with Logic just yet, so I was thinking of staying with Leopard for the moment. The only install disks I can find here are 10.4.7.

 

[Soundhound]

Now I'm trying to run Disk Utility from the Leopard install disk, but the only thing I can seem to do with it is Archive and Install, or Erase and Install, which is installing the system. Do you know how to just boot up from the install disk and use that system? thanks!

 

[celticpride678]

Now I'm trying to run Disk Utility from the Leopard install disk, but the only thing I can seem to do with it is Archive and Install, or Erase and Install, which is installing the system. Do you know how to just boot up from the install disk and use that system? thanks!

There is no "system" on the Install DVD.

 

[Soundhound]

Figured it out. I think. There is a Disk Utility on the install disk, and I'm using that now.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Put in your OS X install disc. Hold down the "C" key and reboot your computer. Keep holding the "C" key until you are sure it booting from the CD/DVD, it will take longer than a normal hard drive boot. Once it's booted from the CD/DVD DON'T continue with the install of the OS, but select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu and Repair Disk and then Repair Disk Permissions for your internal hard drive.

 

[Soundhound]

Yup, that's what I did, thanks. I had a basic Disk Utility question. When I do verify disk permissions, and then repair disk permissions, how do I know if everything's okay? there's generally a long list of files in the scrollable window, some of which say, xxxxx file has been modified and will not be repaired... as well as others. But once I run Repair Disk Permissions, it ends up saying 'Repair Disk Permissions Complete.' Does this mean everything's ok, or does it suggest things are not well, and I should do an Archive and Install?

thanks!

Put in your OS X install disc. Hold down the "C" key and reboot your computer. Keep holding the "C" key until you are sure it booting from the CD/DVD, it will take longer than a normal hard drive boot. Once it's booted from the CD/DVD DON'T continue with the install of the OS, but select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu and Repair Disk and then Repair Disk Permissions for your internal hard drive.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Yup, that's what I did, thanks. I had a basic Disk Utility question. When I do verify disk permissions, and then repair disk permissions, how do I know if everything's okay? there's generally a long list of files in the scrollable window, some of which say, xxxxx file has been modified and will not be repaired... as well as others. But once I run Repair Disk Permissions, it ends up saying 'Repair Disk Permissions Complete.' Does this mean everything's ok, or does it suggest things are not well, and I should do an Archive and Install?

thanks!

My understanding is that Repair Disk Permissions does the same thing that Verify Disk Permissions does except that it actually repairs the ones that need repairing. There are a number of permissions that are safe to ignore under Leopard, Apple has listed them here:

Mac OS X 10.5: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore

My understanding is that disk permissions are basically just who gets permission to files, the system, yourself, other users, etc. they're not really a sign of something wrong, but can cause access issues if not set properly, that's what repairing them does. This Apple doc explains a bit about Disk Permissions:

About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature

I would not do an Archive and Install because of disk permissions. Macs generally don't need the OS reinstalled like Windows every time you turn around. Reinstalling the OS on a Mac is generally considered a last resort.

 

[Soundhound]

Thanks for that, appreciate it. I've installed Logic now and will see how it goes. Fingers crossed!

My understanding is that Repair Disk Permissions does the same thing that Verify Disk Permissions does except that it actually repairs the ones that need repairing. There are a number of permissions that are safe to ignore under Leopard, Apple has listed them here:

Mac OS X 10.5: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore

My understanding is that disk permissions are basically just who gets permission to files, the system, yourself, other users, etc. they're not really a sign of something wrong, but can cause access issues if not set properly, that's what repairing them does. This Apple doc explains a bit about Disk Permissions:

About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature

I would not do an Archive and Install because of disk permissions. Macs generally don't need the OS reinstalled like Windows every time you turn around. Reinstalling the OS on a Mac is generally considered a last resort.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Glad to hear you got it installed. Some people say this isn't necessary, or that it's overkill, but whenever I'm going to install anything or do any updates I'll do a Verify Disk and a Repair Disk Permissions before installing/updating. Then after the install/update I'll run Repair Disk Permissions again. These can be done from the Disk Utility on your hard drive, you don't have to boot from the CD/DVD for routine running of them. It doesn't take long, it doesn't hurt anything and I don't seem to have a lot of the problems that other people do, YMMV though.