Upgrading, 10.0.4 to 10.3, Help

[Earendil]

So, I've been asked to help upgrade a friends aging iBook. They want Panther installed, and have the discs, no problem I say!
Apparently I needed to have lived through OSX. I jumped from 8.6 to 10.3, and don't remember there being any trouble. But the Panther install CD is telling me it can't update this version of OSX (10.0.4). So I attempt to use a Jaguar CD to use as a go between. No luck.

Can I really not do an update install of Panther over 10.0.4? Or am I experiencing something I shouldn't?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm holding this girls iBook over night, and we're at college. She could use it back I'm sure...

Thanks guys,
~Tyler

 

[broken_keyboard]

Wow that's a big upgrade.

You should call her and ask what data she wants to keep and then copy it to your Mac and do a clean install of 10.3 and then copy the data back. You will need to figure out how to network the iBook with your Mac.

 

[Earendil]

Wow that's a big upgrade.

You should call her and ask what data she wants to keep and then copy it to your Mac and do a clean install of 10.3 and then copy the data back. You will need to figure out how to network the iBook with your Mac.

Is that the ONLY option? If I do this, there isn't a way to save things like preferences or anything? Shoot... I don't know this girl well enough to screw with her computer.
Networking my computer with hers is no problem, I would just hate to lose any valuable data/prefs/documents/programs.

So there is no way to make this jump, even in small steps?

~Tyler

 

[broken_keyboard]

So there is no way to make this jump, even in small steps?

Maybe if you could find a 10.1 disk?

 

[Earendil]

Maybe if you could find a 10.1 disk?

What are the chances... I could give it a shot. But does apple REALLY not want people skipping an OS? Presumably someone that had 10.0 and wanted to use Panther the legal way, would not only have to buy Panther, but also buy 10.1 and 10.2? This seems kinda nuts...

~Tyler

 

[macrlz9]

10.1 is a free update, download that update then try it...

 

[ravenvii]

Yeah 10.1 was free. Download that, then install 10.3, it should work.

But why don't you just archive and install? That'll keep everything in the home folder...

 

[Mechcozmo]

Can you do the upgraded while started from OS 9?
(Assuming it is a dual boot system, which I think it would be if it has 10.0 on there)

 

[Earendil]

Yeah 10.1 was free. Download that, then install 10.3, it should work.

But why don't you just archive and install? That'll keep everything in the home folder...

Archive and install...It won't let me do anything.

Are you guys sure that 10.1 Puma is free? I've spent the last 30 minutes all over Apple.com, versiontracker, and google, trying to find some sort of free 10.1 download. No luck.

This has GOT to be easier...

~Tyler

 

[mad jew]

Archive and install...It won't let me do anything.

Are you guys sure that 10.1 Puma is free? I've spent the last 30 minutes all over Apple.com, versiontracker, and google, trying to find some sort of free 10.1 download. No luck.

This has GOT to be easier...

~Tyler

I haven't run anything earlier than Panther but I'm pretty sure 10.1 was NOT free. It was cheaper for people upgrading from 10.0 though.

 

[MisterMe]

I haven't run anything earlier than Panther but I'm pretty sure 10.1 was NOT free. It was cheaper for people upgrading from 10.0 though.

You are correct, MacOS X 10.1 was not free. Remember that this version shipped with MacOS 9.2.1 as the Classic environment. There may have a lot of users who acquired 10.1 through the Mac Up-To-Date program, but there was much more to the OS than just an update to 10.0. Most copies were paid for.

 

[thequicksilver]

The post above is nearly correct, but lacks a little detail. The situation was that the boxed 10.1 replaced the boxed 10.0 in the retail channel, so any new OS X buyers went straight to 10.1 for their $129. However those that bought 10.0 (a steaming pile of an OS from all I've read) were eligible for a free copy from a participating stores - this nearly always came in the form of a burnt CD while you wait believe it or not.

It wasn't officially downloadable, and you'll have issues finding a free copy of 10.1 in 2005 - it was released back in Autumn 2001. Other than by illicit means, or by chance finding someone you know with a copy of 10.1, this quest will be hard. Best of luck though.

 

[Mechcozmo]

Again, if this iBook is a dual boot system which I assume it is (no Macs were OS X only until Jaguar), why not just do the upgrade from OS 9? Would that take care of it?

 

[rickvanr]

10.1 was free if you bought 10.0, I didn't even have to order 10.1, the computer store just gave it to me when it was released.

 

[CanadaRAM]

There's a 10.1 update CD on eBay now, $4

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=80039&item=5752991402&rd=1

 

[Makosuke]

I'm assuming the issue here is that you've got the "upgrade" version of 10.3, not the full 10.3 installer which doesn't care what it's upgrading from.

The long, stupid, but effective way would indeed be to upgrade to 10.1 somehow (you might actually try filesharing networks or Usenet--it's very old now, but since the upgrade version--as opposed to the full 10.1 installer--was technically free to anybody who could install it, it's not really illegal), then to 10.2, at which point you could use your 10.3 upgrade discs to do an archive and install or straight upgrade to 10.3.

The other option would be to just track down a full set of 10.3 discs and use those, since they won't care what you're upgrading from. The second option is of slightly questionable legality, but being that she does indeed have both a legitimate previous version of OSX and a legitimate upgrade disc, I'd say it's close enough to acceptable.

 

[Billicus]

If you have some sort of FireWire HD that you have access to, or just using your other Mac, you can potentially back up everything that she has, and with her nearby after you Erase & Install Panther, you ought to be able to figure out what she is going to need to do in order to get everything working again. OS X 10.0.4 was a poor excuse for a new OS from Apple - OS X 10.1 was the first usable edition.

There should be no problem erasing and installing 10.3 or you might (not sure) be able to do an archive and install... which lets you install a new version of 10.3 while still being able to keep your old stuff around for a little while. I don't think there is such a thing as an upgrade only Cd.

 

[Makosuke]

I don't think there is such a thing as an upgrade only Cd.

Yes, there is. The upgrade CDs are the ones that you get through UpToDate from Apple when you bought a computer close enough to the release of the next version that Apple gives you a cheap upgrade (usually $19.95).

For some reason I was thinking that the upgrade discs would work from any previous version, but this post indicates that that's not the case, and now that I think about it I'm pretty sure that I once had to install 10.1 so that I could then install an upgrade-only copy of 10.2, which then allowed me to install my upgrade-only copy of 10.3.