OS X Leopard reported bugs (and solutions): Apple’s To Do list for 10.5.1
If you are planning on purchasing and installing OS X Leopard in the near future you may be interested in the experiences of fellow users. The vast majority have had no problems whatsoever. Others have complaints about new GUI elements which I will not dwell on here. Still more have had problems with incompatibilities between Leopard and third party software which hasn’t been updated to run under the new system, but this isn’t really Apple’s responsibility. Here I have listed the few problems that have been reported on a few forums. If any of the issues is a show-stopper for you — better wait for the first bug fix.
It should be pointed out that before upgrading OS X you should carry out the following:
- Backup your data
- Repair your hard disk using Disk Utility (run it from another disk such as the installation DVD)
- Synchronize all your mobile devices
- Disconnect all external devices especially FireWire (and including iPods)
- Update you firmware
- Upgrade your software to Leopard-ready versions
If after upgrading you find you have a problem bare in mind that many “bugs” with certain applications have been sorted out by going to library->preferences and deleting the appropriate .plist file.
So here’s the list. If you have any fixes for these reported problems please use the comments box at the bottom of the page.
- Some users have reported that on trying to install Leopard they only see a blue screen.
- The likely cause is an old version of Unsanity’s free Application Enhancer software. One way to fix the glitch is to reinstall Leopard using Archive & Install. Alternatively, restart your Mac in single-user mode (by holding down Command-S during start up) and delete the problematic files. (See this Apple document for detailed instructions.)
To avoid the problem before it happens, either uninstall Application Enhancer before updating to Leopard (if you don’t intend to use the software anymore) or make sure you are using version 2.0.3 or later. Even with the newest version, software that requires Application Enhancer, such as the $10 WindowShade , will not work. But at least the program will do no harm while you wait for a Leopard-compatible update.
- The likely cause is an old version of Unsanity’s free Application Enhancer software. One way to fix the glitch is to reinstall Leopard using Archive & Install. Alternatively, restart your Mac in single-user mode (by holding down Command-S during start up) and delete the problematic files. (See this Apple document for detailed instructions.)
- Some users cannot log in after installation.
- It’s likely that you have a password with more than eight characters—one that you originally created when using OS X 10.2.8 or earlier. If that’s your only account, you’re going to have to restart in single user-mode and follow the instructions in this Apple document. However, if you have at least one account that you can log into, the easier fix is to install Login & Keychain Update 1.0. Log into that account and select Apple Menu -> Software Update to download it.
- Some default admin accounts have become standard accounts.
- If there are no other admin accounts on your computer, there’s no easy way to get your administrator powers back. You’ll need to restart in single-user mode (holding down the Command-S key during startup) and follow the prompts to type the commands needed to gain write access to the drive. After doing so, type rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone (note the space between rm and /var) and press return. Next, type reboot and press return to restart your Mac.
- If you have Finder preferences set to open folders in new windows in Quick Look: if you double click on a folder the new folder opens in a new Quick Look window as the front window and then disappears behind the original window.
- In isolated cases laptop keyboards have stopped working.
- Some users have reported that the installer does not recognize their internal hard disk (report came from a 20″ iMac user)
- CUPS drivers do not show the “Send Fax” option any more.
- Software Update reports a network problem while trying to scan for updates.
- Custom folder icons lost by some users.
- Many users have reported that Leopard runs VERY slowly on a G4:
- Some external drives are not recognized.
- TV not detected via Apple Video Adapter (”Standard CRT 68cm Panasonic via S-Video”
- Some users have reported their machines laptops running warmer (55º-60º).
- Laptop backlight sometimes goes out as the installation process begins.
- Toast has been reported to return this error when trying to make a DVD image of a DV file:
- Front row is reported to no-longer remember the last-played position and reverting back to the start of a piece when viewing a subsequent time.
- Front row also goes to sleep in the middle of navigating menus.
David_W: Performance wise, this thing is SLOW on a 1Ghz G4. It should not even be sold for this class of machine. Everything, from viewing a folder of images to using QuickLook to open a folder is slow. You can actually see the windows redrawing. The Dock in particular is very jerky.
“Couldn’t complete the last command because of a Mac OS Error
Result Code = -13780″
The reported bugs on this page were gleaned from forums.whirlpool.net.au and www.dslreports.com. The pre-installation recommendations are from MacFixIt
October 27th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
My iBook G4 1.2Ghz’s microphone seemed to have stopped working, though i’m not sure if this happened after the update, or if it was before it because i haven’t used it in a while.
Also, I don’t know about a 1Ghz G4, but on my machine it works very reasonable.
November 15th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Quote:
“Some users have reported that the installer does not recognize their internal hard disk (report came from a 20″ iMac user)”
I also had this problem, however, I just fired up Disk Utility on the Installer DVD, scanned and verified the internal disk that was discovered. I rebooted into the Leopard Installer DVD and there she was. I continued with a successful install. No further problems.