[turbora]

I'll be the first to admit that the initial cause of this problem is my own fault, and here it is: I tried to run Duality for 10.2.x on my Powerbook G4 running 10.3.2. Everything was going fine with the theme change, until it got to the last step, "Changing Extras.rsrc," where it froze. The progress bar was still moving, but after an hour and half, there was no sign that it was going to complete the operation.

Amazingly, this is not the first time I've seen this message. About a year ago, I did the exact same thing, and got the same result. This time, I backed up what I could to my external HD before I was totally screwed.

I watched as Duality filled my hard drive with some unknown file. I started with about 19gb free, and by the time I force-quit Duality, I was down to 4gb free. After force-quitting Duality, the dock disappeared. My hard drive icon (the only icon on my desktop) disappeared. The menubar disappeared. Then the dock reappeared, but this time, Finder wasn't running. The menubar appeared again, and Finder's dock icon bounced like it was trying to start, but it couldn't. The menubar appeared and disappeared time after time. By this point, it was quite clear that I had screwed up my Finder. Again.

Well, I had been meaning to clean up my hard drive, so I'll just get out my Panther disc and do an "Erase and Install" from the CD. I restarted the computer with Panther disc 1 in my combo drive. The CD started to spin up, but then stopped, and the computer tried to boot to the desktop, where I got the Finder error again. The menubar appears and disappears. One big problem: Finder won't launch.

I tried a few more times to boot from the Panther CD, alternatively holding down C (to boot from CD), or pressing 'option' to choose my startup disk. No luck. After an hour or so of this, I decided instead of trying to deal with all this, I'll just go way back to when the computer was new with the system restore discs.

I fished my 3 system restore discs out, knowing that they would revert me all the way back to 10.1.4 when finished. I ejected the Panther disc, but this time, it made a loud snapping-click as it came out of the combo drive. <OOH FORESHADOWING>

I slid system restore disc 1 into the combo drive, only to have it shoot back out at me. I tried again: same result. The best way to explain it is that the combo drive was somehow stuck in "eject mode," so no discs could be inserted. Each disc I tried to put in shot back out like it was spring-loaded. This actually didn't surprise me, since my combo drive has always acted a little funny. One time, it spit out a little black piece of felt stuck to the bottom of a CDROM. That's probably somehow related to all this.

Anyway, now I had a messed up Finder and a messed up combo drive. There is nothing else I can do at this point besides yell at a dead laptop. I went to bed.

The next day, I reluctantly called Apple Support. No, I did not buy AppleCare. Yes, I am stupid. I spent almost an hour on the phone explaining my problems: 1. Finder won't launch. 2. Combo drive won't accept a disc.

I also told the Apple Support guy about another problem I had for quite some time. One of the two USB ports on the back of my Powerbook stopped working. I got around it by getting a bigger hub, but would like to have two working USB ports again. So I had 3 problems: 1. Finder won't launch. 2. Combo drive won't accept a disc. 3. One dead USB port.

Mr. Apple Support and I agree that there is nothing that I can do, so he would overnight ship me a box to send the laptop in for service. Three days later, no box. I call Apple Support again on a Saturday. It turns out the guy I talked to "didn't save my repair correctly," so no box was sent. Ms. Apple Support apologized and sent a box, which I received on Monday. I shipped the Powerbook out Monday afternoon.

In the meantime, I'm using the computers at work (XP, argh) and my girlfriend's G3 iBook at home to check email, and that's about it. My laptop is sent out a day later than Apple's Repair Status page says it was, and even Airborne Express' tracking page says it has already been delivered. After playing phone tag with Apple, Airborne Express, and my apartment complex's front office (where it may have been delivered) on a Saturday afternoon, I find out that it is sitting in the Airborne warehouse. Unfortunately, I find this out at 1:50pm, and the warehouse closes at 2. No, they won't stay 10 minutes late for me to get there and pick it up. Instead, they'll deliver it to my home on Monday around noon, but they need a signature from the intended recipient. That means my girlfriend can't sign for it, and they can't leave it at the office. I tell them I won't be home at noon on Monday, because I, like most people I know, will be at work at noon on Monday. I arrange to pick it up Monday afternoon, which I did.

I got it home Monday evening, plugged it in, and started it up. It boots all the way to the desktop, which has the same picture on it that it had when I shipped it out, so no data was lost after all. Just when it looks like all is going well, and the startup process is just about complete, the menubar disappears.

Finder still won't launch.

Out of curiousity, I switch my mouse from one USB port to the other, and both work. One problem solved. I put a CD in the combo drive, and it stays in, and even attempts to spin up, but since Finder won't launch, the disc won't mount on the desktop. Two problems down, but the laptop is still useless. I found out a little later when I got the invoice that I paid $50 for the call to AppleCare, and $225 for a new combo drive.

I find Panther disc 1 to try an "archive & install," hoping that will solve the problem. I restart the computer, but instead of booting from the disc (while holding C during startup), it shows a folder icon with a question mark that alternates with the Finder logo.

I eject the disc, and the computer boots to the desktop, but again, Finder won't launch. This time, however, I can launch any application in my dock or in my "recent applications" menu. I tried to change my startup disk to the Panther disc through system preferences, but that didn't work either.

I get fed up, and try my system restore discs. I put the first one in, start the computer, and it boots to the disc, exactly as it should. Since I have all my important data backed up, I go ahead with the system restore. And it works. I am running 10.1.4, and the system is once again stable. Using the 10.2 upgrade discs that came with the computer (upgrade, not "full version"), I am able to install 10.2. After going through software update, I am up to 10.2.8, the last Jaguar update before Panther.

Once again, I try to install Panther. Nope. I tried at least 5 times, and each time, something different went wrong. Either the CD wouldn't mount on the desktop at all, or if it did, the computer wouldn't boot to it after a restart.

Finally, the computer boots to the Panther CD for no apparent reason. I start the Panther upgrade process (these are "full version," not upgrade Panther discs), but when it gets to the "Finishing installation," "running installer script," the installation hangs up. The progress bar is still moving, but it won't get past 7%.

And, of course, now my computer is unusable again. I restart it, only to get the flashing question mark/Finder icon. Screw this thing. I do another system restore, update all the way to 10.2.8, and call Apple Support again.

I detail my problem, and Mr. Apple Support decides my Panther disc 1 has "gone bad." How does this happen? There are no scratches on it. It has never left its box since I did the original install when Panther came out. He may have a point, though, because I can't boot my girlfriend's iBook with Panther disc 1 either. Ok, bad disc. He says he will send me a new Panther disc 1. This is still Monday.

Now it is Friday. The new Panther disc 1 came today, but guess what? The computer won't boot up on it! I can boot up to the system restore disc (although I'm not going to go through all that again), and it will boot up on the 10.2 disc, so why the hell would it not want to boot on the Panther disc?

I am currently running 10.2.8, and thoroughly missing all of Panther's nice features. Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on with my stupid laptop? Is the new combo drive bad?

###

Want the condensed version? My Powerbook won't let me boot up on Panther disc 1, but will boot on any other CD. If, by some chance, it does boot Panther disc 1, the installer hangs up and doesn't finish the process. HELP PLEASE!

The moral of this story? Don't mess with themes.

[Tomster]

Wow. That sounds pretty horrible. Very detailed post. Which Powerbook do you have? I am assuming it is over a year old since it is no longer covered by Applecare.

Could be the ram. Had an issue with Panther not liking some ram which worked wonderfully under Jaguar.

[amazing]

It does indeed sound like the RAM. Panther is way more picky on the RAM than Jaguar. If you want to test this out, remove one stick of RAM at a time and try to install, then take that stick out and put the other stick back in.

Meantime, condolences!

[turbora]

I don't know what I did, but it appears to have worked. I'm now back on 10.3.2 (yea exposé!).

The first time I tried to run the installer, I left the room for a little bit, and when I came back, the screen had shut itself off. When I jiggled the mouse to turn it back on, the installer appeared on the screen for a split second, then went to a blue screen with the Jaguar/Panther spinning progress wheel (the same one you see when booting or shutting down your computer).

After a half hour of this with no indication of activity from the combo drive, I restarted the computer and tried again. This time, I never left my desk, and, with a little prayer, the installer worked.

The only problem I encountered was when it asked for disc 2. The Panther disc 1 that Apple just sent me is version 10.3.2, while Panther disc 2 is 10.3, which I assume was the problem. After it spit disc 2 out at me three times, it accepted it on the fourth try. It installed iMovie, iTunes, some printer drivers, and other stuff. It got halfway through installing iPhoto before it said "An error occurred during installation." Luckily though, it booted right up to the desktop, and I was able to install iPhoto directly from the CD.

So, all is well. I never realized how much I used Exposé until I didn't have it anymore.