[bbales]

I have a 400 MZ G4 (2000 model) currently running 10.2.4. I have Panther sitting over there, just waiting...

But -- a couple questions. I know software update keeps telling me I need to upgrade my hard drive, which seems kind of drastic to me. I haven't done that. My plan was to use CCC to make copies of this hard drive and my PB, then install (probably an archive one -- any comments on whether I can just throw it over the old system?) and see how everything works.

So -- any opinions on the hard drive upgrade? And would you run fsck or Disk Warrior or whatever FIRST, just to make sure everything's running smoothly?

I get really nervous about these huge upgrades. Probably a little unnecssary, but I'm a paranoid sort. Just seeking some opinions here.

[Turias]

I have a 400MHz G4 (Yikes! model) and SU has never said anything about upgrading my hard drive.

Upgrading your hard drive? Are you sure you read that right? Maybe backing it up... but upgrading?

I installed 10.3 with no problems. Backed up my home folder to my external drive. Did a clean wipe. Installed 10.3.

[bbales]

Mine's a gigabit ethernet model. Here's what software update says:

It's for version1.0, by the way: [[The Hard Disk Update improves the longevity of some hard drives. Your drives may or may not need to have firmware updated; installing and running this update will tell you if updating is required.

IMPORTANT -- It is strongly recommended that you back up the data on your hard drives to an external drive or removable media before running this update. If an error should occur during the update process, your hard drives may become unusable. In that case, all data on the drives could be lost.

Note: When installation is complete, Hard Drive Update 1 should launch automatically. If the update does not launch automatically, please launch it manually:

/Applications/Utilities/Hard Drive Update 1]]

So no problems, huh? When you say "clean" do you mean you erased the whole drive first? Do you LIKE Panther? That's my big concern. When I upgraded to X almost two years ago, I took one look and fled back to 9 for nearly a month. Then I sepent a Sunday afternoon just checking everything out and I never went back.

Another wrinkle I just thought of is that I have a 20 GB drive, partiioned roughly 5 for OS9 and 15 for X. The 15 is not nearly big enoug anymore, while I hardly use 9 for ANYTHING. So I'm thinking of backing everything up and repartiioning the whole thing. I also have 2 external drives. But now I'm wondering if I'm making my life way too difficult.

[Nonsuch]

Originally posted by bbales:
Do you LIKE Panther? That's my big concern. When I upgraded to X almost two years ago, I took one look and fled back to 9 for nearly a month. Then I sepent a Sunday afternoon just checking everything out and I never went back.

I like Panther just fine. I don't find it more than an incremental performance leap over Jaguar on my G4 350 (apparently I'm in the minority here), but there are some interface niceties I definitely like. I don't find it in any way a downgrade from Jag.

[Turias]

Originally posted by bbales:
Mine's a gigabit ethernet model. Here's what software update says:

It's for version1.0, by the way: [[The Hard Disk Update improves the longevity of some hard drives. Your drives may or may not need to have firmware updated; installing and running this update will tell you if updating is required.

IMPORTANT -- It is strongly recommended that you back up the data on your hard drives to an external drive or removable media before running this update. If an error should occur during the update process, your hard drives may become unusable. In that case, all data on the drives could be lost.

Note: When installation is complete, Hard Drive Update 1 should launch automatically. If the update does not launch automatically, please launch it manually:

/Applications/Utilities/Hard Drive Update 1]]

So no problems, huh? When you say "clean" do you mean you erased the whole drive first? Do you LIKE Panther? That's my big concern. When I upgraded to X almost two years ago, I took one look and fled back to 9 for nearly a month. Then I sepent a Sunday afternoon just checking everything out and I never went back.

Another wrinkle I just thought of is that I have a 20 GB drive, partiioned roughly 5 for OS9 and 15 for X. The 15 is not nearly big enoug anymore, while I hardly use 9 for ANYTHING. So I'm thinking of backing everything up and repartiioning the whole thing. I also have 2 external drives. But now I'm wondering if I'm making my life way too difficult.

My G4/400 felt a lot faster after upgrading to 10.3. It was definitely worth it.

If I were you, I would back up your drive onto one of your externals, run the hard drive update, wipe the drive and repartition it, and then install 10.3. It really isn't too bad. Since everything important should be in your home folder, it is relatively painless to backup all of your important data.

[typoon]

Originally posted by bbales:
Mine's a gigabit ethernet model. Here's what software update says:

It's for version1.0, by the way: [[The Hard Disk Update improves the longevity of some hard drives. Your drives may or may not need to have firmware updated; installing and running this update will tell you if updating is required.

IMPORTANT -- It is strongly recommended that you back up the data on your hard drives to an external drive or removable media before running this update. If an error should occur during the update process, your hard drives may become unusable. In that case, all data on the drives could be lost.

Note: When installation is complete, Hard Drive Update 1 should launch automatically. If the update does not launch automatically, please launch it manually:

/Applications/Utilities/Hard Drive Update 1]]

So no problems, huh? When you say "clean" do you mean you erased the whole drive first? Do you LIKE Panther? That's my big concern. When I upgraded to X almost two years ago, I took one look and fled back to 9 for nearly a month. Then I sepent a Sunday afternoon just checking everything out and I never went back.

Another wrinkle I just thought of is that I have a 20 GB drive, partiioned roughly 5 for OS9 and 15 for X. The 15 is not nearly big enoug anymore, while I hardly use 9 for ANYTHING. So I'm thinking of backing everything up and repartiioning the whole thing. I also have 2 external drives. But now I'm wondering if I'm making my life way too difficult.

Download the update and run it. I did that even after I upgraded my Drives with larger ones. It'll run and tell you whether you need it or not. Definitly upgrade to Panther. It's worth the upgrade to me. IMO it's the most usable version of OS X.