[kjw]

I'm no computer whiz, just a writer very dependent on her computer, so I hope you'll forgive me my ignorance. I've subscribed to this forum out of a certain desperation. My husband updated my system recently via the automatic software finder, and he neglected to read the instructions beforehand and so did not turn off an external harddrive (he's not a Mac person). And now my finder and my desktop icons are at large, presumably because he didn't read the instructions and turn off the external hard drive before installing. Can anyone offer a repair solution? Is there a way to deinstall an update and do so without the finder? On the update page it says that you should use only one method of updating, so I'm hesitant to just install it again with the standalone installer. Any help you savvy Mac users can lend me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks (and I hope this is the appropriate forum for this query--sorry if it's not).

[mishap]

what is the problem you are having? does the computer still work after the update? is the firewire drive not mounting?

describe for us a few of the things that are wrong and we'll probably be able to help one way or another.

[SMacTech]

I don't quite understand your comment about Finder and Desktop icons "are at large". Do you mean they disappeared and you cannot connect to your external hard drives?

What kind of FW drive to you have and what type of Mac?

There have been issues with certain FW drives not appearing after 10.3.5 and 10.3 updates. While I have never had this problem, many have and it is specific to the drive type you have.

I think you are referring to the combo update, which can be reinstalled. But of more importance is the status of your external drive and getting that problem resolved. You can revert back to an earlier version which entails reinstalling the OS with the archive option. This will preserve your existing user data. After getting it back to 10.3.0, you can then reinstall the 10.3.5 combo installer.

[kjw]

Thanks for the reply. No, the firewire drive is mounting and the computer is working. My husband says it's not actually a firewire problem. I can find all my files if I go through my wordprocessing program, for example. It's just that the icons--my documents folder, mp3 folder, harddrive icon, etc.--are not appearing on the desktop. All the information is still here, but it's not accessible from the desktop. At the bottom, the browser, Word, iPhoto, trash can, etc. icons are all there and functional, even the finder icon is there, but when I right click on the finder, it says it's not running. Oh, the other thing that is missing is the bar at top with the time/day and internet signal. It appears when I have a browser open, or e-mail, but otherwise it diesappears.

Thanks again.

Originally posted by mishap:
what is the problem you are having? does the computer still work after the update? is the firewire drive not mounting?

describe for us a few of the things that are wrong and we'll probably be able to help one way or another.

[Orion27]

From a cursory reading of this article, http://www.macmaps.com/firewirebug2.html
it is imperative one disconnect third party FW drives before installing updates. Apparently, the drives firmware can be corrupted. The drive must be physically disconnected, not merely shut off. To answer your question, you may require a firmware update on your drive but I am uncertain of this. Try disconnecting your drive and shutting down your computer.Walk away for an half hour or so to let the fire wire port reset ( Apple says 5-10 minutes). Restart your computer without the drive connected. If all appears normal, run repair premissions. Now hook up your drive and see if it mounts. If it does not, try mounting the drive with a disk utility ( Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior). If you still can't mount the drive, I would suspect a firmware corruption issue caused by the update. Either way, to help others in your predicament, please follow up with posts on your progress.

[Randman]

Unplug any external device. Go into Utilities folder and find Disk Utility. Open that up and repair permissions. Restart and connect your externals and see what happens.

[kjw]

Thanks for your response. I've supplied more information in my reply to Mishap. To answer your specific questions: I can actually open and connect to everything it seems, except the Finder is not functional.

The FW drive is 160 GB Maxtor HD, external case with Oxford connection. I have a G4 Cube. I previously had 10.3.6 but updated yesterday to 10.3.7 and these problems occurred after I restarted the machine.

Thanks for your help.

Originally posted by SMacTech:
I don't quite understand your comment about Finder and Desktop icons "are at large". Do you mean they disappeared and you cannot connect to your external hard drives?

What kind of FW drive to you have and what type of Mac?

There have been issues with certain FW drives not appearing after 10.3.5 and 10.3 updates. While I have never had this problem, many have and it is specific to the drive type you have.

I think you are referring to the combo update, which can be reinstalled. But of more importance is the status of your external drive and getting that problem resolved. You can revert back to an earlier version which entails reinstalling the OS with the archive option. This will preserve your existing user data. After getting it back to 10.3.0, you can then reinstall the 10.3.5 combo installer.

[Orion27]

Start your Mac using the CD that came with your Mac and choose the Repair Disk function in Disk Utility or better yet use Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro.

[TETENAL]

The problem is likely unrelated to having any drives attached during the update.

Try the following:

1) Open Disk Utility and repair permissions. Reboot and see if Finder is running.

2) If not. Boot from the system CD and use Disk Utility (now in the Installer menu) to repair the disk until it says that it appears to be OK. Reboot and see if the Finder is running.

3) If not log into another user account. If you have only one you can open System Preferences from the Apple menu and create one test wise. If the Finder is running in the other user account come back to this forum for further advice.

4) If it is not even running in another user account boot from the system CD and do an Archive & Install type re-install of the operating system with importing user settings. Then update to 10.3.7 again. Now Finder is working correctly, but if not come back to this forum for further advice.

[kjw]

I followed the suggestions you offered (sind Sie Deutscher?), and the last one has finally taken care of the problem. I did the reinstall you suggested and then updated again, and now everything is once again in working order. I'm grateful for your help, vielen Dank! I'll now recede back into the Luddite shadows. Thanks to everyone who responded.

[d4nth3m4n]

this was such a job for pacifist.