Mac OS X 10.4.5 Special Report: General purpose workarounds

CNET staff

Sept. 2, 2009 6:23 a.m. PT

4 min read

Three workaround routines will solve many of the issues that are indirectly caused by Mac OS X 10.4.5 installation (i.e. not due to bugs or flaws in the update, but pre-existing system conditions that may be triggered by the updater process).

The routines are as follows:

Delete kernel extension caches, other caches for some issues A number of common issues that crop up after incremental Mac OS X updates can be resolved by deleting specific cache files -- specifically kernel extension caches -- and restarting.

This can most easily be accomplished with a shareware utility like Tiger Cache Cleaner, but also bears a manual process which involves dragging the following files to the trash:

com.apple.kernelcaches (a folder in /System/Library/Caches)

Extensions.kextcache (a file in /System/Library)

Extensions.mkext (a file in /System/Library/)

com.apple.ATS (a folder in /Library/Caches/)

Files that start with com.apple.LaunchServices (in /Library/Caches)

You will be prompted to enter your administrator password when dragging these files to the trash. You may need to restart after moving them to the trash.

Re-apply the Mac OS X 10.4.5 combo updater A workaround that has proved successful for various problems caused by previous incremental Mac OS X updaters is re-application of the current combination updater (PowerPC). Doing so overwrites potentially problem-causing files that were not replaced by the "Delta" (adjacent version-to-version) update.

Re-apply the Mac OS X 10.4.5 combo updater from an alternate startup volume

Download and save the Mac OS X 10.4.5 combo updater (PowerPC).

Startup from an alternate boot volume, such as an external FireWire drive, or use another Mac to boot the problematic system in FireWire target disk mode (connect the two machines via a FireWire cable, and boot the target [problematic] system while holding down the "T" key)

Once booted from an alternate drive, select the problematic volume in the Finder, and "Get Info" -- either by pressing the Command-I keyboard combination or accessing the "Get Info" option in the File menu. Check the box marked "Ignore ownership permissions on this volume."

If you have a third-party disk repair utility like DiskWarrior, use it to re-build the directory on the problematic volume (this step may not be necessary)

Re-install the Mac OS X 10.4.5 combo updater on the problematic drive.

Re-attempt booting from the problematic volume (hold down the option key at startup to select the desired drive)

Combo updater to the rescue As we've stated several times, re-applying the combo updater version of the latest iterative Mac OS X release can often solve issues that are apparent after applying the delta version of that release.

MacFIxIt reader Scott Denett provides a case example. He writes:

"Major issues under Mac OS X 10.4.5. Safari is crawling. The Logic 7.2 installer crashed on me, and everything seems slow

"Ran the combo update and things seem back to normal -- using the safe boot method. (see the above section "Re-apply the Mac OS X 10.4.5 combo updater from an alternate startup volume")"

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