I have waited to upgrade from Panther 10.3.9 to Tiger, and am now considering it for my FCP Studio 5.0.4 system.

1. Was the issue of Spotlight running the external drives too much and slowing down FCP resolved?

2. Must I simultaneously upgrade to FCP Studio 5.1? Or if not mandatory, do you suggest it? (I suppose I'd do the Universal version)

3. What, if any, other software upgrade requirements seem to go hand in hand with a Panther>Tiger upgrade on systems doing FCP Studio and related work?

Hardware I'm working with:
PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 2.5 GHz
Memory: 2.5 GB
Bus Speed: 1.25 GHz
Video: Geoforce 6800 Ultra 256mb RAM

I do realize this question has come up in the forums before, but the last time seems to be 6 months ago so I hope I'm not being too troublesome by asking for a current perspective... :)

Thank you kindly for your collective brains and experience,

Hey Steve
as fas as actually upgrading your system to Tiger there is a sticky at the top which tells you the most safe and sable way to do it but like you said that was old. I would recommend a backup and then when you install do an erase and install which will give you a fresh install then you can install fcp and all the software updates. You don't have to upgrade to 5.1 but it may be a good idea since all the upgrades from now on will be developed for 5.1. What version of quicktime are you running now? Tiger uses version 7 but you probably already have that. To fix the spotlight issue all you have to do is go under system preferences and there is a spotlight tab with a privacy setting just add your media drives to that and spotlight will keep its hands off ;-)

Thanks, Nate -- backup, erase and install. Great advice.

Also I think you're right about 5.1 (plus the $99 Apple crossgrade from FC Studio 5.0.x to 5.1 (Universal) makes this an easy decision)

Does anyone else have further thoughts or recommendations?

Grateful for your time,

I agree with Nate. Back up everything you want to keep before upgrading.

If you are purchasing a new copy of Tiger, install that first. If it is not 10.4.6, then to upgraded to 10.4.6, make sure you install the Tiger Combo upgrade for 10.4.6. Do not install via the software update function. Often, there are crucial supplemental files that do not get installed when you exclusively use Software Update for upgrading your OS. Here's a link on Apple for the most recent combo update of tiger for the PPC chip architecture: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1046comboforppc.html

Also, here's a great Apple resource page for upgrading to Tiger: http://www.apple.com/support/tiger/install/

PLEASE READ: this is crucial OS upgrade information to give you the best chance of a painless OS upgrade and install. Before installing any OS upgrade on Apple computers, you should first use Disk Utility in the following way:

1. Close all open applications
2. Open Disk Utility
3. Select your boot drive, the one with the OS
4. Click the Repair Disk button
5. When the is done, click Repair Permissions.

Next, install Tiger via your purchased disk. Then reboot, open Disk Utility, select your boot drive and run Repair Permissions again.

Next, install the Tiger Combo Update for 10.4.6 if and only if the version on Tiger you just installed IS NOT 10.4.6.

Next, if you did indeed install the combo update, then reboot, open Disk Utility, select your boot drive and run Repair Permissions one more time.

If you have never done any advanced disk maintenance you may want to read this link. Even though it is for Panther, the advice is still good: http://www.macdevcenter.com/lpt/a/4400



After your OS is updated and the proper hard drive maintenance procedures performed, you should then use software update. You most likely will find that your QuickTime needs updating. You should update it to QT 7.1.1. If you are not currently running QT7, you will lose your QT6 Pro key and will have to purchase another one from the Apple website. Also, there may be a security update or two to install.

As far as installing FCStudio 5.1, it is not necessary. However, the current crossgrade price to upgrade to the universal binary version of FCS is $49. It is well worth the price. Here's a link to the required paperwork that must be sent in with your old FCStudio disks. Click the proper link to download the form: http://www.apple.com/universal/crossgrade/

Thank you, Jeff. I have not purchased the new OS yet.

Can you clarify something? Are you saying that if the OS I get in the box is not 10.4.6, that I should (a) install it, and then *not* use the 'software update', but instead download and install the "Combo for PPC" update, which will contain a more complete set of files?

Thanks again,

Can you clarify something? Are you saying that if the OS I get in the box is not 10.4.6, that I should (a) install it, and then *not* use the 'software update', but instead download and install the "Combo for PPC" update, which will contain a more complete set of files?

That is correct. Although using Software Update for updating your OS usually works fine, sometimes there are supplemental OS files that are missing on your system (for whatever reason).

The consensus is that it is best to always use the combo update when making a major OS upgrade. That is exactly what you are doing. So, install your new Tiger OS, and if it is not 10.4.6, then download the combo update and reinstall. If it is 10.4.6, then simply run Software Update to install any security or other application updates.

Jeff and Nate,

Thank you for all the advice.

With OS X v10.4.7 on the immediate horizon, I'll wait a moment and catch that upgrade and combo update, and give it a digital whack -- wish me luck!

Good luck! If you do have issues with the installation, please check Apple's support forums. Most problems can be solved be asking questions of the large, knowledgeable userbase.

To use the forums, you need to register. It's free. If you already have a .Mac Account, you are already registered to use the forums. Simply enter your .Mac username and password to sign into the forums.

Apple Support forums: http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa?categoryID=1