Migrating System Software

By: Mike Kimball - Revised: 2006-06-21 devin

Introduction

This is a continuation from Tracking System Software. This section examines utilities that help Mac administrators migrate a System, either to a new Mac OS version, or to newer/upgraded hardware.

Incidentally, more info about these utilities (and many others) is available through VersionTracker.com.


Disk First Aid

Disk First Aid (current version 8.6.1) is a basic Apple hard drive utility which examines selected volumes for directory problems. In most cases it does a good job, but sometimes you may see the error "problems were found but Disk First Aid can't repair them". You should run a directory repair utility (Disk First Aid at the minimum) before doing OS updates or migrating to new hardware.

disk first aid window

DiskWarrior

DiskWarrior 2.1 does a bit more than Disk First Aid. It repairs "all" directory problems (meaning we haven't had many, if any, that it couldn't do), and provides detailed info on problems it encounters, giving you the option of repairing before going ahead. We most often use it on machines with the flashing System startup icon - previously we would have to hose the machine and reinstall, but 99% of the time now, we can repair the machine with DiskWarrior and then simply run RevRdist. Occasionally we have had success fixing "clicking" Zip disks as well (temporarily).

dw interface

Resorceror

Resorceror is a good resource editor and observer. It can compare two files for any differences (especially at the resource level), which came in very handy during the OS 9.2.2 update, when I found most System Folder components are identical from one machine to another (only the System file was different).

To Compare Two Files, you must first open the two you wish to compare.

Then, select "Compare Two Files" from the menu, it will indicate the differences by putting check marks next to the resources in each file's list (in open window).

Drive Setup

Drive Setup (current version 2.0.7) is a formatting utility. Sometimes you have to blow away the whole drive and start from scratch (like right out of the box - we have had problems with RevRdist hanging when run on the pre-installed System, so instead of wasting the time, we just initialize the hard drive, then install the minimal System, then go from there). Or, you may just want to update the disk driver (from Functions menu).


Conflict Catcher

Conflict Catcher 8.1 does a lot of cool things for managing the System. As you see below, the Conflict Catcher window has options like Sets (i.e. of startup items in Control Panels, Extensions, etc), Groups, Conflict Testing and Reporting. To get info on a particular component, such as what I have selected here (ATI Graphics Accelerator), option-click on the item in the list, and it will show the info to the left. To force this window to appear on startup, hold down the space bar. Or, you can use the menubar item (on the right next to the Application menu, or Finder as it's commonly known) to open it anytime.


Conflict Catcher does one more useful function for migrating to new hardware or OS versions - the Clean Install System Merge. Most Mac managers are aware that it is often necessary to do a clean install of the Mac OS, such as when upgrading the hardware (CPU, hard disk), updating the OS to a new version (such as with major changes from an 8.x version to the latest 9.x), or even just to fix a corrupted System Folder on a server or single-user standalone machine. The idea is, once the upgrade or update is done, all of the machine's configurations of software will be the same as before, while all System Components will either remain identical or be updated (and out-of-date items can be pruned away). Clean Install System Merge will take care of all the components and even display a list of items that you can double-check (it indicates items added and items replaced). This function will even integrate customizations made to the System file itself (such as system sounds, etc).

Basically you could do all this manually, but it takes much longer and you may not have success with some pref files that store licensing information.

To perform this function, install the clean System Folder (and if needed, copy everything from the old hardware to the new), then install Conflict Catcher in it. When you restart (this function must be done on startup), Conflict Catcher will open first. Select "Clean-Install System Merge" from the Special menu.

You will be prompted to select the old System Folder and continue with the merge, then you will see a list of the items CC intends to move over. Once you have confirmed or modified the changes it will make, you can combine the Systems. This will most likely require a restart, after which your machine should display the configuration of the old System.

Clean-Install Assistant

Another utility that helps with the task of moving System files from one System Folder to another, is Clean-Install Assistant (1.5.2). I haven't tested this personally but the software is free for personal use (shareware), and has very good reviews. More info available at VersionTracker.com.