Uninstalling OS X

[Fred Moore]

matt neuburg (matt@tidbits.com) wrote:
: Wade wrote:
: > For various reasons I would like to uninstall OS X (Jaguar) from my
: > Mac (G4 dual 500, 384 RAM). The residual OS would be 9.2.2.
: >
: > I know this needs to be done with some care...

: I don't understand why this is a big deal. The only thing you can do
: wrong is delete Mac OS X while the machine is still set up to boot from
: it. So make sure you've set your startup preferences to boot from Mac OS
: 9, boot from it, and you're done. Delete anything you feel like deleting.
: If you miss a few pieces it won't matter. m.

Hi Matt,

It may not be a _big_ deal, but if you leave the little hidden bits and
pieces of X lying around, then disk utilities such as Notron will report
'Major' errors. While one can ignore the warnings, you then take the risk
of accidentally ignoring something which is truly a problem.

Some of the things which come up are damaged or missing hardlinks,
especially in the hidden folder HFS+ Private Data. Deleting the contents
of this folder seems to have no adverse affect on 9.2.2. However, it's
been said other places that the only way to efficiently get rid of ALL the
X-stuff is by a reformat and reinstall of 9.

--Fred

[The World Wide Wade]

In article <20030727101234110-0700@news.la.sbcglobal.net>,
matt neuburg <matt@tidbits.com> wrote:

> Actually, I would go even further. If you don't want to use Mac OS X,
> then don't use it! But there's no need to delete *any* of it, since as
> long as you're booting into Mac OS 9 the presence of Mac OS X hasn't the
> slightest effect on anything you're doing.

That's not quite true: Content Indexing takes forever now; a restart from a
crash takes a lot longer; Sherlock is noticeably slower.

[Peter KERR]

In article <waderameyxiii-5D8346.20114426072003@news.supernews.com>,
The World Wide Wade <waderameyxiii@attbi.remove13.com> wrote:

>
> I know this needs to be done with some care. I need to trash the obvious
> files like Users, Library, and mach. But I also need to delete various
> invisible files.
>

Moving invisible files to the Trash is the trick,
can be done from the command line in X, but you may
cut your own hand off, so to speak.

I've "moved" an OS-X install to another disk using
ResEdit in OS9 to make things visible...

[Maarten Sneep]

In article <user-487246.12185328072003@scream.auckland.ac.nz>,
Peter KERR <user@host.domain> wrote:

> In article <waderameyxiii-5D8346.20114426072003@news.supernews.com>,
> The World Wide Wade <waderameyxiii@attbi.remove13.com> wrote:

> >
> > I know this needs to be done with some care. I need to trash the obvious
> > files like Users, Library, and mach. But I also need to delete various
> > invisible files.
> >

>
> Moving invisible files to the Trash is the trick,
> can be done from the command line in X, but you may
> cut your own hand off, so to speak.
>
> I've "moved" an OS-X install to another disk using
> ResEdit in OS9 to make things visible...

Or, on OS X, install the developer tools, and use
/Developer/Tools/SetFile to make things visible. These tools came with
your Mac OS X installation (either on the restore disks or in the retail
package).

Or course it seems silly to *install* something which you're going to
*remove* in a second, but no need to mess with the command-line on a
life system.

But remember that the location of the trash can is different in OS X and
in OS 9...

Might be easier to use ResEdit (or one of the other utilities of OS 9)
to remove the stuff from OS 9...

HTH

Maarten

[Fred Moore]

The World Wide Wade (waderameyxiii@attbi.remove13.com) wrote:
: In article <20030727101234110-0700@news.la.sbcglobal.net>,
: matt neuburg <matt@tidbits.com> wrote:

: > Actually, I would go even further. If you don't want to use Mac OS X,
: > then don't use it! But there's no need to delete *any* of it, since as
: > long as you're booting into Mac OS 9 the presence of Mac OS X hasn't the
: > slightest effect on anything you're doing.

: That's not quite true: Content Indexing takes forever now; a restart from a
: crash takes a lot longer; Sherlock is noticeably slower.

And actually, there's a problem which is VERY real and can cause you MAJOR
difficulties:

The software *in*9* which handles the updating of the Desktop databases
doesn't work well with the **50,000** (approximately) files that X puts on
your hard drive. Through no fault of the user, he or she can end up with a
thoroughly hosed drive because the update routines don't behave as they
should.

If you run 9 as Classic, which is what Apple wants you to do, then the
routines which control the Desktop DBs are OS X versions and can deal with
the huge number of files. Hence the _need_ to expunge the X files (sorry,
couldn't resist the pun) from a 9-booting HD.

--Fred