Re: SL upgrade disk question
- From: dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (David Empson)
- Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 16:14:10 +1200
R <me32@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Tue, 8 Sep 2009 11:03:57 +1200, dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (David
Empson) wrote:
R <me32@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mon, 7 Sep 2009 23:56:36 +1200, dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (David
Empson) wrote:
The "Upgrade" DVD (supplied as part of the Mac OS X Up-to-date
programme) _does_ check for the presence of a qualifying system.
From an "Up To Date" disk: http://pastebin.ca/1557621
I can't say if an ordinary upgrade disc is the same or not.
By "ordinary upgrade disc" I assume you mean "retail disc". It has
already been established that the retail disc (US$29/US$49 or local
equivalent) does NOT do any kind of check for the presence of 10.5.
Has it been established? I've seen lots of claims, but nothing
really thorough and convincing.
I haven't proved it myself (too much hassle to wipe everything or swap
hard drives in my available machines), but I have seen statements from
people with the retail version which I regard as sufficient to prove
that there is no check for 10.5.
In particular, people who only had 10.4 and didn't own 10.5 at all said
they were able to install 10.6 using the retail DVD.
It is not labelled in any way as an "upgrade", only "Retail" (on the box)
and "Install" on the DVD.
That sounds promising.
The code snippet you referenced is checking for early machines and the
OS version, which suggests it might be looking not just for the presence
of 10.5, but also that you are using it on a model which was released
around the time that 10.6 came out.
You may well be right. However, to me it looks like a check against
a list of machines that were once sold with Tiger.
There is another piece of code which is still doing checks for machines
which are not compatible with 10.3, 10.4 or 10.5. It also exists on the
retail DVD and is now completely pointless, since none of them will pass
the Intel check. It was just left over from earlier versions and Apple
forgot to remove that bit of code.
That is in a "checkSupportedMachine" function in the Distribution file
in OSInstall.mpkg on the retail DVD.
If and only if the current machine is one of those, then OS 10.5 must be
present to continue with the installation.
If this sort of check does exist on the Up-To-Date program media,
then it would be odd if it didn't exist on other upgrade media.
There isn't any "other" upgrade media.
There are only two versions of the Snow Leopard install DVD, as far as
the content is concerned:
1. The Install DVD. This is sold in the US$29/US$49 retail package, and
included in the Mac Box Set. It is labelled "Install DVD".
(I haven't seen the Mac Box Set one yet, but I expect it to be identical
to the retail one, including the licence agreement.)
2. The Upgrade DVD. This is only supplied as part of the Mac OS X
Up-to-date programme (labelled "Upgrade DVD") or included in the box
with new computers sold after the release of Snow Leopard which still
have Leopard preinstalled and on the model-specific DVDs. The latter is
labelled "CPU Drop-in DVD". (I've seen a photo of one.)
The licence agreement for the retail DVD covers both the standard retail
version and Mac Box Set under clause 2A or 2B which refer to single-use
and family pack installations.
The licence agreement also has a clause 2C referring to a "Leopard
Upgrade" which requires 10.5, but there is nothing on the retail product
which identifies it as such, and there is no technical requirement of
having 10.5, so I'm of the opinion it only applies to the actual upgrade
versions ("Upgrade DVD" or "CPU Drop-in DVD").
Apple is referring to "Upgrade from Leopard" on their web site, and in
some cases the sales people are asking for verbal confirmation that the
buyer already owns 10.5.
I expect anyone who only owned 10.4 and bought the retail DVD without
having bothered to read Apple's web site and without discussing it with
a sales person could be completely unaware of any contractual or
technical requirement for 10.5. If Apple bothered to sue them for breach
of contract (which I highly doubt they would), I think the user would
have an excellent case for saying that clause 2C was not applicable to
the product they bought, since the words "Upgrade" and "Leopard" (except
in "Snow Leopard") do not appear anywhere on the product box, DVD,
included paperwork or invoice (in my case, bought from Apple's online
store).
The same licence agreement covers the "CPU Drop-in DVD" (there is
another clause about updates not bundled software not being sold
separately). The only one that is ambiguous is the "Upgrade DVD" (Mac OS
X up-to-date) which I think from memory of a previous version comes with
an additional licence clause which says it is to be treated as software
which came with the computer, so it also cannot be sold separately.
There will eventually be model-specific SL DVDs included with each
computer, which have a different version of everything (possibly a later
build of the operating system) as well as stricter checks for the model
on which it is being installed.
I'd have to see more of the code to clarify this.
Me too. The relevant files are apparently in 'Distribution' which is
found inside 'OSInstall.mpkg'. Perhaps a ucsmer can take a look at
it and settle the matter. (Hint: can be unarchived with 'xar')
Also Pacifist can extract arbitrary files from the installer package.
If that code comes from the Distribution file then it definitely isn't
on the retail version, as I have the retail version and have examined
the Distribution file.
There is no reference to "earlyMachineCheck" or "OSCheck" in the retail
DVD's Distribution file.
I just need to get my hands on a CPU Drop-in DVD or Upgrade DVD to
satisfy my curiosity...
--
David Empson
dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
- References:
- SL upgrade disk question
- From: eastender
- Re: SL upgrade disk question
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- Re: SL upgrade disk question
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- Re: SL upgrade disk question
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