.kext problem in G4/733 DA

[equill]

I'm preparing a G4 as in the title for my wife, who currently uses an eMac/1GHz, so that she can use an ADC Cinema Display HD (23") with it. Erase and install (using a SuperDuper! sparsedisk image from her principal volume on the eMac) went with the usual ease from SuperDuper! Subsequently, however, each reboot of the 100GB partition (10.4.11 with all system updates as far as SecUpd2008-007) has produced the message that AudioIPCDriver.kext was improperly installed and cannot be used.

Straight replacement from a known-good copy is not possible because the gods in the machine do not allow modification of the active System folder, but pre-erasure of the existing file during the attempt to copy produces consistent KPs from which there is no escape. Whether the extension does something useful or is just Tiger's security blanket doesn't matter; KP is certain, inevitable and immutable. So I booted the DA from an external FireWire drive (so that the misbehaving installation was now part of an Ignore ownership on this volume setup, erased the misbehaving .kext and copied in a good one. The affected volume then returned to booting the DA normally, but displaying the message about improper installation again as soon as the Desktop was reached. Evidence that summat is amiss is given by the absence of the .kext from the list in System Profiler/Extensions.

I had previously prepared a base set of upgrades and SecUpdates for just such occasions as this, or for new installations from scratch, but before I go to the pain of a clean installation and update of 10.4 again—so as to preserve applications, documents, user &c.—are there any ideas about disciplining this pesky .kext? Repairing permissions, rebuilding the File Directory with DiskWarrior 3.0.3 and forcing universal prebinding from Pacifist has not worked, so are there any other guesses as to the cause of the 'improper installation', with or without solutions of the problem?

All informed and plausible speculations are welcome.

de

 

[Christopher]

Try installing Tiger and then use Migration Assitant to transfer the files. The install still thinks your on the eMac witch can cause problems in the innards of OS X. I usually get problems with access to hard drives.

 

[Franklinstein]

I'm not sure if OS X sort of ear-marks certain kexts during install for potentially faster loading or something. Dunno.

If you're using an SDR RAM eMac, then the architectures should be similar enough that everything should've been virtually identical... except perhaps the audio codec. According to Apple's Developer Notes, on the PMG4 DA, the audio codec is called "Tumbler" and is connected to the UniNorth by only the I2S bus, whereas eMacs use an unnamed codec that uses both the I2S and I2C buses.

The DA's audio subsystem is more capable than that used in any eMac, to be sure, so perhaps there are some extra kexts used on that one, or a modified kext or something.

As for it not wanting to use a replacement kext, maybe try putting it in FW TDM to another machine or something instead of booting it.

Sorry I can't be more help. I'm more of a hardware guy, really, and OS X still beguiles me when I venture into the deep, dark UNIX catacombs lying beneath that tranquil Aqua façade.

 

[equill]

I cleared the G4 DA by removing its drives (three of them) to a G4 MDD, where they work properly and without any grizzles or KPs. The one unfortunate response was OS 9.2.2's inability to 'see' drives on the MDD's inbuilt ATA/100 bus without the mythical, mystical, fabled Mac OS ROM v9.5.1 in its System Folder. OS 10.4.11 has no problem, however, as I have both optical drives on the inbuilt ATA/66 bus, and all three HDDs on a Sonnet ATA/100 PCI card, although that does not help poor old OS 9, of course. The software had been cloned from an Indigo iMac/500 onto the DA only a couple of months ago.

Thank you both for your responses, not the least outcome of which is something that I had not previously considered: machine-specific elements of System software. My wife's eMac has always stood apart in a cosy little club of eMac/1GHz, iMac/500 DVSE and iBook/600, because they are for her use only, whereas Systems, OSes, apps and downloads have always circulated freely between my Macs, which include four iMacs as well as G3/G4-upgraded Beige G3s and later 60x Macs. If eMac-specific software is getting in the road of a functional clone from eMac to DA, archive-and-install may be the only solution. Identification of the villainous software, apart from the hint from AudioIPCDriver.kext, is probably not going to be easy.

Trying to find an arcane piece of software such as Mac OS ROM 9.5.1 has been a fruitless task so far after three weeks, although I found and am using v9.0.1, so finding a nameless piece without the benefit of Apple's documentation would be no breeze.

de