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Snow Leopard Upgrade Notes

Posted by: on Aug 29, 2009 | No Comments

Snow Leopard arrived at my door yesterday and I was chomping at the bit to get it installed. I had work to finish, so it was a few hours before I could get started.

Process

  1. I backed up my current Leopard Java 1.5 directory.
  2. I created a compressed image of my current disk using Leopard install disk and an external drive. This is to ensure that I can quickly get back to business if Snow Leopard breaks something in my development environment.
  3. Went to the grocery store.
  4. Popped in the Snow Leopard disk and performed the upgrade.
  5. Fired up the Thursday’s epsiode of Big Brother from my DVR.
  6. Spent a couple of hours fixing issues.

Issues

My install didn’t go without a few issues. I got hungry, then sleepy, and then angry because Russell was being such a jerk to cute-as-a-bug Jordan on Big Brother. I pulled it together and managed to persevere. Overall, it was pretty painless and I have not regrets at this point. Below, I’ll summarize a few of the issues and resolutions.

Applescripts

I use Applescripts daily for task automation. I have several scripts saved as applications so that Spotlight can index them. When trying to run these scripts Snow Leopard prompted me to install Rosetta. To solve this issue I simply reopened the scripts and saved them again as applications.

DB2 Express-C 9.5.2 for OS X

Antonio Cangiano reported that DB2 on Snow Leopard was working without a hitch. This wasn’t completely true in my case.

I tried to start DB2 and received the following message: SQL5043N Support for one or more communications protocols failed to start successfully. However, core database manager functionality started successfully.

I checked my service name using the db2 command line utility:

MacGruber:~ shawn$ db2 get dbm cfg | grep SVCENAME
TCP/IP Service name                          (SVCENAME) = db2c_shawn

After opening /etc/services, I found that “db2c_shawn 50001/tcp” was missing. Added it to the end of the file, saved the file, then did a db2stop and db2start and the error was gone.

OmniFocus Clip-a-tron

After updating OmniFocus I had to remove and add the clip-a-tron from Omnifocus preferences and restart mail.

Mail Act-On

I somehow got the beta of this plugin many moons ago and have since used it to quickly archive read email to a separate folder. Mail complains and disables the plugin on startup. An update is available but at the cost of $24.95. I’m not feeling that generous so I’ll have to find another program to replace this functionality.

Various Programs

Many programs are being released with updates, so if you have trouble I would check the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Compatibility List on wikidot. A few that I had to upgrade are OmniFocus, 1Password 3, OmniGraffle, Neatworks, Wiretap Studio, Speed Download.

I am happy to add that SpringSource Tool Suite 2.1.0SR1 Carbon is working just fine even though Java 5 no longer exists. So far, I have not restored Java 1.5 from Leopard. I have yet to try the Cocoa version of STS since upgrading. I doubt its memory leak issues have been fixed by the upgrade.

Finally, my Canon PIXMA MX860 WI-FI printer connects to my Mac only via USB now. Reports from various other owners mention that Canon will have a new driver in 2 to 3 weeks.

So, I’m up on Snow Leopard. Amazingly, I feel taller and more buff today.

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