Installer failing after failed update

Question

I ran Software update on my girlfriend's iBook G4 and it failed on the most recent security update and on Safari 3.1.2. I let the computer reboot and went to try it again, but Software Update immediately exists. I then tried to manually download the software packages and install them but installer then crashes. I had to run installer in a terminal to get the following crash report:
dyld: NSAddImage() error
dyld: Symbol not found: __ZN3KJS11Interpreter4markEv
Referenced from: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/WebCore.frame work/Versions/A/WebCore
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaScriptCore.framework/Versions/A/JavaScriptCore
/System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/WebKit
Trace/BPT trap
logout
Process completed
What can I do to recover the system?? Safari will not run either ...
Thanks,
Joe

Answer 1

Hi Joe,
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot.
The usual reason why updates fail or mess things up, is if Permissions are not fixed before & after every update, with a reboot... you may get a partial update when the installer finds it doesn't have Permissions to change one obscure little part of the OS, leaving you with a mix of OS versions.
Some people get away without Repairing Permissions for years, some for only days.
If Permissions are wrong before applying an update, you could get mixed OS versions, if Directory is the slightest messed up, who knows!
If many Permission are repaired, or any Directory errors are found, you may need to re-apply some the latest/biggest updates again, or even do an A&I if you have enough free disk space.
An Archive & Install, which gives you a new OS, but can preserve all your files, pics, music, settings, etc...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107120