Trying to upgrade to 10.4 but keep hitting a snag

Question

I'm in the process of trying to upgrade to 10.4, and the Read First file on the install disk says that you should do a Software Update to make sure everything's up to date, but when I go to Software Update from the Apple menu, nothing happens. I tried it several times, and when it still didn't do anything, I thought maybe that meant that everything was updated and OK (silly me!), so I figured I'd go ahead and try to start the install and see what happened. But when I tried to start the Install going, which means you have to restart and it automatically starts the installation, it just kept putting up a screen that said I'd have to restart again. I'd restart by hitting the little button underneath the power button, and it would look like the installation was going to start, but then it just keeps putting up the screen that says to restart again. I thought maybe the disk permissions needed to be verified or something, so I ran the disk utility and it showed that a few of the permissions had to be reset, giving new numbers, so I was hoping that would make things better, but I still can't get Software Update to do anything. Can anybody give me a clue as to what's going on and what I can do to get this upgrade installed? Any help you can give me will be gratefully accepted!

Answer 1

You're Welcome Valerie!
"...my install disk is 10.3.2,..."
That is the disc you should use, to Repair Disk.
THESE ARE THE STEPS FOR USING DISK UTILITY TO REPAIR YOUR HD
1.Insert the System Install disk, Mac OS X CD-ROM disk, or Restore DVD disk, then restart the computer while holding the C key. Use the System disk, of the OS, that is currently installed.
2.Once started up from CD or DVD, on the Menubar at the top of the screen, choose Disk Utility from the Installer contextual menu.
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from disc 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, if necessary.
6.Click Repair. If DU reports errors it has fixed, re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported.
7.Repeat steps 5 & 6, but select the Hard Drive this time. It's usually the first listed with the manufacturer's model number. Make note of the S.M.A.R.T. status.
8.When finished, select Quit Disk Utility from the Installer menu.
9.Select Quit Installer from the Installer menu.
10.In the resulting pop-up window, choose restart.
11.After the computer has restarted, you can eject the CD.
I also suggest that you run Repair Permissions, using Disk Utility, not Cocktail.
TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK
1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
2.Click First Aid.
3.Click Verify Disk Permissions to test permissions or Repair Disk Permissions to test and repair permissions. (I never "Verify". Just run "Repair".)
Rerun RP, until the only messages reported, are listed here Spurious Permissions Errors Using: 10.3.x, authored by Michael Conniff.
When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".
"...when you say "all peripherals," does this include disconnecting the modem?"
If possible , yes.
At least until you resolve the Kernel Panic issue.
"The only way it'll function successfully, ... is after I've run Cocktail and restarted the machine."
This is not normal.
Your system seems to have some type of corruption, and until you resolve the current issues, you should not update to Tiger 10.4.x.
Unless you create a complete system backup, and perform an Erase & Install.
Upgrading a corrupt system, will create a corrupt new system.
"Memory shows 384 MB SDRAM.'
Is that "original" or added.
Use Rember, to run a test of it.
Although the the RAM requirement for Tiger, is 256MB, that is the bare minimum.
For optimum performance, once you successfully install Tiger, you should increase the RAM.
Post any results, status, or progress.
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