Unknown error during 10.4.6 update and now machine doesn't startup

Hi all
As with many people, the update broke my machine.
The update failed with an unknown error. Then no apps would start, so I rebooted, and now the PB won't start, just goes to the Apple with the spinning thingy beneath, and sits there forever.
And suggestions on how to fix this, shy of archive and install?
I can boot off a 10.3 firewire drive and look at the drive. I tried running the standalone update from this to update the 10.4.5 system, but the update won't run because I'm not running the correct system. Thanks, Apple.
So, ideas?

First off, verify the directory is okay with Disk Utility. From there, if you're confident in Terminal, you may be able to recover. I've done it when my 10.4.4 update failed due to directory corruption.
[1] Copy the 10.4.6 Combo Updater onto the 10.4 drive, top level.
[2] Boot into Single User mode off the 10.4 drive.
[3] IF you get into single user mode successfully, proceed with fsck'ing and mounting the volume.
[4] Use hdiutil to mount the Combo Updater (ie hdiutil attach /MacOSXUpdCombo10.4.6PPC.dmg).
[5] Run installer to rerun the combo updater (ie, installer --pkg /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ 10.4.6\ Combined\ Update/MacOSXUpdCombo10.4.6PPC.pkg --target /).
[6] Reboot and see if it worked!
Basically, the idea here is that the Combo updater can overwrite clean copies of all the apps that 10.4.6 tried to update, but since the GUI is hosed you need to come at it from the command line tools of single user mode. So if, it works, you're up and running again. If it doesn't, then you're probably going to have to do an archive and install to get operational again.
Best o' luck!
Various... B&W G3 thru XServe G5    

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