Update to 10.4.10 fails after erase

Question

Hi, my mini has been crashing a lot recently due to me messing around with it. So i decided to rebuild it, which i did 3 times.
The first time i rebuilt it (standard erase) i installed all the updates from the system update. It rebooted, went to the gray screen, rebooted again and then got stuck on the blue screen.
The second time i rebuilt it (after a erase and zero'ing the hdd) i chose to only install the 10.4.10 combi from the system update. It rebooted, went to the gray screen, rebooted again and then got stuck on the blue screen.
The third time i rebuilt it (standard erase), i installed all the updates from 10.4.6 - 10.4.9 and all went well. So i downloaded the 10.4.10 intel update (75mb or so) and installed that. Again it rebooted, went to the gray screen, rebooted again and then got stuck on the blue screen.
I understand that there is error that can occur when doing system updates, but surely on a clean system this shouldn't happen ? Can anyone shed a little light on what i should do ? I am going to rebuild the system tonight and leave it on 10.4.9 till i can see why 10.4.10 kills my Mini
Mac Mini 1.66 Intel Core2   Mac OS X (10.4.9)   2GB Kingston Ram

Answer 1

Rob,
Note that the vast majority of problems reported with 10.4.10 & Intel Macs have nothing at all in common with this poster's symptoms, which is an inability to boot the Mini past the blue screen.
You are focused on the Airport issue, which mostly seems to be associated with laptops running on battery power. Another group (currently with the largest number of views & a very high post count) is concerned with Rosetta apps not launching. There is still another group complaining about issues with USB-connected external audio devices. And perhaps most famously, there was the group with the "popping" issue with external speakers.
You might say, "Aha! All are signs that the most recent update(s) are flawed!" The problem with that is careful reading of these threads reveals something curious: almost nobody complaining about being affected by one of these issues is complaining about being affected by another. Moreover, buried in every one of these long threads are posts from some users with the same Mac model as others saying they have had no problems at all, or that their problems were solved in some way not involving reverting back to 10.4.9 or any of its components.
Moreover, there are millions of Macs in use but only hundreds of reports of any problems at all. Sites like Discussions or MacFixIt are devoted in large part to users helping other users resolve their problems, so it isn't unusual to see reports of problems dominate over those reporting no problems. Some theorize that there is a great number of 'silent' users experiencing problems that don't report them, so this means nothing. However, major problems that really do affect tens of thousands of users are almost always sought out by mainstream news organizations, particularly when they involve Apple, a high profile company closely followed in both broadcast media & the financial press. If the problems really were this widespread, it seems extremely unlikely they would not be much more widely reported.
So, is the "crock" filled with a stew rich with big chunks of major update flaws, or a watery mix of assorted problems relatively few users face? More to the point, how many users are waiting for a fix an update didn't cause & a new one can't cure?
If the answer to either question is "I don't know," doesn't it make sense to try the time-tested repair & diagnostic steps you will find in these discussions before blaming everything on some update?