" The 10.2.8 Update (Build 6R73) includes an updated ethernet driver for 450MHz and 500MHz dual processor Power Mac G4 desktop systems and an update to the battery status menu. "

Hopefully this will solve the Ethernet/networking and other issues reported with the original 10.2.8 release, although in general it was ok on my PB G4/800. (I didn't update any other Macs.)
The Combo 10.2.8 update is also available at
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120244

(Original Info on 10.2.8 from the Apple Kbase doc. Here's the Kbase doc w/10.2.8 installer)

" The 10.2.8 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications, services and technologies: Audio, Bluetooth, Classic compatibility, Finder, Graphics, LDAP, Power Management, Safari, and FireWire and USB device compatibility.
The update also provides updated security services and includes the latest Security Updates. (Note - see this Apple security Kbase doc for info on fixes to SSH, Sendmail, fb_realpath and arplookup)

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website:
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n25524

(that kbase doc notes the following changes:)

Enhancements
These are some of the enhancements that are a part of the Mac OS X 10.2.8 Update:

* Windows on external displays connected to some PowerBook computers are drawn better.
* The Bluetooth menu bar item works better when a Bluetooth USB adapter is disconnected and reconnected.
* Addresses a situation in which an external FireWire storage device would not become available (mount) and this message would appear: "A disk attempting to mount as 'unknown' has failed. Please use Disk Utility to check the disk."
* Addresses an issue in which some Bluetooth devices may not be available after the computer wakes from sleep.
* Addresses an issue in which some Bluetooth keyboards may show a delayed response when you press a key after the computer wakes from sleep.
* Addresses an issue in which some iBook computers could make a clicking sound when using Mac OS X 10.2.5 or 10.2.6.
* Reduces a potential delay when removing some devices from the Bluetooth pairing list.
* Addresses a potential issue in which an audio application can unexpectedly quit when a USB- or FireWire-based audio device is disconnected.
* Bluetooth preferences correctly displays the Bluetooth menu bar item's status if the item was enabled elsewhere.
* Includes several enhancements for Safari.
* Includes support for USB 2.0 devices, including PCI and PC cards for computers that do not include USB 2.0 hardware. "

OS X 10.2.8 Combo Updater: (will update any 10.2 version to 10.2.8) In the past the Combo update sometimes fixed odd problems seen from the standard updater. The 10.2.8 combo update is available at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120244 . If anyone finds the Combo Update fixes any problems they had with the standard updater, let me know.

Notes on Added Drive Model Burn Support in 10.2.8 adds Pioneer DVR-106 Support:

• Pioneer DVR-106 (A06) DVD recorder
• LG GCC-4480B Combo drive (48x24x48x + 16x DVD-ROM)
• Liteon LSC-24081M Combo drive (notebook model)
• TDK Indi440N DVD recorder (TDK DVDRW0404N 4X DVD Burner)

Samsung 232B CDRW Problem: Normally either repatching the 'brand' plugin (or using Patchburn) after the OS X update should work, but not for this drive according to this reader:

"Mike, I just updated to 10.2.8 and of course, lost my modified plugin for my Samsung CDR/CDRW SW-232B. I've reinstalled the modified plugin and have tried PatchBurn to no avail. I guess it's back to Toast until a updated PatchBurn or a new plugin appears.
Sawtooth G4 (1Ghz, 1.5Gb of RAM, 2 HD's, Radeon 8500 Retail, Samsung 232B CDRW)
Thanks again for the amazing site, Carl"

If anyone else sees a similar problem, let me know (include drive details, etc.)
One reader with a TDK Indi440N DVD Burner (Firewire cased used w/G4 Cube) said 10.2.8 added native burn support (iTunes, db, etc.)

Reader Reports (most recent first)

G5 10.2.8 Reports:

(added Oct. 7th, 2003 11AM ET)
" Just e-mailing you again to inform you that OSX 10.2.8 has not fixed the problem with my microtek scanmaker 5900, I have phoned microtek again and they have suggested that I try the previous version of Scanwizard (version 7.0 instead of 7.1) or try using the OS9 driver I will be trying these alternatives shortly.
Another interesting tidbit tipping the scale on the other side for the G5 is the fact that my compact flash reader that was incompatible with OSX on G3-G4's is now working fine with the G5?
Thanks J.Dube "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003, appx 5PM ET)
" I just installed 10.2.8 on a new G5 Dual 2GHz and when I try to print to a postscript printer in the Classic environment its a no go.

So I went to the Chooser and selected the AdobePS icon and get a message "Sorry, AdobePS cannot be used".
(Did this work under 10.2.7? Are there OS 9 drivers for the printer? What is the printer brand/model? -Mike)
How do you get to a voice at Apple to report this?
m. rolfer
(I didn't get the answers to my questions above, but he later replied he found a solution)
I downloaded (as opposed to using the OSX updater) reran the update to OSX 10.2.8 G5 and reinstalled Postscript 8.8 which seems to have cleared up the problem. "

That's the 2nd report I've had that reinstalling the 10.2.8 update helped solve a problem. (An old tip was to try reinstalling a "Combo" updater.)
A reader also replied to this post with a note about how to report OS X bugs to Apple. (I could not remember their OS X feedback page URL and too busy to go to their site to search for it)

" If you want to submit bug reports, the best way is to sign up as a developer http://developer.apple.com -- free, and you get access to Apple's bug reporter site http://bugreport.apple.com.
Philip M. "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003, appx 3PM ET)
" Impossible to start Dreamweaver MX 2004 and Fireworks MX 2004 after upgrade on G5. No help in reinstall or deleting preferences
Finnur B."

If any other 10.2.8 user is running Dreamweaver/Firewire MX 2004, let me know if you see the same problem.

(added Oct. 6th, 2003 - Updated Oct. 7th AM)
" Mike, I got the Dual G5 late last week. I installed the update and have had some strange behavior, but I really didn't use it long enough to know if the update is the cause.
I am getting occasional unexpected quits in various Apps (I almost never saw this on my G4 upgraded B&W). iPhoto doesn't like my flash reader (I haven't tried plugging in my camera directly - it's a Canon S30). However it worked fine when I copied the files to my drive from the flash card and then imported them from the HD. Also, when uploading picts to .mac iPhoto fails at the end of the upload. I did hear the beep people had mentioned when I first started using the computer, but I don't think I've heard it since the update. (10.2.8 should not affect that - but using CHUD tools to disable "Nap" mode (resets after a reboot though) seems a common fix.-Mike) But, I do still hear the CPU squeak once in a while (it doesn't bother me).
Overall I am very please with the G5. I've given it a workout with iMovie and a few games with no problems. I've left Folding@home going on it a few days too.
Hopefully Panther will iron out the remaining bugs. Thanks for the great site!!!
Jeff C.
(I asked to verify he had installed 10.2.8 and if his S30 had the latest firmware from Canon (see sidebar links at www.Powershot.com). )
I only had this thing maybe two days before 10.2.8 came out, so I didn't get a chance to try the camera with 10.2.7.
I actually hadn't tried connecting directly to my camera until just now. It worked fine (I will check the firmware though - thanks). Then I tried again with my flash reader and it worked fine! iPhoto crashed numerous times the other night... (strange)
Now I am wondering about the failed .mac uploads. I see that one of them did complete (despite the error at the end of transmission). Possibly my connection was just having an off night. I'll experiment more later.

The only other issue that concerns me with the G5, is the few unexpected quits I have had. I did run the permissions fix after 10.2.8. Although, it has been very stable with days of Folding@home use and some gaming (I had one freeze in classic within the first couple of hours of use). So, I don't think I'll worry about it...
The speed is great - I can't wait for Panther! "

My Canon S230 w/latest firmware works fine on the Dual G5 here (used the front USB port).
BTW - sort of off-topic but If any other G5 (or other Mac) owners have a Firewire or USB CD/DVD burner, I wonder if you could check for this. I noticed something recently (already applied the 10.2.8 update so not sure it happened with 10.2.7) when I'm burning from Toast6 to my Firewire cased Plextor PX-708A, I see the USB mouse (connected to keyboard) "pulse" (LED goes bright, then dim, then bright, etc.). If anyone else notices this (or doesn't) let me know.

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" Fixed the following bug in 10.2.7 - when safari window open on screen, system profiler failed to complete analysis and froze. Now system profiler works when safari window is open.
Robert "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" 10.2.8 update seems to have fixed my problem (freezing iPhoto when connecting a Canon S50 camera - see previous report) completely
Adam "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" Mike, I've been running the update for just over a day without a hiccup. I saw a couple of permission fixes that aren't normally there after an install-restart--I don't recall which ones offhand--but none of them looked to be worse or more problematic than the usual suspects (hfs.util, locate.db, etc.). Hope all is well there . . .
-Dion "

I didn't notice any corrections after the update other than the usual ones (I ran RP under 10.2.7 also.)

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" After upgrade, Disk Utility does not show any disk at all.
Finnur B. "

Update - two readers replied this problem is due to having Default Folder (1.9b1 reportedly) installed. Uninstalling it should solve the problem. Remember as Apple notes in the readme/kbase docs - when updating to a new OS X version there can be problems with 3rd party system addons/haxies, etc. - uninstall them if in doubt.

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" Hi Mike, I've got a new Dualie 2.0GHz Mac (a sweet upgrade from my Dual/450 G4), and haven't had any problems with the 10.2.8 G5 upgrade. In fact, subjectively speaking, I feel that this release is even more optimized for performance than 10.2.7...
Stay 'tooned, -Krishna "

I think 10.2.8 (G5) is more of a bug fix/security update but I can't say as I've compared any apps performance afterwards.

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" No problems to report, can't say anything different to note either!
Tan (UK) "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" No problems here. But it never did appear in Software Update.
Chris "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" Hi Mike, Installed the 10.2.8 (G5) update this morning on my DP 2.0 GHz G5 without incident. Everything seems to run pretty smoothly so far. I can tell you that it does not fix the "pulse/chirp" noise problem (still need to turn off "Nap" to fix it). I'll let you know if anything funky starts happening. :)
Matt "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" No problem here,
G5 1.8 MHz 1.5 GB RAM
Nvidia 5200 FX

I don't see any significant difference with this update as compared to 10.2.7(G5)??? (it's primarily just bug fixes and security updates) I guess we will have to wait for Panther which won't even be 64 bit optimized. Also, I am wondering if Apple will give new G5 owners a discount for Panther?
Jeffrey M. "

I don't know of anything other than their Up-to-date program (for buyers of new systems within 30 days of a new OS release I think). I wish they offered a discount for 10.3 for any G5 owner considering how long we waited from the order date for the systems to ship. (And for risking a "rev 1" purchase, it would be a nice carrot for early buyers...)

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" no issues yet - not intensly tested though. but also no obvious 're-bugging' sighted on my machine.
Frank"

iBot FW webcam owner notes it fixed a problem w/iChat AV:

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" Just installed the 10.2.8 (G5) (build 6S90) update on my dual 2.0GHz machine... so far, after a few hours, I haven't noticed any adverse effects.
The one benefit that is immediately apparent, however, is that now iChatAV properly recognizes my iSight camera. Previously, under 10.2.7, the camera would be recognized by Apple System Profiler but was ignored by iChat AV, with a "no camera connected" error (a FireWire iBot camera did work, by the way). Now, after the update, the iSight functions as expected. There have been posts on the Apple support discussion groups of similar iSight - 10.2.7 incompatibilities.

Oh, and in case you're keeping track of such things, the machine I bought (stock config. from the Apple Store in Novi, MI on 9/24 has boot ROM version 5.0.7f0. The serial # is not included in the range of recent RAM issues, but it does not properly recognize RAM that does not have CL3 timings encoded on the module. However, the machine does not crash or kernel panic, either; it simply ignores those modules.
Cadaver "

G4/G3 10.2.8 Reports:

XServe owner report on full-duplex mode problems:

(added Oct. 7th, 2003 11AM ET)
" A couple of posts, including mine at the URL
Apple's discussion forums Have noted problems with setting the duplex manually via ifconfig after either variant of the 10.2.8 update. Here is my post:

We have an XServe as our e-mail server. After installation of 10.2.8 Server update (the latest one from this past weekend), we cannot set the duplex manually of either of our Ethernet ports -- any attempt simply locks up the network.

We used to have a line in like the following in our
/System/Library/StartupItems/Network/Network file
(right before the CheckForNetwork statement):

ifconfig en0 media 100basetx mediaopt full-duplex

Executing this line simply locks up the network although it used to work perfectly before the update. Now we are stuck with half-duplex, because the building network is set to 100-full and with the default autonegotiating on the XServe side, this fails back to 100-half (as anyone who has played with autonegotiating knows will happen if only one side of the connection is set to a definite parity) Rotten luck! We have had to comment out the line and live with half duplex.

Searching for "ifconfig" on the Mac OS X level of the Apple forums produced a couple of other hits to this effect also. Seems like something is still messed up with the 10.2.8 ethernet drivers.
Best,
Alan"

iBook G3/800 owner notes "lost ram" after update:

(added Oct. 7th, 2003 11AM ET)
" I ran the Combo 10.2.8 Updater over the weekend on my iBook/800 (Dual USB) 14" successfully (installed, restarted, repaired permissions). I have a total of 640MB RAM installed (with a 512MB chip from OWC). However, after restart I noticed that my total now reads only 384MB effectively cutting the chip in half! I contacted OWC Tech Support Saturday to see if they had any similar reports with 10.2.8 and disappearing RAM and at that time one Lombard owner had called in with the same issue.

I haven't tried resetting the PMU yet, but booting up on OS9 yielding an error on startup stating that something may be wrong with the RAM. Continuing with startup still only shows my RAM chip at half capacity. Other than the missing memory, everything else seems to be running okay.
Have you had anyone else notice any disappearing RAM?
Frank "

Don't remember any other reports like this (however many may not check ASP to see if it affected their reported RAM) other than some past Lombard owner comments about problems with 256MB sodimms (one reader at the bottom of the page noted the revised 10.2.8 helped).
If any other reader sees a similar problem with the latest 10.2.8 update, let me know your system/memory details.

iMac 233 w/Sonnet Harmoni CPU Upgrade:

(added Oct. 7th, 2003 11AM ET)
" I Just upgraded my system to 10.2.8 on 10-6-03 just to be safe. I saw a 20% increase in startup time and every application was atleast 25% faster. I normally run under 9.2.2 other then running under classic. Classic started up in half the time!!! also all the programs that I run under System 9.2.2 all ran under classic now! the one's that would not run, now run fine, but they run slower! then under system 9.2.2.

I use a Imac Rev. B. running a Sonnet harmoni 600mhz with 384mb of ram. and a Western Dig. 40gig drive @7200rpm. a 12gig firwire drive and 250 zip drive was through many things no bugs, as of yet! but I did wait to see what everyone was saying on may of the forums to play it safe.
Gary "

B&W G3 w/G4 upgrade Network problems (see later B&W G3 w/G4 upgrade report above noting no problems)

(added Oct. 6th, 2003 - Updated Oct 7th AM)
Subject: OSX 10.2.8 disabled my Ethernet on my BWG3 with G4/500
" Hey Mike last night at 6:30pm (Friday) there abouts, the software update on my OS X 10.2.6 told me 10.2.8 was available. So I said hey I guess Apple must have fixed it. So after it downloaded I restarted. The updater ask to change something to Classic so I said ok. Everything seemed ok. Until I went to my Mail, Safari, and IE. None of it worked. I checked the Cable Modem and everything else, and I knew that there was the same similar Ethernet issue with the previous iteration of 10.2.8.
I had to reboot into OS9, and do a hard reset. For about 6 hours I could not get Email or Internet access booted into OS9. I gave up for the night, and restarted this morning, so I got Internet access at least through OS9.
So I wonder how many other people out there with G4 upgraded systems are having problems???
Luke
(he later wrote)
Ok, so now it works. Go figure! It took 3 reboots and now the info says 10.2.8 Build 6R73.
And now the Ethernet and Email work. I even had on one Reboot the half blue and half black screen that some PowerBook owners have talked about. Its totally crazy.
My BWG3 uses an OWC G4/500 upgrade, Radeon 7000, Adaptec 2930 UltraSCSI card, Sonnet Tempo ATA66, Orange Micro Combo USB1.1/FW400 card. I was about to start physically taking hardware out if I couldn't get it to work.
So it works pretty well now, although I haven't the faintest idea what is supposed to be different or faster...one pal from work says his PBG4 15" is faster with this update, but I do not know what increases I could expect with this old BWG3.
thanks a bunch, Luke "

I had to reset my Airport networking settings on the PB G4/800 after the first reboot for some reason but not on the G5. A later report (above) from a BW G3 owner with G4 CPU upgrade noted no problems.

(added Oct. 6th, 2003 5PM ET)
" Beige G3 Tower with Keyspan PCI 3 port Firewire/4 Port USB 2.0. I installed the first 10.2.8, (download combo) I have no idea why, and had severe instability problems including USB problems. Of course like everyone else I had a full backup of my previous 10.2.6. You all make backups, right?

Even with 10.2.6 I had USB mouse problems, no USB printer problems. Each time I started my machine I had to unplug and plug-in my Kensington Optical Elite USB mouse. I have a USB hub in front and it just become part of my start-up.

This time I installed the latest 10.2.8 using software update and what a difference. I have at least a 15-20% boost in speed in the finder, at least a 20% boost with Safari and a minimum 10-12% boost with InDesign, Adobe Photoshop 7.0, FreeHand 10, InDesign 2.0.2, Toast Titanium 5.2.1. Adobe GoLive 6.0.1 and others.

Not everything is great. I am having a lot of USB problems, including my 5 Epson printers and my Kensington Optical Elite USB mouse. I had the same unplug and plug-in problems as above but now have added, it only works one in a while, sometimes when I click a single click, it double clicks, when I click to drag it doesn't work etc.

I have had to do the following to get it to work. Reset Power Management, remove and reinstall my Keyspan PCI card. Everything worked for a few restarts and now its back to start, unplug and plug, restart again etc.

One thing I am really excited about is the 2.0 USB. I'm sure we will be getting another small update to fix the USB problems.

Beige G3 Tower Rev. C OS 10.2.8 Keyspan PCI 3 port Firewire/4 Port USB 2.0, Dual Monitor, 768 Meg ram, Sonnet G4/500, ATI RADEON 7000 Mac edition, AsanteFAST_690 PCI Ethernet, Maxtor IDE 60 gig hard drives.
-Richard R. "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003 5PM ET)
" Hi, I just wanted share my experience regarding the use of 10.2.8 (Build 6R73) on a Lombard and a B&W.

The Lombard was happily running 10.2.6 and has 384MB of RAM and a 500MHZ G4 from Powerlogix. After the update, I got no weirdness with the screen like other have reported. Instead, the whole machine would freeze randomly every 10 minutes or so. I eventually had to chuck the whole OS and start over... only took 5-6 hours. (Is it possible Powerlogix's Cache enabler isn't fully 10.2.8 compatible? Just a guess...-Mike) In the meantime, I learned my lesson re: being a guinea pig for Apples BETA testing program - should have read the online experiences elsewhere first!

The B&W has a 500MHz G4 ZIF from OWC in it along with 1GB of RAM. It was also running 10.2.6 quite happily. Subsequent to the "upgrade" the B&W machine got so corrupted by Build 6R73 that the hard drive hosed itself. Even better, while I was able to reinitialize the drive and install 10.2.0, I cannot upgrade beyond that... the machine keeps quitting left and right, so it appears that either the ZIF or the memory modules are shot once more (the ZIF, and 2/4 RAM modules replaced so far).
Argh.
Meanwhile, my G4 Laptop is happy. Go figure.
Cheers! Constantin "

it's not normal for ZIFs or memory modules to fail repeatedly unless there is some other factor (power supply/spikes, overheating, etc.) - Not sure what the problem is - but I've not seen that sort of thing here. I know that's little consolation... I don't run any addon cache enablers with G4 upgrades in the B&W G3, but for the Lombard one would be required with the G4 CPU upgrade (otherwise the upgrade's cache would not be enabled). I'd check with powerlogix to see if they have tested the version you are running with 10.2.8.

(added Oct. 6th, 2003 5PM ET)
" Hi Mike-Here's the timeline of events I used to get my 550MHz Powerbook back after the 10.2.8 mess:

* When Apple released (the broken) 10.2.8 the first time, I installed it. I had been at 10.2.6.
* The initial reboot after the 10.2.8 install took a long time, maybe 15 or 20 minutes. Since I enabled my Mac to display the console messages, I noticed that the messages were dragging on almost everything, especially mounting the local disk and when trying to start up Apache; it was not just one startup script that was causing the slowness. When the system finally let me log in, the finder also took a few minutes time to come up. I did a repair permissions, but it was no better.
* Each time I rebooted following the (broken) 10.2.8, delays were there but not always on the same thing. Sometimes it would be waiting for web services, other times it would wait for local disks to mount (but I don't think it was doing an fsck)
The only thing regular was that the finder would be slow, first displaying the time in the upper right, and then wait about a minute for the dock to appear, then the local disks, etc. Launching programs was like molasses, as it seemed two to three times longer to bring up apps like terminal or mail.

* When Apple released the "fixed" 10.2.8, I updated via the Software Update. Since I was already at 10.2.8, I got what I think is the small version of the update. After the update and reboot, the system took just as long to come up, and I don't think it actually fixed anything. I tried repair permissions once more, but again, my system was still slow.
* For giggles I downloaded the 40MB version of the 10.2.8 update and tried to install it, expecting it to fail with a warning that I'm already at 10.2.8. Well, it installed okay, and the reboot following the update was what I remembered- it went just as quickly as a 10.2.6 boot, and now everything is as I remembered, except that I'm at 10.2.8.
Applications, reboots and services are all functioning as I expect.
I hope that helps someone out there, and keep up the excellent work/website!
-Marty "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003 5PM ET)
" OSX 10.2.8
Upgraded my PowerBook 1Ghz & 450 Cube to 10.2.8
Unable to boot up my YDL partination (Yellow Dog Linux partition I assume) and the machine hangs on the Powerbook
Unable to install software on the Cube says that the partition is not hfsplus.
Jonathan"

(added Oct. 6th, 2003 2PM ET)
" Hi Mike, I installed the update on my G4 450MHz with an additional USB2+Firewire Combo Card (MRT-Communication) and this card doesn't work very well with the new update, the Card stops working after waking the Mac from a deep sleep, it seems like it can't get the power back on the board. Another issue is, that the Mac can't stay in sleep for a long time (one or half a day), when I bring it back an error message appears on the main screen, telling that I should restart the machine, no explanation why. The last bug that I noticed so far is the lower performance in games, even the game Wingnuts lost so much speed, that the frames are stottering right away.

Configuration:
G4 450MHz AGP
ATI 128 Pro AGP + ATI Radeon 7000 PCI
1024MB RAM
10+20GB harddrives
No Modem
Airport
USB2+Firewire Card
Combo-Drive, Zip drive

Devices connected:
Yamaha AP-U70 Sound Processor USB
Wacom A3 Tablet USB
Two 15" TFT Studio Displays DVI
Ishock Gamepad
Mouse (Microsoft Mouse Explorer) + Keyboard
Firewire Harddrive (sometimes)

No overclocking or modifications were done
Greetings, Dave "

B&W G3 w/G4 CPU upgrade:

(added Oct. 6th, 2003 2PM ET)
" Hi - Noticed one of your feedback responses was from an owner of a B&W G3 with G4 upgrade -- he lost his internet connection after the upgrade. Just wanted to report that I've installed the current release of 10.2.8 on a B&W G3 with Sonnet G4/500 upgrade, without experiencing any problems whatsoever. My internet connection is a DSL account connected via ethernet...

Like him, when starting Classic I've received a pop-up notifying me that some resources will be updated. Again, however, no problems...
- Edward "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003, 1:15PM ET)
" Hi Mike, I have a problem after installing 10.2.8 on Beige G3 rev.B (in ATX case, 256MB RAM). I think it's the same one that Lombard owners have reported: Display goes blank. Even keyboard reset doesn't work for me.
Crash occurs always when I try to repair permissions and in other situations too, for example when surfing with Safari. Had APE installed but removing it didn't help...
Pekka .K, Finland "

(added Oct. 6th, 2003, 1:15PM ET)
" I had successfully installed 10.2.8 on my dual 1.25 G4 tower, an upgraded Bondi blue iMac, a WallStreet laptop, and one G4/700 iMac, and then we had another G4/700 iMac update go wrong. When the machine rebooted, it stopped at the blue screen. It simply wouldn't resolve the desktop. I rebooted into Firmware mode and started running fsck -y (four times), but it wouldn't fix some of the errors. I am running Drive X repair on it now and it is attempting to fix the volume bitmap, which it said is corrupted.
Keeping my fingers crossed. I will report results.
John G."

iBook 600MHz owner report:

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" After installing the latest Mac OS X update (the version released late last week), I find that gameplay in Fallout 1 is now terrible. Specifically, animation is horribly choppy, with dropped frames; and cursor movement is so jerky it's difficult to target any point on the screen without an annoying lag time while the cursor catches up. I'm running Fallout 1 on a 600mhz iBook with 384 megs of Ram and a stock Rage M3 graphics card. Before installing 10.2.8, Fallout 1 worked just fine. Now my iBook feels like an ancient computing beast struggling to run this graphically simple game. Just wondering if anyone else has reported this problem.
Is 10.2.8 doing something sneaky, like processing graphics more exclusively through the ATI card in order to free up the main processor?
John
P.S. Fallout 1 runs just fine on my desktop 1GHz G4 (with Radeon 8500 card) after the 10.2.8 update. "

I don't know what 10.2.8 could have done to affect this. But I asked if he had run repair permissions and if any other games were affected.

A FW800 MDD Owner wrote:

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" I was having problems with my current drive installation, crashes and so forth so I installed a fresh copy of jaguar. Then I installed the cumulative 10.2.6 update. Fine so far, then I installed the 10.2.8 update (the new one) and when I went to reboot it hung. I rebooted again in verbose mode and it hung at an error in a resource conflict with graphic something or other. It wasn't frozen but it was trying to do something and was stuck in an endless loop. Anyways the new update sucks as I could not install it. Went back to 10.2.6.

Computer configuration is as follows:
FW800 dual 1.42 with 2gb ram, 2x250GB HD and 1 200GB HD all western digital. Stock ATI 9000 graphics and 2 superdrives. Also got an adaptec duo connect PCI card in there. FW400 and USB 2.0.
Dave "

I wonder if removing the Adaptec card would help.

A Powerbook G4/800 owner wrote:

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" Mike, I wanted to share the following about the 10.2.8 update. I'm running a TiBook 800MHz 1GB RAM, the rest is stock. When the 10.2.8 updater ran, it reset the date/time, changed several of the default file types to open with other apps, and reset several of the system prefs to their defaults (keyboard, mouse/trackpad, etc.).
Overall, nothing damaging, but a bit frustrating to have to go through an reset them.
FYI, Finke"

10.2.8 on my PB G4/800 reset my Software Updates prefs (to auto check) but I didn't notice any other prefs changed (date/time still the same) - but I did have to reselect my Airport connection after the first reboot.

iMac G3/233 report:

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" This is on an iMac 233, with the 6 Mb graphics card and 160 Mb ram.
This started occuring with the first 10.2.8 update, and we're still experiencing it with the 10.2.8 second update.
Two times we have had a random freeze. Mouse locks, screen locks, reboot is the only way to get around it.

Most of the time the the iMac appears to go into sleep-mode. THe screen suddenly turns black (Very fast) and the powerbutton turns orange. (It doesnt pulsate) You can hear that the harddrive is still working as if the machine didnt crash, but the only way to get around is to reboot!
It only seems to happen whenever you enter a webpage, or open an application (High CPU-load maybe?). Especially Word.X seems to crash the machine 2 out of 3 times!
Any suggestions on this one?

And regarding the person with the bluetooth problems, here's a link from Apple's discussion forums, where several persons is having similar problems. Some of them seems to know how to fix it. (Dont know if you already have posted it) "

The email didn't have any link to apple's forums included.

Beige G3 problems:

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" Two people on the Finnish Mac user group complain about a problem with 10.2.8 on a beige G3: after using the machine for a while the screen goes black and won't wake up without rebooting. If the machine is left idle it won't do this.
Page (in Finnish):
http://www.macsanomat.com/nayta.php?id=1939
Janne "

I haven't yet tried babelfish to translate the page.

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" I just flattened my 500MHz CRT iMac, installing 10.2 on it and then immediately running Software Update to update to 10.2.8.

One strange thing I noticed was in the System Preferences: The Mouse category still exists, though it won't open. The preference pane labeled for mouse isn't in /System/Library/PreferencePanes!
Aaron G. "

I don't see any "Mouse" (only) control panel in 10.2.8 here - only te combo "Keyboard and Mouse" (which has a tab for mouse). I think something is hosed - I'd suggest a reinstall of OS X 10.2, then try applying pre-10.2.8 updates before jumping to 10.2.8 directly (and run repair permissions after every update). Although the 10.2.8 combo update kbase doc from apple listed 10.2.0, one reader said you should have 10.2.4 or later installed before applying it.

PB G3 Lombard owner noted fixes for display and RAM problems:

(added Oct. 6th, 2003)
" Hi Mike, I just installed the newly released 10.2.8 update (build 6R73) and it fixed the crashing problem with both RAM modules installed in my Lombard. I have 512MB RAM installed and I can finally repair permissions now without getting any garbled screen or crash.
The Combo update is also available at
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120244
Regards, Robert "

(NOTE: Reader Reports from the original 10.2.8 release are on this previous page.)

If any other readers have seen problems (or fixes) with 10.2.8, let me know the details. Thanks. I updated my PB G4/800 and Dual G5 and so far it seems ok, but I don't have any OS addon/haxies/mods other than an early beta version of ASM (which still works) and modified plugins for some DVD/CDRW burners (which got overwritten as expected). Patchburn 1.1 still worked in 10.2.8 to re-enable burn support for a Plextor PX-708A DVD burner (FW cased).