Newbie, way in over my head with Leopard BSOD

OK, I'm a newbie when it comes to MAC's bought my first one a few weeks ago. Did the Leopard leap and dealt with the BSOD issues. Decided to do a clean install and start over from scratch. Finally got everything working and all was well.

I then installed MS Keyboard and Mouse software to get my wireless mouse under control, Quicken 2006, the programs off the Tiger CD (iphoto, etc...) and iLife. Last thing installed was Missing Sync which required a restart. I had restarted several times since the initial install of Leopard but this was the first reboot after the software installs and I'm right back to the BSOD. Have tried all the Terminal enhancement deletions that many threads have posted about with no luck so I'm back to installing again. I'm trying a archive & install. But being that this is now the 5th time I've installed Leopard in 3 days can someone give me guidance as to what I'm doing wrong and what I shouldn't do?

What specifically is an Application Enhancement and how can I tell if I'm going to screw my install by installing one? I've been a PC user for my entire life and expected more than this out of my first MAC, but they seem no better than the typical MS crap I'm used too.

Thanks in advance for the advice and help...

Jason

If this is what you're talking about, then this is where your problem lies.

Levi speaks wise words. Don't install anything that includes Application Enhancer.

Can you give specific examples of what you mean by application enhancements besides the link you provided? I've never heard of that program and don't have that installed. Are there others?

I'm with mouse, I have no idea what that program is nor did I install it. Here's my story in a nut shell.

Bought the Mac (1st MAC) about three weeks ago

Have the following software installed

MS Office
iLife
Missing Sync
Adium
CyberDuck
Quicken 2006
MS Optical Mouse and Keyboard Software Ver 6.0

Friday upgraded to Leopard, met with BSOD, reinstalled, met with BSOD, did an Archive & Install per threads I found on the internet, got machine up and running. Started to reconfigure, figure out network settings and why I couldn't see my Vista PC after about an hour of playing around reboot again. Met with a fresh "who are you" Leopard intro video and a screen asking me to re-register. Lost a bunch of permissions and everything was just royally messed up so I decided to do a fresh install and gave up on trying to just do an upgrade. Got the machine re-formated and did a fresh install. Spent the next five hours installing software putting MP3's back on the box and configuring the box to my liking. Reboot to the BSOD again. So something I installed caused this but I don't know what it was. I did an archive & install back over the fresh install and got the machine back up but am worried to do anything on it in fear of loosing everything again.

When the box crashed to blue screen this is what was on it.

Fresh install of Leopard
- MS Wireless Comfort Keyboard and Mouse software version 6.0
- MS Wireless Comfort Keyboard and Mouse update to 6.21
- Cyberduck
- Missing Sync
- Quicken
- Stock software off of Tiger CD insluding the iPhoto and etc...
- iLife '08

Nothing I've installed seems out of the ordinary, the Keyboard and Mouse stuff is what I believe might be the culprit but I can't find anything saying that so I'm just grabbing at straws.

I'm just looking for a little help and guidance, I want to love my Mac but right now I'm afraid of it and I know jack about Mac's so I don't even know how to fix it when it breaks. At least with a PC and Windows I know how to fix it.

Thanks again for any light that can be shed on my situation.

Jason

Well for a start, Missing Sync isn't compatile with Leopard, so that might be causing problems, but it could also be something else or a combination. Check the developers websites.

http://www.markspace.com/leopard.html

It's probably either the Missing Sync or the Microsoft Keyboard/Mouse drivers causing the issue. Run for a while with both not installed. Do you get any crashes? If not add say Keyboard/Mouse software. Does it now crash?


Also what is this Blue Screen? Is it a gray screen telling you to reboot or something else.

Well, darn. I was so hyped about getting a new Mac, but many of these are reading like Vista threads! Ack! Jason, it sounds as though your Mac CAME with MySync. So how are we supposed to know?? Are these tested at all before they are shipped?

I need a new computer like yesterday and I have been waiting patiently for the release. Also, I imagine the iMacs being shipped now are just the newer models with Leopard installed on top of Tiger. Perhaps when the 'old' stock is finally depleted, they'll be fresh Macs with Leopard only.

Guess I'll try to wait awhile (if I can) until the bugs get worked out and the third party developers update their products (like MySync, whatever THAT is) or just get a Dell with XP on it. Hey, I can get a new desktop AND a new laptop for just slightly more than the price of the one iMac which I was more than willing to spend. Now I don't know....

Argh! I'm so disappointed about all these issues. Why do Apple and MS throw out new versions of their OS when most people seemed fine with the prior one?? Oh, wait, money....forgot about that small detail.

In the meantime, I wish all of you well that recently got a Mac and are now having to deal with all these problems. I have an online business and literally can't afford to be staring at a blue screen.

dtravis7 said:

It's probably either the Missing Sync or the Microsoft Keyboard/Mouse drivers causing the issue. Run for a while with both not installed. Do you get any crashes? If not add say Keyboard/Mouse software. Does it now crash?


Also what is this Blue Screen? Is it a gray screen telling you to reboot or something else.

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I would agree that this could be your issue. The microsoft drivers only claim compatibility through 10.4.x. If you still have problems, only install programs that are listed as 10.5 compatable and then go one at a time. Might be a little long, but it will definetly pull the problem child out to the forefront.

-MikeM

jennymac, don't let this discourage you, I've been a PC guy all my life on both sides, the user and support side, M$ is a pure pain in the neck for everything, the MAC was a fresh nice experience, I just have to be one of those bleeding edge guys that jumps on everything new, and being a newbie it's hard to support myself.

I'm starting to think it's the M$ keyboard/mouse drivers, but to be honest I don't want to try it again to find out, I'm tired of reinstalling stuff.... I did an archive&install and all seems well now but my mouse driver has been trashed again and the side buttons no longer work. Coming from the PC world I've gotten quiet used to fancy mice and keyboards and there's just not much out there in the form of cool wireless keyboards and mice that I've found for the MAC. Hopefully M$ will release a new driver soon, if not I'm going to have to start shopping for a new setup.

Jason

jennymac said:

Well, darn. I was so hyped about getting a new Mac, but many of these are reading like Vista threads! Ack! J
Argh! I'm so disappointed about all these issues. Why do Apple and MS throw out new versions of their OS when most people seemed fine with the prior one?? Oh, wait, money....forgot about that small detail.

In the meantime, I wish all of you well that recently got a Mac and are now having to deal with all these problems. I have an online business and literally can't afford to be staring at a blue screen.

Click to expand...

Remember people that forums are places a lot of people come to get help. Of course a lot of posts are going to be horror stories because the high percentage of the people that aren't having any problems are too busy loving Leopard to worry about the forums. We're only 3 days into it. Another week or so you're going to be seeing a lot more "I love Leopard" posts than nightmare posts. Patience!

jskwarek said:

jennymac, don't let this discourage you, I've been a PC guy all my life on both sides, the user and support side, M$ is a pure pain in the neck for everything, the MAC was a fresh nice experience, I just have to be one of those bleeding edge guys that jumps on everything new, and being a newbie it's hard to support myself.

I'm starting to think it's the M$ keyboard/mouse drivers, but to be honest I don't want to try it again to find out, I'm tired of reinstalling stuff.... I did an archive&install and all seems well now but my mouse driver has been trashed again and the side buttons no longer work. Coming from the PC world I've gotten quiet used to fancy mice and keyboards and there's just not much out there in the form of cool wireless keyboards and mice that I've found for the MAC. Hopefully M$ will release a new driver soon, if not I'm going to have to start shopping for a new setup.

Jason

Click to expand...

Jason I know for Tiger there is a 3rd party app for mice that works great. I can't remember what it is off of the top of my head but if you do a search I'm sure you'll find it easy enough. I would say check out the vendor sight and see if it's Leopard compatible and if not give it a few days and I'm sure they will have an update. It lets you set any buttons on the mouse to whatever you want.

jskwarek said:

jennymac, don't let this discourage you, I've been a PC guy all my life on both sides, the user and support side, M$ is a pure pain in the neck for everything, the MAC was a fresh nice experience, I just have to be one of those bleeding edge guys that jumps on everything new, and being a newbie it's hard to support myself.

I'm starting to think it's the M$ keyboard/mouse drivers, but to be honest I don't want to try it again to find out, I'm tired of reinstalling stuff.... I did an archive&install and all seems well now but my mouse driver has been trashed again and the side buttons no longer work. Coming from the PC world I've gotten quiet used to fancy mice and keyboards and there's just not much out there in the form of cool wireless keyboards and mice that I've found for the MAC. Hopefully M$ will release a new driver soon, if not I'm going to have to start shopping for a new setup.

Jason

Click to expand...

Jason the program is called Steermouse. I checked it out and it DOES support Leopard. It's $20 but there is a 30 day free trial so I would say give that a shot and see if it helps out and then maybe the $20 would be worth it.

Yeah, I know you guys are right, however I still would prefer an iMac built with Leopard, not Leopard installed on top of Tiger. I wish I knew how long that will be (especially at places like MacMall or MacConnection).

Guess I could ask them, but who knows if they'll be straight about it? Perhaps it would be best to get an iMac with Tiger and wait until some bugs are worked out before getting Leopard. Darn, I could've done that weeks ago! Argh! Decisions, decisions!

Naturally people with problems will post while those that aren't having any problems just go on their merry way. I should have realized that before posting and I do, it's just a bit discouraging.

I guess I'm a also a bit afraid of the learning curve. There are so many references to terms here that are totally meaningless to me. The Leopard video tour was a bit of a help, at least somewhat. I've had so many people tell me that it's pretty intuitive, but it sure isn't sounding like it at the moment.

It also seems odd that things like mice just don't automatically work as they do in PCs (at least in my experience). Paying (perhaps) for software just to program a mouse seems a bit much.

Oh, apologies to the OP for seemingly hijacking the thread, wasn't my intention at all. Take care, Jennifer

Thanks for the tip on Steermouse I'll give it a look and see what I think.

Jen, the thing I have found for the MAC's is most stuff does just work, it's when you want to make things complicated is when some outside the box thinking comes in. For example my mouse and keyboard work without the drivers or software, it's making the side buttons on the mouse do the things I want it to do like move forward and backward through my web browser that I need third party software for. It's no shock that M$ and Apple aren't playing nice with each other so I expected a bit of a head ache there. What was irritating was not getting any heads up that if I installed the software on my MAC the next time I reboot it's going to crash to the BSOD.

Jason