Updating to BeOS Version DR8.3
for Power Macintosh Computers

These instructions show you how to download and install DR8.3 of the BeOS for Power Macintosh computers.

BeBox Owners: DR8.3 is not for you! It contains nothing you don't already have in DR8.2 of the BeOS for the BeBox. If you install DR8.3 on a BeBox, you won't be able to boot the BeOS: You'll have to reinstall the BeOS for the BeBox from a CD-ROM.

Updating to DR8.3

You update to DR8.3 by downloading and extracting the contents of two archive files from the Be ftp site. One archive (ftp.be.com/pub/dr8.3_update/mac-dr8.3.sea.hqx) updates two Be files for the Mac OS; the other archive (ftp.be.com/pub/dr8.3_update/be-dr8.3.tar.gz) updates a number of files in the BeOS.

If you can access the Internet from the BeOS, you can download the BeOS archive directly to the BeOS and the Mac OS archive to the Mac OS.

If your only connection to the Internet is from the Mac OS, you need to download both the BeOS and Mac OS DR8.3 archives to the Mac OS and then use a file-transfer utility to transfer the BeOS archive to the BeOS disk or partition.

Back Up Your Work!

Before updating to DR8.3, back up any information in the BeOS you can't afford to lose. While Be has tested the update process and it's not likely you'll lose any files or information in the Be database (such as your e-mail), it's always prudent to back up your files before you update system software.

In particular, if you've downloaded the preliminary serial port support software for DR8.2 from this site and have customized the "chat" script in your /system/settings/network file, back this file up so you can easily restore your chat script if the Network preferences application overwrites this file (for more information about chat scripts and this file, see "Network" in Chapter 4 of the BeOS User's Guide).

Prepare the BeOS to Receive the DR8.3 Archive File

If you can connect to the Internet from the BeOS, skip to the next section.

If your only connection to the Internet is from the Mac OS, then you'll download the BeOS portion of DR8.3 in the Mac OS and then move it to the BeOS using the BeOS File System Tool. However, the BeOS File System Tool has a bug: It can't create a new file in the BeOS, it can only replace an existing file. So you need to create a temporary file in the BeOS that you'll replace with the real DR8.3 archive file later.

• In the BeOS, start the Terminal application and use the touch command to create a temporary, empty file in the root folder of the BeOS boot disk:

  $ touch /boot/be-dr8.3.tar.gz

  Be sure to type the file name exactly as shown here.

Download the BeOS Portion of the DR8.3 Update in the BeOS

If you can't connect to the Internet from the BeOS, skip to the next section.

1. In the BeOS, start the Terminal application (it's in /apps), cd to the root folder on the boot disk, and connect to the Be ftp site:

   $ cd /boot
$ ftp ftp.be.com

2. Log in, using the user name "anonymous" and your e-mail address as the password:

   Name (ftp.be.com:myname): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password.
Password: myname@mydomain.com

3. Get the compressed archive file that contains the BeOS portion of the DR8.3 update:

   ftp> cd pub/dr8.3_update
ftp> get be-dr8.3.tar.gz

4. Quit ftp:

   ftp> quit

5. Restart the computer and boot the Mac OS.

Download the DR8.3 Update in the Mac OS

The DR8.3 update has two parts: One for the BeOS and one for the Mac OS. If you were able to download the BeOS portion in the previous section, you only need to download the Mac OS portion into the Mac OS. Otherwise, you need to download both portions.

The Web browser you're using to read these instructions may be able to download the files. Otherwise, you can use Fetch or Anarchie or any of the many other popular ftp utilities.

1. If the application you're using to download the archive files has an "autoextract" feature, turn it off before downloading the BeOS archive.

   You need to keep the BeOS archive as a single archive file until it's transferred to the BeOS.

2. Download the two DR8.3 update files into the BeOS Mac Tools folder.

   The two update files are on the Be ftp server, ftp.be.com, in the /pub/dr8.3_update folder. The BeOS portion is named be-dr8.3.tar.gz and the Mac OS portion is named mac-dr8.3.sea.hqx.

   You installed the BeOS Mac Tools folder when you installed DR8.2 of the BeOS. It's the folder that contains the BeOS Launcher and some other Be files for use in the Mac OS.

Install the Mac OS Portion of the DR8.3 Update

The Mac OS portion of the DR8.3 update is a "binhexed," self-extracting archive. Many ftp utilities and web browsers will unbinhex and extract the contents of this file automatically when you download it. However, you may need to do this step by step.

1. If necessary, use a utility such as StuffIt Expander to unbinhex the mac-dr8.3.sea.hqx file.

   The unbinhexed file loses the .hqx extension.

2. If necessary, double-click the mac-dr8.3.sea self-extracting archive, click Continue in the first panel, and then save the contents of the archive in the BeOS Mac Tools folder (the folder that contains the BeOS Launcher application, which you installed when you installed DR8.2).

   The mac-dr8.3.sea archive contains a single folder: mac-dr8.3 Folder.

3. Drag the OS Chooser extension from the mac-dr8.3 Folder onto the Mac OS System Folder. Click OK when you're asked whether you want to store the extension in the Extensions folder. Click OK again when you're asked if you really want to replace the file.

   (The OS Chooser is modified to store your last boot preference each time you boot, so it's likely to have a later modification date than the new version you just downloaded.)

4. Drag the BeOS Launcher application from the mac-dr8.3 Folder to the BeOS Mac Tools folder, replacing the DR8.2 version.

Transfer the BeOS Portion of the DR8.3 Update to the BeOS

If you downloaded the BeOS portion of the DR8.3 update directly to the BeOS, as described in an earlier section, skip to the next section.

If you downloaded the BeOS portion of the DR8.3 update into the Mac OS, you use the BeOS File System Tool to transfer it to the BeOS.

1. Drag the be-dr8.3.tar.gz file from the BeOS Mac Tools folder to the For the Brave folder.

2. Open the For the Brave folder and double-click BeOS File System Tool.

   The BeOS File System Tool application is a primitive hack, which you won't need in DR9. But for the time being, it's the Be-provided way to transfer a file from a Mac OS disk to a BeOS disk. You can get a few terse hints about this tool by typing help at the prompt. You can also read a bit about it in Appendix B of the BeOS User's Guide.

3. Enter disks at the prompt in the window.

   The disk or partition that contains the BeOS is listed, along with its bus and SCSI ID numbers. You need this information to tell the BeOS File System Tool what disk you want to work with.

4. Enter use x y, where x is the bus number and y is the SCSI ID number of the disk that contains the BeOS, as you determined in the previous step.

   This tells the BeOS File System Tool which disk contains the BeOS.

5. Enter copy :be-dr8.3.tar.gz be-dr8.3.tar.gz at the prompt.

   When using the BeOS File System Tool, you indicate a file on the Mac OS by starting its name with a colon ( : ).

   This replaces the temporary file in the BeOS you created earlier with the real DR8.3 archive you downloaded.

6. Choose Quit from the BeOS File System Tool's File menu. Then click Don't Save in the panel (unless you really want to save a transcript for posterity).

Install the BeOS Portion of the DR8.3 Update

1. In the Mac OS, double-click the BeOS Launcher to boot the BeOS.

2. Make sure the be-dr8.3.tar.gz file is in the root folder of the BeOS boot disk.

   Caution: The be-dr8.3.tar.gz file must be in the root folder of the BeOS boot disk when you extract the files from it. Otherwise, important system files will be installed in the wrong locations.

3. Start the Terminal application and uncompress the BeOS portion of the DR8.3 update:

   $ gunzip be-dr8.3.tar.gz

4. Extract the contents of the DR8.3 archive from the archive:

   $ tar xvf be-dr8.3.tar

5. Clean up and restart the BeOS.

   You can drag the be-dr8.3.tar file to the Trash. Then restart the BeOS to start running DR8.3.

What's Next?

The DR8.3 update installs two new applications you can use to take advantage of a Power Mac's serial ports:

• A new version of the Network application, which you can use to set up a PPP connection to the Internet.

• The Connect application, which you can use to connect directly to a device connected to a Power Mac's serial port. (This application is not for PPP connections. It's for direct serial connections.)

You can learn more about these two applications in the BeOS User's Guide. Speaking of which, make sure you have the updated edition of the BeOS User's Guide, which replaces the edition that came with DR8.2. It and other software updates for both the Power Mac and BeBox versions of the BeOS are available from the Be Web site.