Indeed... you were not clear...
And I have NEVER heard or experienced a system where you would do it that way..
Its ALWAYS... Install base and then any official service packs and then "normal patching"..
Are you saying that AmiUpdate would cover all issues addressed in the service packs? May be it actually would offer the service packs? and in doing so mitigate the issue? Unless thats the case.. I would expect doing it your way... AND THEN going through the service packs would risk regressing the system (depending on how clever it is).
I struggle to believe it... I cant believe what I did is so materially wrong it "Broke" the process..
My process should have been totally legitimate... and have worked..
SO please let me know if you just guessing/hoping it would have worked... or do you actually know? Is there any documentation on the correct way? as it does seem like a minefield currently.
To answer your last question first - I wasn't guessing/hoping, I knew - at least I had heard fellow testers and users having success with that procedure. Personally, I already had the partitions I tested on set up with Update 2 as well as AmiUpdate 2.58, and had backups of them so I could test just installing (the various RCs of) Update 3 and then roll back and do it again.
AmiUpdate is - again - not a part of the OS4 package, but a separate contribution, created by one third-party person who is of course not infallible, and it just so happens that previous versions (including the old one found on the AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition CD) had some shortcomings, plus that the ever changing internet practices (because of increasing cyber threats among other things) have caused new setups at some servers, including the one used for the OS updates, and the older AmiUpdate versions were not enough prepared for some of these changed setups.
I get the impression that you are a relative newcomer to the Amiga, or at least to OS4, so I'd just say in passing that you may praise yourself lucky that you come in at a time where we have actually found solutions to (hopefully) all these problems. These solutions are partly updates to the AmiUpdate program (client), partly adjustments to the way servers are set up so AmiUpdate can use them.
Also, AmiUpdate is just a client (which expects servers to communicate with as well as to fetch updates from). So AmiUpdate itself does not "fix" issues in the main OS or provide specific updates (or "service packs" as you call them). It "just" queries a database residing on the server(s) you specify in the preferences to find out which modules need updating by comparing the database info to what you already have installed, then connects to another server where the needed modules are stored, fetches them and installs them. Finally, again based on info in the database, it tells you whether a soft or hard reboot is needed, and offers to make one if relevant.
So installing the latest AmiUpdate can be compared to making sure your shovel is whole, sharp and solid and not rusty or the handle rotting, before you start digging your garden (= using AmiUpdate to determine, get and install the needed updates).
Hope this made some sense, and sorry if I didn't make myself clear enough from the start.
