Apple's Mac OS X v10.6 was released last Friday and for most of us the transition from Leopard to Snow Leopard went by without incident. However, we've spent part of last weekend scouring Apple's discussion boards and support site for solutions to problems people have been reporting with the upgrade.

Gray screen after Snow Leopard Installation

If you start your Mac and get a gray screen after upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard try reinstalling Snow Leopard. If you haven't upgraded from Leopard yet, make sure that all updates have been applied to Leopard and then try upgrading to Snow Leopard again.

Apple lists incompatible software for Snow Leopard

You can see a list of applications that Apple considers incompatible with Snow Leopard here. The Snow Leopard installer will locate these applications and move them to a folder outside of the applications folder to a folder named Incompatible Software.

Printer and Scanner Software

A listing of compatible printers and scanners can be found by reading this Apple Support Document.

Problems playing media from Apple video editing applications

If you are having problems playing media that you created using Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, or iLife, then according to this Apple support document, insert the install disk from any of the three applications above and re-run the installer. An updated list of media formats supported by QuickTime X can be found here.

Exported or Printed Aperture 2.1.4 images suffer color shift

If you have Aperture 2.1.4, which is updated after installing Snow Leopard, and notice color shifting when exporting or printing images, then you need to read this Apple support article.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 not installing in Boot Camp after Snow Leopard Upgrade

A number of users reported problems with the installation of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP on Macs running Boot Camp after upgrading to Snow Leopard. Users will encounter the following error:

An error occurred while copying file osloader.ntd. Cannot copy file to destination directory. Click Retry to retry the operation or click Cancel.

Detailed instructions on how to resolve this problem can be found in this Apple support document.

Elgato's EyeTV - No video, digital audio or crashes on startup

Elgato is reporting that EyeTV versions 3.0 through 3.0.4 are not compatible with Snow Leopard and they recommend that you download the EyeTV 3.1.3b1 version. Note, the download is only valid during the current beta period. More information about their products and compatiblity with Snow Leopard can be found here.

Time Machine - missing backups 

Apple's discussion boards are lighting up with complaints about Time Machine after upgrading to Snow Leopard.  One of the biggest complaints is that their previous backups have vanished. Well the fact is they haven't vanished at all. There is a quirk in Snow Leopard - simply rebooting and launcing Time Machine again fixes the problem for everyone that has tried that so far. I checked two of my own Macs and found this to be the case -- nothing was gone, but for whatever reason Snow Leopard would not find it until the second time I launched Time Machine.

Time Machine backups located on boot volume

Snow Leopard will not install onto a boot volume that also contains your Time Machine backups. According to Apple a workaround is to drag your "Backups.backupd" from the root level of the hard drive to the Trash. Entering your admin password when prompted. DO NOT EMPTY the trash unless you have a copy of that folder on another drive. Drag the folder from the Trash to the Desktop. You will now be able to install Snow Leopard.