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Upgrade, roll back, or remove NOW

Goal

Change versions without creating a host/guest contract mismatch or forgetting the optional resident component.

Update the PowerPC application

  1. Install a release host or build the modern host together with the PowerPC artifact it should publish. A release host seals the exact guest assets inside its app before signing. A development handoff should contain NOW-stack.json; it proves the host, application, and Extension were assembled with one Continuity compatibility tuple.
  2. Connect the PowerPC guest and select it in the host's Connections page.
  3. Read the Guest application row under Software Updates. The row compares both release version and exact build identity, so a different scratch build of the same version is still shown.
  4. Choose Replace Guest App…. Development artifacts currently have a SHA-256 integrity check but no release signature; confirm the unsigned-build warning only if this is the host and build you intended to trust.
  5. Let the transfer complete. The guest verifies the exact MacBinary stream, moves the running copy to the Trash, and puts the replacement at the exact canonical path. Quit the still-running guest app and launch New Old World again. The trashed application remains available for rollback.
  6. After reconnection, verify the exact build shown by Connections and exercise one capability. A completed download alone is not behavioral verification.

Update the NOW Extension

  1. In the same host Connections page, read the Extension row. If the active Extension version differs from the application expectation, NOW shows a warning even before a replacement is installed.
  2. Choose Replace NOW Extension… and, for a development build, confirm the unsigned-build warning.
  3. After the guest reports installation, restart the classic Mac. An INIT is not active until boot; do not judge resident behavior before restarting.
  4. Reopen NOW and confirm that the mismatch warning is gone and the resident capabilities you use are available.

If Continuity says the installed NOW Extension is incompatible or not active, do not replace the guest application again. Replace the Extension from the separate row and restart the classic Mac. The file on disk is not the active resident until that cold activation boundary has passed.

The previous resident is moved to that volume's Trash before the replacement takes its canonical name, so it cannot load alongside the replacement.

The Extension receipt is durable. Quitting or replacing the guest application does not erase restart required; the receipt clears only after a later boot reports the installed Extension build as the active resident. Application and Extension remain separate actions. A release normally updates the application, reconnects, updates the Extension, and then restarts; iterative development may update the Extension first and perform one final restart after both transfers.

Manual fallback and rollback

The in-app updater is host-owned publication, not internet update discovery. If the host has no validated update sidecar, Connections honestly says there is no update; use the setup portal or manual MacBinary deployment instead.

To roll back, quit NOW, remove the replacement, and restore the retained item from the Trash under its canonical name and Finder type. Restart after any Extension rollback. When the wire contract revision changes, restore the host and guest as one rollback set rather than mixing revisions.

To remove NOW, delete the host and guest applications; also remove NOW Extension from the System Folder and restart if it was installed.

Expected result

The guest reports the exact host-published build, verifies it before replacing anything, and either installs it or retains a precise refusal. Extension activation always remains pending until restart.

Recovery

If the classic Mac cannot boot after an extension change, start with Extensions disabled, remove NOW Extension, and return to the non-resident product shape.

The updater never relaunches the guest automatically. After application replacement, quit the old instance and launch the canonical New Old World copy manually. The rollback file remains in the Trash.