volume names missing
 

attempts to boot to Backup/Sandbox volumes leave me with all three (org/bckup/sbox) icons but no volume names at the OPT-login screen. proceeding to boot to either volume succeeds. at Finder/Desktop mount, all volume icons/names appear correctly.

Any idea where the volume names have gotten to at boottime?

iMac, OSX1039, SD2.1, laCie extFWHD. applejack/safebooted prior to Smart Backups.

That's weird, George. But they boot OK? Must be some weird OpenFirmware thing: we do set the icons and names with bless as we're supposed to, as far as I know...

yes, they all boot as expected. (not at mac at present so will triple check in future) tks.

OK. See what happens if you choose the drive from the Startup Disk preference pane. It might set things up differently, especially under 10.3.x (as opposed to 10.4.x)...

it's a wrap.
 

further investigation has not lead to any definitive answer regarding the disappearance of volume names at the OPT-login screen. at the same time, after multiple Backups and Smart Updates during testing, this occurance seems to have disappeared altogether. for the time being, a watchful eye will be kept open but case rested. tkyou. george