Incessant "Drop Frame" message on output with OS 10.4.10

I have a MacBook Pro running fcp version 5.1.4 and I have 2 gigs of RAM.
I recently downloaded the latest Operating system update version 10.4.10 and now I can't output to tape any of my fcp projects. The system is dropping frames right at the top of my projects.

Is there a way I can go back to my previous operating system version (10.4.9)?

Ever since I updated from panther to Tiger, I have been dogged with the same problem
(upgraded right to OS X 10.4.10 for fcp 4.5Hd "compatibilty".

It will not drop frames on record but will drop frames right off the start.

My drives are scsi Huge System U320s, with dual scsi controllers; so I think I
have dedeuced this is a software problem.

The system is dropping frames right at the top of my projects.

It sounds like your media is inadvertently coming from your boot drive. This will cause dropped frames on output to tape. Where is your capture scratch set?

THANKS FOR YOUR RESPONSE.
> I set my capture scratch to an external hard drive (OWC Mercury Elite Pro) and
> only set my autosave folder to my internal hard drive.
>
> I am suspicious that the upgrade in operating system has slowed my computer
> down, and that might be causing the increase with dropping frames. Prior to
> updating my operating system, I was periodically getting the dropped frames
> message.

The trick I learned from Larry Jordan was to output a self-contained quicktime movie to the desktop, open a new sequence with the same settings, import that QT movie and then print-to-tape the NEW sequence. Also, turn off the "abort on dropped frames" checkbox in user pref's.

May also help to do a safe-boot which is restart holding down the shift key until the log-in screen, then restart again. I'm no expert but this apparently groups all your media together so the readers don't have to look everywhere for it. I'm also not sure if this is still necessary or helpful on an Intel Mac but it can't hurt.

Thanks so much for the tip from Larry Jordan!!
There were no problems outputting with the self-contained movie. What a relief!