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Can't Install Any Application on Snow Leopard

penter

penter

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 15, 2006
600
29
Hello,

I have recently updated to Snow Leopard, and since then i have not been able to run any software updates, nor install any new applications using .pkgs
I can run new applications that only require to be dropped into the apps folder, but, lets say i want to install a .pkg. it wont get past a certain point (can't recall).

MOST SPECIFICALLY, running software update won't get me past the "Agree/Decline" screen. Once I select "Agree" for all the new applications that require it, i only get bumped back to the "Show Details/Not Now/Continue" window.
The "Show Details" window says that all the updates have been downloaded, so i guess the OS just can't open .pkg files for some reason.

I am running:

Mac OS X 10.6 (10A432)
Kernel Version: Darwin 10.0.0

Someone please Help! I am currently running maintenance scripts and Repairing Disk Permissions. This is not the first time i do this, but maybe it'll work?
Any other suggestions, or ideas as to what may be going on?
 
penter said:
Hello,

I have recently updated to Snow Leopard, and since then i have not been able to run any software updates, nor install any new applications using .pkgs
I can run new applications that only require to be dropped into the apps folder, but, lets say i want to install a .pkg. it wont get past a certain point (can't recall).

MOST SPECIFICALLY, running software update won't get me past the "Agree/Decline" screen. Once I select "Agree" for all the new applications that require it, i only get bumped back to the "Show Details/Not Now/Continue" window.
The "Show Details" window says that all the updates have been downloaded, so i guess the OS just can't open .pkg files for some reason.

I am running:

Mac OS X 10.6 (10A432)
Kernel Version: Darwin 10.0.0

Someone please Help! I am currently running maintenance scripts and Repairing Disk Permissions. This is not the first time i do this, but maybe it'll work?
Any other suggestions, or ideas as to what may be going on?
Click to expand...

Not trying to get on your case but please don't post misleading threat titles. You stated that you couldn't install ANY applications onto SL.
If you in fact did an upgrade, it's best to do a full erase, reformat and install of SL.
 
penter said:
Hello,

I have recently updated to Snow Leopard, and since then i have not been able to run any software updates, nor install any new applications using .pkgs
I can run new applications that only require to be dropped into the apps folder, but, lets say i want to install a .pkg. it wont get past a certain point (can't recall).

MOST SPECIFICALLY, running software update won't get me past the "Agree/Decline" screen. Once I select "Agree" for all the new applications that require it, i only get bumped back to the "Show Details/Not Now/Continue" window.
The "Show Details" window says that all the updates have been downloaded, so i guess the OS just can't open .pkg files for some reason.

I am running:

Mac OS X 10.6 (10A432)
Kernel Version: Darwin 10.0.0

Someone please Help! I am currently running maintenance scripts and Repairing Disk Permissions. This is not the first time i do this, but maybe it'll work?
Any other suggestions, or ideas as to what may be going on?
Click to expand...

I don't agree that you necessarily need to do an erase, re-format, and clean install of SL as the other poster suggested. Check your LaunchDaemons, LaunchAgents, Contextual Menu Items, PreferencePanes, and StartupItems folders to ensure you've removed any old, potentially incompatible software. Make sure you check these folders in your home/library folder, root library folder, and root system/library folder. Once you've done that, put your SL install/upgrade DVD into your drive and restart your Mac. Hold down the C key while starting up to boot off the DVD, launch Disk Utility and do a disk repair and repair permissions. Once this is done, go back to the installer and perform an upgrade install of SL. Restart and see if that has fixed your issues. If not, I would also recommend diagnosing and removing problem or corrupted fonts using FontBook. Bad fonts can cause issues too. You can also trying to reset your SMC (check Apple support docs for proper procedure for your specific machine).

Let us know what happens!
 
Thank you so much AZREOSpecialist!
I will do all that you've told me. I do have plenty of added fonts, since I'm a visual artist. What corrupt/incompatible software should I be looking for in the folders you mentioned?

Also, would it be worth opening a new account and seeing if the problems continue there?

now, as for this post...

HLdan said:
Not trying to get on your case but please don't post misleading threat titles. You stated that you couldn't install ANY applications onto SL.
If you in fact did an upgrade, it's best to do a full erase, reformat and install of SL.
Click to expand...

I don't think i was being misleading at all. I seriously can't run any .pkg files through the Installer app. Not even the OS update from apple's site (10.6.1).
The update I performed was to update from Leopard to Snow Leopard. Since then i haven't been able to do any more updates. i believe i mentioned that in my OP.
 
So I deleted all the things that I knew weren't critical for operation such as things related to wacom pens and parallels but I left the folders in the system folder untouched because I really didn't know what they were. I performed another install of the os -not an archive and install, just a soft install and the problem persists.
Better yet, I can't even add another user account, to see if the problem persists there!! The authentication lock in the Accounts preferencepane is locked and it won't unlock! I click on the lock and it says "authenticating..." for about a fraction of a second and then it goes back to saying "click the lock to make changes "

should I try an archive and install or can I downgrade to normal leopard once again?
I suspect these things: my hard drive may be reaching the end of it's life, or I've got a bad install disk
 
Have you tried running disk utilities off the install disk. I'm not sure why but disk utilities off the disk I better than running off the os. Perhaps someone can explain that for you. I dunno. Good luck
 
Have you tried running disk utilities off the install disk. I'm not sure why but disk utilities off the disk I better than running off the os. Perhaps someone can explain that for you. I dunno. Good luck
 
Yeh I was told the same thing. I'll try that and get back. Anyone can explain why running disk utility from a different drive/ disk is better?
 
The "soft install" you did WAS an archive and install. There are only 2 ways to install SL. In Disk Utility you can do a full erase and reformat. The other is just shoving the DVD in and performing an standard install which is actually doing an archive and install.
 
How is it an archive and instal when my user, preferences, documents, and pretty much everything else are as they used to be, rather than having a blank user, with a "Previous System" folder in the HD somewhere?

Oh, and I ran the Disk Permission repair from the DVD 3 times. The first one got stuck, after many minutes of the "beach ball of death" coming up. Then i ran it two more times to be sure. I also ran a Disk Repair from disk utility in the DVD.

Nothing happened, actually. The installer app still sits and does nothing, as I try to run Apple's 10.6.1 .pkg file, downloaded from apple's website.
To be more specific, the app takes me through the disk selector, license agreement, then to the window with the "Install" button. I click it, and it grays out for a second or two, then goes back to normal. Then I click it again, and it does nothing.

I noticed that the app has been taking quite a while to access and display Macintosh HD as an install location. Could this be a hint to my previous hypothesis that the drive might just be going bad, therefore Installer.app can't easily access it, making it shut down the operation before it even begins?

P.S. The lock in System Preferences is still "broken." =(

Update: just ran into this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/530049/

so, according to post #5, i should go into /etc/authorization, right? i opened up TinkerTool, and the OS immediately said that I needed Rosetta to open the app. Software Update opened up, downloaded Rosetta, INSTALLED IT ( !!! ) and shut down.
what the heck!?
 
penter said:
How is it an archive and instal when my user, preferences, documents, and pretty much everything else are as they used to be, rather than having a blank user, with a "Previous System" folder in the HD somewhere?
Click to expand...

If you noticed, there is no option for Archive and Install, it's on by default. Archive and Install does exactly what you said. It pushes your existing software and settings aside while it installs a fresh copy of the OS. After installation your settings and programs are still intact. What point what a "soft install" make?
 
Hey guys, check the update at the end of post #10, I think it's important.

Btw,
Here is the log concerning the installer in the Console log:

Screenshot2009-10-04at113109AM.png


Looking at the log, I saw that Little snitch had quite a bit of entries, so I decided to try to uninstall it. Just like using the Installer app, Little Snitch's uninstall app didn't get me past pressing the "Uninstall" button. It just sat there, doing nothing. These results were rendered in the log:

Screenshot2009-10-04at113537AM.png


Seems like the apps are actually working, but there seems to be some problem related to the GUI. the GUI doesn't want to display installation nor uninstall scripts.

Is there a way to run the software update via Terminal commands?
 
HLdan said:
If you noticed, there is no option for Archive and Install, it's on by default. Archive and Install does exactly what you said. It pushes your existing software and settings aside while it installs a fresh copy of the OS. After installation your settings and programs are still intact. What point what a "soft install" make?
Click to expand...

Snow Leopard DOES NOT do an archive and install by default or under any circumstances. The default behavior of the SL installer is to do an UPGRADE of a previous system. There is no archive/install option. The only way not to do an upgrade install is to re-format your drive and to a clean install.

If SL did an actual archive and install, it would put all of your applications and previous system files into a different folder on your hard drive. I think you may be confused as to the terminology you are using.
 
penter said:
Hey guys, check the update at the end of post #10, I think it's important.

Btw,
Here is the log concerning the installer in the Console log:

Screenshot2009-10-04at113109AM.png


Looking at the log, I saw that Little snitch had quite a bit of entries, so I decided to try to uninstall it. Just like using the Installer app, Little Snitch's uninstall app didn't get me past pressing the "Uninstall" button. It just sat there, doing nothing. These results were rendered in the log:

Screenshot2009-10-04at113537AM.png


Seems like the apps are actually working, but there seems to be some problem related to the GUI. the GUI doesn't want to display installation nor uninstall scripts.

Is there a way to run the software update via Terminal commands?
Click to expand...

I believe you may have a failing hard drive, that's the only thing I can think of, especially after the issues you experienced running disk utility off the installer disk. You may need a new drive.
 
AZREOSpecialist said:
I believe you may have a failing hard drive, that's the only thing I can think of, especially after the issues you experienced running disk utility off the installer disk. You may need a new drive.
Click to expand...

to be more precise, the disk permission repair froze because I absent-mindedly plugged in my iPod while the task was running (whoops). must have bogged the system. I thought nothing of it, that's why I ran the repair two more times.

HOWEVER, the disk repair was taking MUCH longer than expected. The status bar displayed 2 minutes left, when in fact the repair was running for over 20 minutes.

How much will a drive repair at apple cost me, any ideas?
 
AZREOSpecialist said:
Snow Leopard DOES NOT do an archive and install by default or under any circumstances. The default behavior of the SL installer is to do an UPGRADE of a previous system. There is no archive/install option. The only way not to do an upgrade install is to re-format your drive and to a clean install.

If SL did an actual archive and install, it would put all of your applications and previous system files into a different folder on your hard drive. I think you may be confused as to the terminology you are using.
Click to expand...

You should read around the net. Most people know, especially developers, that SL does an Archive and Install by default and it automatically deletes the Previous Systems folder after the install. Here's just one article you can check out. Google Archive and Install on Snow Leopard, you will see that you're wrong. http://theappleblog.com/2009/08/27/snow-leopard-the-installation-process/
 
thanks, but how is that in any way related to the issue at hand?
 
HLdan said:
You should read around the net. Most people know, especially developers, that SL does an Archive and Install by default and it automatically deletes the Previous Systems folder after the install. Here's just one article you can check out. Google Archive and Install on Snow Leopard, you will see that you're wrong. http://theappleblog.com/2009/08/27/snow-leopard-the-installation-process/
Click to expand...

If you read it on the internet, it must be true then. The article also says:

With Snow Leopard’s “behind the scenes” archive and install process, it now automatically installs the current OS version number. For example, if someone is running 10.6.3 and reinstalls, when installation is complete they will still be using 10.6.3 instead of 10.6. This removes the need to run an hour of software updates, but it does present a potential problem. When “dot releases” come out, compatibility is sometimes affected, and users archive and install to revert back to a previous system version. Beyond erasing and installing, this doesn’t seem possible with Snow Leopard.​
Which is totally false. I was running 10.6.1 and then re-installed 10.6. Guess what? My OS version was 10.6 and Software Update made me re-install 10.6.1. I guess you can't believe everything you read.
 
Penter,

I am suggesting that perhaps you have a failing hard drive because it seems that you've tried everything else. Most issues in SL are caused by incompatible software. It sounds as though you've already removed the non-Apple items in the folders I mentioned. You may want to try running disk repair via disk utility from the install disk. This will make some very basic, high-level repairs to your directory structure. It's not unusual for permissions repair to take longer than expected, as long as it completed you should be fine.

Resetting motherboard SMC, PRAM/NVRAM, and remove everything from your admin account's log-in items. You may also try checking for any non-apple kernel extensions and temporarily removing those as well (type "kextstat | grep -v apple" into Terminal). You can temporarily move those files to your desktop if you have doubts, they are located in /System/Library/Extensions/.

If none of this works, and the re-install of Snow Leopard also did not help things, I would suggest you back-up all of your files/documents. Then boot into installer DVD, re-partition and re-format your boot drive, and then do a nice clean install of Snow Leopard to see if that solves your problems. If you have any doubts that your drive may be failing, and the computer is under warranty, make an appointment with a local Apple Store. If it's no longer under warranty, you may be better off just buying a new hard drive on your own -- Apple will undoubtedly charge too much.

I want to emphasize to please eliminate all other possibilities before re-formatting and/or replacing your hard drive. That's a lot of work, and you should exhaust all other possibilities first. There may be some other tips and ideas you can try to diagnose your issue, but for now this is all I can think of doing. If it's not a software conflict, it could be a corrupt file.
 
I have EXACTLY the same issue. Installer can't get beyond the "Accept" / "decline" step. I am on a unibody macbook running 10.6. I'll try to do what was suggested on this thread and update.

UPDATE:
It seems I can't delete files in the above-mentioned folders (in the root library) by dragging them to the trash. I keep getting various error messages. Also, I can't unlock the user preference pane, so no new user for testing purposes. I have little snitch and iStat menu plist files in root launchdaemons folder, could they be causing this problem?
If this persists I am reverting back to Leopard using superduper...

UPDATE 2:
I removed the above-mentioned plist files using terminal command rm -rf, repaired disk and disk permissions from snow leopard install disk, but that didn't solve the problem. I am seriously thinking of reverting back to Leopard :(
 
From the snippet of the LittleSnitch logging, it looks like an authorization problem.

Trash your ByHost preferences:

~ = your user folder
Code: 
~/Library/Preferences/ByHost

The effects should be instant, if not, give it a reboot.
 
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