HELP! Can't install anything!
 

Hi, I'm new here and I bought my ibook G4 10.3.5. in september. It worked fine until recently. I can't install ANYTHING! Once the installation begins, it stops and says: "There were errors installing the software. Please try installing again." and then the installation program would quit. It doesn't tell me what the problem is or anything. Is it a virus??? I can't install any updates to my laptop (that's why i have a 10.3.5), my ipod software, or anything. Help! What can I do? My apple care protection plan ended in November and the phone assistance already ended.

I think there usually is a Log available from one of the menus on the installer. If so, look at the log and copy & paste what it says here so we can see.

Also look for relevant errors in the "Console" application (under /Applications/Utilities) - look for errors around the time when you tried to install something.

See if anything in this Apple doc helps:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106694

Run through the standard troubleshooting steps:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...04011205473937
http://forums.osxfaq.com/viewtopic.php?t=7269

How do i copy paste it in here? it won't let me copy the log

I was referring to a menu item that is available while you are running the Installer that provides access to a log from that installer. Run one of the installers again and after it fails, look for such a menu item on the menubar (before quitting the installer).

It doesn't seem like a hardware problem. Software problems we can usually fix if we get enough info. You need to slow down and tell us details about one instance when you have problems. E.g. I don't know what you mean by "the CD isn't installing" - what CD? What happens exactly? Copy down the exact wording of all error messages and show us.

And you didn't mention what you see when you run the "Console" application as suggested above.

Here's the Log for the iPod software installation CD: Hope this helps!!

Dec 31 15:14:33 : iPod Updater 2004-11-15 Installation Log
Dec 31 15:14:33 : Opened from: /Volumes/iPod CD/iPod Installer/iPod2004-11-15.pkg
Dec 31 15:14:33 : Hardware Model: PowerBook6,5 @ 1066 MHz, 256 MB
Dec 31 15:14:33 : Running OS Build: 7M34
Dec 31 15:14:34 : Installer Language: English
Dec 31 15:14:40 : Requirement: requires "certain InstallationCheck criteria" PASS for root=(none), domain=0
Dec 31 15:14:40 : Requirement: requires "certain VolumeCheck criteria" PASS for root=(none), domain=0
Dec 31 15:14:40 : Requirement: requires "certain file content criteria" PASS for root=(none), domain=0
Dec 31 15:14:52 : Requirement: requires "certain InstallationCheck criteria" PASS for root=/, domain=0
Dec 31 15:14:53 : Requirement: requires "certain VolumeCheck criteria" PASS for root=/, domain=0
Dec 31 15:14:53 : === Starting check on volume /
Dec 31 15:14:53 : Requirement: requires "certain file content criteria" PASS for root=/, domain=0
Dec 31 15:14:54 : Selected volume 'Macintosh HD'
Dec 31 15:14:54 : Mounted at: /
Dec 31 15:14:54 : OpenFirmware: pci2/ata-6@D/@0:3
Dec 31 15:14:54 : Partition type: Journaled HFS+
Dec 31 15:14:54 : Partition map: disk0s3
Dec 31 15:14:54 : Partition: 3
Dec 31 15:14:54 : Protocol: ATA
Dec 31 15:14:54 : Media Type: Generic
Dec 31 15:14:54 : Volume Size: 29871562752
Dec 31 15:15:05 : Starting install
Dec 31 15:15:06 : Creating directory at /private/tmp/.iPod2004-11-15.pkg.414.installSOHaQm
Dec 31 15:15:09 : Extracting files from iPod Updater 2004-11-15
Dec 31 15:15:09 : Running task: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Installation.framework/Resources/pax
Dec 31 15:15:10 : 2004-12-31 15:15:10.408 runner[421] *** NSTask: Task create for path /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Installation.framework/Resources/baton failed: 8, "Exec format error".
Dec 31 15:15:12 : Some files for iPod2004-11-15 may not have been written correctly.
Dec 31 15:15:12 : Install Failed
Dec 31 15:15:12 : Error detected
Dec 31 15:15:12 : Name: NSGenericException
Dec 31 15:15:12 : Reason: Some files for iPod2004-11-15 may not have been written correctly. (code 5)
Dec 31 15:15:12 : Aborted install.

Here's my console message:
 

This is from the console you told me to copy:

Mac OS X Version 10.3.5 (Build 7M34)
2004-12-31 14:56:19 -0800
2004-12-31 14:56:21.570 HP Director (All-in-One)[211] CFLog (0):
CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): plist parse failed; the data is not proper UTF-8. The file name for this data could be:
/Applications/Hewlett-Packard/HP Photo and Imaging Software/HP Photo and Imaging Director/HP Director (All-in-One).app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist.strings
The parser will retry as in 10.2, but the problem should be corrected in the plist.
2004-12-31 14:56:21.711 HP Director (All-in-One)[211] CFLog (0):
CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): plist parse failed; the data is not proper UTF-8. The file name for this data could be:
/Applications/Hewlett-Packard/HP Photo and Imaging Software/HP Photo and Imaging Director/HP Director (All-in-One).app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist.strings
The parser will retry as in 10.2, but the problem should be corrected in the plist.
2004-12-31 14:56:26.252 HP Director (All-in-One)[211] CFLog (0):
CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): plist parse failed; the data is not proper UTF-8. The file name for this data could be:
/Applications/Hewlett-Packard/HP Photo and Imaging Software/HP Photo and Imaging Director/HP Director (All-in-One).app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist.strings
The parser will retry as in 10.2, but the problem should be corrected in the plist.
Fri Dec 31 14:57:21 PST 2004 Starting PCC (246).
Fri Dec 31 14:57:22 PST 2004 PCC killing PCC engine.
Fri Dec 31 14:57:22 PST 2004 PCC loading preferences.
Fri Dec 31 14:57:31 PST 2004 PCC initialization complete.
Fri Dec 31 14:57:32 PST 2004 PCC ready.
Fri Dec 31 14:58:10 PST 2004 PCC exiting.
2004-12-31 14:59:36.837 Installer[398] Exception raised during posting of notification. Ignored. exception: Some files for iPod2004-11-15 may not have been written correctly. (code 5)
2004-12-31 15:15:12.129 Installer[414] Exception raised during posting of notification. Ignored. exception: Some files for iPod2004-11-15 may not have been written correctly. (code 5)



2004-12-31 15:17:30.261 CrashSubmitter[426] Crash report submitted!
2004-12-31 15:20:51.282 Installer[427] Exception raised during posting of notification. Ignored. exception: Some files for iPod2004-11-15 may not have been written correctly. (code 5)
2004-12-31 15:24:25.083 Software Update[436] Exception raised during posting of notification. Ignored. exception: The pre-install or upgrade script in iTunes4 failed. (code 5)
2004-12-31 15:24:26.341 Software Update[436] NSInstallFailedNotification: {Message = "The pre-install or upgrade script in iTunes4 failed. (code 5)"; },
2004-12-31 15:24:26.344 Software Update[436] session:itemDidFail:iTunes4-4.7 (

To try again, choose Download Only from the Update menu, then open the package from the Finder.)
2004-12-31 15:24:26.357 Software Update[436] didn't delete /tmp/501/TemporaryItems/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate/iTunes4.pkg, failed safety check

The above error message seems to indicate that something is wrong with the files that are used by the Installer program.

I don't know how they could have been damaged but you might be able to extract the files for Installer by using the 3rd-party utility "Pacifist".

But before you do that, launch the "Terminal" application (under /Applications/Utilities) and copy & paste the following command into the Terminal window, press Return, then copy & paste the results back here for us to see:

This is what happened!
 

Last login: Fri Dec 31 23:08:12 on ttyp1
Welcome to Darwin!
Jobie-Kubiaks-Computer:~ jobiekubiak$ ls -l /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Installation.framework/Resources/baton
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 0 4 Oct 21:49 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Installation.framework/Resources/baton
Jobie-Kubiaks-Computer:~ jobiekubiak$

That shows that the "baton" file is of zero length - i.e. that it has been overwritten somehow. And this apparently happened on October 4 - does that date ring any bells?

You will need to reinstall the Installer components (or at least that file) from the Install CD using "Pacifist" or otherwise.
Pacifist: http://www.charlessoft.com/

Does that mean I have to install pacifist onto my computer? How can I install it if I can't install anything?

Just try it and see if you have a problem. Not everything has an installer. In fact most applications just are drag & drop installs.

OKAY! I just installed pacifist. So now do I put in my installer CD and run pacifist at the same time? I'm confused.

Yes. Insert the Install CD, run Pacifist, read its instructions, navigate using Pacifist to the files on the CD that you want, use Pacifist to install them.

installs
 

KUP,
Run permissions, disk and file structures.
MacOx

The files I want on the CD are the Installer files? What files am I looking for?

Sorry, I don't have my Install CD close to hand to check myself.
You will have to look around (using Pacifist) to find the files that comprise the Installer functionality. I imagine that there might be a file called something like "Installer.pkg".

Perhaps I should have warned you earlier that this is to be considered a slightly advanced procedure. If you're not up to it, you might just want to resort to doing a full reinstall of OS X from the Install CD. If you choose the option to "archive & install" and be sure to select the option to preserve users, you should find this re-install of the OS to be relatively trouble-free.
But I would recommend doing a backup of your important files first just in case something goes wrong in the reinstall.
(In case you are wondering, when you reinstall the OS from the CD, it uses the Installer that is on the CD, so it doesn't matter that the one on your hard drive has been corrupted.)

Okay. I'll attempt to try it. You're not making it sound too hard. So I'll be looking for anything that has to do with "installer." Hopefully it's just one package and I don't have to search around for other files. I'm doing it tomorrow so I'll tell you what happened!

I found Installer.app.

When you put in the Mac OS X (Panther) Installation CD 1, it will already be showing you the contents of the folder on that CD named "Welcome to Mac OS X" You'll have to back up a directory. While holding down on the Command key, use the mouse to click on the title bar of that window where it says "Welcome to Mac OS X". While doing so, you'll see another choice "Mac OS X Install Disc 1". Select it.

Now open the folder "System" and inside that, open the folder "Installation", and inside that open the folder "Packages". Drop the package "BaseSystem.pkg" on the Pacifist pane. Installer.app is under /Applications/Utilities in that package. I believe that now all you have to do is to highlight "Installer.app" and then select 'Extract To...' from the menu bar above, and direct it to the /Applications/Utilites/ folder. [You might move the old Installer.app out of the way first.]

Hmm. I put in my installer CD 1 and it doesn't say anything about "welcome to Mac OS X". it just says ibook Software. I'm not sure what you mean by backing up a directory...and since I can't do that, i don't know what to do afterwards. I have pacficist and the installer CD. The CD has Install Mac OS X, Install Applications & Classic support. I guess I should just reinstall Mac OS X? i'm a little afraid though cause I'm not sure what's going to happen.

You don't have to do any backing up of directories or some such.
Just insert the Install CD (#1), then launch Pacifist from your hard disk and press the button on the Pacifist window that says "Open Mac OS X Install Packages". You will hear the CD whirring and there will be a progress bar from Pacifist as it reads the CD. This will take several minutes.
Then you will get a Pacifist window with a list of all the packages that were found on the CD.

Click on the arrow next to "Contents of BaseSystem.pkg"
Then click on the arrow next to "System" under that.
Then click on the arrow next to "Library" under that.
Proceed similarly, following the path of the file you want to get
(/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Installation.framework/Resources/baton)
You will find that "Resources" is shown as a symbolic link. Instead you need to go into Versions/A/Resources

Finally you will see the file "baton". Select it and click the Extract To... button at the top of the Pacifist window. Tell it to put it in the place it is supposed to be (/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Installation.framework/Resources/baton)

Now try installing something to see if it works.
It is quite likely that there are other files that have been corrupted and so may need to be replaced in this same way (with Pacifist). You will find out which files by looking at the error messages as you did earlier.

Or you might just give up and do a full reinstall of OS X, being sure to select the option to preserve users.

That is very nice. I wasn't aware of the automatic mode just for Mac OS X installation packages. That will be useful to know for future remote troubleshooting.

I wasn't very clear with my wording, but by 'back up' I did not mean in the sense of backing up data, I meant moving up a level in the directory structure. I gave instructions for how to do that in the following sentence of that post. However, my instructions were based on a general Panther installation disk and kub1986 has one which came with the computer, so my instructions did not make sense anyway. At any rate, I'll have to be more careful with my wording in the future.

Thanks!
 

I wish I read your post sooner Hayne, but I already did a full reinstall of Mac OSX. The good news is that the problem's fixed! But it uninstalled my printer. Is there anyway i can install my printer back on my computer without the CD the printer came with? I noticed that the HP printer files are still on my computer, but I can't find a way to re-install it...Can I go back to my old user somehow?? I'm afraid I might have to buy a new printer cause I lost my install CD for this one.

But my problem of installing things are DONE! YES! Thank you so much Hayne and Oops! My iPod works now.
:)

1) Most printer manufacturers provide their software in downloadable form on their web sites.

2) You might just have to run "Printer Setup Utility" (under /Applications/Utilities)

Yeah, I just ordered a free CD off their website. Thanks! Phew, I'm so glad you guys got to help me. Thanks a million!