Problems with launching apps prebound

[jbc]

I've just noticed in the last few days an increasing number of "??? could not be launched prebound." messages. When I redo the prebinding, everything is fine on the next restart. However, even if I simply restart a second time, all the prebinding errors are back.

The first two I noticed are a bit odd-looking, and these are the most persistent errors I get:

Jun  9 19:01:32 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding:
/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder
could not be launched prebound.
Jun  9 19:01:41 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding:
/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder
appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun  9 19:01:41 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding:
2003-06-09 19:01:41 -0700: prebinding for Finder done.
Jun  9 19:01:41 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding:
/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp
could not be launched prebound.
Jun  9 19:01:48 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding:
/System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp
appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun  9 19:01:48 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding:
2003-06-09 19:01:48 -0700: prebinding for LaunchCFMApp done.

The system tries to prebind LaunchCFMApp every time a Carbon app is launched. It only tries to prebind the Finder on restart.

After these first two, it got so more and more apps could not be launched prebound, although with the exception of the two above, fix_prebinding always thinks that the prebinding for the app actually needed repairing.

fsck says everything is ok.

What might be causing this strange behavior? Last new things installed were the recent Quicktime, iTunes, and iMovie updates, a few days before I noticed these prebinding errors.

OS 10.2.6 1.25ghz DP 1.25gb RAM

Brad

[mervTormel]

just investigating this myself:

Jun  9 12:32:03 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp appears to have no prebinding p
roblems.
Jun  9 12:34:04 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for
 now.
Jun  9 13:40:28 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp could not be launched prebound.
Jun  9 13:41:07 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp appears to have no prebinding p
roblems.
Jun  9 13:43:08 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for
 now.
Jun  9 14:31:38 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /Applications/iChat.app/Con
tents/MacOS/iChat could not be launched prebound.
Jun  9 14:32:16 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /Applications/iChat.app/Con
tents/MacOS/iChat appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun  9 14:34:17 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for
 now.
Jun  9 17:51:28 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Version
s/A/Resources/qtimageserver could not be launched prebound.
Jun  9 17:51:44 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Version
s/A/Resources/qtimageserver appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun  9 17:53:45 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for
 now.
Jun  9 18:00:08 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp could not be launched prebound.
Jun  9 18:00:39 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp appears to have no prebinding p
roblems.
Jun  9 18:02:39 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for
 now.
Jun  9 18:14:02 gunther /usr/bin/update_prebinding: update_prebinding started wi
th cmd line: /usr/bin/update_prebinding -root / -pkgs /Library/Receipts/iMovieUp
dater3.0.3.pkg /
Jun  9 18:15:22 gunther /usr/bin/update_prebinding: update_prebinding started wi
th cmd line: /usr/bin/update_prebinding -root / -pkgs /Library/Receipts/iSync.pk
g /
Jun  9 18:17:50 gunther /usr/bin/update_prebinding: update_prebinding started wi
th cmd line: /usr/bin/update_prebinding -root / -pkgs /Library/Receipts/Security
Upd2003-06-09.pkg /
Jun  9 18:19:39 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /Library/StartupItems/Retro
Run/RetroRun could not be launched prebound.
Jun  9 18:19:40 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /Library/StartupItems/Retro
Run/RetroRun couldn't be prebound in the past, and probably can't be prebound no
w.
Jun  9 18:21:40 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for
 now.

prebinding is very expensive processing, especially on startup when several apps are launched.

[jbc]

You seem to be getting many more "appears to have no prebinding problems" messages. Besides the Finder and LaunchCFMApp, the other errors I'm getting look pretty much like normal prebinding fixes.

Jun  9 18:58:48 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding:
/Applications/TimeDisc/TimeDisc.app/Contents/MacOS/TimeDisc could not be
launched prebound.
Jun  9 18:58:56 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: Will check and
redo_prebinding on
/Applications/TimeDisc/TimeDisc.app/Contents/MacOS/TimeDisc
Jun  9 18:58:56 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: 2003-06-09 18:58:56
-0700: prebinding for TimeDisc done.
Jun  9 18:58:56 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding:
/Applications/MkConsole.app/Contents/MacOS/MkConsole could not be
launched prebound.
Jun  9 18:59:02 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: Will check and
redo_prebinding on /Applications/MkConsole.app/Contents/MacOS/MkConsole
Jun  9 18:59:03 asx /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: 2003-06-09 18:59:03
-0700: prebinding for MkConsole done.

Except the system seems to have developed short-term memory as far as which apps have been prebound.

[djn1]

Quote: Originally posted by mervTormel just investigating this myself:

Merv, how's the investigating coming along? I have a slew of similar results. Today's latest are:

Jun 11 18:08:18 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun 11 18:08:18 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: 2003-06-11 18:08:18 +0100: prebinding for LaunchCFMApp done.
Jun 11 18:08:41 djn1 mach_kernel: USBF:	41738.353	+AppleUSBOHCI[0x44e9800]::ReturnOneTransaction(0x143a9570, 0x143a6b80, e0004051)
Jun 11 18:10:19 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for now.
Jun 11 18:15:37 djn1 WindowServer[12736]: CGXRemoveTrackingArea : Invalid tracking area
Jun 11 18:15:37 djn1 WindowServer[12736]: CGXRemoveTrackingArea : Invalid tracking area
Jun 11 18:16:10 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver could not be launched prebound.
Jun 11 18:16:20 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun 11 18:16:20 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: 2003-06-11 18:16:20 +0100: prebinding for qtimageserver done.
Jun 11 18:18:20 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for now.
Jun 11 18:21:13 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver could not be launched prebound.
Jun 11 18:21:23 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun 11 18:21:23 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: 2003-06-11 18:21:23 +0100: prebinding for qtimageserver done.
Jun 11 18:23:24 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for now.
Jun 11 18:36:09 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver could not be launched prebound.
Jun 11 18:36:20 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun 11 18:36:20 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: 2003-06-11 18:36:20 +0100: prebinding for qtimageserver done.
Jun 11 18:38:20 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for now.
Jun 11 18:46:10 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver could not be launched prebound.
Jun 11 18:46:24 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun 11 18:46:24 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: 2003-06-11 18:46:24 +0100: prebinding for qtimageserver done.
Jun 11 18:48:24 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for now.

If you have any theories on this I'd be interested to hear them because it
seems to me that i) this is a recent thing (i.e. probably a 10.2.6 thing), and
ii) th ese seem like odd apps to need prebinding, added to which, the OS seems
to keep doing the same ones over and over again

PS - apologies for the width of this post.

[edit: fold -mt]

[jbc]

I was not having any of these problems after the 10.2.6 update. My theory is it probably has something to do with the Quicktime 6.3 update, which I installed just before these errors started. But I can't imagine what QT could modify that would affect the prebinding mechanism.

Is there an easy way to reinstall QT 6.2 over an existing 6.3 install? This might be one way to check, but I'm not sure how to do a clean uninstall of QT 6.3.

[mervTormel]

Quote: Originally posted by djn1 Merv, how's the investigating coming along? I have a slew of similar results. Today's latest are: <snip> If you have any theories on this I'd be interested to hear them because it seems to me that i) this is a recent thing (i.e. probably a 10.2.6 thing), and ii) th ese seem like odd apps to need prebinding, added to which, the OS seems to keep doing the same ones over and over again...

and failing! notice "could not be launched prebound" ?

i have no theories. and it is a recent development.

this fix_prebinding process on login is very expensive and long (i guess depending on how much it has to trawl thru).

[djn1]

Quote: Originally posted by mervTormel and failing! notice "could not be launched prebound" ?

However, I just tried the following which reports a success:

% sudo update_prebinding -force -files /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver
2003-06-11 19:19:14.721 update_prebinding[16514] Start of update_prebinding
2003-06-11 19:19:14.729 update_prebinding[16514] Prebinding files (0/1 complete)
2003-06-11 19:19:14.951 update_prebinding[16514] update_prebinding done. (100/100 complete)
2003-06-11 19:19:14.953 update_prebinding[16514] Update_prebinding done.
2003-06-11 19:19:14.954 update_prebinding[16514] 1 files successfully prebound, 0 files unsuccessfully prebound.

Any thoughts?

[hayne]

This Apple article on prebinding (dating from 10.1 but still apparently current):
http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/...rebinding.html
mentions a way to find out if an app is prebound by setting the DYLD_PREBIND_DEBUG environment variable before running an app via the Terminal.

And here's an Apple article that explains the process of launching an app and what prebinding does:
http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/...section_3.html

[djn1]

The other two apps that were reporting the same problem/issue (LaunchCFMApp and Finder) also responded well to:

sudo update_prebinding -force -files

[djn1]

Ok, I spoke too soon:

Jun 11 20:01:11 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/
Versions/A/Resources/qtimageserver could not be launched prebound.

... seems like the 'sudo update_prebinding -force -files' does prebind it but then the fact that this has occured seems to be overlooked (or undone) by the OS.

[mervTormel]

in a fit of pique, i:

sudo update_prebinding -root / -force

and rebooted. no long, ugly, painful prebinding at login. remains to be seen any other prebinding events. other than the ominous:

$ grep fix system.log
Jun 11 12:11:10 gunther /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for now.

"for now" is, indeed, a warning

[djn1]

Quote: Originally posted by mervTormel in a fit of pique, i: sudo update_prebinding -root / -force

Isn't that akin to what I tried, sans rebooting? (which, after about an hour of no system.log errors, doesn't seem to have made much difference).

[mervTormel]

the above incantation re-prebound everything. including drilling down into /sw which is just a symlink to a dir on an off-world partition.

it wasn't without errors:

http://bduart.home.mindspring.com/uperrs.txt

[jbc]

Quote: Originally posted by mervTormel in a fit of pique, i: sudo update_prebinding -root / -force and rebooted. no long, ugly, painful prebinding at login.

This is the way I've been re-doing the prebinding all along. As I mentioned, on my system, this only seems to fix things through a single reboot; next reboot all the prebinding errors are back again.

[djn1]

Quote: Originally posted by jbc This is the way I've been re-doing the prebinding all along. As I mentioned, on my system, this only seems to fix things through a single reboot; next reboot all the prebinding errors are back again.

Such is my machine's eagerness to run the prebinding it's now tripping over itself to get this done (note the middle line):

Jun 13 19:28:15 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/ ...[snip]... /qtimageserver could not be launched prebound.
Jun 13 19:28:15 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding or update_prebinding is already at work.
Jun 13 19:30:15 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding quitting for now.

[hayne]

Quote: Originally posted by djn1 Jun 13 19:28:15 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: fix_prebinding or update_prebinding is already at work.

Do you have a file /var/run/prebindLock ? I see this mentioned in 'strings fix_prebinding' - so just a guess that maybe there is a lock file that didn't get removed.

[djn1]

Quote: Originally posted by hayne Do you have a file /var/run/prebindLock ? I see this mentioned in 'strings fix_prebinding' - so just a guess that maybe there is a lock file that didn't get removed.

No, I don't have that file. For the time being I'm going with jbc's option; i.e. force prebinding before each reboot - which is hardly an elegant or pleasing solution.

[djn1]

Merv, where is the prebinding information stored; i.e. I assume their must be some data that the OS accesses to know whether or not a particular app has been prebound? The reason I ask is that my machine seems to 'forget' that certain apps have been prebound. For example, if I run the following:

% sudo update_prebinding -force -files /System/Library/Frameworks/
ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/
Resources/qtimageserver
2003-06-21 16:18:22.934 update_prebinding[27875] Start of update_prebinding
2003-06-21 16:18:22.969 update_prebinding[27875] Prebinding files (0/1 complete)
2003-06-21 16:18:23.387 update_prebinding[27875] update_prebinding done. (100/100 complete)
2003-06-21 16:18:23.393 update_prebinding[27875] Update_prebinding done.
2003-06-21 16:18:23.395 update_prebinding[27875] 1 files successfully prebound, 0 files unsuccessfully prebound.

... it seems fine for a while then a while later I get:

Jun 22 00:59:42 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/
Resources/qtimageserver could not be launched prebound.
Jun 22 00:59:52 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: /System/Library/Frameworks/
ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/
Resources/qtimageserver appears to have no prebinding problems.
Jun 22 00:59:52 djn1 /usr/libexec/fix_prebinding: 2003-06-22 00:59:52 +0100: prebinding for qtimageserver done.

So, my question: is there a file somewhere that holds the info regarding the prebinding data that, for whatever reason, might have become corrupt in some way such that the OS can't 'remember' what has been prebound and what hasn't?

Just a thought ...

[hayne]

Quote: So, my question: is there a file somewhere that holds the info regarding the prebinding data that, for whatever reason, might have become corrupt in some way such that the OS can't 'remember' what has been prebound and what hasn't?

The prebinding process changes the executable files themselves.
It modifies the Mach header which contains instructions on how to launch the executable.
You can detect changes in an executable file by looking at the 'md5' checksum.

You can look at the Mach header of an executable to see if it is prebound by using 'otool -hv'.
You can see which libraries this executable is dependednt on by using 'otool -Lv'.

Here's an example, with the file 'qtimageserver' that you have been having trouble with.
Note that I went ('cd') to the directory where this file lives to make things easier to type and to read.

% cd /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/
Frameworks/HIServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources

% ls -l qtimageserver 
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel  23588 Jun  3 12:18 qtimageserver

% md5 qtimageserver 
MD5 (qtimageserver) = 2b41e8bc264e9e55e6eb7f7cbbefa3ac

% otool -hv qtimageserver 
qtimageserver:
Mach header
      magic cputype cpusubtype   filetype ncmds sizeofcmds      flags
   MH_MAGIC     PPC        ALL    EXECUTE    65       8336   NOUNDEFS DYLDLINK PREBOUND TWOLEVEL

% otool -Lv qtimageserver 
qtimageserver:
        /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/
ApplicationServices (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 18.0.0)
        time stamp 1052269494 Tue May  6 21:04:54 2003
        /System/Library/Frameworks/QuickTime.framework/Versions/A/
QuickTime (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 168.0.0)
        time stamp 1054657053 Tue Jun  3 12:17:33 2003
        /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/
CoreFoundation (compatibility version 150.0.0, current version 258.0.0)
        time stamp 1050034525 Fri Apr 11 00:15:25 2003
        /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 60.0.0)
        time stamp 1039863485 Sat Dec 14 05:58:05 2002

[djn1]

Hayne, thanks for your detailed response but, as I get the same results as you, I'm at a loss as to why the OS continually insists on attempting to prebind this file:

% otool -hv qtimageserver
qtimageserver:
Mach header
      magic cputype cpusubtype   filetype ncmds sizeofcmds      flags
   MH_MAGIC     PPC        ALL    EXECUTE    65       8336   NOUNDEFS DYLDLINK PREBOUND TWOLEVEL

... and:

otool -Lv qtimageserver
qtimageserver:
        /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/
ApplicationServices (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 18.0.0)
        time stamp 1056059975 Thu Jun 19 22:59:35 2003
        /System/Library/Frameworks/QuickTime.framework/Versions/A/QuickTime 
(compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 168.0.0)
        time stamp 1056060021 Thu Jun 19 23:00:21 2003
        /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/
CoreFoundation (compatibility version 150.0.0, current version 258.0.0)
        time stamp 1056059922 Thu Jun 19 22:58:42 2003
        /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current version 60.0.0)
        time stamp 1056059921 Thu Jun 19 22:58:41 2003

Any further thoughts gratefully received.