Today I called in sick from work in order to get some chores done.
A few of those chores included running Software Update and then verifying/repairing my disk permissions.
What should've only taken me a few minutes, ended up taking me a few hours :mad:
When tried to run SoftwareUpdate, it downloaded the installers, but when it attempted to extract them, extraction failed and I recieved an error message saying that I didn't have permission to write to /tmp/501.
This I figured could easily be solved by repairing my permissions. When I tried to verify them, I recieved another error message that said DiskUtility has lost connection with the Disk Manager.
I then went to Apple's discussion boards to look for help.
As it turns out...
When Apple released iTunes 6.0.2 for OS X, they released it with a flaw. Its understandable seeing as this was Apple's first release of iTunes that would work with the Intel chips. The flaw is -- When running DiskUtility, something contained in iTunes conflicts with the Disk Manager and prevents it from running correctly. Apple knows about this, but is hesitant to release a fix because the problem has only been seen in OS X 10.2.8 - 10.3.9. The problem doesn't exist in OS X 10.4.x
If you have run into this problem, here is how to fix it.
Before running DiskUtility, go into your Applications folder and move the iTunes application to your desktop. DO NOT DELETE the iTunes application. Once iTunes is on the desktop, you can/should be able to run DiskUtility. If you continue to have problems, you need to go into /Library/Reciepts and MOVE, do not delete, the iTunesX.pkg file to the desktop. Now DiskUtility will work. Once permissions have been repaired, move the iTunes application back into the Applications folder, and move the iTunesX.pkg reciept back into /Library/Reciepts.
Once I had this fixed, I repaired my permissions, restarted my computer, and launched SoftwareUpdate.
Still no luck.
I got back onto Apple's discussion boards and discovered that somewhere along the line (Many are suspecting iTunes of being the culprit) The extremely essential system application "tar" ends up being removed by another program (probably iTunes).
OS X NEEDS tar to run many of its features!
To find out whether or not you have your tar file, open Terminal and type in "/user/bin/tar" without the quotations. If you recieve a message that says no file or directory exists, then you don't have your tar!
To get your tar back, you need to download
Pacifist. Once you have Pacifist installed, you need to insert your OS X install DVD. Once the disk image appears on the desktop, launch Pacifist. When you see the option become available, click on "Open Mac OS X Install Packages" and once the install window is launched (it may take a moment) click on "Find" and type in "tar". You will get several hits on the keyword "tar." On the right side of the screen will be the results of your search. Find the one that simply says "tar." To be sure you have the right file selected, look on the left screen and look at the directory of the file. If the root directory is /usr followed by /bin then you have the correct file! Click on the "install" button to continue.
It will only take a minute and once this is installed, you can now run the Automatic SoftwareUpdate with no problem!
I hope this helps with anyone experiencing the same problems
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