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From: Sandstone on 8 Feb 2010 15:19
Just got a refurbished G4 Powerbook with 10.4.11 and the bare esentials.
I decided to have Software Update check for new updates. It found 6-7
possibilities and I unticked them all except for iTunes 9.0.3. I wanted
to download it only and install it later. So I clicked on Download Only
under the Update menu. The download immediately began.

Eventually a window for Library/Packages popped up showing 4 items

iTunesAccess.pkg
iTunesx.pkg
CoreFP.pkg
AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg

Get Info revealed the first two items were for Version 9.0.3. I don't
know whether the other 2 items are related to the iTunes download or
not. Are they?

Anyway, I expected to see a .dmg file or an installer downloaded rather
than this. Software Update only offered a Stop and Install button at
this point so I closed the popup window and clicked Stop since I didn't
want to install at that point. So iTunes 9.0.3 didn't get installed and
Library/Receipts still contains iTunesx.pkg for iTunes 7.5.

I don't know how to install 9.0.3 based on the 4 items in
Library/Packages. So I'm planning on deleting the 4 items in
Library/Packages and then downloading 9.0.3 from the Apple support site.
Two simple questions

1. Is it OK to delete the last two items or are they needed for
something unrelated to the botched iTunes download?

2. Is Library/Packages some sort of intermediate staging area for the
Software Update download/install procedure? It seems as if things are
deleted from here and/or moved to Library/Receipts after the
installation completes.

TIA

Eric
From: David Empson on 8 Feb 2010 16:37
Sandstone <spambucket(a)infowest.com> wrote:

> Just got a refurbished G4 Powerbook with 10.4.11 and the bare esentials.
> I decided to have Software Update check for new updates. It found 6-7
> possibilities and I unticked them all except for iTunes 9.0.3. I wanted
> to download it only and install it later. So I clicked on Download Only
> under the Update menu. The download immediately began.
>
> Eventually a window for Library/Packages popped up showing 4 items
>
> iTunesAccess.pkg
> iTunesx.pkg
> CoreFP.pkg
> AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg
>
> Get Info revealed the first two items were for Version 9.0.3. I don't
> know whether the other 2 items are related to the iTunes download or
> not. Are they?

Yes. The iTunes installer is a ".mpkg" file which includes the above
four packages.

If you are going to install iTunes manually after "Download Only" via
Software Update, you need to install all four.

> Anyway, I expected to see a .dmg file or an installer downloaded rather
> than this. Software Update only offered a Stop and Install button at
> this point so I closed the popup window and clicked Stop since I didn't
> want to install at that point. So iTunes 9.0.3 didn't get installed and
> Library/Receipts still contains iTunesx.pkg for iTunes 7.5.
>
> I don't know how to install 9.0.3 based on the 4 items in
> Library/Packages. So I'm planning on deleting the 4 items in
> Library/Packages and then downloading 9.0.3 from the Apple support site.

If you do that you will get a .dmg file which contains iTunes.mpkg, and
iTunes.mpkg will install all four of the above packages.

> Two simple questions
>
> 1. Is it OK to delete the last two items or are they needed for
> something unrelated to the botched iTunes download?

I'm sure that CoreFP is an essential update needed by iTunes (possibly
only on some system versions, but more likely to be needed on 10.4 than
on later systems). Apple Mobile Device Support might be something you
can get away without, depending on what devices it supports and whether
you have one of them, but I'd install it anyway or you will have a
nonstandard iTunes installation.

> 2. Is Library/Packages some sort of intermediate staging area for the
> Software Update download/install procedure?

It is where the 10.4 version of Software Update puts packages you have
downloaded using the "Download Only" feature. You can then install them
manually and delete them afterwards.

I expect it is also used as a temporary staging area when you do a
normal "download and install" via Software Update.

> It seems as if things are deleted from here and/or moved to
> Library/Receipts after the installation completes.

/Library/Receipts only contains "stubs" from the downloaded packages,
which are used to keep track of what files were installed. They
typically have the same name as the downloaded packages. You should
almost never go mucking around with the Receipts folder.

--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: Sandstone on 8 Feb 2010 18:49
David Empson wrote:

> Sandstone <spambucket(a)infowest.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Just got a refurbished G4 Powerbook with 10.4.11 and the bare esentials.
>>I decided to have Software Update check for new updates. It found 6-7
>>possibilities and I unticked them all except for iTunes 9.0.3. I wanted
>>to download it only and install it later. So I clicked on Download Only
>>under the Update menu. The download immediately began.
>>
>>Eventually a window for Library/Packages popped up showing 4 items
>>
>> iTunesAccess.pkg
>> iTunesx.pkg
>> CoreFP.pkg
>> AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg
>>
>>Get Info revealed the first two items were for Version 9.0.3. I don't
>>know whether the other 2 items are related to the iTunes download or
>>not. Are they?
>
>
> Yes. The iTunes installer is a ".mpkg" file which includes the above
> four packages.
>
> If you are going to install iTunes manually after "Download Only" via
> Software Update, you need to install all four.

The procedure above apparently did not create an iTunes.mpkg file. How
can iTunes be installed manually in this case?
>
>
>>Anyway, I expected to see a .dmg file or an installer downloaded rather
>>than this. Software Update only offered a Stop and Install button at
>>this point so I closed the popup window and clicked Stop since I didn't
>>want to install at that point. So iTunes 9.0.3 didn't get installed and
>>Library/Receipts still contains iTunesx.pkg for iTunes 7.5.
>>
>>I don't know how to install 9.0.3 based on the 4 items in
>>Library/Packages. So I'm planning on deleting the 4 items in
>>Library/Packages and then downloading 9.0.3 from the Apple support site.
>
>
> If you do that you will get a .dmg file which contains iTunes.mpkg, and
> iTunes.mpkg will install all four of the above packages.
>
>
>>Two simple questions
>>
>>1. Is it OK to delete the last two items or are they needed for
>>something unrelated to the botched iTunes download?
>
>
> I'm sure that CoreFP is an essential update needed by iTunes (possibly
> only on some system versions, but more likely to be needed on 10.4 than
> on later systems). Apple Mobile Device Support might be something you
> can get away without, depending on what devices it supports and whether
> you have one of them, but I'd install it anyway or you will have a
> nonstandard iTunes installation.
>
>
>>2. Is Library/Packages some sort of intermediate staging area for the
>>Software Update download/install procedure?
>
>
> It is where the 10.4 version of Software Update puts packages you have
> downloaded using the "Download Only" feature. You can then install them
> manually and delete them afterwards.
>
> I expect it is also used as a temporary staging area when you do a
> normal "download and install" via Software Update.
>
>
>>It seems as if things are deleted from here and/or moved to
>>Library/Receipts after the installation completes.
>
>
> /Library/Receipts only contains "stubs" from the downloaded packages,
> which are used to keep track of what files were installed. They
> typically have the same name as the downloaded packages. You should
> almost never go mucking around with the Receipts folder.
>
From: David Empson on 8 Feb 2010 20:32
Sandstone <spambucket(a)infowest.com> wrote:

> David Empson wrote:
>
> > Sandstone <spambucket(a)infowest.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Just got a refurbished G4 Powerbook with 10.4.11 and the bare esentials.
> >>I decided to have Software Update check for new updates. It found 6-7
> >>possibilities and I unticked them all except for iTunes 9.0.3. I wanted
> >>to download it only and install it later. So I clicked on Download Only
> >>under the Update menu. The download immediately began.
> >>
> >>Eventually a window for Library/Packages popped up showing 4 items
> >>
> >> iTunesAccess.pkg
> >> iTunesx.pkg
> >> CoreFP.pkg
> >> AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg
> >>
> >>Get Info revealed the first two items were for Version 9.0.3. I don't
> >>know whether the other 2 items are related to the iTunes download or
> >>not. Are they?
> >
> >
> > Yes. The iTunes installer is a ".mpkg" file which includes the above
> > four packages.
> >
> > If you are going to install iTunes manually after "Download Only" via
> > Software Update, you need to install all four.
>
> The procedure above apparently did not create an iTunes.mpkg file. How
> can iTunes be installed manually in this case?

By installing the above four packages. Select all of them, double-click
one, Installer will open all four, and step through the questions for
each.

An .mkpg is mostly just a mechanism for installing multiple packages in
a single operation. (The suffix "mpkg" means "multiple packages".)

If Software Update's manual download gave you four separate packages,
instead of a single .mpkg, this implies the outer .mpkg isn't doing
anything significant as part of the installation process for iTunes, or
that Software Update has already done the bits that are handled by the
mpkg itself (e.g. displaying a licence agreement and checking that your
system is compatible with iTunes).

--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: Sandstone on 9 Feb 2010 10:46
David Empson wrote:
> Sandstone <spambucket(a)infowest.com> wrote:
>
>
>>David Empson wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Sandstone <spambucket(a)infowest.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Just got a refurbished G4 Powerbook with 10.4.11 and the bare esentials.
>>>>I decided to have Software Update check for new updates. It found 6-7
>>>>possibilities and I unticked them all except for iTunes 9.0.3. I wanted
>>>>to download it only and install it later. So I clicked on Download Only
>>>>under the Update menu. The download immediately began.
>>>>
>>>>Eventually a window for Library/Packages popped up showing 4 items
>>>>
>>>> iTunesAccess.pkg
>>>> iTunesx.pkg
>>>> CoreFP.pkg
>>>> AppleMobileDeviceSupport.pkg
>>>>
>>>>Get Info revealed the first two items were for Version 9.0.3. I don't
>>>>know whether the other 2 items are related to the iTunes download or
>>>>not. Are they?
>>>
>>>
>>>Yes. The iTunes installer is a ".mpkg" file which includes the above
>>>four packages.
>>>
>>>If you are going to install iTunes manually after "Download Only" via
>>>Software Update, you need to install all four.
>>
>>The procedure above apparently did not create an iTunes.mpkg file. How
>>can iTunes be installed manually in this case?
>
>
> By installing the above four packages. Select all of them, double-click
> one, Installer will open all four, and step through the questions for
> each.
>
> An .mkpg is mostly just a mechanism for installing multiple packages in
> a single operation. (The suffix "mpkg" means "multiple packages".)
>
> If Software Update's manual download gave you four separate packages,
> instead of a single .mpkg, this implies the outer .mpkg isn't doing
> anything significant as part of the installation process for iTunes, or
> that Software Update has already done the bits that are handled by the
> mpkg itself (e.g. displaying a licence agreement and checking that your
> system is compatible with iTunes).
>

Thanks for this!

Eric
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