[mbeauche]

running 10.3.3 on a powerbook g4

so the other day my mac just starts acting strangely -

files that i know are in a location, and are shown in search in a location, and aren't hidden, aren't in that location in the finder

sofa, an application that gives a small ui for itunes, will show the startup picture, but not actually run

cantrip, an application that connects to servers as a mud client, won't connect anymore

and a few other strange happenings

so the first thing i do to fix it is go to repair disk permissions, and here's what happens when i do that:

Repairing permissions for “Pro HQ”
Error: No valid packages (-9997)

Permissions repair complete

any ideas on what to do now?

[JKT]

Originally posted by mbeauche:
so the first thing i do to fix it is go to repair disk permissions, and here's what happens when i do that:

Repairing permissions for “Pro HQ”
Error: No valid packages (-9997)

Permissions repair complete

any ideas on what to do now?

That message indicates that you have deleted or moved the files from the /Library/Receipts folder - Disk Utility uses those receipts to determine what the correct permissions should be for the various system etc files when it runs the Verify/Repair Permissions routine. To repair this, you will need to get a copy of the receipts from someone, or re-run the various installers to replace them (your best bet would be to do an archive and install, in that instance).

If you didn't remove the receipts, then it indicates that there is something wrong with the file structure and you need to repair your disk (try using Disk Utility from your install disks first - if that doesn't work, try commercial software like Disk Warrior)