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Bug in updating prebinding in Tiger could be responsible for some errors
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Northwest Ohio
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An interesting Unsanity Blog post by Rosyna details a nasty bug in the update prebinding routine in Tiger that can potentially zero random files which may break things and causing real issues with updates.
Here is the blog entry.
Regardless of what people may think of Unsanity, it seems that this is an issue that Apple needs to fix and fix PRONTO!
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Northwest Ohio
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Originally Posted by Person Man 
An interesting Unsanity Blog post by Rosyna details a nasty bug in the update prebinding routine in Tiger that can potentially zero random files which may break things and causing real issues with updates.
Here is the blog entry.
Regardless of what people may think of Unsanity, it seems that this is an issue that Apple needs to fix and fix PRONTO!
Wow, I'm suprised there hasn't been any discussion on this. It seems to me that a bug like this that could be responsible for many of the random failures leading people to say "stay away from xxx update because it is teh evilz!" would be a relevant topic for discussion. Guess I was wrong.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Bolton, UK
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Yeah, good catch. Explains why those of us who never touch our machines during system updates (left-over paranoia from MacOS 9) have never been stung.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
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Interesting. I'm kind of having trouble seeing why two things would be updating a prebinding at the same time. I wonder how common such a situation is.
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Chuck
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"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
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On 10.2 and 10.3, prebinding would be automatically updated when an app was launched. That's not true for 10.4 though.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Originally Posted by Chuckit
Interesting. I'm kind of having trouble seeing why two things would be updating a prebinding at the same time. I wonder how common such a situation is.
Might could happen if a user is tooling around in Finder (opening docs or moving apps).
::shrug::
I've also witnessed OSX (from Jaguar on) _sometimes_ fall into a funky state... where it's constantly
and incessantly replacing one of the LaunchServices database cache files EVERY 5 SECONDS. It wasn't
a deadly affair or anything... but sufficient indication [to me] there is susceptibility for entering into a
race condition, or some similar sort of "hiccup" mode.
Originally Posted by barney ntd
left-over paranoia from MacOS 9
(and Sys8 and Sys7 . . . ), I seem to remember updates would force-quit all other apps.
(
Last edited by Hal Itosis; Mar 18, 2007 at 02:30 AM.
)
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-HI-
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
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Originally Posted by Hal Itosis
Might could happen if a user is tooling around in Finder (opening docs or moving apps).
Even then, perhaps I'm misinformed, but I didn't think OS X would redo the prebinding unless the app or a library on which it depended had changed.
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Chuck
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"Instead of either 'multi-talented' or 'multitalented' use 'bisexual'."
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Originally Posted by Chuckit
Even then, perhaps I'm misinformed, but I didn't think OS X would redo the prebinding unless the app or a library on which it depended had changed.
I haven't studied Rosyna's blog... so I don't know if simultaneous prebinding matters.
As long as two procs are writing something into that database at the same time, and if
that situation isn't handled properly, then maybe that's all it takes. [I'm not sure.]
Note for example the warning in < this thread> about quitting Finder. [idunno really.]
I do keep fseventer running 24/7 for educational purposes, and have seen that
/Library/Caches/com.apple.LaunchServices-014501.csstore file being written to
in a variety of situations (installing and/or moving apps typically).
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Originally Posted by barney ntd
Yeah, good catch. Explains why those of us who never touch our machines during system updates (left-over paranoia from MacOS 9) have never been stung.
I was thinking the exact same thing. I usually run updates on my main work Mac just before I go pick up some coffee. When I come back the update is usually finished. I never experienced any of these my-Mac-died-after-SU issues. I always wondered what those people had installed or what they did while updating that caused these bizarre problems.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Northwest Ohio
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Originally Posted by Simon
I was thinking the exact same thing. I usually run updates on my main work Mac just before I go pick up some coffee. When I come back the update is usually finished. I never experienced any of these my-Mac-died-after-SU issues. I always wondered what those people had installed or what they did while updating that caused these bizarre problems.
To be fair, the bug probably doesn't explain ALL of the mysterious, random problems, but at least Rosyna gives a way the bug can be avoided in her blog... don't touch the machine while updating.
For now, that seems like a solid piece of advice that's much better than "update the permissions both before and after the update."
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