QuickTime 7.2 breaking Rosetta CFM apps on Intel-based Macs: The definitive fixes; Crashes and other problems? remove components
The fix is a doozy, but it works.
Yesterday we reported that, representing one of the most serious issues ever associated with an incremental QuickTime update, QuickTime 7.2 appears to cause functionality problems -- particularly an inability to launch and crashes -- with Carbon CFM (Code Fragment Manager) applications on some Intel-based Macs. These include Microsoft Office, older versions of Photoshop (including CS2), and many, many others.
It's been a long night and morning, but here's what we now know about this issue: the problem was apparently caused by an error that occured during the "optimizing system performance" phase of QuickTime 7.2 installation, when the system's prebinding is being updated. [This is why we sternly warn that users not perform any processes and quit any open applications while a system update is taking place]. In many cases, the problem can be solved by simply updating prebinding again, which happens automatically when you re-apply the Mac OS X 10.4.10 combo updater, as recommended yesterday.
In some cases, however, when users have installed the Java SE 6.0 Release 1 Developer Preview 6 -- available from Apple's Developer Connection Web site -- its presence causes the update prebinding process to crash. The solution is to remove Java SE 6.0 Release 1 Developer Preview 6, though it's not a simple process since Java SE 6.0 package installs more than 700 files in various locations on the startup drive and there is no uninstallation option.
The method for removal, identified by poster bigman13 on Apple's Discussion boards, adapted as follows:
- Login as an administrator
- Launch the Terminal (located in /Applications/Utilities)
- Type cd /Library/Receipts/JavaSE6Release1.pkg/Contents and press return
- Type lsbom -s -f Archive.bom > /tmp/files and press return (this will create a file in the /tmp directory named files that lists all of the contents of JavaSE6Release1.pkg)
- Using your favorite text editor, open the file /tmp/files. Typing open /tmp/files then pressing return will open the file with TextEdit, by default. If you were using BBEdit, you could type BBedit open /tmp/files.
- Replace all blank spaces, " " (type one space in the "find" field), with (type a single backslash with a single space after it in the replace field) and all entries of "./" with "rm /". If you opened the file in TextEdit, choose "Find" from the "Edit" menu, and make these replacements. Essentially you are generating a command list that will delete all the files installed by JavaSE6Release1.pkg.
- Back in the Terminal, type sudo bash /tmp/files and press return
- Next type rm -r /Library/receipts/JavaSE6Release1.pkg and press return.
- Finally, update prebinding by typing sudo update_prebinding. When prompted for a password, enter your admin password, and press Return again. The process may take a few minutes, and you may see various messages flash by. The process is complete when the Terminal returns to a normal prompt. Do not perform any other operations while the update prebinding process is taking place.
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
Crashes and other problems? remove components Components that are incompatible with QuickTime 7.2 and stored in Library/QuickTime can cause crashes and other issues after installing the update. Try removing items from this directory then restarting.
For instance, the DC30Xact.component (for the MiroMotion DC30) installed in this location was causing crashes for some users. Fortunately, the developer quickly issued an update that resolves the problem.
Previous coverage:
Resources