unregistered files/modules

Ryan Schmidt ryandesign at macports.org
Mon Oct 8 11:03:32 PDT 2007


On Oct 8, 2007, at 03:13, David Epstein wrote:

> On 8 Oct 2007, at 08:50, Ryan Schmidt wrote:
>
>> On Oct 8, 2007, at 02:37, David Epstein wrote:
>>
>>> I have just started using Macports and I wonder how to get round  
>>> the following annoying problem. Each port that I download  
>>> complains about a number of files (between 5 and 35) that are  
>>> "unregistered". The install stops at every single error and  
>>> aborts. As a result, I have a great deal of manual work, deleting  
>>> these unregistered files, having to restart the install each  
>>> time. Moreover, using root privileges to delete the unregistered  
>>> files creates unpleasant opportunities for typos.
>>>
>>> I had a glance at the macports-users archive, but couldn't find  
>>> an index. I tried Google, but couldn't find any sensible leads on  
>>> this. I read "man port", but it's unclear to me exactly what each  
>>> option does, and I'm concerned that I'll do the wrong thing.
>>>
>>> 1. Where can I find a fuller explanation of the options to "port"  
>>> than that given by "man port"?
>>> 2. How should I proceed in the light of the difficulties  
>>> explained in the first paragraph?
>>> 3. I am tempted to download the entire Darwinports/Macports tree,  
>>> but it looks as though this would take ages even without the  
>>> manual work described above.
>>>
>>> Comments on these 3 points would be welcome.
>>
>> The entire ports tree is already downloaded to your computer. I  
>> believe it's usually in /opt/local/var/macports/sources/ 
>> rsync.macports.org/release/ports. That's just the portfiles and  
>> some patches, not the distribution source archives of each port.
>>
>> Please show us the exact error messages you're getting, and what  
>> command you've typed to receive it.
>
> I can't reproduce these errors. I tried installing one or two  
> additional packages and they went through without complaint.  
> Luckily a small amount of evidence survives from my xterm's memory  
> and here it is:
>
> hottie:~% sudo port install gnupg
> --->  Activating gnupg 1.4.7_0
> Error: Target org.macports.activate returned: Image error: /opt/ 
> local/share/locale/locale.alias already exists and does not belong  
> to a registered port.  Unable to activate port gnupg.
> Error: Status 1 encountered during processing.
> hottie:~% sudo rm -i /opt/local/share/locale/locale.alias
> remove /opt/local/share/locale/locale.alias? y
> hottie:~% sudo port install gnupg
> --->  Activating gnupg 1.4.7_0
> --->  Cleaning gnupg
>
> I think I would have had to rm and restart about 50 times during  
> installation of gnupg, but fortunately I was able to remove a whole  
> lot of files at once, using Unix * wildcard. Don't like using  
> wildcards when I'm root.

${prefix}/share/locale/locale.alias is a tricky file and there have  
been problems relating to it that have been fixed in other ports.  
Though I'm not sure what put it on your system in this case, since  
it's not showing up registered to a port. At any rate, by my count,  
over 2 dozen ports already include steps to delete locale.alias (and $ 
{prefix}/lib/charset.alias which is apparently equally tricky) before  
the destroot phase. Perhaps gnupg should do so as well. (gnupg12  
already does.) I'll Cc gnupg's maintainer.

For any other ports or files with which you were having similar  
problems, show us the output.

> Since not one single package I have installed has reported that it  
> is up to date, it looks as though I should do something like "sudo  
> port install all", shouldn't I?

You should certainly not "sudo port install all". You do not want to  
download and compile the source of all 4300+ ports in our tree, not  
to mention that some ports conflict with other ports so this is  
impossible anyway, and there would be no reason to do so. You just  
want to "sudo port install foo" where "foo" is whatever software you  
actually want to use.

What do you mean, "not one single package I have installed has  
reported that it is up to date"? Do you mean that "port outdated"  
lists every one of your installed ports? Surely not... But if it  
does, then you should "sudo port upgrade" each of those ports. Also,  
remember to "sudo port selfupdate" often to get the latest port  
definitions.




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