port not installing

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Oct 8, 2018, at 22:50, M P wrote:

> DEBUG: successful verification with key /opt/local/share/macports/macports-pubkey.pem
> DEBUG: system: /usr/bin/tar -C /opt/local/var/macports/sources/rsync.macports.org/macports/release/tarballs/tmp -xf /opt/local/var/macports/sources/rsync.macports.org/macports/release/tarballs/ports.tar

Ok, so it verified the tarball, and started to extract it. So it may have failed during extraction. Does the directory /opt/local/var/macports/sources/rsync.macports.org/macports/release/tarballs/ports exist and does it contain what it should?


> There are a few other ports that don't install e.g.
> %sudo port install R
> Error: Port R not found
> 
> and some produce this odd (not in the ports tree - ?) message with warning
> %sudo port install xxdiff
> Password: 
> Warning: Skipping xxdiff (not in the ports tree)
> --->  Scanning binaries for linking errors
> --->  No broken files found.                             
> --->  No broken ports found.

You have no portindex right now, so as far as your MacPorts knows, there are no ports in the tree, so you cannot install any ports.


> This is a mac after a major repair with replaced motherboard. My admin made a backup copy on HD and reinstalled most back from Sierra to Mojave. Macports worked fine before when I installed back in 2017.

Ok, you replaced the logic board and backed up your disk, erased it, and restored it. How was the backup and restore accomplished? Time Machine? Carbon Copy Cloner? SuperDuper? Something else?

I know from personal experience that Carbon Copy Cloner reliably clones disks. My understanding is that SuperDuper does too. If your admin used one of those two methods, it should be working.

I know from personal experience that restoring from a Time Machine backup does not restore MacPorts user accounts correctly -- Apple "helpfully" moves all user accounts to /Users, which breaks the macports user and all of the users that MacPorts ports might create. If you have restored using Time Machine, you'll have to find all the user account directories that were moved to /Users and move them back where they belong, and use dscl to fix the home directory entry for each user account as well. Last time I had to restore from Time Machine, sorting this out was a real mess, so I hope this is not the situation you're in...

And as Chris said, if you upgraded from Sierra to Mojave, you'll need to follow the migration instructions. Did you? The fact that the port command isn't complaining about this suggests that you already at least reinstalled MacPorts for Mojave.