I am stupid (reinstalling OSX's .pkg files)

psyck0

So, I am stupid. I wanted to free up space on my compy so I deleted all the .pkg files because they were clogging up 2 gigs of space, and I thought that they were the update files that I had downloaded because they had names like fanfirmwareupdate and so on. Anyway, I thought that once the update files had been installed I could delete the .pkg files like you can in windows (not .pkg, but same idea). I seem to have been wrong and some of them are necessary for some things. What's the easiest way to reinstall them? Thanks in advance.

ZackSchilling

Did you delete them out of the receipts folder? Because those may have looked like packages, but they were actually your computer's internal record of what updates and software you have installed. I have no idea how you'd properly restore a system after that. It would probably have no end of dependancy issues with later update installs. I'd probably reinstall the OS to be honest.

Next time, don't go deleting things out of the System folders. And if you spot 2GB in the receipts folder, where it doesn't belong, use an app like this to track down which package is taking up all that space.
http://dl-client.getdropbox.com/u/107712/WhatSize.app.zip

psyck0

No, I did not delete them from receipts, it is still full of files. I can't remember where exactly I deleted them from. It MIGHT have been /users/name/library/receipts, that file is almost empty; do I need some there?

I reinstalled BSD.pkg, which I thought would fix the problem (I am getting the error
dyld: lazy symbol binding failed: Symbol not found: _getopt$UNIX2003
Referenced from: /Users/psyck0/Desktop/wbfs
Expected in: /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib

dyld: Symbol not found: _getopt$UNIX2003
Referenced from: /Users/psyck0/Desktop/wbfs
Expected in: /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib

with a code) but that did not fix it. Searching the internet has found hundreds of people with problems with libsystem.b.dylib and NO fixes for it. Anyone here know? More information: when I run libsystem.b.dylib in terminal, I get:

names-computer:~ psyck0$ /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib; exit
-bash: /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib: Bad executable (or shared library)
logout

PatboyX

If it was from a users home, you may be able to just make a new account to avoid a re-install. But since you don't know what exactly was deleted the best thing is probably back up and start over.

ZackSchilling

You shouldn't reinstall system components piecemeal like that. System interactions change and while Apple makes sure that updates have interlocking dependancy going forward, manually installing old versions of files on an up-to-date system is not tested and could only make things worse.

Just reinstall Mac OS X. Make sure you have a few GB of space, boot off the install disc and run an archive install. You'll get to keep your user, your settings, all your files, and all your apps that didn't need special installs. If you want to conserve space, customize the install by disabling language packs and print drivers you don't need. You may even save space in the end.

psyck0

I made a new account and it didn't even HAVE a receipts folder, so I don't think that's the problem.

I'll try reinstalling and get back if that doesn't fix the dylib stuff. Was going to do a reinstall this summer anyway. Thanks

psyck0

Oh! I deleted them from HD>library>packages. It's empty.

ZackSchilling

That location is perfectly fine to delete things from. It's just the spot where your system caches updates and other software installers if you tell it to download but not install. Your issues with system errors are just a coincidence. I still recommend the reinstall because of the problem and the other things you did trying to fix it.

psyck0

Hah! I was right! I'll try reinstalling anyway. Thanks!