Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!apple!bjones From: bjones@Apple.COM (Bruce Jones) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Installer lobotomized in 6.0.4 Message-ID: <35918@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 25 Oct 89 21:32:48 GMT References: <9090@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA Lines: 68 In article <9090@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> mha@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Mark H. Anbinder) writes: >The new Installer software that comes with System 6.0.4 disks is much >prettier than the old version, and is certainly more intuitive for >the average user. Unfortunately, Apple has taken away some of the >functionality that existed in the old version, and, IMHO, the changes >are not for the better. > >The worst change in my mind is the fact that the Installer will no >longer simply add new system resources to whatever folder on disk is >the Blessed folder (the current system folder). Instead, it seems to >look for a folder called "System Folder," and if there isn't, it >CREATES one, even if there's a blessed folder with a different name >already present. Acckk! This should not be happening. Right now I'm running out of a blessed folder called "System 6.0.4." I just tried, and successfully updated it using the new Installer. Everything seemed to work OK, no new folders were created. This sounds very weird. A lot of engineers here in Mac System Software have several versions of the system on their disks and use Blesser to switch between them. We have not had any problems updating the correct systems, and naming them whatever we want. I wrote the code for finding the blessed folder on the chosen target disk. My strategy is as follows: 1. Ask the file system if it knows about a blessed folder on the volume. 2. If the file system doesn't know about a blessed folder, see if a root level folder exists with the standard name for a blessed folder. In the U.S. this is "System Folder" but it is localized internationally as needed. Knowing this, there are 2 possible things which could be causing you problems. You could have a bad Installer script. The released 6.0.4 script has a creation and mod date of Sep 5, 1989, 12:00 PM and is 38395 bytes long. If your script is anything but the above, get the real copy. Another, more likely problem is that the folders you think are blessed, really aren't. The Finder is quite easily confused about which is the real current blessed folder on a volume. Just because a folder has the mac ICON on it doesn't really mean it's blessed. And vica versa. The only time that you can be 100% certain that the real blessed folder is being displayed correctly by the finder is immediatly after booting. If you're clean on both of these counts, I'd be interested into looking more into your problem. Let me know. As for your other comments about the Installer, yes I agree they are problems. But they aren't new problems. We are installing basically the same stuff that old Installer did. But the new Installer's design will let us do much better. System 7.0 is introducing a lot of changes in the System Folder, and the Installer will be able to be more intelligent about what it's doing. I think you'll like the results. Thanks for the feedback. Bruce -- =============================================================================== Bruce Jones bjones@apple.com Software Engineer AppleLink: JONES12 System Software Group 408 974-3454 Apple Computer, Inc 20525 Marianni Avenue MS 22BB Cupertino, CA 95014 ===============================================================================